Deleted tweet reveals new Switch UI background and unannounced games

By Steven Petite January 20, 2017

nintendo switch ui — Nicalis

On Thursday, indie studio Nicalis was perhaps a bit too excited about its games running on the upcoming Nintendo Switch. In a since-deleted tweet, the studio posted an image, shown above, of what appears to be the Nintendo Switch UI.

This image of the UI is largely similar to the brief glimpse we saw during the Nintendo Switch Treehouse event. The biggest difference here is the background is black, whereas the previous clip showed off a white background. If the tweet was genuine, it seems as if the Switch will have multiple background colors to choose from. We also can see the “change user” option below the highlighted game that is, by the looks of it, currently running. This could conceivably mean that not only will the Switch support multiple user accounts, but that you can change accounts mid-game. It’s unclear how this would work uninterrupted, but at first glance, this seems to be a feature.

The six icons below the thumbnails match the ones from the confirmed white background UI, but their colors have changed to complement the black background. From left to right, the icons represent Game News, Nintendo eShop, Album, Controllers, System Settings, and Sleep Mode. While most of those are self-explanatory, two of them are not entirely clear. “Game News” would appear to be a notifications system similar to the 3DS. “Controllers,” depicted by a single Joy-Con, could possibly have to do with calibrating the motion controls for games like 1-2 Switch.

Besides the UI leak, Nicalis’ tweet also provided us with three new games that are more than likely headed to the Switch. We already knew about The Binding of Isaac Afterbirth +, but now we know that two additional Nicalis games are playable on the Switch: 1001 Spikes and Cave Story. The fourth game’s thumbnail is cut off in the image, but hardworking Nintendo fans have seemingly discovered its identity to be the 2011 indie game Hydra Castle Labyrinth.

Since deleting the tweet, Nicalis has not confirmed that these three games are coming to Switch, nor has the company commented on the Switch UI.

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Steven is a writer from Northeast Ohio currently based in Louisiana. He writes about video games and books, and consumes…

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