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Oct 28, 2017
16,773
One of the things I loved about Vita is how easy it was to see the good releases on it. Whenever something good came to the store it was easy to see and didn't get buried. Whenever there was a game sale the good stuff worth buying discounted was easy to see.
 

AppleKid

Member
Feb 21, 2018
2,476
The Switch has a large library of quality titles. It also has a large library of shovelware and ports. Pointing out one doesn't discredit the other, but celebrating some "big number" of games without proper breakdown or analysis will of course lead to a thread like this one 😒
 

CaviarMeths

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
10,655
Western Canada
What discoverability tools is the eShop lacking right now? I'm not seeing a huge difference between PSN and eShop. The big difference seems to be the actual front page of the storefront, PSN giving huge visibility to the big new AAA game(s) and eShop giving new releases equal screen real estate. Like, unless you're just opening the store to buy the new 1st party game or Grand Theft Auto, neither seems to have any inherent advantage at finding a particular game. Both give you options for filtering by genre, price range, etc. Both have easy-to-see deals section, a featured section, and best-selling page. And given the seemingly regular occurrence of "X indie game sells more on Switch than PS4," I'm not sure that "I can't find the good games among all this shovelware" is a problem that plagues most Switch owners.
 

Miscend

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
265
Actually there are plenty of great indie titles on the Switch. The thing is with AAA games these days everyone plays it safe and there is little innovation. Also Indie games are not all shovelware. If you follow Switch reviews on sites with decent Nintendo coverage. You'll see there is an 8/10 or higher scoring indie game releasing on the eShop nearly every week.
 

SMD

Member
Oct 28, 2017
6,341
Do you mean like on streaming services Netflix etc? Yea that's bad too but I only ever look at the Horror section on that and there is nowhere near that amount of stuff to look through. I am mainly up to date with most films so very rarely will I see something I have not heard about or already seen.

No I mean in general, go to any supermarket or media shop (I dunno where you live so in the UK you've had over the years Our Price, HMV, Woolworths, Virgin, That's Entertainment, etc) and look at their VHS/DVD section. Or Blockbusters RIP
 

Deleted member 4037

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
6,989
Really I think at the end of the day, just praising a number is pointless. You can argue that this shows devs are eager to make stuff on switch... and we kind of already knew that. What the real question should be is how much of that is specifically from big third party devs who can draw over more of the core gaming audience. The switch is doing great, but really its nothing to clap about that they have a lot of games if a portion goes largely unnoticed
 

qrac

Member
Nov 13, 2017
752
It's good. You know a system is succesfull when the floodgates open and games are pouring in. The same with the Wii/NDS/PS2.

But there is also a lot of sh*t, that can't be denied.

I have some 40-50 games for my Switch. And have filled my wishlist (can't add any more games, I think the limit is 100 games... why put a limit on a wishlist?).
 

Evergarden

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,408
We can see that shovelware is especially a big problem for the western market. Japan has %40 less games from the both Europe and US.
 

OmegaDL50

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,626
Philadelphia, PA
Quality control wouldn't increase the number of good games. And some people's idea of quality control here is no game I haven't heard of, no mobile port, no game that wasn't done better else where. This is the last place I would want deciding what a worthwhile release was lol.

The is unfortunately true, especially considering the fact that this is an enthusiast forum too.
 
Oct 29, 2017
4,721
And yet there are less than 100 retail titles (actual retail games, not games initially released on eShop and then later given a retail release) available worldwide...

Retail is a wasteland outside of Nintendo's first party titles and a very few, very select number of 3rd party releases.
 

CaviarMeths

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
10,655
Western Canada
We can see that shovelware is especially a big problem for the western market. Japan has %40 less games from the both Europe and US.
I may be wrong, but I think that western indies need to have a Japanese publisher to release their games in Japan. It's a hard barrier for any smaller team that doesn't have the resources or language proficiency to secure a publisher.

And yet there are less than 100 retail titles (actual retail games, not games initially released on eShop and then later given a retail release) available worldwide...
This is a bizarre and oddly specific gate to keep.
 
Oct 29, 2017
4,721
Do you realise how you come across when you say things like that?

The distinction I'm making is obvious. i.e, not Limited Run releases, or things like Stardew Valley and Rocket League; which got retail releases after its initial eShop release.

I'm only including games that were originally designed for retail (So this includes Monster Boy: And the Cursed Kingdom, but not the Wonderboy: The Dragon's Trap remake for instance).
 

CaviarMeths

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
10,655
Western Canada
The distinction I'm making is obvious. i.e, not Limited Run releases, or things like Stardew Valley and Rocket League; which got retail releases after its initial eShop release.

I'm only including games that were originally designed for retail (So this includes Monster Boy: And the Cursed Kingdom, but not the Wonderboy: The Dragon's Trap remake for instance).
Lol...

Got 'em. Honestly Phantom Thief I'm disappointed you'd even try to fool people into thinking Switch had more than 100 games that actually count as real games that people are allowed to buy in a store.
 

SMD

Member
Oct 28, 2017
6,341
The distinction I'm making is obvious. i.e, not Limited Run releases, or things like Stardew Valley and Rocket League; which got retail releases after its initial eShop release.

I'm only including games that were originally designed for retail (So this includes Monster Boy: And the Cursed Kingdom, but not the Wonderboy: The Dragon's Trap remake for instance).

The distinction is obvious, just not in the way you're describing.
 

Version 3.0

Member
Oct 27, 2017
11,139
That's not quite fair, Nintendo always drip-feeds their first-party releases; the Switch isn't much better or worse in that regard.

True, Switch isn't any better. But it should be. I was hoping the Switch would receive basically double the 1st party support due to its hybrid nature: all of what would've been home and portable games in the past. I continue to hope that, but so far, it hasn't materialized, even as the 3DS finally dies off.

But the flood of indie support has been great.
 

Evergarden

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,408
I may be wrong, but I think that western indies need to have a Japanese publisher to release their games in Japan. It's a hard barrier for any smaller team that doesn't have the resources or language proficiency to secure a publisher.

Hmm, I don't know how things work on publishing side but this might be the case here. However, I think the main reason is most of the shovelware do not support Japanese and that's why they don't end up polluting the JP eShop.
 

JoshuaJSlone

Member
Dec 27, 2017
715
Indiana
I remember looking at release lists and noting December 2017 and 2018 each had a few days with around 20 releases and thinking "Well, I suppose that's bound to happen in December." But then there've been several more days like that this year, so it's like December forgot to turn off. Basically every Thursday is nuts.
 

Kureransu

Member
Oct 25, 2017
632
The distinction I'm making is obvious. i.e, not Limited Run releases, or things like Stardew Valley and Rocket League; which got retail releases after its initial eShop release.

I'm only including games that were originally designed for retail (So this includes Monster Boy: And the Cursed Kingdom, but not the Wonderboy: The Dragon's Trap remake for instance).
But what's the point of trying to spin it in such a way to mage it a negative that the physical cane later? When consumer A walks in the store to check out their switch library, they aren't gonna say "ok I'm going to ignore every title that wasn't originally planned for retail release".

Also (to those still clinging to it), let the port argument go. The switch user base is now approaching 3 times the Wii U base, so it's safe to say those games have a market on the switch. You have to remember that at this point you are the minority when it comes to people who own a switch as Wii U vs. people who didn't. There's a reason just about every port outsold it's Wii u counterpart. Abd this is coming from someone who owned a Wii U add refuses to buy a single port. I actually want more ports to come over so the games can shine like they should. (Tokyo mirage sessions, Xenoblade X, paper Mario color splash). not every release has to be for you personally, and it doesn't make them have "no games" because of that same reason.
 
Nov 8, 2017
3,532
Wow, that's an impressive number. I had no idea.

I've been looking for a reason to get a Switch for a while now, but struggling to justify it given that it seemed like most games I might be interested in are either Wii U ports I've already played or indie games I can already play on PS4. Surely there has to be some great Switch exclusives in that number that are flying under the radar?
 

Deleted member 426

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
7,273
Need to see receipts Jack.
And What's your angle exactly? I read the Nintendo threads and don't really engage in console warring and have never seen you post. So I can only assume why you're here posting.
Then it is a problem for you that you see anyone that makes any slightly negative comment about anything related to Nintendo as console warrioring, because reading my posts it's clear that's not what I'm doing.
 

Zool

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,233
One of the things I loved about Vita is how easy it was to see the good releases on it. Whenever something good came to the store it was easy to see and didn't get buried. Whenever there was a game sale the good stuff worth buying discounted was easy to see.
Yup. How did that happen? Knowing Vita had around 1600 games..
 

tolkir

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,252
Nintendo will crash the video game industry with those thousands of shovelware games like Atari did.
 

Pekola

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,507
Phantom Thief shaking the table again. Good.

How many games do y'all play in a year? This rhetoric that they're all shovelware or not enough quality content is...very on-brand for Era.

Even if that were the case, the Switch has over 100 retail releases. Are y'all really telling me that's NOT enough games to pick and choose from in the span of 24 months?
 

Deleted member 9857

user requested account closure
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
2,977
it'd be good if they had a rating system of some sort like PSN does or even allowed reviews like XBL plus the option to factor that in for search results

"Nintendo Switch now has 1800+ games in under 2 years"
yeah, that's kind of a problem.

honestly yeah, there's way too much utter garbage that's been released

that's not to say the Switch is lacking quality games, there's a large number of excellent games available for it & it's a shame some of it will get lost in the flood
 

Genio88

Banned
Jun 4, 2018
964
Unfortunately most of them are indies, mobile ports and old ports in general, granted i love my Switch but i hope for more third party support in the future, Mortal Combat XI and Doom Eternal are good examples
 

Bioshocker

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,199
Sweden
I hate that "yes, most of them are indie..." even needs to be implicitly or explicitly acknowledged. Having a big publisher's logo in the splash screen is not in any way an intrinsic indicator of high quality.

Games are games and the indie scene is in a golden age. I adore the fact that the Switch has become such a natural home for it.

Absolutely true. AAA doesn't necessarily mean great. But for me personally there isn't much there, despite the lage number of games released. No RDR 2, no Battlefield, no Tomb Raider, no NHL. The gaps are pretty big. I still view Switch as a platform for those who like Nintendo's games first and foremost.
 

Opposable

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,367
Some of the games on the eshop are taking the piss. I saw that all the kairosoft mobile games are on there that I bought about 7 years ago for less than £1 each. Only now they're about £8 each
 

Hermii

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,685
I think Damon Baker was on to something when talking about curation and quality over quantity in the early days of the platform even if it was very criticized on gaf. There is no way anyone can keep up with 4 new games a day.
 

Epilexia

Member
Jan 27, 2018
2,675
There is no way anyone can keep up with 4 new games a day.

You don't need to buy 4 games a day.

You need to buy the games that are appealing to your personal tastes.

So with 4 games a day, it's more easy that a diverse range of public can find a game satisfying his personal tastes.

The problem is that a lot of people on Era seems to have a "general consensus" approach to the medium.
 

Deleted member 3862

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
940
Something really unexpected happened with my Switch. I've been playing a shit ton of Diablo 3 on it.

I have a gaming PC and I love it. I've owned Diablo 3 for years. When Diablo 3 was first announced for PS3 I turned my nose up at it. A guy I was working with at the time was excited and I said "no you uncultured clod, Diablo is and always has been a PC game".

Over Christmas break a friend convinced me to pick it up, and it was on sale, so I did. The game lends itself so well to the portable format, and I love getting in a few rifts before bed or knocking out some of my season journey. I was so against the idea for so long and I was so totally wrong.
 

K Samedi

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,989
Amazing numbers indeed. Lots of devs are interested in developing for it. I saw a survey a month ago orso where more devs than last year were working on Switch projects. Interest was very high. It will eventually lead to pretty much all games coming over.

And yet there are less than 100 retail titles (actual retail games, not games initially released on eShop and then later given a retail release) available worldwide...

Retail is a wasteland outside of Nintendo's first party titles and a very few, very select number of 3rd party releases.

This is the first time I heard someone complaining about the number of original retail titles lol.
 

freikugeln

Member
Oct 27, 2017
337
I think Damon Baker was on to something when talking about curation and quality over quantity in the early days of the platform even if it was very criticized on gaf. There is no way anyone can keep up with 4 new games a day.

I don't know why people are approaching this with an 80s/90s gaming market mentality when you could cover it all in a monthly magazine. The industry has grown a lot and since the indie boom is much more similar to the book or music market.

Do you know of every book or album released daily? How many of them are good and how many are bad? Does that even bother people who buy books and music?

You don't need to be in the know for every game release and there doesn't need to be a quality quota in a digital market. Granted you have internet access you have all the tools to find and get thoroughly informed about any game that interests you.
 

Kelanflyter

Banned
Nov 9, 2017
1,730
France
61 Switch games have a Metacritic score of 85 or higher

215 Switch games have a score of 79 or above.

506 Switch games have a score of 70 or above.

So while there is still likely a lot of shovel ware in the eShop there are still probably at least 500 titles that are average at worst.
And Metacritic don't even list all Switch games.
 

Mendrox

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
9,439
Great options for many players. Most of the titles are not interesting to me cause they look bad like most mobile games on Android stores. Switch has more than enough good games for users that didn't use a Wii U too. I am just glad they were able to release Smash that quick so I don't need anything else in the coming months.
 

Deleted member 2254

user requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
21,467
It's great to see a lot of games (even if it's mainly indies or AA projects) launching on Switch along with the other consoles or shortly after. The previous Nintendo consoles have been a nightmare for third parties, it's probably since the SNES that it's not in an ideal shape and now the Switch comes close enough. It still misses a high percentage of the games with the highest playerbases and the biggest sales (nothing from Rockstar, barely anything from Activision or EA, Ubisoft not bringing their biggest games there, etc.), but much of it is, again, due to the raw power difference of the console. In a future with good 5G, 6G or whatever connections avaialable affordably in about any area, I'd like to see an evolution of the Switch concept: a raw power machine that rivals PS and Xbox that you have on your TV, then dock it out and the tablet screen becomes a streaming device, so you can still play the big triple-As on the go. That would ultimately solve all issues.
 

SMD

Member
Oct 28, 2017
6,341
Rockstar have LA Noire and are rumoured to be bringing GTA V.

Ubisoft are streaming their Assassin's Creed titles in Japan so they're keeping the machine in mind.
 

Jakenbakin

Member
Jun 17, 2018
11,781
What discoverability tools is the eShop lacking right now? I'm not seeing a huge difference between PSN and eShop. The big difference seems to be the actual front page of the storefront, PSN giving huge visibility to the big new AAA game(s) and eShop giving new releases equal screen real estate. Like, unless you're just opening the store to buy the new 1st party game or Grand Theft Auto, neither seems to have any inherent advantage at finding a particular game. Both give you options for filtering by genre, price range, etc. Both have easy-to-see deals section, a featured section, and best-selling page. And given the seemingly regular occurrence of "X indie game sells more on Switch than PS4," I'm not sure that "I can't find the good games among all this shovelware" is a problem that plagues most Switch owners.
I'm wondering the same thing? I don't use my Xbox do I can't speak for their store but I would take Nintendo's store over Sonys any day to be honest. And while people can talk about discoverability it seems kind of disingenuous that anyone on a gaming hobbyist website struggles with finding games worth pursuing.

Even then sometimes I just get on the consoles and browse through genres I like and wishlist what appeals to me. Of course it's a lot harder on PSN because trailers for some reason struggle to load and often the program just crashes.
 

Feraligatre

Banned
Jun 9, 2018
37
I actually think that number is a huge detriment to the console and I'm not really sure why people are celebrating this. The Switch has a massive shovel ware problem and I'd go as far to say 80-85% of games on the eshop are not worth anyone's time. It's embarrassing that Nintendo allows some of the low quality, massively inflated, and highly predatory software on a store that once firmly represented a contrast to the atrocious mobile market. It's dangerous to consumers that most of you don't see this. I for one have lost so much faith in purchasing from the eshop that I'm reluctant to buy anything non-first party because I've been burned so many times. Yet on PS4 I have no problem browsing and considering blind purchases because Sony atleast makes an effort to curate their content. This problem has shifted my attention away from the Switch, which was at a time my primary console.

Also, this practice isn't sustainable whatsoever; if Nintendo keeps letting games poor in, especially at such high prices, the market will inevitably crash. This will drive down prices considerably (you already see it with some of the absurd discounts) which is really unfortunate because it will disincentivize genuine developers from investing in the system because not only is the amount of products stretched so thin that it's difficult to separate their content amidst the shovelware, but they won't be able to sell at a high enough price to recoup costs while remaining competitive. Nintendo needs to stop this dangerous practice of not vetting the content before they destroy the integrity of the eshop and in conjunction, the console itself.
 

Raijinto

self-requested ban
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
10,091
I actually think that number is a huge detriment to the console and I'm not really sure why people are celebrating this. The Switch has a massive shovel ware problem and I'd go as far to say 80-85% of games on the eshop are not worth anyone's time. It's embarrassing that Nintendo allows some of the low quality, massively inflated, and highly predatory software on a store that once firmly represented a contrast to the atrocious mobile market. It's dangerous to consumers that most of you don't see this. I for one have lost so much faith in purchasing from the eshop that I'm reluctant to buy anything non-first party because I've been burned so many times. Yet on PS4 I have no problem browsing and considering blind purchases because Sony atleast makes an effort to curate their content. This problem has shifted my attention away from the Switch, which was at a time my primary console.

Also, this practice isn't sustainable whatsoever; if Nintendo keeps letting games poor in, especially at such high prices, the market will inevitably crash. This will drive down prices considerably (you already see it with some of the absurd discounts) which is really unfortunate because it will disincentivize genuine developers from investing in the system because not only is the amount of products stretched so thin that it's difficult to separate their content amidst the shovelware, but they won't be able to sell at a high enough price to recoup costs while remaining competitive. Nintendo needs to stop this dangerous practice of not vetting the content before they destroy the integrity of the eshop and in conjunction, the console itself.

Sorry to be condescending but I'm really disappointed people aren't catching onto this.

How are Sony curating their store in ways Nintendo are not? You say that like it's a fact and don't extrapolate on why this is so when it's incredibly easy to show that what you claim is not true.

See exhibit A:

 

Feraligatre

Banned
Jun 9, 2018
37
How are Sony curating their store in ways Nintendo are not? You say that like it's a fact and don't extrapolate on why this is so when it's incredibly easy to show that what you claim is not true.

See exhibit A:


Ya it's important to note Sony isn't perfect, and of course there are going to be exceptions to the rule. But I also doubt they're allowing such a high number of games on their store compared to Nintendo's figures.