Sony vs. Microsoft vs. Nintendo: Which Company Was Best to Gamers in 2018?
Nintendo
After the Switch’s wonderful launch year that was 2017, 2018 was always going to be a year in which Nintendo needed to keep fans happy and interested.
In terms of games, there was a good mix of tentpole exclusive releases and a barrage of indies.
The highlight for many of course, and the game that kept many Nintendo fans happy, was the release of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in December. It’s the biggest, most varied Smash game yet, and was always going to be a hit on Switch.
Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu was both what every Pokemon Yellow fan has been dreaming about for years and a great taster for Gen 8 next year, and Octopath Traveler was a wonderful and deep JRPG.
The games, on top of the frequent indies that prompted Switch owners to buy games they already had elsewhere just so they could take them on the go, made for a great 2018 release lineup.
Where Nintendo let their fans down, though, was with its online service. Of course, it’s new and has time to improve, but it’s so far behind the quality of the rival systems’ online services.
Yes, it’s cheaper at just $20 a year, but it’s unreliable, lacks basic functions like integrated party chat, and the free games that are on offer as a sweetener are lackluster. It’s far from the Virtual Console replacement many hoped for.
