I somehow suspect Maintenance didn't read the entire thread in the two minutes since I directed him here from another thread where he expressed an (allegedly good-faith) interest to understand another viewpoint.
At any rate, here's the short version:
- An icon is something you have to look at every time you boot up (or power down) any game, as well as every time you hit the home button to check screenshots you just took, or to check your friends list, or to change controllers, or to check battery life, or to check the time, or to adjust settings, etc. For someone like me who has 4,000+ screenshots of Zelda alone, I'm visiting the home menu dozens of times per play session. I'd rather not look at any ugly cover every time I hit the home button.
- Providing feedback that a lazy icon makes it look like the dev doesn't care is providing feedback on a product I bought and that I appreciate but want to be better. It's not a personal attack on anyone or their family.
- In the case of Snake Pass, their original icon was great, but then they inexplicably updated it to its current worse state. Unnecessary, and thus frustrating.
- Nintendo themselves specifically recommends that developers include a key visual on the icon along with the title. See earlier pages for the excerpt from the design doc.
- Icons with titles are helpful since the alternative is to highlight each icon to see the title. If you have multiple Sonic games and they all feature Sonic's head, it's going to be hard to tell them apart after awhile. And if you have a guest using the system, having the title on the icon will help them find what they want to play without having to highlight each icon.
And at the end of the day:
If you don't care, it's no skin off your back. The rest of us will hold a civil discussion about the value of aesthetics and good front-end presentation, and politely request that icons follow Nintendo's recommended format.
So far, it's working. A number of devs have already updated their icons and others have said they will update them in the near future.
Did you think the devs had bad taste before they changed their icon? Because Snake Pass originally had an icon with the title in it, like Nintendo recommends. It was only later that they patched the game to have the new icon.I like the current icon and I hope they don't change it. The deva and myself have good taste.
But the Switch isnt lacking in game icon space. Of the current major game consoles, The Switchs game icons are the largest, taking up a substantial amount of screen real estate. Is a giant head the best use of that space, or is it, as NeoGAF user Neitieo puts it in an oft-referenced thread regarding Snake Pass icon change, cheap and tacky, like a popup ad for those cheap shovelware games I have to x out whenever I use abload.de.
Neiteio, you're famous!
Neiteio, you're famous!
As for Snake Pass, the game that made rallying against ugly Switch icons a thing? Sumo Digital has good news.
”We've definitely taken the feedback on board and will be changing the icon back with the next update which is due early next year. It'll mean the branding isn't unified but our focus is on our players and community so we're OK with that.​"
Of those games, I know at least Kingdom New Lands will also be updating its icon. I remember seeing an icon that showed the queen on her horse, standing on the reflective lake, with the game's title above. I think I may actually try the game once they update its icon. The game (and new icon) look pretty.Glad they're changing it, now these need changed:
Pankapu, VOEZ, Implosion, Kingdom New Lands.
And so the legend continues, on the shoulders of the next generation...Glad they're changing it, now these need changed:
Pankapu, VOEZ, Implosion, Kingdom New Lands.
From what I remember offhand, I know at least Kingdom New Lands will also be updating its icon. I remember seeing an icon that showed the queen astride her horse, standing on the reflective lake, with the game's title above. I think I may actually try the game once they update its icon. The game (and new icon) look pretty.
Oh, that was just a mockup? I really like it! Certainly a huge improvement over the original.This?
Was just one I made as a suggestion.
edit: Wait, looks like you edited your post to say it's from the Nintendo UK website?
Ah, nice. Yeah, I'd be totally cool with them just using that one. It looks great. :-DYeah, I mocked up a VERY similar one, she was facing left in a darker scene, but this one is from the website. For a second I thought this was mine, heh. But no, it's the website one.
But it was also up way before they launched the game on the the eShop, too, so I wonder why they didn't use it.
- Pankapu
- Brave Dungeon + Dark Witch's Story: COMBAT
- Conga Master Party!
Thanks for this, I'll add this to the other thread, with credit given.Here you have the full list.
- Human Resource Machine
- Little Inferno
- Snake Pass (It will be update)
- Voez
- The Jackbox Party Pack 3
--
- Plantera DX
- De Mambo
- Implosion
- Retro City Rampage DX
- Severed
--
- Sonic Mania
- Kingdom: New Lands (It will be updated)
- Semispheres
- SteamWorld Dig 2 (It will be updated)
- Lego Ninjago Movie Video Game
--
- Pankapu
- Brave Dungeon + Dark Witch's Story: COMBAT
- Conga Master Party!
A lot of those icons would look great if they just put the title on there as well.
Beautiful!
Did the update include anything else or was it just for the icon?
I gotta say... Golf Story throws me by having the title at the bottom haha
Awesome! I think it's great they're doing this. It's like the ribbon and bow that ties together the whole package. Also possibly the nicest icon on the system. Great to see it's live this weekend. :3
Fixed!!