The Switch 2’s best feature might be that the eShop doesn’t suck
Yes, that’s a slightly silly title, but in amongst all of the updates, improvements and all-new features for the Switch 2, one of the key things I’m happy to see being put out to pasture is the original Switch’s eShop.
The fact is, the Switch eShop sucked. Certainly not because it gave us a window into Nintendo’s incredible library of games, or even because it found itself chock full of dollar-store tat, but because it barely worked, creaking and groaning and whinging and stopping and starting all the way from the moment you loaded it up to the moment you tried to give Nintendo your money. It didn’t even play you a little ditty to shop by! As far as user experiences go, it has to rank amongst the worst in modern gaming. And that includes installing things on the PlayStation 3 and the existence of Amazon Luna.
The new Nintendo Switch 2 eShop homepage
The Switch 2’s portal into the eShop starts well by doing the very bare minimum of loading itself up in a timely fashion and displaying all of its wares at the same time. My expectations shouldn’t have been quite so low, but we’re starting from a position below the floor, somewhere down in the substrate. With the dinosaur bones.
The first thing you’ll see is the curated Highlights. These are currently pretty much the entirety of the Switch 2’s launch line-up, with Mario Kart World beckoning us with glee next to the neon-soaked and thoroughly different Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition. As an aside, I love that these seem to be the top choices so far for Switch 2 – alongside Fast Fusion – because, well, it shows that we’re a weird bunch, doesn’t it?
Nintendo Switch 2 eShop “For You” game suggestions
Anyway, moving down with the D-pad results in the cursor going down. Yes! I know! It’s moving in time with my button presses and everything! And you can search, check out your Wish List, and see a series of suggested games that takes you to a very cool discovery tool branded as ‘For You’.
For You gives you a series of weekly recommendations – refreshed every Saturday – showing you a trailer, the price of the game, your friends that have played it, and what games that you own that are similar to it. It also matches the genre and publisher to other things in your library. It’s user friendly, clear, and it works perfectly smoothly.
In the meantime, I’ve just logged back into the Switch 1 eShop to double check they’ve not added it there, and I’m still stuck trying to scroll down through the menu. It turns out that, yes, it is exclusive to the Switch 2 store, which is probably a good thing, since the original eShop struggles to show one game, never-mind ten.
Trust us when we say this is scrolling really, really fast, and hasn’t had a hitch for a good 15-20 seconds before I got bored.
The most wonderful – or you could say, normal – part of the whole experience, is that I can scroll through page after page of Recent Releases, Coming Soon and Charts, and it just scrolls. It doesn’t reach the bottom and force you to wait while it works out where it put the games, reaches behind the sofa or under a rug, and pulls out the next page or so to pacify you while it thinks about it. It just works.
And once you’re done shopping? Well, you’ll find that the Switch 2 is capable of some positively modern-feeling download speeds. Where the original Switch could refuse to go above 40 or 50Mbps, it felt like, the Switch 2’s improved Wi-Fi chipset and faster storage means it can whizz along at up to 400Mbps, though it’s more commonly between 250-300Mbps. Nothing to turn your nose up at.
Thanks Nintendo.
