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[HotHamBoy]

Features, gimmicks, novelty. The 3DS and the Wii U had these in spades, especially the 3DS. It gave these systems personality that set them apart from other gaming hardware. The 3DS itself was like a toy right out of the box.

There's a lot of stuff Nintendo has sucked at. Their OS's, their questionable hardware design choices, their online implementation, friend codes, the eShop, etc. But they also did many things that were uniquely Nintendo and charming enough to make up for a lot of that.

Wii had
The Mii & its prolific intergeation
Check Me Out
Photo Channel w/ Jigsaw game
Everybody Votes
Message Board
And of course, the Wii Sports pack-in

With the 3DS you had things like

3D, of course
3D Camera
AR games
Streetpass
Mii Plaza & Games
Swap Note
Nintendo Video
Sound Recorder
Play Coins

And later:

Miiverse
Badge Arcade, basically stickers
A secret version of Breakout in the N3DS Web Browser

With Wii U the features are certainly fewer, but Miiverse intergration was huge enough on its own IMO. Collecting stamps was fun, seeing people's drawings was awesome. Plus, Nintendo Land was a pack-in.

With Switch, the system has nothing like this to my knowledge, not even a pack-in game like Wii Sports, Nintendo Land or the 3DS's novelty games.

It's missing the cute details that make a modern Nintendo system so charming - like the roulette game when loading Wii U's eShop, the way that blowing into the mic makes 3DS game icons spin, Wii Shop's controllable Fire Mario during downloads, the 3DS's unwrappable present icons, etc.

With the official death of Miiverse I have to wonder if Nintendo has no plans for these kinds of things with Switch. I wish Switch at least had Streetpass and Miiplaza, those made the 3DS feel really special.

With Switch, the hardware itself is the only real novelty. The JoyCons and hybrid nature. But ever since the original DS the hardware has been novel and had unique features, so IMO it's only half of the equation.

Also, the online app is like the worst form of this Nintendofication. Do not want.

 

[BlastProcessing]

Nintendo makes good video games that are fun to play. This is their value.

 

[Jaded Alyx]

To be perfectly honest........... Perhaps Miiverse aside, nothing of real value was lost.

 

[bananafactory]

Disagree. Their incredible games and IP are what sets them apart. Their gimmicks and novelties were just really hit or miss attempts at broadening their audience. It worked with Wii, it didn't with WiiU. They've doubled down on making great games that you can play anywhere. That's the novelty of Switch and it's their best one yet.

 

[Nafai1123]

Just the way I like it. The games are what matters.

 

[MattyG]

I feel like a majority of the things you listed fell by the wayside pretty quickly and weren't ever utilized in any huge way. The one novelty of the Switch being the hardware is still huge and sets them apart, because that isn't something that can be abandoned or not utilized. It IS the system, and it will and is being utilized to its fullest, and nobody else is doing anything of the sort. So I'd agree that they are dropping a lot of novelty features, yes, but they replaced them with one huge, meaningful novelty feature. I'll take a feature I utilize all the time over a bunch of tiny things I'll stop using a forget about within a year.

 

[dlauv]

Aren't you a year late for this topic? People have been saying this for the longest time.

Edit: Oh wait. I misread. You're praising the gimmicks.

Outside of mobile gaming, where people tend to buy Nintendo for whatever reasons, people just want a nice console to stay up to date with modern games. The Switch has the most promise in accomplishing that + mobile gaming. Rather than a gigantic brick with a mediocre screen providing a new way to play Xbox 360 ports. You can stand out for bad reasons.

 

[Colonel Mustard]

To be perfectly honest........... Perhaps Miiverse aside, nothing of real value was lost.

Yep, and I'm willing to bet that themes and Badge Arcade make a come back in some way.

 

[farisr]

And I'm super glad.

All I need is their first party games, and for the system to be popular enough to have third party support.

Gimmicks got in the way of my enjoyment more often than not.

 

[DecoReturns]

Some stuff will come back.

Hoesntly. You've mentioned the Hardware and that's all they really needed to set themselves apart.

Their games are also somthing that other consoles can't offer.

 

[anon_mastermind]

I agree, but if you consider this a soft launch, they might just add a bunch of cool stuff later. Here's hoping.

 

[Skelter]

To be perfectly honest........... Perhaps Miiverse aside, nothing of real value was lost.

Yup. Even then I never used Miiverse. It took long enough to load on the Wii U and even longer on a 3DS.

Miiverse is awesome and I wish Nintendo had kept it especially since the Switch is just so fast.

 

[Technosteve]

Badge Arcade is the best thing nintendo has ever done. I miss the badge arcade bunny

 

[LotusHD]

To be perfectly honest........... Perhaps Miiverse aside, nothing of real value was lost.

.

 

[HotHamBoy]

You all seriously thought Streetpass and Mii Plaza sucked?

 

[Rival]

I've owned a version of every Nintendo console and most of the things you mentioned I haven't heard of before. I just want good Nintendo games.

 

[Stone Ocean]

Those gimmicks didn't set them apart, it set them aside. No one but them wanted to actually use those features in games.

Nintendo didn't need bullshit to make good games before and they certainly don't now.

 

[Twenty7KVN]

For the best it seems.

 

[Tookay]

I feel like nothing of value was lost.

I'd rather they focus on lasting features and games than flash-in-the-pan ideas.

 

[Calm Mind]

Good. All that bloat was weighing them down.

 

[Toxi]

You all seriously thought Streetpass and Mii Plaza sucked?

Streetpass was cool until you saw multiple games crippled by forcing you to use it.

 

[HotHamBoy]

I've owned a version of every Nintendo console and most of the things you mentioned I haven't heard of before. I just want good Nintendo games.

Why do good Nintendo games have to be mutually exclusive with the stuff I'm talking about? Those systems also have great Nintendo games.

Yeah, sure, the hardware isn't as good as Switch but even Switch has hardware flaws.

 

[Raging Spaniard]

I think StreetPass is a must have but hey, Switch is doing pretty damn good even with all these "missing" things so theres probably something to be said for simplicity

 

[WillyFive]

Yeah, that's my main criticism of Nintendo; they drop most of the new stuff they introduce per console that made them really special. The lack of Miiverse is conspicuous on Switch coming from Wii U, and the lack of the ability to import all the StreetPass stuff from 3DS (including all those hats and collectibles) and Mii's from Wii U and Wii makes it seem like a total waste.

 

[Necro900]

And HD rumble too, I guess, since it's mostly an afterthought in almost every game I've tried.

 

[EhoaVash]

Miiverse was neat on Wii u. Garbage on 3ds



Street pass was great too.

The rest were yeah nothing

 

[ZAMtendo]

Out of those things I miss StreetPass and Miiverse the most. Please bring these back soon Nintendo. I'd take StreetPass over Virtual Console any day...

 

[Plinko]

Don't forget that Nintendo put a camera in the right Joy-con that can recognize hand signals. I'd argue that HD Rumble may qualify as well.

 

[HotHamBoy]

And HD rumble too, I guess, since it's mostly an afterthought in almost every game I've tried.

HD rumble is like the Wii Remote speaker this gen.

 

[Baraka Obama]

Switch is just as gimmicky, my issue with Nintendo is their lack of care for online.

 

[Guevara]

I just want to play Metroid, Zelda and Mario each gen.

 

[SinCityAssassin]

We're going back to basics. I loved every quirky thing you mentioned but hey, the basics can be fine for drawing in a crowd too, and they still set themselves apart from the competition.

But who knows, maybe they'll add stuff in after the fact.

 

[brinstar]

I remember actually using my Wii to check the weather and that feels like a millennium ago now lol

 

[yanipheonu]

You all seriously thought Streetpass and Mii Plaza sucked?

I was going to say. Streetpass was genuinely cool, you basically had an inpromptu passive co-op game with the various downloadable Streetpass games. was a lot of fun on campus, on the bus, or at a con.

 

[ghostwritingduck]

The difference is the fact that the Switch works so well in design that people aren't referring to it as a gimmick or novelty. As someone who works long hours, the Switch allows me to play video games. There's plenty of PS4 and PC games I would enjoy as well, but the requirement to be at home and attached to a television/monitor keeps me from playing them.

 

[Vital Tundra]

Only thing I remotely cared for was Miiverse and Badge Arcade, and even then it doesn't kill me not having it. Wish the damn Switch had some basic functionality and apps, though. Why is Netflix and shit still not on the system? Whats the hold up? Where is the browser? And better ways to manage your content?

 

[starmud]

i wouldn't expect anything like that until the online service is launched, for all we know you could see some of this behind the paywall (street pass/mii expansion/theme shop/badges or pins etc)

given the portability of switch and popularity of street pass on 3DS, im expecting something to the effect of it will come out eventually. mii's are long from dead. we have miitomo which has actually become a pretty deep service in offering, expanding that service onto switch seems like a natural step.

other features feel too far off to speculate. nintendo likes AR, we have a portable console that can easily accept new accessories for expansion. theres a lot of potential in the pipeline but thats all pure wish listing at this point...

most of what you listed though were features that may sound fun on paper but resulted in being used a few times and forgotten. the only one i'd argue you will see is drawing/doodling, nintendo has too many assets around art games/apps to not pump something out.

 

[Tohsaka]

I'm glad, never really cared for the majority of their gimmicks. It's the games I like.

 

[thrillho88]

Nintendo makes good video games that are fun to play. This is their value.

First post nails it...like usual.

 

[Delusibeta]

Man, everyone's already forgotten about the IR camera. Probably the worst gimmick Nintendo has ever added to a console.

 

[Shiggy]

The Everybody Votes Channel was great.

 

[c1d]

Nintendo makes good video games that are fun to play. This is their value.

One and done.

 

[PrinnyBomb]

I did really like the 3DS' streetpass, mii plaza and play coins. An amazing feature for sure, quite shocked the Switch didn't have any of these (was it to save battery?)

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Nintendo makes good video games that are fun to play. This is their value.

Exactly what I was going to post. The games are what sets them apart for me. Sure, the novelty features were neat at first, but I really don't miss them that much.

 

[Madao]

well, if the Switch approach is getting them more hype and sales, it shows those "extras" were holding them back.

the only thing i really miss so far is a proper activity log. this system that tells playtime in increments of 5 hours is pretty bad.

 

[GifGafIsTheBestGaf]

it seems they also abandoned their OS half way huehuehue

but look at the switch right now, it is doing even better than they expected, so maybe bloating their system with useless shit that some people might like or force themselves to like, they did a solid and almost perfect machine

 

[I Wanna Be The Guy]

I remember actually using my Wii to check the weather and that feels like a millennium ago now lol

Everybody Votes channel was the GOAT. I miss the Wii. And I miss the virtual console.

 

[NotLiquid]

I wouldn't say they were defining features but they were definitely pleasant hooks that gave all their consoles a playful vibe. I'm sure some of them will return as Nintendo further build out their OS. Themes would be great.

 

[SatoAilDarko]

Ehhh extraneous software as you saw with the Wii U was already on its way out.

It's more that now Nintendo sees the use of external devices like computers and cell phones and that they shouldn't try to offer their own take. I mean Miitomo has a lot of those features lost and connects into other apps like Super Mario Run and the MyNintendo website.

Have you seen all the different MyNintendo gags like playing a game, popping balloons, drawing a picture, watering a plant, etc.

I mean they still updated the customization options for Miis with Switch which was just updated into Miitomo last week.

Also 1,2, Switch is absolutely the Wii Sports/Nintendo Land equivalent.

It's just instead of offering it in a higher priced bundle option at $350 like Wii U they didn't.

As Nintendo said, the Switch is the combination of all past Nintendo systems: the touch-screen, the motion controls, the portability the ability to play TV games off-TV in your hand.

 

[VanWinkle]

I think getting rid of Miiverse was a massive mistake. It was one of the only good things about the Wii U from a system software standpoint. They could have even given it a different name if they want to move away from Miis.

The barebones nature of the system OS is just super disappointing in general.