THREE KEY AREAS OF NINTENDO SWITCH THAT SHOULD BE ENHANCED

It’s no more news that Nintendo Switch has been a huge success although there are still some aspects of the hybrid console that can be improved on to meet the demands of more gamers. 

Nintendo Switch’s user interface can still do with a little enhancement, just like the 3DS and Wii U consoles that were released previously, although some system updates improved the UI design of the two consoles that preceded the Switch.

The same can’t be said for the Switch Console after three years as there have barely been any updates to the UI. Regardless, here are three key aspects of the Nintendo Switch UI that can be improved on for optimum performance.

1. Some design touches on the Home Screen would go a long way

Nintendo Switch’s home screen is just functional at best and this enhances its booting speed when it’s turned on. However, some areas still need to be improved. One area the designer could start with is to provide gamers with an option to resize application icons. 

This will allow them to view more icons on the screen simultaneously whilst the multiple rows used in the 3DS and Wii U interfaces should be brought back. 

It must also be noted that the folders feature is missing. The fact that there are three years of games that are available should provide an incentive for a proper way of organizing these games to be done and this should be a priority.

Nintendo Switch currently has just two themes namely, light and dark, and there are no other ways that the UI can be personalized to meet the needs of gamers. At least gamers should be provided the luxury of being able to use their screenshots and custom images and makeshift themes, as is available in PS4.

• Nintendo eShop

This could pass for an online service and needs a lot of work due to its poor navigation paths, conspicuous lag, and poor layout. The unending lags and performance issues are areas that should be fixed in Nintendo’s eShop. 

It still needs a lot of work as just a simple scroll through the list of options can be frustrating due to the hitching that occurs whenever one makes a stop on a new category.

You can still find some games you’d like to purchase but won’t be able to add them to the cart. You’ll have to buy the games individually and this is a big time-wasting process. 

Nobody wants their time being wasted when there are other platforms though which gaming can be enjoyed. Casinos provide an ideal option and folks should do well to play casino games here for fun. Meanwhile, it must be noted that the use of workarounds to accomplish this task of buying a bunch of games at once through Nintendo’s eShop is not ideal.

The layout can also be improved, as a simultaneous search on games of a specific genre that are on sale cannot be done, although the searches can be done independently. There have been issues with finding decent games that are available for sale through the search feature.

• Online Services should be enhanced

Nintendo’s online features have always left more to be desired from gamers. The Wii and the consoles that preceded it were no different as there were no major enhancements in their online features. Regardless of the paid online subscription that was introduced, no major improvements like social features and servers were available.

With Nintendo Switch, one area that can be looked at is the improvement of interaction with friends as very few things can be done with friends when the game is not being played. 

There are no features for inviting friends to games through a friends list, as well as no means for a text or voice chat. The fact that these missing features have been added to a different Nintendo Switch Online app instead is a major turn off. The addition of a dedicated server would be a big plus to Nintendo Switch as there are multiple games like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Splatoon 2 that would benefit from this. 

For instance, playing Splatoon 2 outside of a peer-to-peer connection would be bliss. Nintendo should go all out and ensure that the online portions of games like Super Smash Bros are the best they can be.

We’ve written and suggested our bit but can only hope for Nintendo to put some of the aforementioned improvements in place over the next year to improve the gaming experience. The Switch offers a lot of games although it needs some tweaks to help eliminate some of the lingering issues that have been affecting gamers.