PSA: Nintendo Says Switch Sports Won't Work On The Switch Lite

I was looking forward to this, then I remembered I have no working Joy-con. I doubt the Pro will work on any events.

PSA: Yes it does work with the Switch lite, It requires joycons just like Mario Party did and many games before it that make full use of Motion controls.

Bad, but kinda understandable.

Never understood why the Switch Lite needed to exist to begin with.

@Erigen Beyond being a budget friendly option, nothing really. The original model does everything the Lite does, but better.

A bit misleading this. The game will not work without Joycon would be more accurate. If you have a Switch Lite you can still sync up some joycon to it and then play Switch Sports.

@Erigen For the nearly 1 in 5 Switch customers that were only interested in the system as a handheld is I suspect why it exists.

Huh, after WarioWare: Get It Together and Mario Party Superstars--two of Nintendo's most casual IP that used button controls only--I figured Nintendo was done with requiring players to exclusively use their Joy-Con. Not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. On one hand, I think Mario Party was significantly better without motion control gimmicks. On the other hand, I think WarioWare was significantly worse without them, and this could leave the door open for Wii games coming to NSO someday--especially now that the Wii U eShop is shutting down.

It works on the switch lite just fine. What you need is some joycons.

Yeah, this should really work on the Switch Lite, right? Just with additional Joy-Cons? Super Mario Party made it work, so it would be really disappointing if Nintendo Switch Sports didn't.

The game can still be played in Tabletop Mode, by connecting Joy-Cons to the Switch Lite.

@Damo are you going to fix the article, or just delete it and repost? Even the headline for the article is wrong.

Thats a classic Nintendo move right there.

Nintendo are having a good week, shot them selfs in the foot twice this week and it's only Thursday.

@Damo the only quote you have from them in the article is saying the Play Test is not compatible with the Switch Lite. Can you link to where they say the game is incompatible like the article title says?

Nintendo's product page says the supported features are
Tabletop mode and TV mode
https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Nintendo-Switch-games/Nintendo-Switch-Sports-2168292.html#gameDetails
https://www.nintendo.com/store/products/nintendo-switch-sports-switch/
That doesn't mean you can't play on the Switch Lite. It'll be awkward perhaps, but I'm sure some YouTuber will post a vid of them doing so come late April

@Fizza
Yes. You'll be able to take them as much as you want. I'm surprised Nintendo hasn't disabled it considering their secretive request.

I know that Joy Cons are the solution to this problem... but do you really expect every Switch Lite owner to buy a set of Joy Cons?

@Ironcore,

Or a classic reply from on here with no context at all.

No shat, Sherlock.

I already have the game installed for this weekend test.

It's just Nintendo Switch Sports, not "the Nintendo Switch Sports".

@PoeTheLizard
i am at least glad the lite exists since it means some first party games ended up supporting handheld mode/button controls which otherwise may not have (iirc they mentioned the button controls in skyward sword were added because of the lite)

Of course it actually works, it's just that most ppl with a Lite as their only Switch probably don't have a separate set of joy cons.

Yeah, of course it will work if you have Joy Cons but who seriously wants to use the Lite to play this, It will be had to see what you are doing.

@Erigen It’s always great to have cheaper options. I just can’t for the life of me understand why they didn’t make them compatible with the docks so that if you bought a lite and eventually wanted to play on the TV in the future you could upgrade without buying a whole new console. They could have sold dock/joycon/pro controller bundles to make it easier.

Nintendo just see it as three modes. Lite is handheld only, they don't consider it to support tabletop mode because it doesn't have a stand. Sports only really "supports" TV mode, even if they haven't specifically forced incompatibility with the Lite.

@Damo respectively, Nintendo don't. Compatability doesn't mean playability. The game cannot be played with a Nintendo Switch Lite, as their is no Joy-Cons on that device . Your headline outright states its not playable on the device, when you've now proven it yourselves as not true. Your entire basis is a confused tweet that seems to be both the source and the inspiration for the article. The only actual restriction is Handheld Mode, which is consistent across the models.

You mean they didn't implement traditional button gameplay with the compilation either? So much for being hybrid, the game should had cater to all style, motion control and regular control.

@OorWullie Nintendo Switch Sports test run wont open if your using a pro controller.(I booted up the test run of the game) The game will only run if you have split joycons. I think the screen showed a pro controller icon with a slash through it. I suspect this is what the full version of the game will do.

Ah, so it's just like super mario party

@PoeTheLizard

It’s a little more comfortable to hold and it’s easier to carry around.

But you are both right. It’s a pretty pointless device considering how much you lose over the regular or OLED Switch.

I’d be a little kinder to the Lite if they allowed you to use a cable to hook it up to the TV. Then it would be pretty good if your usuage case is 90% handheld and 10% TV.

@Not_Soos I feel like button controls in a Wii sports game would just be sad

@Specter_of-the_OLED I like the thought of playing a Wii sports game with button controls, I feel like that’s the most boring game you can think of without motion

This is correct verbiage by Nintendo. For the vast majority of average consumers, they want clear communication on what exactly is compatible with their piece of hardware, without accessories.

Switch Lite requires an accessory purchase in order to play in tabletop/TV mode, which means the Switch Lite, by itself, is not compatible with Switch Sports.

Who was expecting the game that obviously requires motion controls to work without motion controls?

This is one reason Switch lite will go out the way of 2DS. It has become the third crutch for Switch and will be phased out. Any OLED Lite won't happen and this games Signals the last nail in the coffin of the Lite and why it will die a quick death. If Nintendo want to sell more hardware the Lite isn't one that will do that for them. It's the v2 Switch and v2 OLED Switch that they need to sell more to sell more hardware like JoyCons and ProController for.

@SwitchForce since a 5th of the sold consoles are lites, I think 20 millions isn't that bad. There was a demand for it and numbers are the best evidence of that

The title of the article is a bit odd. The screenshot says that the playtest of the game is not compatible with the Switch Lite, not the game itself. I am guessing it is just something they have not really tested so they are informing people to avoid.

It will work, as long as you have Joycon Controllers. But then again, it would be a bit difficult to play on a smaller screen.

I guess depending on the person, like me for example I don't find the Lite a waste. I prefer smaller handhelds and my husband can stick to the original Switch. Plus budget friendly options are cool too and I wouldn't compare it to the 2DS, but it's my opinion.

Funny enough, the casual crowd who bought switch lites are probably frustrated with this lol

Too bad. This is idiotic from Nintendo, imo. They should have thought about adapting the controls for this game, somehow.

I bought a lite and I am frustrated by this. But from what I read you can do everything on the light other than local multi-player. If I can still play online in single player, I'm happy. Wish I didn't have to buy Joy Con for this though