Gaming Habit Changes Since the Switch

[Jumpin]

Jumpin said:

I used to play a lot of past generation systems until the Switch. Probably between 25 and 85% of my total play time was an earlier console than the current gen. In fact, I played SNES more than N64 and Gamecube during those two generations, and PSX more than PS2 and PS3. During the Wii U generation I played significantly more Wii (including Virtual console). That was home consoles, with handhelds I dropped the previous generations except for my very favourite games after 3 years.

The Switch is different, this generation, ~95% of the time I play is the Switch. The only game on previous gen hardware I played in the last couple of years (not counting classic mini consoles) is Chrono Trigger. Granted, I still play a lot of classic games, but they’re mostly on the Switch hardware.

One more addition: I’ve played significantly less PC and iOS this generation. Mostly because those two platforms used to be the two major destinations for really creative indie games, with Wiiware being a distant third (although, there were several major gems on it) and DSi not really taking off too much. The Wii U and 3DS saw a boost in this type of software with the EShop… which were more like prototypes. The Switch EShop has thousands of these games, and a higher quality control than other platforms—so instead of looking through 400 games and maybe finding something I think I’d like, I’ll look through the 25-50 new games a week, and find usually between 3-8 games that interest me, then I add them to my wish list for future consideration - I usually don’t buy games until I want to play them, or they have some kind of crazy deal and I feel like playing it soon. It’s to the point that I no longer browse Steam or iOS anymore, I only go to those places if there are specific games or software I want.

I’ll usually spend small prices on games that I know I’ll only play 1-2 times, I think of the discount section as a bit of an arcade. I used to do that on Steam and iOS, but now only on Switch.

EDIT - Gaming Playtimes have changed.

Prior to this generation, it was a rarity that I’d play a game for over 100 hours. Some examples include specific RPGsw Dragon Quest 9 and Xenoblade Chronicles games, strategy games like Victoria 2, Crusader Kings 2, and Stellaris. I replayed a few RPGs enough to get into the hundreds of hours (Xenogears, FF1, 4, 6-8, Tactics, and X, Chrono Trigger, Dragon Quest 3-5, Earthbound, etc…) but Switch has been something else, I have around a dozen games over 100 hours, games like Witcher 3 and Breath of the Wild are over 400 hours—granted, that’s on multiple playthroughs. Switch isn’t the first platform I’ve owned Witcher 3 on, but it’s the only one I’ve played the game a substantial amount of time on.

Last edited by Jumpin - on 28 August 2022