3/21/2024 0 Comments Sonic mania steam icon![]() Of course, some gamers simply want uniformity in the way the icons line up on screen. With the release of the firmware update Nintendo finally enabled us to order the icons by title, but some of them still don’t stand out well enough. With all the games sitting on our Switch menu after two years, scrolling through to find the precise game we're after can be challenging at the best of times. ![]() More importantly, is the icon easy to pick out in the swathe of games on the menu screen? This is a user interface issue and something we’ve encountered a lot, especially as time has worn on and our library has grown. Does the icon look good in terms of colour palette, composition, font (if it has one), etc? Many developers might argue that the minimalism of a classy, logo-less icon is far more attractive than some key art with the game title pasted in. It seems to us that there are a variety of reasons why some gamers get hot under the collar for menu icons. Anyone for a spot of Mega Man Legacy Collection? Go on, Capcom - we dare you! Who would want to look at a botched, rubbish Mega Man every time they fire up their console? This is essentially the digital equivalent of an age-old video gaming debate around box art, except this time you’re stuck with just one digital variant, and unfortunately it's not the super sexy one they got in Japan. How does a tiny square menu icon fire up such fervent emotions, though? Well, we suppose it's for the same reason we got so antsy and envious of overseas box art back in the day. Take, for example, these tweets in response to Snake Pass' initial icon change: A cynic might surmise it’s a calculated marketing ploy to get the game trending on social media, and it certainly triggers powerful reactions in some people. While a great many conform to these guidelines (or have been subsequently altered following a backlash from players), there are still games released every week which don’t follow the 'rules'. Guidelines from back when Switch was still codenamed NX popped up online and show Nintendo’s advice to developers when creating icons. And yes, the same part which cursed the Daniel Craig films and Blu-Rays for coming along and ruining the display. It's that same obsessive-compulsive part of us which bought all the James Bond movies on DVD and lined them up so the spines showed the ‘007’ gun logo. One part of us completely understands – the part which makes us consider going on eBay to hunt down a non-Player’s Choice version 007: Everything or Nothing simply to eradicate the erroneous silver spine on our treasured GameCube shelf. ResetEra has a long and ongoing thread dedicated to the subject of Switch icons and we sympathise with the passion behind it. So, while we can smile at the ferocity of online feeling when an ‘awful’ icon appears on menu screens, a great many of us have had a similar feeling at one time or another. How devs should format their icons, according to Nintendo. A pile of loose carts on the floor collecting dust and grime? Perish the thought! While there are many subtle levels between these mindsets, any collector will probably recognise some version of compulsive behaviour. For every person who couldn't care less about the accoutrement surrounding the core game experience, there’s another who rigorously catalogues and arranges their collection with pride and meticulous precision. Many of us gamers have compulsive tendencies, though. Super Mario Odyssey could have the poo emoji for an icon and the game would still be an absolute belter. We can all sit here and rationally say it has precisely zero impact on our enjoyment of the game. After all, it’s the game itself that’s important, no? Would an ugly icon trivialise the brilliance of a game like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild or Celeste? Of course not. ![]() With all the struggles we face as we go about our daily lives, not to mention the larger challenges facing the world right now, it’s easy to look at an ugly icon on your Switch’s home screen and brush it off as totally inconsequential.
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