Kotaku: The State Of The Nintendo Switch In 2018

[JaxJag]

I guess this is sort of off-topic. But I always see these threads pop up, complaining about the lack of software on the Switch in 2018. Then I see responses like "I had plenty to play" then the typical list of games are "Hollow Knight, Undertale, Night in the Woods, Enter the Gungeon, Dust, Inside, Axiom Verge, etc, etc".

And most of the games have been on all other platforms, some for even years. It makes me wonder, why did so many people completely ignore indie games before the Switch? Are there that many people who literally only play video games on Nintendo consoles? Is it because "indies" didn't really become in vogue until recently or something? Sorry to go off on this tangent, but I don't really get it.

 

[Dphex]

it wasn´t half bad, it was just bad

 

[Creamium]

I played Hollow Knight on it this year and that's it. I don't care about Smash and I've already played Tropical Freeze and Captain Toad on WiiU. I saw Celeste on sale on Steam, so I got it there. Even if it was a light year for me in general gaming-wise, there still wasn't much to pull me towards the Switch this year. I was tempted by Let's Go though.

 

[Adulfzen]

I guess this is sort of off-topic. But I always see these threads pop up, complaining about the lack of software on the Switch in 2018. Then I see responses like "I had plenty to play" then the typical list of games are "Hollow Knight, Undertale, Night in the Woods, Enter the Gungeon, Dust, Inside, Axiom Verge, etc, etc".

And most of the games have been on all other platforms, some for even years. It makes me wonder, why did so many people completely ignore indie games before the Switch? Are there that many people who literally only play video games on Nintendo consoles? Is it because "indies" didn't really become in vogue until recently or something? Sorry to go off on this tangent, but I don't really get it.

Click to shrink...

Can only speak in my case but I'm way more likely to get indies on a handeld and Switch is great for that. Once I knew Hollow Knight was getting a Switch port I waited for that even though it had been out on Steam for awhile.

 

[Deleted member 3017]

I guess this is sort of off-topic. But I always see these threads pop up, complaining about the lack of software on the Switch in 2018. Then I see responses like "I had plenty to play" then the typical list of games are "Hollow Knight, Undertale, Night in the Woods, Enter the Gungeon, Dust, Inside, Axiom Verge, etc, etc".

And most of the games have been on all other platforms, some for even years. It makes me wonder, why did so many people completely ignore indie games before the Switch? Are there that many people who literally only play video games on Nintendo consoles? Is it because "indies" didn't really become in vogue until recently or something? Sorry to go off on this tangent, but I don't really get it.

Click to shrink...

Speaking personally, I've been playing indies since 2008. Once Switch launched in early 2017, I stopped buying indies on any platform but Nintendo's hybrid. I also rebought some of my favorites when they received a re-release on Switch.

The lone exception so far is Cuphead, which will never receive a Switch version. I purchased that on XB1 last year. I'm really tempted to buy Below on XB1, but I'll probably end up holding out for a Switch port.

 

[Ninja_Hawk]

It was a weak year, but I got Smash, Diablo, and Bayonetta, so I wasn't complaining.

 

[AfropunkNyc]

I played Hollow Knight on it this year and that's it. I don't care about Smash and I've already played Tropical Freeze and Captain Toad on WiiU. I saw Celeste on sale on Steam, so I got it there. Even if it was a light year for me in general gaming-wise, there still wasn't much to pull me towards the Switch this year. I was tempted by Let's Go though.

Click to shrink...

When yee are picky. There's a ton of games i have on steam, that i much rather play on switch. Then again i'm one of these gamers that find portable gaming to be one of the best experience of gaming.

 

[Gleethor]

Celeste
Bayo 1 and 2
Kirby
Labo
Hyrule Warriors
GOTY 2014 DK Tropical Freeze
Sushi Striker
Mario Tennis
Octopath
Fortnite
Overcooked 2
DBZFighters
Super Mario Party
Let's Go
SMASH

If this what we can expect in a slow year from Nintendo in the Switch era, we doin ok.

 

[Piston]

I guess this is sort of off-topic. But I always see these threads pop up, complaining about the lack of software on the Switch in 2018. Then I see responses like "I had plenty to play" then the typical list of games are "Hollow Knight, Undertale, Night in the Woods, Enter the Gungeon, Dust, Inside, Axiom Verge, etc, etc".

And most of the games have been on all other platforms, some for even years. It makes me wonder, why did so many people completely ignore indie games before the Switch? Are there that many people who literally only play video games on Nintendo consoles? Is it because "indies" didn't really become in vogue until recently or something? Sorry to go off on this tangent, but I don't really get it.

Click to shrink...

A few simple steps behind my reasoning:
a. Hundreds of indies come out each year.
b. I don't have time to play hundreds of indies.
c. Switch is my preferred place to play indies.
d. I end up buying indies I missed from previous years on my preferred place to play indies.

I got Stardew Valley, Celeste, Cosmic Star Heroine, Night in the Woods, and Into the Breach this year all on Switch. Even with those, I need to go back and get Hollow Knight, Dead Cells, Iconoclasts, Overcooked 2, and others I have missed.

 

[Ryuelli]

2018 was pretty good overall, I actually didn't have too much of a drought as far as my Switch went. Between finishing up games that released last year, Kirby, Xenoblade's expansion, Pokemon Let's Go, Smash, Octopath Traveler (which I didn't actually like all that much), Valkyria Chronicles 4, and some ports like Diablo 3, Fortnite, and Overcooked there was plenty of stuff to play.

Definitely think year 1 was more memorable, but I had fun this year too.

 

[kickz]

Yeah I have been saying it all year, 2018 has been a complete shitshow.

Kirby the biggest offering in the first half of the year was complete undercooked traaaash.

But 2019 should be promising like 2017 was.

 

[Xx 720]

1) after the legendary game lineup of 17', it was a given 18 was going to be a step down by comparison

2) Yoshi, Fire Emblem - game delays added to disappointment

3) Labo - Nintendo can't shake their fetish for gimmickry, hopefully the failure of Labo will push them focus on core games.

4) I have hope 19 going to be better, plus curious of possible hardware revision.

 

[inner-G]

I liked Mario and Zelda but they really don't have anything on the horizon that excites me.

Lots of folks on here get excited about the third-party games for portability, but my inner graphics whore is always going to buy those on PC.

 

[Deleted member 13364]

2018 definitely had a much worse year for first party games, but I spent significantly more time and money on my Switch this year because it had an amazing year for eShop games.

 

[Deleted member 33]

I guess this is sort of off-topic. But I always see these threads pop up, complaining about the lack of software on the Switch in 2018. Then I see responses like "I had plenty to play" then the typical list of games are "Hollow Knight, Undertale, Night in the Woods, Enter the Gungeon, Dust, Inside, Axiom Verge, etc, etc".

And most of the games have been on all other platforms, some for even years. It makes me wonder, why did so many people completely ignore indie games before the Switch? Are there that many people who literally only play video games on Nintendo consoles? Is it because "indies" didn't really become in vogue until recently or something? Sorry to go off on this tangent, but I don't really get it.

Click to shrink...

I feel like it's a similar situation to PS Vita. Some people just enjoy playing indie games on handhelds/portables.

 

[The Bear]

I still think nintendo should have delayed Xenoblade Chronicles 2 for few months. It would have given first half of 2018 a big exclusive, give devs time to iron out some performance issues, and given game more space to breathe in terms of marketing (Mario Odyssey dominated late 2017 marketing).

Now Nintendo's first half of 2018 was bit middling.

 

[Christo750]

2018 may not have had the biggest Nintendo games ever but in terms of an overall software library, it was the most important year for a Nintendo console ever. And I wish there were more articles written about that.

 

[Instro]

I feel like it's a similar situation to PS Vita. Some people just enjoy playing indie games on handhelds/portables.

Click to shrink...

Anecdotally I do really enjoy playing a lot of indie games on my Switch vs other platforms. Since many of them tend to be games that don't lose anything visually in a Switch port, it makes it a lot more appealing to have them in handheld format.

 

[AfropunkNyc]

We all know how slow 2018 is because games that needs to be made. Thanks to the success of the switch 2019 is going to be the rise of the switch on terms of software. Though 2018 has been good to me personally. I manage to get to play the best action RPG on a portable device, after craving one when i owned a vita. I went from playing Dungeon Hunters on the vita to playing Diablo 3. Talk about big upgrade.

 

[goldenpp73]

Yeah some of those won't be coming out in 2019, come on man.

Click to shrink...

Which ones are so horribly suspect?

 

[jrDev]

Article is on point! Though not having so many big hitters is a plus for me, since I'm just showered in so many games I don't even have enough time to play...

 

[kickz]

Will we have another 2018 type down year in the near future?

I thought yearly droughts would be gone now that 3DS devs and Nintendo Console Devs only have one device to output to????

Isn't that the promise of a hybrid device

 

[Honey Bunches of Oats]

I think it's been a great year, largely carried by non-Nintendo offerings, which isn't a bad thing.

 

[Deleted member 3017]

Will we have another 2018 type down year in the near future?

I thought yearly droughts would be gone now that 3DS devs and Nintendo Console Devs only have one device to output to????

Isn't that the promise of a hybrid device

Click to shrink...

lol 2018 wasn't a drought, outside of a personal one for you and some others.

Call me when Switch receives N64 or Wii U level droughts. Like, actual droughts where there is almost nothing to play, even if you only own a Nintendo device. There were months in 2005 where not a single video game released on the Gamecube.

 

[ozfunghi]

They should make a new Wii Music Switch Kotaku edition. At the very least the reporter would buy it!

WTF lol

 

[jrDev]

Will we have another 2018 type down year in the near future?

I thought yearly droughts would be gone now that 3DS devs and Nintendo Console Devs only have one device to output to????

Isn't that the promise of a hybrid device

Click to shrink...

Lmfao, in a thread that touts that Switch has over 1400 games, this person posts about droughts...this is what you call trolling...

 

[Velezcora]

I wasn't disappointed in the second year of the Switch because I had my expectations in check and knew what we were going to get.
Out of Nintendo's IPs only a handful are big deals. Mario, Zelda, Smash Bros, Animal Crossing (I think?) and Pokemon.
Considering most modern games take at minimum 3 years to make, ever Nintendo console will have lesser years if you base the value entirely on the first parties.
On top of all this the Switch only just proved itself to devs and the markets last year. So it's going to take a while for things to heat up.
It's just not fair to dunk on the Switch for this year when there was no other way it could have done better.

 

[DeuceGamer]

Personally I had too much to play and only added to my backlog this year.

I guess this is sort of off-topic. But I always see these threads pop up, complaining about the lack of software on the Switch in 2018. Then I see responses like "I had plenty to play" then the typical list of games are "Hollow Knight, Undertale, Night in the Woods, Enter the Gungeon, Dust, Inside, Axiom Verge, etc, etc".

And most of the games have been on all other platforms, some for even years. It makes me wonder, why did so many people completely ignore indie games before the Switch? Are there that many people who literally only play video games on Nintendo consoles? Is it because "indies" didn't really become in vogue until recently or something? Sorry to go off on this tangent, but I don't really get it.

Click to shrink...

A lot of the indie games (and AAA ports) were announced for Switch early on so I waited for the Switch release. It's far more likely for me to have time to play a game on Switch since aI can dock/undock it as needed.

 

[sleepnaught]

It hasn't been a great year, but at least some great ports and indies helped first 3/4ths of the year. Octopath Traveler, Captain Toad, Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze, Hollow Knight. There was also Mario Tennis Aces and Super Mario Party, but these were sore points for me, very disappointing entries. The year has ended strong with Pokemon Lets Go! and Smash Bros. Ultimate. All in all, not a bad year.

2019 is looking like its going to be another 2017 which is incredible for a console only hitting its 3rd year.

Looking forward to:

New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
Resident Evil ports
Yoshi's Crafted World
Metroid Prime 4
Luigi's Mansion 3
MK11
Doom Eternal
Animal Crossing
Bayo 3
Town
the Final Fantasy ports
Animal Crossing

Then the possibility of Metroid Prime Trilogy, 3D World, and Mario Maker ports.

Not all of these will release in 2019, but most probably will. It's looking to be an even better year than 2017.

 

[808s & Villainy]

Yet while the Switch store is expanding into all sorts of genres, it's giving a new audience access to competitive titles without giving them the same competitive edge as peers on, say, PC. It's always going to be harder to master a fighting game like Dragon Ball FighterZ or a shooter like Fortnite on a handheld console, and especially when that handheld console doesn't have a LAN adapter built in.

Click to shrink...

So what, no mention of gyro controls? They can mention the Switch "dpad" making fighting games harder to control, but completely ignore the gyro controls making shooters easier to control?

 

[Creamium]

When yee are picky. There's a ton of games i have on steam, that i much rather play on switch. Then again i'm one of these gamers that find portable gaming to be one of the best experience of gaming.

Click to shrink...

I used portable mode a bunch in the early months of the Switch, but I went back to 'fullscreen' more later. If I still had a commute like in my student days, I think I'd be playing on Switch a lot more.

 

[kickz]

Lmfao, in a thread that touts that Switch has over 1400 games, this person posts about droughts...this is what you call trolling...

Click to shrink...

The article is talking about non port Ninty titles. Stay on topic

 

[SuperFakerBros]

lol 2018 wasn't a drought, outside of a personal one for you and some others.

Call me when Switch receives N64 or Wii U level droughts. Like, actual droughts where there is almost nothing to play, even if you only own a Nintendo device. There were months in 2005 where not a single video game released on the Gamecube.

Click to shrink...

Yikes! I never knew it was ever that bad for the GameCube. I figured that'd be something mainly reserved for systems like the N64 or the Wii U; Nintendo systems renowned for their droughts

I still think nintendo should have delayed Xenoblade Chronicles 2 for few months. It would have given first half of 2018 a big exclusive, give devs time to iron out some performance issues, and given game more space to breathe in terms of marketing (Mario Odyssey dominated late 2017 marketing).

Now Nintendo's first half of 2018 was bit middling.

Click to shrink...

I can't say I disagree with that. Xenoblade Chronicles was shockingly unpolished for a major Nintendo release to the point where I get the feeling that the game was rushed. A delay would've been beneficial, as much as some people groan whenever it happens

 

[Fosko]

The worst thing about this year wasn't the lack of gmes, it was the lack of new game announvements and trailers of the ones announced last year with No footage.

 

[hussien-11]

Like i said before, i hate the direction Nintendo took in 2018 very much. they probably dedicated this year to casuals, and built the release strategy on that. however, 2018 overall is a good year for the Switch, and maybe a great one, if you are buying games from the eShop and playing all types of games.

some notable releases for me:

- Iconoclasts: great game. it should've been way more successful, actually it is one of the best games this year.
- Celeste: my game of the year.
- Hollow Knight
- Inside (my first experience with this game, it is a real gem).
- Pato Box
- Super Mario Party: i didn't like some design decisions, but it is great fun and very suitable for the platform.
- DKCTF: best 2D platformer of all time, and it works in 1080p this time.
- Dead Cells
- Owlboy
- Pokemon and Smash for the same platform at the same time is a (very) rare occurrence!

and I've yet to buy (or download) games like Warframe, Civ6, Ys VIII, VC4, Gris, The Messenger, Katamari Damacy Reroll, Dark Souls and others.

Indie games on Switch this year alone are stronger than what 3DS had for its entire lifetime.

 

[Dwebble]

I guess this is sort of off-topic. But I always see these threads pop up, complaining about the lack of software on the Switch in 2018. Then I see responses like "I had plenty to play" then the typical list of games are "Hollow Knight, Undertale, Night in the Woods, Enter the Gungeon, Dust, Inside, Axiom Verge, etc, etc".

And most of the games have been on all other platforms, some for even years. It makes me wonder, why did so many people completely ignore indie games before the Switch? Are there that many people who literally only play video games on Nintendo consoles? Is it because "indies" didn't really become in vogue until recently or something? Sorry to go off on this tangent, but I don't really get it.

Click to shrink...

I almost exclusively play games on the train, or when otherwise away from the TV. I might play big exclusives on my Playstation, but the vast majority of games would be better on the Switch for me.

 

[Redcrayon]

I guess this is sort of off-topic. But I always see these threads pop up, complaining about the lack of software on the Switch in 2018. Then I see responses like "I had plenty to play" then the typical list of games are "Hollow Knight, Undertale, Night in the Woods, Enter the Gungeon, Dust, Inside, Axiom Verge, etc, etc".

And most of the games have been on all other platforms, some for even years. It makes me wonder, why did so many people completely ignore indie games before the Switch? Are there that many people who literally only play video games on Nintendo consoles? Is it because "indies" didn't really become in vogue until recently or something? Sorry to go off on this tangent, but I don't really get it.

Click to shrink...

For some it's not 'only play on Nintendo consoles' and more 'only play on portables', which has a fair crossover. My main gaming time with a young family is my commute, and so I don't have a PS4 or a PC- I just don't have time to play 40-hour games at home in epic gaming sessions anymore, my gaming is done in hour long slots on the train. The Switch (and the Vita and to a far lesser extent 3DS before it) opened up indie gaming and additionally now access to some larger titles for me, even if others have played them on other platforms. It's not a loyalty to Nintendo, it's that portability makes something the only available and thus definitive version for me, and so they might as well be new games to me. That goes for Diablo III and Wolfenstein as much as Hollow Knight and Into the Breach. I didn't 'ignore' indie games before I had a Switch, I took notice of them and either played them on other portables or shrugged and moved on if a portable version wasn't available because being chained to a screen at home for media feels both archaic and a use of free time I don't have. Even when I was in my twenties I spent more time continuing the DS/PSP game I had played on the train that night in bed, rather than switch on my Wii/PS3.

 

[hibikase]

I guess this is sort of off-topic. But I always see these threads pop up, complaining about the lack of software on the Switch in 2018. Then I see responses like "I had plenty to play" then the typical list of games are "Hollow Knight, Undertale, Night in the Woods, Enter the Gungeon, Dust, Inside, Axiom Verge, etc, etc".

And most of the games have been on all other platforms, some for even years. It makes me wonder, why did so many people completely ignore indie games before the Switch? Are there that many people who literally only play video games on Nintendo consoles? Is it because "indies" didn't really become in vogue until recently or something? Sorry to go off on this tangent, but I don't really get it.

Click to shrink...

Do you actually play all video games on the year they're released?

This sort of reasoning never made sense to me.

But to answer for myself, I only care about getting indies on handhelds. Some of the games you listed I had already played on Vita before they were announced for Switch. I treat the Switch as the logical successor to the Vita in terms of indie gaming.

 

[hussien-11]

And most of the games have been on all other platforms, some for even years. It makes me wonder, why did so many people completely ignore indie games before the Switch? Are there that many people who literally only play video games on Nintendo consoles? Is it because "indies" didn't really become in vogue until recently or something? Sorry to go off on this tangent, but I don't really get it.

Click to shrink...

For me, it is not that i intentionally "ignored" them. not everyone play every game at its release.
I didn't have a chance to play Inside before, first it was Xbox exclusive, then i forget about it. when it came to Switch, i was excited to play more indie/portable games, and i was looking to buy something at the time.
i didn't know Voez/Deemo existed before, i don't game on my phone.
i also don't buy indie games on consoles anymore, either Steam/PC to play on my laptop or a handheld (and nowadays there is only one handheld device in the market).
I also like to have all my favorite games on one platform if possible, so I'm gonna (&_&) buy Ace Attorney Trilogy, all RE games, All main FF games that will be released &__&
having the option to play all those games HD either on portable or TV, at the same time, using the same device, is really awesome!

 

[Unknownlight]

I still think nintendo should have delayed Xenoblade Chronicles 2 for few months. It would have given first half of 2018 a big exclusive, give devs time to iron out some performance issues, and given game more space to breathe in terms of marketing (Mario Odyssey dominated late 2017 marketing).

Now Nintendo's first half of 2018 was bit middling.

Click to shrink...

I completely agree. It was surprising from the start how rushed they seemed to be to get Xenoblade 2 released, and it makes even less sense in retrospect knowing that Nintendo wouldn't release a single 1st party Switch game in 2018 other than Labo.

 

[Metallix87]

The article is talking about non port Ninty titles. Stay on topic

Click to shrink...

Nintendo put out Kirby, Mario Party, Smash, Pokemon, Mario Tennis, Xenoblade 2 Torna, and three Labo releases if we discount ports. That's still a lot, with a great deal of variety.

 

[kickz]

I still think nintendo should have delayed Xenoblade Chronicles 2 for few months. It would have given first half of 2018 a big exclusive, give devs time to iron out some performance issues, and given game more space to breathe in terms of marketing (Mario Odyssey dominated late 2017 marketing).

Now Nintendo's first half of 2018 was bit middling.

Click to shrink...

Yeah I agree, if that moved to early spring and Kirby got pushed back to Summer to cook a little more would have made for a big improvement.

 

[Aostia82]

Nintendo put out Kirby, Mario Party, Smash, Pokemon, Mario Tennis, Xenoblade 2 Torna, and three Labo releases if we discount ports. That's still a lot, with a great deal of variety.

Click to shrink...

Yup
But this year missed 1 single player great game (even if we got octopath for example, but it's not a first party game)

 

[louisacommie]

Thought retro studios would release their 5 years in the making game this year tbh

No big single player games at all this year

Yep. If you only live for Nintendo first party releases, not every year will be for year. They only release 1 of each franchise in some cases and how many times have we heard about Animal Crossing? What are those people going to do after the next one launches? Ask for a sequel every year for the next 5 years?

I'm not a Smash fan nor did I pick up Pokemon Let's Go and 2018 was pretty good to me.

Click to shrink...

After they get through the one per console games with No other system for a while, move on to new ips

Or revive dead ones

 

[Deleted member 47843]

It was a bad year for me with Smash as the only game I've really enjoyed on it. No skin off my nose as that's just the way it is with Nintendo hardware for me. It's just an exclusives box for me as I do most of my gaming elsewhere and don't really care about portability. I only like some of their franchises so some years end up thin for me. Doesn't bother me at all as I'm drowning in games to play elsewhere and happy to have it when the first party games I do enjoy come out.

 

[Tfritz]

Nothing makes me feel more out of touch than seeing people on here being like "This system is in a slump, I only bought four games for it this year!"

 

[blueredandgold]

Nothing makes me feel more out of touch than seeing people on here being like "This system is in a slump, I only bought four games for it this year!"

Click to shrink...

Thank you for being so eloquent. I feel similar.

 

[I Wanna Be The Guy]

I'm pretty happy with Switch. The third party lineup is pretty much the best of a handheld since the PSP era. The biggest disappointment is the complete lack of a classic lineup. Absolutely nothing resembling a Virtual Console replacement. Also Online is still garbage and it's disgusting they're actually charging for it.

 

[jrDev]

The article is talking about non port Ninty titles. Stay on topic

Click to shrink...

There are now over 1,400 games on the Switch, from indie darlings to the biggest triple-A productions. Which is good, because Nintendo's output for the year hasn't been especially consistent.

Click to shrink...

.

You should stop making troll posts, because the article didn't say anything about drought.

 

[Simba]

All I really want from Nintendo in 2019 is Animal Crossing before summer and Super NES games added to Switch online,

That's a low bar to make me happy. Anything else is just icing on the cake.