Nintendo has been producing ever-popular consoles and games for about four decades now. In recent years, fans and experts alike have been covering the Japanese company’s products online.
But let’s face it, with the introduction of the Switch and the lower-priced Switch Lite, those hybrid models have become synonymous with “Nintendo gaming.” That position was officially cemented with the discontinuation of the 3DS in September 2020.
That said, the following websites represent the best online coverage of Nintendo and the Nintendo Switch.
1. My Nintendo
When the loyalty program Club Nintendo shut down in 2015, it wasn’t long before a successor took its place. Although different territories have their own official Nintendo sites, eShops, and product stores, My Nintendo is the constant tying them all together.
After you create a Nintendo Account, the site will then award you points for various activities, from game purchases to simply signing in. My Nintendo also has a news service promoting various merchandise and offers.
2. Deku Deals
Although the Nintendo Switch eShop continues to improve its wishlist feature, it’s fair to say the service is still lacking in many areas. Fortunately, Deku Deals is here to fill the gap.
With a comprehensive database of over 5,000 Switch games, Deku Deals allows you to create multiple wishlists and collections, either privately or for public consumption. Games can be sorted and filtered by categories, such as multiplayer support or even age rating, and everything is tailored to your chosen country.
The site really comes into its own when displaying discount information, as prices are sourced from several different stores. Deku Deals includes an extensive price history tracker that shows when each game has been on sale in the past. And if you want, you can sign up for email notifications that inform you when a title’s price drops.
3. Reddit’s r/Nintendo and r/NintendoSwitch
Reddit forums are an institution unto themselves. Tread carefully and be prepared to hear unvarnished opinions about why your favorite gaming company is “trash,” or why all of your legitimate concerns are unfounded! Despite that, nowhere else online boasts the reach and volume that the r/Nintendo and r/NintendoSwitch subreddits offer.
While r/Nintendo has nearly two million members, r/NintendoSwitch is understandably more active. This subreddit covers every Nintendo-related topic you can think of, with hundreds of separate discussions in a typical week.
Frequent issues include fan art, latest game updates, and gripes about Joy-Con drift. The daily “Question Thread” is popular and sometimes even dispenses objective, level-headed advice!
4. Nintendo Life
Nintendo Life is primarily a news and reviews site, but it also has an extensive Games library, allowing users to create a profile and score their own collection as they see fit.
News is posted frequently, and the site also features a large set of videos covering the 3DS, hardware and accessories, and plenty more. An international team ensures the site and its various social media outlets are up-to-date and prolific.
5. Switch Weekly
On the other end of the scale is Switch Weekly. It may be a one-person operation that is only updated as often as its name suggests, but that doesn’t mean it lacks in quality.
The focus is a regular newsletter, delivering curated news, review links, and release information in a friendly digest. A comprehensive archive dates back to before the Switch even launched, but the highlight is probably the annual survey covering every aspect of Switch gaming you can think of.
6. Super Rare Games
Despite gaming’s continued march towards a digital-only sales model, special releases and collector’s editions have never been more popular. For Nintendo Switch buyers, this is demonstrated no better than on the Super Rare Games site.
Super Rare Games releases limited physical copies of popular indie games for the Switch—everything from The Gardens Between to Steamworld Dig has been made available in an actual box that you can pick up and open.
Prices are steep compared to their eShop equivalents, but that seems like little deterrence to fans who are eager to maintain a collection of quality games on their bookshelves. Purchases typically include a manual, additional artwork, and trading cards.
7. Metacritic
King of review aggregators, Metacritic covers far more than just Nintendo games. However, there’s no better source for Nintendo gamers looking to get an overview of opinions on games for their console of choice.
Nearly 20 years old, the site has its share of critics who point out a tendency for users to “bomb” the site with negative reviews for games with any hint of controversy or idiosyncrasy. Still, its averaging of professional reviews from a huge range of publications means that if an expert review has been written, it’s probably included here.
The site is so influential that game developers and publishers celebrate a “high Metacritic score” as if they’ve won an award, and there’s ample evidence that the cream really does rise to the top.
8. NSG Reviews
Of all the community review sites catering for the Nintendo Switch, NSG Reviews is possibly the best looking. It has a clean mobile-friendly design focused on user reviews in four simple categories. The leaderboard highlights top contributors to the site, which has a small but committed community.
9. GoNintendo
GoNintendo may look a little dated, but it’s been kept running by the same set of capable hands for most of this century, so we can perhaps forgive it that. With forums, a Discord channel, and a podcast some 800 episodes long, there’s a strong community feel to this homegrown enterprise.
The site has news, reviews, and an active Twitter presence. GoNintendo is simply the work of one extremely dedicated fan who seems set on covering Nintendo for as long as it keeps bringing out new games and consoles.
Finding Your Nintendo Niche Online
Although Twitter tends to dominate much of the discussion, it’s not the only source of Nintendo-related commentary out there. Plenty of news and review sites continue to fly the flag for Nintendo gaming, whilst niche sites exist to serve more specific purposes.
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