Fans are dissapointed with Nintendo Switch 2's home screen design
The Nintendo Switch UI has stayed remarkably consistent over eight years, even with the introduction of the Switch 2. It would be nice to have some themes.
A new commercial for the Nintendo Switch 2 featuring Paul Rudd calls back to a commercial for the Super Nintendo that also starred the famous actor. While the commercial was charming, and a great call back, some fans on Reddit have pointed out an easy-to-miss detail. Early in the trailer, we get a glimpse of the Nintendo Switch 2’s home screen. It has some changes but overall is remarkably similar to the infamously bare bones home screen of the original Switch console. Any chances for themes? Fans are not getting their hopes up.
Fans are somewhat disappointed with the Nintendo Switch 2’s home screen design
A post to the Nintendo Switch 2 subreddit by u/thisSubIsAtrocious, shared the screenshot from the new ad. When I first saw it, I had to pull out my Switch because I couldn’t immediately tell what the differences were. There are really only two differences. The game squares have rounded edges and rather than individual circles for each option along the bottom of the screen, they are all condensed into one long bar. Otherwise, the screen is the same grayish white color it’s always been.
As many comments point out, this screenshot appears to dash any hopes that the Nintendo Switch 2 will have a more interesting UI appearance. For the last eight years, the Nintendo Switch has had no changes to its UI, not even introducing a commonly requested feature: themes. A theme would be an appearance change to the home screen, such as one based around a game franchise like Super Mario, Pokémon, or Animal Crossing. There is even a “Themes” option in System Settings, but since launch there have only been two options: white and black.
The top comments on the post call out Nintendo’s lack of themes. The top comment from u/Pick_Boring reads “Nintendo could do the funniest thing and not have themes again.” Further down, u/VGADreams perfectly explained their disappointment: “In the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t really matter, but it’s always a shame to have a new console launch with pretty much the same UI as the previous one. It removes some of the wonder of going into a new generation of video games. It’s like a new care with no ‘new car smell.’” Many fans justifiably feel a little let down by the long wait and high price for the Switch 2 and wish that there was more to be excited about, especially something so simple as a newer look to the console’s home screen.
Nintendo is generally playing it safely with this new console. The Nintendo Switch was such a success, it makes sense to create something similar but more powerful. New features like U.S. pre-orders newly announced to go live this week, it will be interesting to see the fan response.
