Just bought a Nintendo Switch and.... why is the eShop so empty?

[Typhonsentra]

I finally caved and bought a Switch on Black Friday. Given that the system is nearly 3 years, I figured now would be a point overloaded with an amazing backlog of software, similar to my experience when I finally got a Wii U 2 years ago.

I played Odyssey back when it came out when I went to see my brother and his family for Christmas 2017 the whole way through, and owned Zelda for Wii U so I was able to hold out for a long stretch.

When I logged in and got into the eShop, I kept thinking I was doing something wrong with search. I took for granted this thing would have a ton of apps by now but.... all that came up were Hulu and Youtube? What's going on here? I then tried to look up the back catalog for RPGs. A few must-haves like Trials of Mana but mostly just downscaled old ports.

And speaking of old ports.... no virtual console? Not that I'm huge on rebuying straight ports for a premium but it would've helped pad out what feels like a pretty barren storefront. The system is pretty convenient and feels nice though, and I am looking forward to Pokemon despite the negativity, but I guess I just missed hearing about all of these issues and/or just assumed they'd be fixed by now.

 

[Bog]

Should've researched a bit more before buying, huh?

 

[Jacobson]

What a clickbait title... could've just said you don't like anything on the eshop.

 

[Dremorak]

I came in here to say I've bought more on switch than any other console this gen and my wishlist is still like 50 games long so not sure what you're saying OP....

But it looks like you're not happy because it doesnt have netflix and virtual console? You can find that out with a quick google

 

[SturokBGD]

Not to worry, you could always get your jollies winding up Nintendo fans on internet forums instead.

 

[Okabe]

Oh you

 

[rpm]

There are currently 2929 games on the North American Switch eShop (not including preorders/games listed as "coming soon").

Maybe don't buy a console if you don't like any of its thousands of games?

 

[808s & Villainy]

You mean you don't like anything on the eShop. It's far from empty

 

[LOLDSFAN]

And speaking of old ports.... no virtual console? ... I just missed hearing about all of these issues and/or just assumed they'd be fixed by now.

Click to shrink...

Come on, at least do a little bit of research before buying a brand new console.

 

[Vonocourt]

Barren is different then you not wanting anything on offer.

 

[1upsuper]

It's a macca for modern indie titles, plus you have nearly the entire Neo Geo library on there as well as a bunch of Sega Ages titles, Konami collections, Hamster arcade ports, and M2 enhanced ports. It's missing a ton of retro libraries but it's not nothing.

The real problem is sifting through the garbage. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't keep up on releases as they happened. I'm not sure how you're supposed to find the good stuff.

 

[Unicorn]

Hey all, I couldn't find Halo on PSN. Why PSN so empty?!?

 

[Rhaknar]

 

[Keldroc]

Barren? What are you talking about? The eShop is packed to bursting with shovelware garbage of the highest order. If anything the problem is rooting through the port trash to get to the real games.

 

[Bob Beat]

Our obsession with fuckin YouTube. Netflix.

 

[sph3re]

Guys, I just downloaded this Steam thing a few minutes ago and I'm wondering why I'm struggling to find good games on here

 

[rpm]

Hey all, I couldn't find Halo on PSN. Why PSN so empty?!?

Click to shrink...

I searched for the meaning of life on the eShop and all I got was anime shit and "My Riding Stables - Life with Horses".

I can't believe Nintendo has such a barren digital store.

 

[RedOnePunch]

I get what you mean OP, but you should have worded things differently. You already played the non-exclusives you're interested in on other platforms, but from now on, you can buy new releases on the switch and have them on the go. It's been amazing for me on the train, especially with indie titles.

 

[MisterAnderson]

Is this a serious complaint? The eShop is brimming with great games.

 

[logash]

Yeah, mostly ports of old games besides some really awesome Nintendo stuff. I confess that I thought the switch would have more exclusives by now. At the same time, you could have found out all this by looking it up. The complaints you have aren't exactly new within the gaming community.

 

[Billfisto]

Hey, thanks for your bad take.

If anything, the Switch store has too many games.

 

[bionic77]

Hey all, I couldn't find Halo on PSN. Why PSN so empty?!?

Click to shrink...

:lol

I was about to post the same joke.

Sorry you are disappointed OP. A lot of good games on the Switch but no shame if it's not for you.

 

[maximumzero]

This thread sounds better suited as a formal letter written to Nintendo instead. They'd have better answers to your questions than we would.

 

[Corporate Clown]

The eshop is generally the worst store to browse and find deals on, but content is not one of its issues.

 

[Typhonsentra]

Barren? What are you talking about? The eShop is packed to bursting with shovelware garbage of the highest order. If anything the problem is rooting through the port trash to get to the real games.

Click to shrink...

Yeah that's another thing. PSN is not very good at genre sorting either but at least it feels semi-logical in that the things you'd most likely want are at the top when searching. When I went to look through RPGs on the eShop you had Pokemon at the top which made sense, but everything after the top 10 just felt all over the board. I remember scrolling for what felt like a long time before I found the Mana Collection, and you have to keep waiting for different parts of the list to load as you scroll.

 

[Meatwad]

lmao almost 3,000 games = empty

 

[Jolkien]

That's one clickbait title. Might research more on a product you're about to invest in. I have trouble believe out of al the games on the eShop not or only a handful interest you.

 

[Fat4all]

Come on, at least do a little bit of research before buying a brand new console.

Click to shrink...

 

[thekonamicode]

Complains about lack of Virtual Console but passes over the countless arcade perfect Neo Geo titles, arcade archives, Konami collections, SNK anthology, Street Fighter anthology, Capcom classics, more Final Fantasy games than any Nintendo system in the past, and Nintendo Online giving access to over 60 NES/SNES games?

 

[CloseTalker]

It's at least a little hilarious you'd actively know so little about the thing you drop $300 on

 

[rpm]

Complains about lack of Virtual Console but passes over the countless arcade perfect Neo Geo titles, arcade archives, and Nintendo Online giving access to over 60 NES and SNES games?

Click to shrink...

They couldn't be assed to Google if the VC even exists on the Switch before they bought it, OP probably doesn't even know these things exist

 

[Deleted member 25606]

Maybe if your only into big titles where it's nintendo or old ports.

But it's a beast as a portable indie machine and hands down beats the other consoles for that right now. It's limited compared to PC sure, but again it's portable.

 

[ghibli99]

The lack of streaming apps kinda irks me as well, but I've bought more games on the eShop than the PS4 and XB1 combined, mostly because of the portable convenience, whether they're multiplat or not.

 

[shinken]

You bought a Switch because Black Friday! Consumerism at its best.
This Black Friday I also bought stuff that I don't really need, but at least I did research on the product and have no regrets.
You should do the same.

 

[NightShift]

The eshop does have a lot of garbage on it and doesn't do a good job at highlighting the good shit but there is a stupidly large amount of games on there. How are you looking at all that and finding nothing you like?

Also just to counteract this thread, I just bought a Switch and I'm feeling overwhelmed right now.

 

[hussien-11]

I then tried to look up the back catalog for RPGs. A few must-haves like Trials of Mana but mostly just downscaled old ports.

Click to shrink...

Sorry but are you serious? And since when are multiplatform releases considered old ports?
It is funny how you mentioned Wii U, which had... like, 2 rpg games in its entire life.

Switch does have many excellent rpgs, both Japanese and western:

Xenoblade 2
Torna
Octopath Traveler
Valkyria Chronicles 4
Tales of Vesperia
Undertale
Ni no Kuni
FF games
DQ11S
The World Ends With You
Atelier Ryza
3 Disgaea games
Fire Emblem Three Houses
Saga Scarlet Grace
Pokemon Sword Shield

... just a few examples.

 

[Disclaimer]

Uh, there are tons of RPGs.

 

[StreamedHams]

What a clickbait title... could've just said you don't like anything on the eshop.

Click to shrink...

This. There are THOUSANDS of titles on the eshop.

Hell, I make a mandatory trip to the Great
Deals page, because the discounts are usually pretty good.

 

[CloseTalker]

Sorry but are you serious? And since when are multiplatform releases considered old ports?
It is funny how you mentioned Wii U, which had... like, 2 rpg games in its entire life.

Switch does have many excellent rpgs, both Japanese and western:

Xenoblade 2
Torna
Octopath Traveler
Valkyria Chronicles 4
Tales of Vesperia
Undertale
Ni no Kuni
FF games
DQ11S
The World Ends With You
Atelier Ryza
3 Disgaea games
Fire Emblem Theee Houses
Saga Scarlet Grace
Pokemon Sword Shield

... just a few examples.

Click to shrink...

OP honestly isn't worth you putting this much effort into a post. If they cared, they can google

 

[Typhonsentra]

Yeah, mostly ports of old games besides some really awesome Nintendo stuff. I confess that I thought the switch would have more exclusives by now. At the same time, you could have found out all this by looking it up. The complaints you have aren't exactly new within the gaming community.

Click to shrink...

Absolutely on me. I know know I'm complaining but this isn't me saying it wasn't worth getting, just baffled by decisions Nintendo has made which feel like things I would take for granted after my experiences with the Wii U.

Like yeah, I could look up inf about there being no virtual console but is it really unreasonable to assume it'd be there given it's been a part of their platform strategy since the original Wii was launched 13 years ago? I wouldn't really care as I have only ever bought one game from the Virtual Console in all these years (Earthbound Zero/Mother), but yeah, it surprised me to not see that get ported over. I remember it not being at launch, but people on GAF kept insisting it would come but I guess it didn't.

 

[Jessie]

I figure you would've done some research in those 3 years.

 

[jediyoshi]

This is the video game version of the thread about that guy expecting Game of Thrones on Netflix.

 

[QuixoticNeutral]

The way to understand the eShop is that it isn't by any means a console replacement. It's a Steam replacement. It attracts a similar kind of game and a similar audience, and that audience is drowning in software.

It does have a massive discoverability problem, to the point that you have to know what you're interested in ahead of time, check if it's there, and pop it on the wish list if you're waiting for a sale or not ready to buy it outright.

I'm not fond of subscription models, but the online subscription is a significantly more cost-effective VC for most casual use cases. You probably didn't pay $5 on the Wii U to sate your curiosity about Clu Clu Land. I still prefer the old purchase model for fully offline digital ownership of games you know you'll want on hand (which is why my Wii U serves as a sort of Metroid anthology system), but for the casual dabblers who had buyer's remorse from hunting for the NES Classic only to put down most of the games after a few minutes, Nintendo Switch Online is a significantly better fit. I say this as someone who loathes paying for online connectivity and disapproved of Nintendo hopping aboard that train.

The first-party back catalogue is admittedly not up to shape with the Wii U's offerings yet, much less the Wii. My Wii U effectively doubled as a Game Boy Ultra, as the whole GBA library felt surprisingly great on the GamePad.

 

[JustJavi]

Are you trolling op? If not, where have you been hinding for the last 3 years? Also, out of over 1000 games you can find in the eshop, you can't find anything you like?

 

[Freezasaurus]

Empty? There is a literal avalanche of new software every single week.

 

[JaseMath]

The eShop has some great titles, but it presents like the toy clearance section at Target.

 

[logash]

Absolutely on me. I know know I'm complaining but this isn't me saying it wasn't worth getting, just baffled by decisions Nintendo has made which feel like things I would take for granted after my experiences with the Wii U.

Like yeah, I could look up inf about there being no virtual console but is it really unreasonable to assume it'd be there given it's been a part of their platform strategy since the original Wii was launched 13 years ago? I wouldn't really care as I have only ever bought one game from the Virtual Console in all these years (Earthbound Zero/Mother), but yeah, it surprised me to not see that get ported over. I remember it not being at launch, but people on GAF kept insisting it would come but I guess it didn't.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, like I said, these complaints aren't new in gaming circles. I feel like we have a thread once every two or so months on how it sucks that there is no virtual console and how it's baffling that Netflix isn't on the console. What you are complaining about isn't unreasonable but just be prepared for some back lash since they've been apparent for a while now.

Other than that, I don't think there is anything wrong with what you said in the OP.

 

[LBsquared]

Oh I see, you fancy yourself a master baiter.

 

[Texan365]

Absolutely on me. I know know I'm complaining but this isn't me saying it wasn't worth getting, just baffled by decisions Nintendo has made which feel like things I would take for granted after my experiences with the Wii U.

Like yeah, I could look up inf about there being no virtual console but is it really unreasonable to assume it'd be there given it's been a part of their platform strategy since the original Wii was launched 13 years ago? I wouldn't really care as I have only ever bought one game from the Virtual Console in all these years (Earthbound Zero/Mother), but yeah, it surprised me to not see that get ported over. I remember it not being at launch, but people on GAF kept insisting it would come but I guess it didn't.

Click to shrink...

It likely won't be back, as they've already transitioned to a subscription model with Nintendo Online. You can complain about that all you want, but that shit has been advertised all over. Do some bare minimum research next time. Or just browse ResetEra...

 

[Echo]

There is a million things wrong with the eShop, but available software is not one of them. My own digital wishlist is like 40+ titles and I only got my Switch in October.