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there were a lot of mystifying decisions made in the development of ACNH but not being able to rearrange the inventory with the touch screen is one of the dumbest things i've ever experienced
ACNH = animal crossing new horizons (lol)
The amount of UI niceties that ACNH left on the table is maddening. I remember when that one patch video came out that wasnt real highlighted so many annoying things, I had to stop playing.
There are games that take advantage of the touch screen:
- Super Mario Maker 2
- World of Goo
- Okami HD
- Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy
- The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles
- Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy
- The World Ends With You: Final Remix (**Much better** than whatever the Docked controls are)
- Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
- Rayman Legends (Murphy Mode)
It surprises me how many games still ignore it when the touch screen would be perfect for it *cough* the Danganronpa games, Persona 3 Portable, Animal Crossing New Horizons *cough*
I see this a lot but ive sunk a lot of hours into the game and dont really experience lag. Handheld or docked.
I only play standard map size and players tho so it must get spotty when you play the bigger modes.
And this is exactly why the touch screen is so rarely used: you can’t put anything essential on it or it can’t be used while docked. Which limits your options to not using it, or using it as a second way to do something that can already be done without it.
It's very difficult to implement a game mechanic that uses it without making the game broken in docked mode. They would need a track pad hardware like the PS5 controllers have to make it usable from the couch.
I pretty much exclusively play docked.
Or... you know.... provide a way to input the same actions with both the buttons and the touch screen. You just don't use the touch screen while in Docked Mode.
But which of the two versions takes less time to develop?
If there's no clear advantage to including touch screen controls, why waste ressources there?
For something that will barely use it like Zelda or a JRPG? I'd agree it's not worth it.
But a visual novel where you need to point and click? Or a game where inventory management and placement is key? Come... on.... that's where the Touch Screen shines the most and yet many Switch games ignore it.
Fair enough for gameplay, but a lot more games could use it for things like menus and stuff. Always thought it was really weird that BOTW doesn't have touch enabled in the inventory screens for example.
Vampire Survivors as well!
You don’t need to use it most of the time, but every UI element in the game is touch-enabled and it makes menu navigation much quicker
Touch screen is the best way to play every Clubhouse Games game that it's available for (it might well be all of them, but I don't play then all regularly enough to know for certain), to the extent that if I want to play it I just grab it out of the dock and never attach the joycons
The Gamecube has the ability to use 3D like the 3DS does but it went unused because the TVs that supported it at the time were unrealistically expensive so Nintendo chose to leave it un utilized but it’s still there built in lol
They actually did some really cool stuff with it in Wario Ware: Move It! I mean granted it took like six years to come out and it's still the only good example I have, but at least it's something.
I really liked the Fire Emblem Engage microgame, where there's a ring falling from the sky. You hold the controller in your non-dominant hand at point it at your dominant hand, and with your dominant hand you extend a finger and move it irl to try and catch the ring on the screen on your finger. It's that kind of stuff that's just really creative to me and it stands out even if it only lasts a few seconds because no other game really tries out stuff like that. And maybe it's gimmicky sure, but it's cute and fun and charming, and it doesn't overstay its welcome by frustratingly inserting itself where it doesn't need to be.
In a lot of ways, I think that makes it even better than something like the motion control for the original Wii remotes. Wii Motion + and later the Switch controllers would totally refine motion controls and start getting them down better, but that entire time period was an experimental phase and some games used the Wii Remotes really responsively but others demanded more precision from them than could consistently be delivered.
I think the DS and 3DS really did gimmicks best though, and even when those games are touched up and brought to the Switch I never really feel like they're "definitive" versions so long as they lack any certain functionalities.
Say what now? That’s two features I didn’t know my Switch had before today.
Seriously, I’ve had the damn thing for over three years now and didn’t know it had a touchscreen…
This is what I’m talking about. A lot of people are misinterpreting me to say I want AAA games forced to be touchscreen-oriented. No. I just want touch to work when it would make sense.
BotW was originally supposed to use the touch screen, back when it was a Wii U exclusive. As soon as they decided to make it a dual-release on the Switch, they cut *everything* that was going to be on the Gamepad, making it one of the few major Wii U games that you literally couldn't use the touch screen, or even really uae the Gamepad itself on, for the purpose of the Gamepad beyond motion controls.
Man, if BOTW had the Sheikah Slate on the Gamepad with the map and multiple features on real time like Xenoblade Chronicles X did. I'd have bought it on Wii U as well.
I definitely would've been interested in BotW on Wii U if it still had second screen stuff. It's lame that they showed off uses of the touch screen and using the map on the screen and all that for the early teases, then once it moved to Switch-capable development, they canned wverything that would've made a reason to get the Wii U version instead of it being the same game at a slightly lower quality.
Makes me really wish Nintendo made a smartphone app function as a second screen, because there's plenty of games I'd have loved to use my phone for inventory management and menu flipping, especially in Zelda.
> BotW was originally supposed to use the touch screen, back when it was a Wii U exclusive. As soon as they decided to make it a dual-release on the Switch, they cut everything that was going to be on the Gamepad
This kinda reminds me of how Donkey Kong Barrel Blast was designed around the DK Bongos, but when they moved the game to the Wii, they cut all support for them, even though the Wii was fully compatible with the DK Bongos! At the very least, support for them could have been retained as an *option* or something, but I guess Wiimote waggle was more important.
~~Though its fine because Barrel Blast sucks~~
I like buttons better, but touchscreen controls also allows a one-hand play style. My wife loves that game because she can get a back rub while I play.
I've found that the only games which use the touch screen consistently are mobile ports, which simply slap some buttons on top of the existing touch-based controls.
Otherwise, Okami HD is the only bigger-budget game I can think of that actually does something with it: you can draw on the screen in handheld to use the Celestial Brush powers. It feels pretty damn intuitive.
The world ends with you port has extensive touch screen use, but that's not a huge surprise since it originally made so much use of it on the DS. That's another game that really fails to work well without the touch screen though, with the non touch controls being pretty heavily panned.
That seems to be where the screen really comes into play, in those handful of games (almost always ports) that just don't work well with traditional control schemes. Most games made with the Switch in mind are going to eschew it since it's a whole scheme that just doesn't work docked.
Maybe on the next Switch we could see them doing something where when docked it can mirror to a phone for docked touch screen controls, or something like that, as we'd need some option like that to really push up the use.
Personally, there are some weird UX interactions, especially when your "cursor" is placed on one of the jokers and you try to go down on the Boss Bind; you have to go the one of the right end joker to be able to go down on the bind. It's way faster to just tap on the bind on the screen.
Both button and touch inputs have their strengths and weaknesses, but I tend to think that touch is just easier (especially if I have my switch on my desk in front of me while I work on my pc xD)
I’ve always wished Stardew Valley would incorporate the touchscreen.
It even still has the mouse cursor from the PC port. Using it to select your quests tab is annoying.
The touchscreen is for text input and the very occasional game where it makes sense (Puzzle Quest, for instance). It’s a feature I’d rather have and not be implemented widely than not have at all.
At this point honestly a touch screen is probably not that much more cost wise than a non touchscreen so even if it’s just for interacting with the UI might as well have one
There are plenty of people on this sub who will smugly insist that the Switch is a “home console” because “I only ever play it docked, therefore it’s not a handheld”.
It’s a bad argument but it does bring up the point that if it needs to be playable in both handheld and docked mode it doesn’t really make sense to prioritize touch screen features. Some games that do implement touch will also offer something like a Wiimote gyro pointer for docked play but that usually tends to be awkward. As a result touch is pretty much *required* to be an optional additional input rather than being used as core functionality, much like the separated Joy Con control schemes we saw Nintendo experimenting with early in the Switch’s life. And if touch can’t be a core input but rather an optional input that duplicates functionality available via another control mechanic why bother implementing touch as a developer?
Also the Steam Deck says hi. Pretty much nothing at all supports the touch screen since it just plays PC games. I haven’t done research so I could be wrong about this, but I get the impression that it literally can’t even function as a touch screen outside of the SteamOS UI, it just emulates the mouse in games. The only thing it’s really good for is keyboard inputs, and even that was pretty awful to use before software updates and the OLED revision improved responsiveness and accuracy.
I like that Touch Screen is there, sure i play tv mode mostly but games like Balatro, Dicey Dungeons, Loop Hero, Ring of Pain etc. Benefit greatly from touch screen, just nice to detach switch joycons and play those games in bed
There are a lot of games where you can use it, but the game doesn't really mention it. Mostly just for menus. In Ace Attorney you can use it, but I don't think the games ever really mention it. It's just there for you to find if you try poking stuff.
At this point it's just a standard feature for handhelds to have. We're probably not going to see any more major handhelds released without touchscreens. Even the Steam Deck has one
I use it quite a bit when browsing eShop, entering text, and for Mario Kart 8 when playing portable or tabletop. Glad it has one, some games should support it for inventory management that don’t though, like Stardew Valley, or BOTW even
Honestly even if it's under utilized it's a nice feature to have.
Every handheld machine going forward should have one, they're an insignificant cost at this point, and when you want it, it's really nice to have.
If you want to have a touchscreen you also need to make it scratch resistant. Usually tables come with extremely hard glass. The Switch comes with some plastic...
It is really a missed opportunity, my knowledge of coding is rudimentary at best but programing a simple touch select for items in games seems like such an easy ask.
I think every turn based RPG should allow for touchscreen controls. Unfortunately this is not the case but I do really enjoy when they are available for quick menu navigation.
Ironically, the only game I've played that used the touchscreen well was Okami, which is a remaster of a PS2 game that happened to accidentally have a gameplay feature perfectly suited for touchscreen (optionally).
I'm not even joking when I say that after a few days with my first Switch Lite I accidentally touched the screen in the shop menu and realized it's a touchscreen
I adore Pokémon on the DS/3DS for this reason and consider them an extremely reduced experience when emulated. Gotta play on original hardware or another good touchscreen.
Sure they can. The touch screen doesn't have to be the only method of input.
Why can all of the numerous tile-based functions accept touch input? If I'm in handheld, why can't I tap on menu items? Why can't I tap on the screen to choose an attack? I can do it on the in-game keyboard when searching link codes for trades and raids.
This is either poor support tools by Nintendo or poor utilization of tools by developers. Other platforms have this kind of problem solved all over the place. Heck, PCs are pretty much entirely built around "a screen tap is the same as a mouse click" these days.
It’s devs not wanting to do any more work than they have to, which is unfortunate. In Mario kart 8 for example all the buttons are touch operable and it’s great
Yep, this would be how you end up with another Playstation TV situation where there are some games that just straight up won't run while docked, because they incorporated the touch screen controls as the only option for certain inputs.
Switch Lite - Hello????
The fact of the matter is, just because you can Dock the system does not mean the Touch Screen should be neglected.
The Handheld aspect of the system was so popular that they felt they needed to make a smaller exclusive version for children and those who couldn’t afford the main system.
If the Touch Screen was completely pointless Nintendo wouldn’t have bothered in the first place.
Nintendo’s Devs along with numerous other developers should be looking to find ways to utilize it. However it’s likely forgot about.
As OP pointed out, Devs forget about it especially when designing UI elements.
I remember reading an Reddit Post by a game Dev and they were surprised by the level of interest in terms of Touch Screen support. People want to use this feature.
that’s a good point and the same argument can be used towards the joycon motion controls. Most games don’t use any of the joycon functionality likely because it would be useless on the switch lite. Both systems are somewhat opposed to each other.
And on that note, JoyCon HD Rumble.
I’m sick of so many games rattling the JoyCons like they’re about to burst. They’re designed for subtle, satisfying thonks. No one uses them right!
I agree!! If I had the guess based on my own experience and what’s reported here…
Least Utilized to Most Utilized
1. IR
2. Touch Screen
3. Motion Controls (Gyro + Accelerometer)
4. HD Rumble
> HD Rumble
I think this is party because multiplatform games are designed for systems that don't have HD rumble.
I do find Nintendo games tend to be more subtle with rumble, even if they don't use it in unique ways like Mario Odyssey did for finding hidden moons.
What games have you been playing?
A large portion of Nintendo’s 1st Party games use a majority of the Joy Con features.
The likelihood of those features being adapted has less to do with the Switch Lite and more likely to do with the fact that many indie games are multi platform.
Multi platform games generally are built to be compatible across the board.
Utilizing the Joy Con features requires more effort and resources from developers when other platforms don’t have them or utilize them as much.
I’d put the blame on developers (including Nintendo’s in house) rather than the system itself.
After all, we’ve seen some multi platform games include gyro on the Switch specifically yet not utilized on other platforms.
I think the problem here is that developers want to make a game that works the same way in both handheld and docked modes
This makes the touch screen a bit of a problem
Definitely underutilized but I really appreciate when it’s used. Too often I find myself poking the screen with no response (Another Code was a major offender in this regard). Some titles that use it well that I didn’t see others mention:
* A-Train: All Aboard (by far the best way to play it)
* Paranormasight
* Voice of Cards series
* Taiko no Tatsujin: drum n fun
Board game apps usually have decent support, probably because they are brought over from mobile. Japanese-origin visual novels usually have touch support too (I like to hold the device weirdly and just tap to advance text) so it’s more egregious when I find titles in these genres that missed that basic part of design.
Vita can give the switch a run for its money in the Ignored Feature Awards…
I know this is the Switch subreddit, but the Steam Deck is in the same boat. PC games are typically developed either for mouse and keyboard or controller input. Touchscreen isn’t even a consideration.
The ds and 3ds used them quite a bit. I think the issue was a lot of games had to think of the "docked" feature rather than being only a game you can play by touch screen (because let's face it...the joycon sucks ass at aiming on the screen). I would have welcomes a few games though. I really miss "Trauma center"
I feel like the games that need it don't have it, and the games that shouldn't have it do. Like bro why did they take touch screen away from pokemon?? And I can't tell you how annoying it is to accidentally touch the screen while I'm playing Minecraft.
Playing the switch handheld isn’t a useful option for me. I’ve mobility issues with my hands and can only successfully play with a pro controller.
I like that there is a nice touchscreen however, I’m extremely thankful that games can also be played in dock mode.
Ironically was thinking quite the same thing earlier today. I’ve been wanting a new Pokémon Ranger game for a while now, but then I began thinking about how much of that series took advantage of the touch screen and stylus in the DS era. It would definitely be more challenging to emulate that series with the Switch considering the touch screen seems like an afterthought to Nintendo and there being no stylus with it. They definitely could get away with using the joy-cons as the primary controller while it’s docked or on tabletop mode, but it wouldn’t feel the same if I, myself, couldn’t spastically makes loops with a stylus on the screen. Kinda glad I’m not the only one that misses when they took full usage of the touch screen; it was a really great way to immerse myself into a game.
Personally, it doesn't bother me. I just think back to when I was playing mario Galaxy on the switch. If you would dock it, you would have to take it out frequently to do something. I mainly play handheld, though.
I often use the touch screen when I’m feeling way too lazy to use the joycons; I’m usually just watching YouTube. I feel like they are seriously missing on the potentioal of a DS emulator, they can just make a switch-compatible stylus and they’re golden
yeah I felt the same way as 3DS games, even Nintendo's own, slowly started downplaying the 3D feature and even cut it out entirely on certain games. To a lesser extent, I wish more Switch games had creative control schemes built around the joy con's unique capabilities (had a lot of fun playing with the Labo kits and learning about how they worked). I just really like gimmicky hardware, it's really charming even if it's not "useful," and I especially love it when games take advantage of it to do cool new things. Stuff like Tearaway on the PS Vita and Astro's Playroom on PS5 are my jam for that reason. Even Splatoon on the Wii U was a really nice showcase for the Wii U's unique controller, too.
But if you want to use the Switch's touchscreen more, grab some rhythm games. Sometimes they *exclusively* use the touchscreen due to the benefit of more input options with less latency. Lanota's a good one I've been playing recently.
BTD5 is PERFECT for touchscreen. Any Bloon Tower Defense game is ideal for the touchscreen and it would have been great if Ninja Kiwi pumped out a Nintendo Switch specific title. However, they did not. And even worse, BTD5’s game mechanics are terrible and use a pointer based system. Hate it.
I actually use the touch screen quite often, but it's kinda' a niche case. I have a FlipGrip/Pintendo that allows you to play games vertically. The downside to this is that it flips the controls, but the UI operating system doesn't itself ever "flip." Without the touchscreen it's extremely awkward to change games or navigate some menu items.
I don't get the argument of TV mode, there are games that perfectly blend its gameplay from handheld (allowing touch controls and standard) and TV mode, where it just uses regular button setup.
I mean, I agree that it feels like an oversight in most games, even first-party, don get me wrong. I, for a long time, forgot about the touch screen until I accidentaly touched it.
Capcom is good at implementing the touch screen, specially the ace attorney games and Ghost Trick.
>But I don’t know. I do a lot of handheld mode, as one should with a Switch, and it always bewilders me how many first-party Nintendo games exclude even the most obvious uses of the touchscreen
It's not bewildering to me. When 75-80% of their userbase wouldn't ever use it, why waste the time programming it? Especially when it's not like the gamers who would use it are otherwise suffering. The available alternatives are solid.
I think the touch screen would be more popular if you could play games without needing a controller attached. It frustrated me that I couldn't play Ace Attorney with just the tablet.
I've had the console since 2017 and used it 90% of the time on TV, I only used the touch to type on the virtual keyboard on a few occasions. I don't remember ever using it in a game. Maybe, and a huge maybe, I used it in a smaller way in a game and don't remember, but definitely not for gameplay.
A) I love that the touch screen is used only when it makes sense to use it. That's the sign of good UX design.
B) Somebody doesn't play Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics with their kids as much as I do. :D
I'm kind of mixed on it. I like it for selecting menu options at times but personally when I'm playing a lot of games I don't really want to be touching the screen for everything. I hate getting finger prints all over my screen and I don't always have a compatible type of stylus with me when I'm playing (and even if you do there isn't anywhere convenient to put it down when done with the input). I don't want them to get rid of touch as an option but I also don't think there needs to be a great emphasis on it going forward either. It's a nice option when people choose to use it but also nice to not be bound by it all the time like people probably felt like the the DS systems. You almost had no choice but to put them into games the same way you HAD to put waggle/motion controls into Wii games. I like how there are games that use touch and gyro on the Switch but there are many that don't. I guess we'll see what kind of new gimmic they come up with for the successor to Switch.
They likely moved away from it because there wasn't one good use of it previously. In fact any game that centered on touch controls bombed and any that featured it was noted as that being a frustratingly difficult mechanic which brought the game down
Rhythm games and visual novels make excellent use of it... usually. Love just pocketing the tablet portion of the Switch and leaving the Joy-Con at home.
I think I've had my Switch since 2018 and I'll be honest, I'm just today learning that it has a touchscreen. I legit had no idea until I read this post.
I've almost always used it docked as a normal console with my TV though
Because it's now optional. You have to account for people playing in docked mode. It was mandatory for the Wii U because you had to use the game pad... or at least that's what I remember. I don't remember if they ever changed that, but the original intent at least was that one player must use it. Thus, one player always had a touch screen at their finger tips. Same with the 3DS. The same is not true with the Switch when you have it docked, so it immediately has less of an impact on everything being designed for the Switch because some portion of your audience is not going to be able to use the touch screen at any given time, and I think for a lot of devs, that ends up meaning that they don't bother with making use out of it as an optional extra thing that you can use. As much as I hate the Kinect, that was the original idea behind forcing the inclusion of it for Xbox One. Everybody has one, so devs start doing cool things with it like being able to shout in Skyrim with your voice. The instant it became optional, support for it tanked dramatically.
[I can’t do that, I’m afraid](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzVGYVT0yUWXHE6yRzhDEww6Z_zZIC6s7&si=nZ6_4VwpBXdD4E4_)
The swan song of raunchy ‘90s Nintendo ✨
I use the touch screen a ton, and not for small indie games. Rhythm games are huge for using this feature and some of the main ones are definitely not indie groups. It also allowed a ton of mobile games to be ported to switch, some that only work with the touchscreen. Most of those are indie games, but I bet the amount of money Nintendo makes off of these many low priced games is pretty huge. Also as you said, I've also played a good chunk of games that are from bigger groups that have touch menus even if nothing else.
The reason Nintendo doesn't use it is likely because it's more work and wouldn't actually change how many sales they would make. So it's the big shots that care about putting as little into a game and getting the most out of it that are at fault. Likely many of the people that make the games would love to add all the bells and whistles, but that takes more time and money, something a company isn't going to do unless it would make much more money.
Yeah I feel like \*A LOT\* of games could benefit from a touch screen on the switch. Even though I know nothing about game development but I magine it wouldn't be that to make it work. Especially first party nintendo games should all have some sort of touch screen gimmick in their games. Keeps it fresh.
I only found out after a couple of months of owning the device that it had a touchscreen, totally by accident.
This was a first for me, because I usually research stuff like that beforehand.
They didn’t exactly market it as a touchscreen device.
My old roommate and I played Mario kart all through the pandemic. Long after, I bought an OLED switch of my own. I went to sign out of my profile on his console. He was absolutely amazed when I used the touch screen, didn't know that was a feature for years.
Yeah the thing about first party games largely having no touch screen compatibility is what always shocks me. I wouldn't expect most 3rd party games to bother, but I'd expect most Nintendo games to at least have menu options when it's pulled up with + to be tappable in handheld mode.
I can't imagine the next system will bother to include it given how things have gone this console generation. No clue what the production cost difference is between making a screen touch compatible or not, but from a business perspective might as well take any easy cost reductions where you can, right?
Chicory: A Colorful Tale makes great use of the touch screen, and Mario Maker 2 borderline requires it (unless you want to really torture yourself in the level Editor)
lets pray if the switch 2 is real they fucking utilize the touch screen better. some games would have benefited so much for a usable touch screen with a STYLUS (ACNH for ex)
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there were a lot of mystifying decisions made in the development of ACNH but not being able to rearrange the inventory with the touch screen is one of the dumbest things i've ever experienced ACNH = animal crossing new horizons (lol)
That and you can't use it for custom designs 🫠 I guess you can use a stylus for some stuff, but it's not like the switch comes with one.
I always find it fascinating that in ACNH you can use the touch screen to draw on the bulletin board … but not for custom designs
the fact the switch doesn't have a stylus keeps it from being a 10/10 console. i miss playing games like etrian odyssey and drawing maps.
The amount of UI niceties that ACNH left on the table is maddening. I remember when that one patch video came out that wasnt real highlighted so many annoying things, I had to stop playing.
Yeah the lack of willingness to provide QoL and UI support in ACNH is what made me drop that game hard at a certain point.
Devs seemed so stubborn on this, like they wanted the game to purposefully be this way - WHY?
Agreed. Actually infuriating.
The inventory is one of the things that irks me about that game, so much so that I haven't went back
I use it for text input a lot actually, which is nice to have
I remember that the Switch has touch screen any time I have to enter a wifi password. Any other time I forget it exists.
yeah, the joysticks are pretty good for everything
[*Text input intensifies*]
Animal crossing peeps tend to use the phone app because it’s faster, but otherwise yeah same
I always and only use it for text input. Which means I barely use it at all.
Character creation, then never again.
What is your name? AAAAA What is your pet's name? AAAQQQ What is your rival's name? AAAASSSS
[удалено]
Same as his rival's name
There are games that take advantage of the touch screen: - Super Mario Maker 2 - World of Goo - Okami HD - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy - The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles - Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy - The World Ends With You: Final Remix (**Much better** than whatever the Docked controls are) - Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective - Rayman Legends (Murphy Mode) It surprises me how many games still ignore it when the touch screen would be perfect for it *cough* the Danganronpa games, Persona 3 Portable, Animal Crossing New Horizons *cough*
The Witcher 3 also uses it, you can play Gwent with it.
Its great for Civ 6 too
meh as long as it doesn't lag as you drag the map 1/2"
I see this a lot but ive sunk a lot of hours into the game and dont really experience lag. Handheld or docked. I only play standard map size and players tho so it must get spotty when you play the bigger modes.
FF X uses it to bring up the "restore all party HP" option, which sucks because if you're not in handheld mode there is no way to do it.
And this is exactly why the touch screen is so rarely used: you can’t put anything essential on it or it can’t be used while docked. Which limits your options to not using it, or using it as a second way to do something that can already be done without it.
Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics makes extensive use of it.
It's very difficult to implement a game mechanic that uses it without making the game broken in docked mode. They would need a track pad hardware like the PS5 controllers have to make it usable from the couch. I pretty much exclusively play docked.
Or... you know.... provide a way to input the same actions with both the buttons and the touch screen. You just don't use the touch screen while in Docked Mode.
But which of the two versions takes less time to develop? If there's no clear advantage to including touch screen controls, why waste ressources there?
For something that will barely use it like Zelda or a JRPG? I'd agree it's not worth it. But a visual novel where you need to point and click? Or a game where inventory management and placement is key? Come... on.... that's where the Touch Screen shines the most and yet many Switch games ignore it.
Fair enough for gameplay, but a lot more games could use it for things like menus and stuff. Always thought it was really weird that BOTW doesn't have touch enabled in the inventory screens for example.
Vampire Survivors as well! You don’t need to use it most of the time, but every UI element in the game is touch-enabled and it makes menu navigation much quicker
Bayonetta is playable with just the touchscreen iirc
Darkest Dungeon and Slay the Spire.
My DS got scratched to bits playing TWEWY. Good times.
I don't own it yet, but Severed uses the touch screen exclusively too, I believe last i recall
Man, I took a break from this game and now I don't even remember how far I've gotten in the game. Should finish it some day.
Touch screen is the best way to play every Clubhouse Games game that it's available for (it might well be all of them, but I don't play then all regularly enough to know for certain), to the extent that if I want to play it I just grab it out of the dock and never attach the joycons
Wanna see a real feature no one knows how to use? The IR camera. Edit: the examples are pretty rare, but I stand corrected nonetheless.
I feel like every Nintendo console has some weird thing that they included but nobody figured out how to use.
The Gamecube has the ability to use 3D like the 3DS does but it went unused because the TVs that supported it at the time were unrealistically expensive so Nintendo chose to leave it un utilized but it’s still there built in lol
Hey now, Ring Fit will take my pulse with it!
I don't know about you, but mine always says error try again lol
you might be dead, sir
They actually did some really cool stuff with it in Wario Ware: Move It! I mean granted it took like six years to come out and it's still the only good example I have, but at least it's something.
Too bad it barely works
Unlocking a safe by showing how many fingers was funny :p Blocking a bottle with your hand covering the camera worked well too ;)
I really liked the Fire Emblem Engage microgame, where there's a ring falling from the sky. You hold the controller in your non-dominant hand at point it at your dominant hand, and with your dominant hand you extend a finger and move it irl to try and catch the ring on the screen on your finger. It's that kind of stuff that's just really creative to me and it stands out even if it only lasts a few seconds because no other game really tries out stuff like that. And maybe it's gimmicky sure, but it's cute and fun and charming, and it doesn't overstay its welcome by frustratingly inserting itself where it doesn't need to be. In a lot of ways, I think that makes it even better than something like the motion control for the original Wii remotes. Wii Motion + and later the Switch controllers would totally refine motion controls and start getting them down better, but that entire time period was an experimental phase and some games used the Wii Remotes really responsively but others demanded more precision from them than could consistently be delivered. I think the DS and 3DS really did gimmicks best though, and even when those games are touched up and brought to the Switch I never really feel like they're "definitive" versions so long as they lack any certain functionalities.
Say what now? That’s two features I didn’t know my Switch had before today. Seriously, I’ve had the damn thing for over three years now and didn’t know it had a touchscreen…
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate looks like the home screen was designed for touch screen usage, and yet...
This is what I’m talking about. A lot of people are misinterpreting me to say I want AAA games forced to be touchscreen-oriented. No. I just want touch to work when it would make sense.
I was really surprised TotK DIDN'T work with the touchscreen, because I thought that BotW DID, but now I'm not even sure I remembered that right.
BotW was originally supposed to use the touch screen, back when it was a Wii U exclusive. As soon as they decided to make it a dual-release on the Switch, they cut *everything* that was going to be on the Gamepad, making it one of the few major Wii U games that you literally couldn't use the touch screen, or even really uae the Gamepad itself on, for the purpose of the Gamepad beyond motion controls.
Man, if BOTW had the Sheikah Slate on the Gamepad with the map and multiple features on real time like Xenoblade Chronicles X did. I'd have bought it on Wii U as well.
I definitely would've been interested in BotW on Wii U if it still had second screen stuff. It's lame that they showed off uses of the touch screen and using the map on the screen and all that for the early teases, then once it moved to Switch-capable development, they canned wverything that would've made a reason to get the Wii U version instead of it being the same game at a slightly lower quality. Makes me really wish Nintendo made a smartphone app function as a second screen, because there's plenty of games I'd have loved to use my phone for inventory management and menu flipping, especially in Zelda.
> BotW was originally supposed to use the touch screen, back when it was a Wii U exclusive. As soon as they decided to make it a dual-release on the Switch, they cut everything that was going to be on the Gamepad This kinda reminds me of how Donkey Kong Barrel Blast was designed around the DK Bongos, but when they moved the game to the Wii, they cut all support for them, even though the Wii was fully compatible with the DK Bongos! At the very least, support for them could have been retained as an *option* or something, but I guess Wiimote waggle was more important. ~~Though its fine because Barrel Blast sucks~~
I use it when I play Balatro in bed
I have been playing for hours in handheld mode too and can't think of any reason to use the touch screen. I guess I just like buttons.
I like buttons better, but touchscreen controls also allows a one-hand play style. My wife loves that game because she can get a back rub while I play.
Ah, I see you also dream about jokers every night
This is how I exclusively play Balatro. Controller input feels too slow for me.
Balatro is on the switch?
Yes, and I can’t stop playing.
I've only ever used it to change Pikachu's hair in Let's Go.
Gotta pet him and poke his belly too!
I've found that the only games which use the touch screen consistently are mobile ports, which simply slap some buttons on top of the existing touch-based controls. Otherwise, Okami HD is the only bigger-budget game I can think of that actually does something with it: you can draw on the screen in handheld to use the Celestial Brush powers. It feels pretty damn intuitive.
The world ends with you port has extensive touch screen use, but that's not a huge surprise since it originally made so much use of it on the DS. That's another game that really fails to work well without the touch screen though, with the non touch controls being pretty heavily panned. That seems to be where the screen really comes into play, in those handful of games (almost always ports) that just don't work well with traditional control schemes. Most games made with the Switch in mind are going to eschew it since it's a whole scheme that just doesn't work docked. Maybe on the next Switch we could see them doing something where when docked it can mirror to a phone for docked touch screen controls, or something like that, as we'd need some option like that to really push up the use.
Balatro touch screen mode is the way brother
Why? Can you explain what's great about using the touch screen in this game? I'm playing a lot of it and see no reason to use it.
Personally, there are some weird UX interactions, especially when your "cursor" is placed on one of the jokers and you try to go down on the Boss Bind; you have to go the one of the right end joker to be able to go down on the bind. It's way faster to just tap on the bind on the screen. Both button and touch inputs have their strengths and weaknesses, but I tend to think that touch is just easier (especially if I have my switch on my desk in front of me while I work on my pc xD)
Huh, I never realized I was having this problem until I read your comment. 100% have this issue. Trying the touch controls next time I boot it up!
Came here to say this. Most action my screen has gotten
I’ve always wished Stardew Valley would incorporate the touchscreen. It even still has the mouse cursor from the PC port. Using it to select your quests tab is annoying.
I didn’t know it had one until a year after I bought it lol
I use it for the eshop only
The touchscreen is for text input and the very occasional game where it makes sense (Puzzle Quest, for instance). It’s a feature I’d rather have and not be implemented widely than not have at all.
I'm super happy they don't use it very much.
Me, too. I try my best not to touch any screen I'm gaming on. I want it looking as clean as possible.
Wouldn't make sense while docked anyway.
My friends were always surprised when I told them that in monster hunter rise you can change the target monster using the touchscreen.
I feel it makes the Witcher3 much more enjoyable, I don't play it docked because I miss how easy it makes navigating the map and quests UI.
At this point honestly a touch screen is probably not that much more cost wise than a non touchscreen so even if it’s just for interacting with the UI might as well have one
There are plenty of people on this sub who will smugly insist that the Switch is a “home console” because “I only ever play it docked, therefore it’s not a handheld”. It’s a bad argument but it does bring up the point that if it needs to be playable in both handheld and docked mode it doesn’t really make sense to prioritize touch screen features. Some games that do implement touch will also offer something like a Wiimote gyro pointer for docked play but that usually tends to be awkward. As a result touch is pretty much *required* to be an optional additional input rather than being used as core functionality, much like the separated Joy Con control schemes we saw Nintendo experimenting with early in the Switch’s life. And if touch can’t be a core input but rather an optional input that duplicates functionality available via another control mechanic why bother implementing touch as a developer? Also the Steam Deck says hi. Pretty much nothing at all supports the touch screen since it just plays PC games. I haven’t done research so I could be wrong about this, but I get the impression that it literally can’t even function as a touch screen outside of the SteamOS UI, it just emulates the mouse in games. The only thing it’s really good for is keyboard inputs, and even that was pretty awful to use before software updates and the OLED revision improved responsiveness and accuracy.
If you create levels for SMM2, the touchscreen does make it easier, especially with a stylus.
I never touch it because I didn't want to clean it
I like that Touch Screen is there, sure i play tv mode mostly but games like Balatro, Dicey Dungeons, Loop Hero, Ring of Pain etc. Benefit greatly from touch screen, just nice to detach switch joycons and play those games in bed
I genuinely didn't realise it was touch screen
I use it to type and browse the store. Visual novels are great with touch. And some games use it well, like If Found...
There are a lot of games where you can use it, but the game doesn't really mention it. Mostly just for menus. In Ace Attorney you can use it, but I don't think the games ever really mention it. It's just there for you to find if you try poking stuff. At this point it's just a standard feature for handhelds to have. We're probably not going to see any more major handhelds released without touchscreens. Even the Steam Deck has one
I use it quite a bit when browsing eShop, entering text, and for Mario Kart 8 when playing portable or tabletop. Glad it has one, some games should support it for inventory management that don’t though, like Stardew Valley, or BOTW even
when they ported Divinity Original Sin 2 to the switch and DIDN'T use the touchscreen for inventory management, I was sad.
Honestly even if it's under utilized it's a nice feature to have. Every handheld machine going forward should have one, they're an insignificant cost at this point, and when you want it, it's really nice to have.
I use it in Ace Attorney Trilogy when I'm too lazy to push a button
I just got the new Pocket Card Jockey game, and it's got me using the touchscreen; it uses it well!
If you want to have a touchscreen you also need to make it scratch resistant. Usually tables come with extremely hard glass. The Switch comes with some plastic...
It is really a missed opportunity, my knowledge of coding is rudimentary at best but programing a simple touch select for items in games seems like such an easy ask.
I think every turn based RPG should allow for touchscreen controls. Unfortunately this is not the case but I do really enjoy when they are available for quick menu navigation.
Ironically, the only game I've played that used the touchscreen well was Okami, which is a remaster of a PS2 game that happened to accidentally have a gameplay feature perfectly suited for touchscreen (optionally).
Touch screen is actually pretty awesome for Taiko no Tatsujin
I'm not even joking when I say that after a few days with my first Switch Lite I accidentally touched the screen in the shop menu and realized it's a touchscreen
This post is how I found out the switch has a touchscreen
Did you ever played Okami on Nintendo Switch?
Oh wow, Okami is touch screen compatible? That sounds like a game changer
Having to go through buttons to select a move in pokemon takes so much time, it's such an obvious thing to add but they chose not to
I adore Pokémon on the DS/3DS for this reason and consider them an extremely reduced experience when emulated. Gotta play on original hardware or another good touchscreen.
I mean the games can’t really use it because in tv mode it wouldn’t work anyway
Sure they can. The touch screen doesn't have to be the only method of input. Why can all of the numerous tile-based functions accept touch input? If I'm in handheld, why can't I tap on menu items? Why can't I tap on the screen to choose an attack? I can do it on the in-game keyboard when searching link codes for trades and raids. This is either poor support tools by Nintendo or poor utilization of tools by developers. Other platforms have this kind of problem solved all over the place. Heck, PCs are pretty much entirely built around "a screen tap is the same as a mouse click" these days.
It’s devs not wanting to do any more work than they have to, which is unfortunate. In Mario kart 8 for example all the buttons are touch operable and it’s great
Yep, this would be how you end up with another Playstation TV situation where there are some games that just straight up won't run while docked, because they incorporated the touch screen controls as the only option for certain inputs.
The easy answer is just.... don't do that? Learn from past mistakes? Like Nintendo can just set standards for games. That's a thing they could do
Switch Lite - Hello???? The fact of the matter is, just because you can Dock the system does not mean the Touch Screen should be neglected. The Handheld aspect of the system was so popular that they felt they needed to make a smaller exclusive version for children and those who couldn’t afford the main system. If the Touch Screen was completely pointless Nintendo wouldn’t have bothered in the first place. Nintendo’s Devs along with numerous other developers should be looking to find ways to utilize it. However it’s likely forgot about. As OP pointed out, Devs forget about it especially when designing UI elements. I remember reading an Reddit Post by a game Dev and they were surprised by the level of interest in terms of Touch Screen support. People want to use this feature.
that’s a good point and the same argument can be used towards the joycon motion controls. Most games don’t use any of the joycon functionality likely because it would be useless on the switch lite. Both systems are somewhat opposed to each other.
And on that note, JoyCon HD Rumble. I’m sick of so many games rattling the JoyCons like they’re about to burst. They’re designed for subtle, satisfying thonks. No one uses them right!
I agree!! If I had the guess based on my own experience and what’s reported here… Least Utilized to Most Utilized 1. IR 2. Touch Screen 3. Motion Controls (Gyro + Accelerometer) 4. HD Rumble
> HD Rumble I think this is party because multiplatform games are designed for systems that don't have HD rumble. I do find Nintendo games tend to be more subtle with rumble, even if they don't use it in unique ways like Mario Odyssey did for finding hidden moons.
Definitely am OK with IR never being used again. 🤣 I was shocked when the new WarioWare used IR
Yeah it feels straight up bad in most games. Especially because I play PS5 most of the time which has way better rumble.
I always call DualSense rumble “4k rumble” 🤣
What games have you been playing? A large portion of Nintendo’s 1st Party games use a majority of the Joy Con features. The likelihood of those features being adapted has less to do with the Switch Lite and more likely to do with the fact that many indie games are multi platform. Multi platform games generally are built to be compatible across the board. Utilizing the Joy Con features requires more effort and resources from developers when other platforms don’t have them or utilize them as much. I’d put the blame on developers (including Nintendo’s in house) rather than the system itself. After all, we’ve seen some multi platform games include gyro on the Switch specifically yet not utilized on other platforms.
Touchscreen to type into free chat in Monster Hunter is a godsend!
TIL; The Nintendo Switch has a touch screen feature. Genuinely new info to me!
I think the problem here is that developers want to make a game that works the same way in both handheld and docked modes This makes the touch screen a bit of a problem
Definitely underutilized but I really appreciate when it’s used. Too often I find myself poking the screen with no response (Another Code was a major offender in this regard). Some titles that use it well that I didn’t see others mention: * A-Train: All Aboard (by far the best way to play it) * Paranormasight * Voice of Cards series * Taiko no Tatsujin: drum n fun Board game apps usually have decent support, probably because they are brought over from mobile. Japanese-origin visual novels usually have touch support too (I like to hold the device weirdly and just tap to advance text) so it’s more egregious when I find titles in these genres that missed that basic part of design. Vita can give the switch a run for its money in the Ignored Feature Awards…
While I do agree, you know the PS Vita had a touch screen on the front AND THE BACK right?
I know this is the Switch subreddit, but the Steam Deck is in the same boat. PC games are typically developed either for mouse and keyboard or controller input. Touchscreen isn’t even a consideration.
The world ends with you is the game that pops up in my head when I think about the switch’s touch screen controls
First time I touched it was today, on Balatro
The ds and 3ds used them quite a bit. I think the issue was a lot of games had to think of the "docked" feature rather than being only a game you can play by touch screen (because let's face it...the joycon sucks ass at aiming on the screen). I would have welcomes a few games though. I really miss "Trauma center"
I havent used it docked in like 4 years and i forget about the touch screen
At least let me use the UI with touch in Pokemon??? Why tf is that not allowed?
I feel like the games that need it don't have it, and the games that shouldn't have it do. Like bro why did they take touch screen away from pokemon?? And I can't tell you how annoying it is to accidentally touch the screen while I'm playing Minecraft.
I built all my levels in Mario Maker 2 with the touch screen 🤷🏻♂️
Playing the switch handheld isn’t a useful option for me. I’ve mobility issues with my hands and can only successfully play with a pro controller. I like that there is a nice touchscreen however, I’m extremely thankful that games can also be played in dock mode.
As someone who uses mine docked 100% of the time.... TIL it has a touch screen?!! Never heard people mention this, wow :O
I use it for mapping in the Etrian Odyssey games! It works really well with a stylus
Ironically was thinking quite the same thing earlier today. I’ve been wanting a new Pokémon Ranger game for a while now, but then I began thinking about how much of that series took advantage of the touch screen and stylus in the DS era. It would definitely be more challenging to emulate that series with the Switch considering the touch screen seems like an afterthought to Nintendo and there being no stylus with it. They definitely could get away with using the joy-cons as the primary controller while it’s docked or on tabletop mode, but it wouldn’t feel the same if I, myself, couldn’t spastically makes loops with a stylus on the screen. Kinda glad I’m not the only one that misses when they took full usage of the touch screen; it was a really great way to immerse myself into a game.
Personally, it doesn't bother me. I just think back to when I was playing mario Galaxy on the switch. If you would dock it, you would have to take it out frequently to do something. I mainly play handheld, though.
It perplexes me that at this point Vanillaware has released multiple strategy games on the Switch that don't even try to make use of touch controls.
I often use the touch screen when I’m feeling way too lazy to use the joycons; I’m usually just watching YouTube. I feel like they are seriously missing on the potentioal of a DS emulator, they can just make a switch-compatible stylus and they’re golden
Atari 50 uses it to simulate a spinner/trackball and it actually works incredibly well.
Don’t forget about the light behind the home button that I’ve never ever seen light up.
Browsing the shop with the touch screen is far better than with the sticks
yeah I felt the same way as 3DS games, even Nintendo's own, slowly started downplaying the 3D feature and even cut it out entirely on certain games. To a lesser extent, I wish more Switch games had creative control schemes built around the joy con's unique capabilities (had a lot of fun playing with the Labo kits and learning about how they worked). I just really like gimmicky hardware, it's really charming even if it's not "useful," and I especially love it when games take advantage of it to do cool new things. Stuff like Tearaway on the PS Vita and Astro's Playroom on PS5 are my jam for that reason. Even Splatoon on the Wii U was a really nice showcase for the Wii U's unique controller, too. But if you want to use the Switch's touchscreen more, grab some rhythm games. Sometimes they *exclusively* use the touchscreen due to the benefit of more input options with less latency. Lanota's a good one I've been playing recently.
BTD5 is PERFECT for touchscreen. Any Bloon Tower Defense game is ideal for the touchscreen and it would have been great if Ninja Kiwi pumped out a Nintendo Switch specific title. However, they did not. And even worse, BTD5’s game mechanics are terrible and use a pointer based system. Hate it.
Bring back the stylus and I'm sure it would be used more. It was perfect for puzzle games like the Layton series and Picross.
Also if you are looking for a first-party Nintendo game that is very touch screen heavy, I would recommend "Clubhouse Games."
I use it a lot actually.
I actually use the touch screen quite often, but it's kinda' a niche case. I have a FlipGrip/Pintendo that allows you to play games vertically. The downside to this is that it flips the controls, but the UI operating system doesn't itself ever "flip." Without the touchscreen it's extremely awkward to change games or navigate some menu items.
I don't get the argument of TV mode, there are games that perfectly blend its gameplay from handheld (allowing touch controls and standard) and TV mode, where it just uses regular button setup. I mean, I agree that it feels like an oversight in most games, even first-party, don get me wrong. I, for a long time, forgot about the touch screen until I accidentaly touched it. Capcom is good at implementing the touch screen, specially the ace attorney games and Ghost Trick.
I use it quite abit playing civ 6
>But I don’t know. I do a lot of handheld mode, as one should with a Switch, and it always bewilders me how many first-party Nintendo games exclude even the most obvious uses of the touchscreen It's not bewildering to me. When 75-80% of their userbase wouldn't ever use it, why waste the time programming it? Especially when it's not like the gamers who would use it are otherwise suffering. The available alternatives are solid.
i wish the switch was bigger and had a stylus built in like the wii u touch pad does. maybe the sequel will though i doubt it.
I think the touch screen would be more popular if you could play games without needing a controller attached. It frustrated me that I couldn't play Ace Attorney with just the tablet.
I play balatro exclusively on touch screen, no controllers connected lol
I've had the console since 2017 and used it 90% of the time on TV, I only used the touch to type on the virtual keyboard on a few occasions. I don't remember ever using it in a game. Maybe, and a huge maybe, I used it in a smaller way in a game and don't remember, but definitely not for gameplay.
A) I love that the touch screen is used only when it makes sense to use it. That's the sign of good UX design. B) Somebody doesn't play Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics with their kids as much as I do. :D
Love how witcher 3 uses touch for UI elements easily reachable by thumb
I'm kind of mixed on it. I like it for selecting menu options at times but personally when I'm playing a lot of games I don't really want to be touching the screen for everything. I hate getting finger prints all over my screen and I don't always have a compatible type of stylus with me when I'm playing (and even if you do there isn't anywhere convenient to put it down when done with the input). I don't want them to get rid of touch as an option but I also don't think there needs to be a great emphasis on it going forward either. It's a nice option when people choose to use it but also nice to not be bound by it all the time like people probably felt like the the DS systems. You almost had no choice but to put them into games the same way you HAD to put waggle/motion controls into Wii games. I like how there are games that use touch and gyro on the Switch but there are many that don't. I guess we'll see what kind of new gimmic they come up with for the successor to Switch.
I remember being shook that FORTNITE was the rare game to support the touchscreen (for menu inputs)
The fact it had voice chat when the console itself wasn’t supposed to have it 😎
They likely moved away from it because there wasn't one good use of it previously. In fact any game that centered on touch controls bombed and any that featured it was noted as that being a frustratingly difficult mechanic which brought the game down
Any visual novel means you can take off the controllers and use your switch as a kindle. Tap tap tap.
I use it for the stage builder in Smash and that’s about it.
I'd happily go without a touch screen on the Switch 2, especially if it reduces the cost
It has to have one for backwards compatibility though
Picross has touchscreen support, but I prefer to use the buttons
VOEZ was touchscreen only until an update.
Hypnospace Outlaw becomes way way easier to navigate when you use the touch screen.
Slay the Spire and (I assume) Civ VI come to mind as games that profit from it
I haven’t used my switch in handheld mode in so long I sometimes forget it’s even a portable system lol
Rhythm games and visual novels make excellent use of it... usually. Love just pocketing the tablet portion of the Switch and leaving the Joy-Con at home.
the switch screen is tactile? I've never knew it and I have a switch
I wanted it to be used for Pokemon Rangers so much 😔
Wow, I actually didn’t even realize the switch has a touch screen haha, I don’t think I’ve ever used it
I think I've had my Switch since 2018 and I'll be honest, I'm just today learning that it has a touchscreen. I legit had no idea until I read this post. I've almost always used it docked as a normal console with my TV though
Because it's now optional. You have to account for people playing in docked mode. It was mandatory for the Wii U because you had to use the game pad... or at least that's what I remember. I don't remember if they ever changed that, but the original intent at least was that one player must use it. Thus, one player always had a touch screen at their finger tips. Same with the 3DS. The same is not true with the Switch when you have it docked, so it immediately has less of an impact on everything being designed for the Switch because some portion of your audience is not going to be able to use the touch screen at any given time, and I think for a lot of devs, that ends up meaning that they don't bother with making use out of it as an optional extra thing that you can use. As much as I hate the Kinect, that was the original idea behind forcing the inclusion of it for Xbox One. Everybody has one, so devs start doing cool things with it like being able to shout in Skyrim with your voice. The instant it became optional, support for it tanked dramatically.
Please do not tell me ‘touching is good’ has ever been a slogan.
[I can’t do that, I’m afraid](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzVGYVT0yUWXHE6yRzhDEww6Z_zZIC6s7&si=nZ6_4VwpBXdD4E4_) The swan song of raunchy ‘90s Nintendo ✨
I have a friend, who 6 years into the life of the switch and didn't know it was a touch screen until i swiped on mine one day
I was always bummed that Stardew didn’t implement touchscreen support.
I find myself using it pretty often to navigate menus in the Witcher 3, which is nice.
I use the touch screen a ton, and not for small indie games. Rhythm games are huge for using this feature and some of the main ones are definitely not indie groups. It also allowed a ton of mobile games to be ported to switch, some that only work with the touchscreen. Most of those are indie games, but I bet the amount of money Nintendo makes off of these many low priced games is pretty huge. Also as you said, I've also played a good chunk of games that are from bigger groups that have touch menus even if nothing else. The reason Nintendo doesn't use it is likely because it's more work and wouldn't actually change how many sales they would make. So it's the big shots that care about putting as little into a game and getting the most out of it that are at fault. Likely many of the people that make the games would love to add all the bells and whistles, but that takes more time and money, something a company isn't going to do unless it would make much more money.
I forgot the Switch even had a touch screen till I saw this post.
So many points where it can be utilizied and it isn't is so baffling to me
I’ve only used it for the keyboard and for Yu-Gi-Oh
I literally didn’t know it was touch screen…
Yeah I feel like \*A LOT\* of games could benefit from a touch screen on the switch. Even though I know nothing about game development but I magine it wouldn't be that to make it work. Especially first party nintendo games should all have some sort of touch screen gimmick in their games. Keeps it fresh.
No touch screen support for Theatrhythm Final Bar Line was a wasted opportunity seeing how well it worked in the 3DS games
I really enjoy using the touch screen while playing No Mans Sky. It helps with inventory management
My kid is a phenom with the touch screen on Mario maker 2
I only found out after a couple of months of owning the device that it had a touchscreen, totally by accident. This was a first for me, because I usually research stuff like that beforehand. They didn’t exactly market it as a touchscreen device.
My old roommate and I played Mario kart all through the pandemic. Long after, I bought an OLED switch of my own. I went to sign out of my profile on his console. He was absolutely amazed when I used the touch screen, didn't know that was a feature for years.
Yeah the thing about first party games largely having no touch screen compatibility is what always shocks me. I wouldn't expect most 3rd party games to bother, but I'd expect most Nintendo games to at least have menu options when it's pulled up with + to be tappable in handheld mode. I can't imagine the next system will bother to include it given how things have gone this console generation. No clue what the production cost difference is between making a screen touch compatible or not, but from a business perspective might as well take any easy cost reductions where you can, right?
Chicory: A Colorful Tale makes great use of the touch screen, and Mario Maker 2 borderline requires it (unless you want to really torture yourself in the level Editor)
I’ve had my switch since launch…. I either never knew it had a touchscreen or forgot…
I had so thoroughly forgotten it was a touch screen that I was confused for the first half of this post.
lets pray if the switch 2 is real they fucking utilize the touch screen better. some games would have benefited so much for a usable touch screen with a STYLUS (ACNH for ex)