Comment by Wowfunhappy
4 years ago
^ For better and absolutely for worse, I don't think Nintendo has ever made large user-facing changes to one of their consoles via a software update. The Wii never got an account system, and the Switch still hasn't gotten a web browser.
The one product that kind of evolved a bit was the 3DS, which gained (poor) support for custom themes and services like Miiverse. However, the UI remained basically the same since day 1.
I do appreciate the ability to buy a product for a specific experience, rather than rely on a company's future whims.
Nintendo blocks downgrades so that it's harder to use an exploit to run unlicensed software and pirated games. The former reason is inherently user-hostile, but it doesn't bother me nearly as much on a game console as on a general purpose device like the iPhone.
> The Wii never got an account system, and the Switch still hasn't gotten a web browser.
the PS5 also did this, but I think both systems are doing it in the pursuit of preventing people from easily jailbreaking/exploiting webkit. It can still be done via DNS trickery and finding an http:// link within a game (some game cartridges with 0 updates have them).
That may have been part of it, but I do suspect it was also an artistic decision, at least on Nintendo's part (I've never used a PS5). The Switch's UI prioritizes launching games above absolutely everything else. The system doesn't ship with any multimedia capabilities, and while there are a handful of apps available in the eShop, major players like Netflix are still completely unavailable.
They included a hidden browser so people can connect to captive portals and play games with online functionality, but I think Nintendo wanted to send a message that the Switch is for games first, last, and everything in between.
P.S. I don't necessarily agree with this approach. The Switch OLED is the best screen that I own, so I would like to use it to view more types of media. But I respect that Nintendo is curating an experience.