Not Every Nintendo Switch Game Supports TV Mode

By Jasmine Henry 27 February 2017

• nintendo
• switch

Not every Nintendo Switch game will support TV mode, according to the latest game to be announced for the upcoming console. Voez, a rhythm game that was previously released on iOS and Android mobile devices, is headed to the Nintendo Switch on March 3 as a Japanese launch title, but it can only be played in portable mode with the console’s touchscreen tablet.

According to a post on NeoGAF, Rayark, the mobile developer behind Voez, says that the game can only be played in “mobile mode.” Moreover, Voez requires players to use the touchscreen as “button operation is not available.”

That’s perhaps good news for those who need a bit more time getting used to the Nintendo Switch Joy-Con controllers, which sit on either side of the tablet, but it’s not great news for sticky-fingered players who don’t fancy tapping at a screen. Given that the Nintendo Switch battery life may only last a few hours, it’s also not helpful to those who had hoped to be engrossed in Voez‘s rhythm and lane-hopping madness for hours on end.

This sort of decision by developers may come as a concern to Nintendo which has been adamant that the Nintendo Switch is not a 3DS replacement and that it’s a home console before it’s a mobile one. Therefore, when developers only make the most of the Switch’s portable, touchscreen abilities and completely ignore the ability to play games on a TV, it doesn’t exactly help Nintendo’s cause.

There are also concerns that if more developers take this approach, the Nintendo Switch eShop could become littered with smartphone shovelware. While many would no doubt be thrilled if the likes of the supremely successful Super Mario Run came to the Nintendo Switch, or if Nintendo made a port of Fire Emblem Heroes for the console, fans most certainly won’t want to see hundreds of Flappy Bird clones up for sale on the new device.

With the Nintendo Switch not yet available, Nintendo may well set guidelines for developers, forcing them to make games that can be played with TVs in order to get in line with the company’s marketing for the console. Or, Nintendo may be totally fine with it if Voez – and ports of other mobile titles – help to sell the console. So, those for (or against) the mobile-only use of the Nintendo Switch will have to wait and see.

The Nintendo Switch will be available from March 3, 2017.