Folders, or Groups as they are now called, have finally arrived as part of a new Nintendo Switch update.
nintendo switch owners have been practically begging for records since the console’s release. They let you organize software into easy-to-access groups instead of scrolling through all the games you own. The feature was available on Wii U and Nintendo 3DS but it took five years to come to Switch.
It took a while, but now you can create up to 100 groups (thanks, super nintendo), which is pretty impressive, and each group can hold up to 200 games. However, unlike the Wii U and 3DS – which showed your folders neatly organized on the home screen – any groups you create on Switch are somewhat hidden in the “All Software” section.
That may defeat the point for some, but it’s still nice to be able to organize the games you’re currently playing into an easy-to-find folder so you can finally tackle that ever-growing backlog. Remember that you will need to install the latest system update, 14.0.0, before you see the option to create Nintendo Switch folders.
How to Create Nintendo Switch Folders
Creating a party on Nintendo Switch is easy. From the Nintendo Switch HOME menu, scroll right and select “All Software”. You will then need to press the L button to view your software groups.
If this is your first time creating a group, you will be prompted to “Create a new group”. Select all the software you want to add to your group, then press “Next”.
You can rearrange your chosen software in any order you like – the first three games will be used as the folder preview – but once you have everything you like, hit “Next” again.
The last step is to name your group. You are limited to 32 characters, but once you have chosen a name, press ‘OK’ or the + button to confirm.
And that’s all! You will now see your newly created Nintendo Switch folder. You can edit your group if you want to add more games or change the name of the group.
Analysis: are we finally going to have Nintendo Switch themes?
It looked like we’d never get Nintendo Switch Folders, but what update might we see next? The Nintendo Switch has notoriously only had two themes since launch: Basic Black and Basic White. At the time, many people thought Nintendo would offer a range of custom themes down the line, similar to the Nintendo 3DS.
Five years later, however, we’re still stuck with the same black or white themes, which seems like a missed opportunity for Nintendo to cash in on gamers’ desire to customize their Switch home screens. Imagine being able to have a Breath of the Wild 2 background, or transform your icons and menus to reflect the pink puffball, Kirby? It seems like a no-brainer.
It’s great to see cases coming in, but they still fail to fix one of the Switch’s biggest problems. The Nintendo Switch home screen cycles through the last games you’ve played, which can cause titles you haven’t touched in a while to disappear and then be forgotten. Folders can usually serve as a convenient way to pin multiple games to the home screen, but unfortunately that’s not the case with the way Nintendo chose to implement the feature here.
Still, it will save us time sifting through a growing list of games in search of something new to play, so the folders are certainly a welcome addition, but not quite what we were hoping for.
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