This was the end of June:
- Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch)
- Disgaea 5 (PS4)
- Snipperclips (Switch)
- Thumper (PC)
- Puyo Puyo Tetris (*)
- The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+ (PC)
- Minecraft (PC)
- Cave Story+ (PC)
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch)
- Jackbox Party Pack 3 (PC)
- Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove (PC)
- Arms (Switch)
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch)
- Snipperclips: Cut It Out Together! (Switch)
- Thumper (PC)
- Puyo Puyo Tetris (*)
- The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+ (PC)
- Minecraft (PC)
- Cave Story+ (PC)
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch)
- Jackbox Party Pack 3 (PC)
- Splatoon 2 (Switch)
- Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove (PC)
- Arms (Switch)
- Disgaea 5 (PS4) has dropped from the #2 spot, to a spot off the list completely. (I guess it wasn't actually the second-best Nintendo Switch game? Were Kotaku perhaps padding their top 12 list, just a little bit?)
- Snipperclips (Switch), Thumper (PC), Puyo Puyo Tetris (*), The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+ (PC), Minecraft (PC), Cave Story+ (PC), Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch), and Jackbox Party Pack 3 (PC) all move up one spot, thanks to Disgaea 5's sudden and total fall from Kotaku's good graces.
- Splatoon 2, the only major release since June, debuts in the #10 spot.
Basically, the Switch's game situation is unchanged. Their "best game" list includes one new Switch exclusive, but Splatoon 2 is largely regarded as being more-or-less identical to the original Splatoon, and is only the 10th best game on the platform. And all five games that were first released on the Switch are from Nintendo themselves; none are third-party titles, and only Zelda is a system-seller.
This is a crucial point. Nintendo need to sell systems; games sell systems, ergo Nintendo need system-selling games to be released for the Switch. Yes, Nintendo have sold a copy of Zelda for every Switch, but Splatoon 2 is not a system-seller; the WiiU had the original Splatoon, and still tanked. The same applies for Snipperclips (cute, but it looks like a mobile port, in spite of not being one) and Arms (widely regarded as mechanically interesting but far too light on content).
Long story short, Nintendo's Switch game situation has not improved. Granted, July and August are normally slow months for game releases, but even so.... damn.
UPDATE:
It turns out that July and August aren't all that slow a period for game releases after all, although it may still be a slow period for quality game releases.
From Kotaku:
Since Steam Direct—which allows any developer to submit a game to Steam for $100—launched seven weeks ago, Steam has added over 1,000 new games, per figures provided by Ico Partners’ Thomas Bidaux (via GamesIndustry.biz). Of those, 215 arrived in the first week of August alone. Since mid-July, the number of games releasing per week has increased precipitously:
When Steam Direct launched, Valve predicted that, thanks to games still caught up in the arcane gears of the Greenlight system, there would be “an initial surge of new submissions and then a new rate somewhat higher than what was coming through Greenlight.” The upswing in releases, then, could be a heaping helping of Greenlight leftovers, or it might be a sign of things to come.This puts something of a spotlight on the Switch's dearth of titles. When competitors' platforms are seeing thousands of releases every couple of months, Nintendo need to see more than one notable game for their console. They're already behind; they need to avoid falling even further behind.