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.
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.