For reference, this is where we were mid-August:
- 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)
- 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)
- Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle (Switch)
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch)
- Jackbox Party Pack 3 (PC)
- Splatoon 2 (Switch)
- Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove (PC)
- Arms (Switch)
Once again, a top-12 game from August's list has dropped off the list completely, replaced with a new release; I guess Cave Story+ wasn't that good, after all?
Seriously, this is not how best-of lists work. It's fine to decide that Mario + Rabbids is now the Switch's 6th-best game, but that new entry on the list is supposed to push the others downwards, not simply replace the previous #7 title. I get that they're all yooge Nintendo fans at Kotaku, but manipulating the list this way in order to load it with Switch-exclusive releases, or to minimize the number of PC ports, is simply dishonest.
Why was Kotaku promoting Cave Story+ as the 6th-best game on Switch last month, only to decide that it isn't even the 12th-best game this month? Why isn't it considered to be at least as good as Splatoon 2, a game that is beat by four places a month ago. What was their logic? Apart from Cave Story being a PC port in the month when there was another Switch-native release that could take its place on the list, that is. What else changed?
This dishonesty is especially baffling because isn't even effective. The list is still five PC ports, one mashup (*), and only six original Switch titles; three iterations into their best-of list, and Kotaku have yet to do anything except throw a bright, bright light onto one the Switch's glaring issues: a lack of quality games. I guess Nintendo have really dodged a bullet, by having ongoing supply issues that are far more likely to kill the console's chances than any lack of games.
So, what should the list look like? Sadly, I don't have the original May list, so I don't know where I Am Setsuna or Mr. Shifty (both of which were also dropped from the list, in June) were positioned, so we'll have to start with the June list:
Why was Kotaku promoting Cave Story+ as the 6th-best game on Switch last month, only to decide that it isn't even the 12th-best game this month? Why isn't it considered to be at least as good as Splatoon 2, a game that is beat by four places a month ago. What was their logic? Apart from Cave Story being a PC port in the month when there was another Switch-native release that could take its place on the list, that is. What else changed?
This dishonesty is especially baffling because isn't even effective. The list is still five PC ports, one mashup (*), and only six original Switch titles; three iterations into their best-of list, and Kotaku have yet to do anything except throw a bright, bright light onto one the Switch's glaring issues: a lack of quality games. I guess Nintendo have really dodged a bullet, by having ongoing supply issues that are far more likely to kill the console's chances than any lack of games.
So, what should the list look like? Sadly, I don't have the original May list, so I don't know where I Am Setsuna or Mr. Shifty (both of which were also dropped from the list, in June) were positioned, so we'll have to start with the June list:
- 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)
- 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)
- Splatoon 2 (Switch)
- Jackbox Party Pack 3 (PC)
- Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove (PC)
Arms (Switch)
- Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch)
- Disgaea 5 (PS4)
- Snipperclips (Switch)
- Thumper (PC)
- Puyo Puyo Tetris (*)
- Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle (Switch)
- The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+ (PC)
- Minecraft (PC)
- Cave Story+ (PC)
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch)
- Splatoon 2 (Switch)
- Jackbox Party Pack 3 (PC)
Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove (PC)
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild [97] - Switch
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe [92] - Switch
- Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove [91] - PC
- Cave Story + [87] - PC
- Minecraft: Switch Edition [87] - PC
- The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth + [86] - PC
- Thumper [86] - PC
- Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment [84] - PC
- World of Goo [84] - PC, Wii
- Disgaea 5 Complete [81] - PS4
- VOEZ [81] - Android
- Puyo Puyo Tetris [81] - Other
- Fast RMX [81] - Switch
- Snipperclips [80] - Switch
- TumbleSeed [79] - Switch, PS4, PC
- Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap [79] - All
- Blaster Master Zero [78] - Switch
- LEGO City Undercover [78] - All
- Graceful Explosion Machine [77] - Switch
- ARMS [77] - Switch
- Human Resource Machine [77] - All
- ACA NeoGeo: Metal Slug 3 [76] - NeoGeo
- Mighty Gunvolt Burst [75] - ?
- I Am Setsuna [75] - PS4
- Kamiko [73] - Switch
It makes you wonder why Kotaku is so determined to keep ARMS on their list, when the consensus of critical opinion only puts is at #20, or why they're still hyping Splatoon 2 even though its critical reception isn't good enough to crack Metacritic's top 25 games. Nine of the top 25 critically-received games couldn't even crack 80 on their Metascore, something which is often considered the kiss of death for a new game.
Isolating just the top 12 games from the Metacritic list shows the problem in even starker detail. Of the 12 top-reviewed games for the Switch, six are ports from the PC (two of those are Shovel Knight), one is a port from PS4, and one is a port from Android. Only two are native Switch releases; Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, with a current Metascore of 85, will bump that up to three, knocking Puyo Puyo Tetris out of the top 12 at the same time, but thus far, the games released exclusively (or at least first) on the Switch are mostly mediocre fare like Snipperclips, which only garnered a Metascore of 79.
The Switch is still very new, and game development takes years, which means that this is not an unexpected problem, but it's a problem nonetheless. Nintendo's faithful fans have proven themselves willing to line up for the opportunity to pre-order the Switch, which (combined with their ongoing supply issues) means that they'll continue to sell every Switch they can make for a while to come, but this is not normal consumer behaviour, and there is zero evidence to date that the average consumer is anywhere near this excited about the console, but the distinct lack of system-selling games can only hurt the Switch.
The Switch is still very new, and game development takes years, which means that this is not an unexpected problem, but it's a problem nonetheless. Nintendo's faithful fans have proven themselves willing to line up for the opportunity to pre-order the Switch, which (combined with their ongoing supply issues) means that they'll continue to sell every Switch they can make for a while to come, but this is not normal consumer behaviour, and there is zero evidence to date that the average consumer is anywhere near this excited about the console, but the distinct lack of system-selling games can only hurt the Switch.