Many users are not satisfied with how the Nintendo eShop search works. They compare it to an “endless garbage dump” in which it is difficult to find something interesting. However, this can be fixed. The Reddit community shared ideas on what should be changed in the store’s game findability. Their proposals were approved by gaming expert Simon Carless.
The discussion on Reddit appeared back in early September. A user under the nickname fetalfreAK criticized the eShop search in his post.
Nintendo should work on the eShop. It's tedious to even just look for games in it, because you have to dig through an endless garbage dump. Sales also do not make the situation easier. Unlike other console and PC stores, they consist mainly of low-quality games with a small amount of something worthwhile.
fetalfreAK’s note did not go unnoticed. She collected over 700 comments, in which, in addition to criticism, there were tips on upgrading the eShop.
What did the redditors suggest?
- Rework the sorting. As the user VDZx notes, the Nintendo store pays much more attention to poorly made games. This is especially noticeable in the sales section, where the title’s position in the list depends on the number of copies sold, not on its quality. “If you lower the price of the game to $0.01 and sell a thousand copies (earn $ 10), you will be higher in the list than the one who sells 900 copies of the game at a price of $ 30 apiece (users will spend $ 27 thousand).” Although Nintendo has now banned trading at such a low price, there are enough projects with a price tag of $2 in the eShop.
- Add custom ratings to games. There were a lot of users who considered this a good option. “It seems to me that a simple user rating system will solve the problems associated with finding decent games and help filter out garbage,” InsouciantSoul pointed out. Note that in 2018, ratings, tags and the ability to write comments were already added to the eShop, but they were removed almost immediately.
- Increase the site loading speed. According to some, it is inconvenient to search for games, including due to poor optimization of the store’s website. “I used to think it was just my internet, which slows down the eShop a lot. But then I got the fastest internet access in my neighborhood, and nothing changed,” the redditor wrote.
- Use more filters. According to the editor of WhawpenshawTwo, the Nintendo store does not need to strengthen control over the quality of games and try to get rid of “pacifiers”. It is enough for it to have more advanced filters, sorting, categories and recommendations. IAmTriscuit user agrees with him, who compared the eShop with Steam: “I really like the recommendations on Steam, and even just digging into the store, I almost don’t see low—quality games – they don’t catch my eye as much [as in eShop] because of all the features that Steam has.”
A thread on Reddit attracted the attention of industry expert Simon Carless. In the latest issue of his GameDiscoveryCo newsletter, he mentioned this discussion and stated that he agreed with a number of proposals.
Carless considered the most important change in the sorting of games in the eShop, at least in the “sale” section. Like gamers, he pointed out that sorting by the number of copies sold can be biased. Carless also suggested thinking about whether to remove My Nintendo glasses from the store at the same time, which encourage users to make impulse and inexpensive purchases. Recall that such points are, in fact, cashback from the purchase of games.
Carless also liked the idea of a rating for games. He noted that he himself, when searching for titles in other stores, looks at the rating of the project and the number of ratings.
But although Carless agrees that the current approach to findability in the eShop encourages developers to create bad games for Nintendo, he is sure that the Japanese company will not change anything in its store. The thing is that Switch already brings a strong income. Nintendo itself is also thriving. For example, last December, the company’s shares were sold at a record price for the last 15 years.