Nintendo Switch is one of the most beloved consoles of the moment thanks to its tremendous catalog of games, which continues to increase. In addition, the hybrid concept of the console went down well with the community, which takes advantage of its portable features to play anytime.
However, not everything is good with the Nintendo platform. We already know that its performance and power is nowhere near its direct rivals, such as PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, and it has many limitations when it comes to online gaming and multimedia features.
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If that were not enough, there is another point that leaves much to be desired in the hybrid. We are referring to the eShop, a store with major flaws that should no longer exist today.
We invite you to continue reading to learn why we consider the Nintendo Switch store to be an insult to its users, who can seriously suffer every time they try to find and buy a game.
The eShop is too slow
The console store fulfills its function to buy games, yes, but only in a transactional aspect, since there are situations that make its use uncomfortable, especially its browsing speed.
It is no surprise to anyone that the experience when using the eShop is a martyrdom. Each menu can take 3-4 seconds to load and the only thing used to help support the wait is an 8-bit animation of Mario (with a few variations) that covers the pauses.
Many users will agree that the store has an unbearable loading speed (which can be mistaken for a turn-of-the-century site), and the worst thing is that Nintendo still hasn’t significantly improved it.
Its menus are far from intuitive
Sadly, the eShop has other problems besides its loading speed. It is important to mention that the layout of its menus becomes more complicated than it is believed, since different options are hidden.
We will give a very clear example: the wish list. On Nintendo Switch we need to click on a heart when browsing a game’s profile, and if we want to see that and other titles we’ve added, we need to go to our user icon in the top right corner of the eShop, a very unintuitive place. to see necessary information before each purchase.
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Browsing through your catalog is unbearable
The layout of the shop makes it hard to navigate casually and even feels like an advanced level in a game, where you have to get serious with controller (you know, when you sit leaning forward to kill the shop). threat).
Also, finding the type of game we’re looking for is quite a feat. This is because we have to pass through filters that don’t help much, there isn’t a catchy musical theme in the background, and we even have to dig through a sea of dubious quality titles that only get in the way.
Even if we want to obtain more than one game, we have to do several searches and several transactions, since the store does not have a cart where we can gather what we are interested in and that allows a more agile purchase process.
A catalog that sometimes leaves much to be desired
Here we have to make a clarification, Nintendo Switch has impressive games like the installments of Legend of Zelda, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and many others. However, this point is not dedicated to the company’s AAA games or some exclusive third-party or ports, but to others that flooded the eShop and that don’t deserve to be in it.
Many times Nintendo was required to have more games in its digital stores. Now, it seems that that request went against us and we found ourselves in a great ocean full of sargassum and with few treasure chests.
Perhaps these games on the eShop are one of the reasons the ability to leave reviews no longer exists, an important feature that was used on other consoles like the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS.
Excessive prices and lack of offers
Nintendo Switch titles are recognized for having a high price, especially in physical format, so it is believed that buying their digital version could save some pesos, as happens in other stores with different sales seasons. However, this is completely false and sometimes it is more expensive to download a title than to buy it in a store.
In fact, the games developed by those from Kyoto rarely drop in price, regardless of how old they are, and when they do, well… let’s just say that the company has a concept of promotions that is far removed from that of the community.
This situation makes the “offers” on the hybrid console a mockery for its visitors, who must also worry about obtaining more space in the hardware storage, which generates an extra expense in most cases.
Yes, we know that Nintendo Switch Online users can get Game Coupons for $2,299 MXN. This to get 2 first-party games at $1,149.50 MXN each. The bad thing is that to get the benefit, you need to pay a subscription of $100 MXN per month and, let’s be honest, those prices may be “okay”, but they are still not tempting.
Lack of good policies like in other stores
Another highly criticized aspect of the eShop is its lack of good policies that are seen in other stores. One of the few to mention is that of Gold Points, which translates into a 5% cashback on each digital purchase, or 1% with physical game cards, something similar to what is offered in PlayStation Stars and Microsoft rewards.
On the other hand, its high prices would make other policies seen in different stores well received. Like, for example, games or DLC given away from time to time, like in the Epic Games Store and Steam, something that the so-called Sample Games try to do, but fall short by only being offered for a week and not staying in your library.
The eShop can be much better
It sounds bad, but it can hardly be refuted that the eShop is currently the furthest store from performing well. We have never asked Nintendo that its portal be the best on the market, but it should be demanded that it have a decent performance that offers a user experience worthy of such a successful hardware.
How can you get this? Just fixing what all of your users have been criticizing since its launch in 2017. Sure, you can always have problems, every store has them, but there are still ways to keep your users happy.
The bad news is that everything indicates that this situation will remain the same and it seems that Switch has no interest in keeping its users happily browsing its digital store, so we hope that a new platform learns from these mistakes and offers the service that fans from Nintendo deserve.
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