I FIXED Nintendo Switch Spines

The Nintendo Switch is my FAVORITE console of ALL TIME. But the spines are some of my LEAST FAVORITE of all time. So with the help of Reddit, I fix that.
Massive thank you to everyone over at r/switchspines ( / rerouhfeht ) for creating all of these amazing custom spines!
Photopea: www.photopea.com/
Written guide (with templates):
www.instructab...
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Intro & Outro music by Alen Riddick
Thanks for watching!
More Nicus’s Stuff:
• Nicus: Full Series
Music I use: • Nicus's Stuff Music

[@NicusStudios]

Thank you all for watching! If you would like to do this project yourself, I've provided some useful links in the description! If there's any more you think should be added, just let me know!

[@Mr.Porygon]

You stole Phoenix Resales thumbnail

[@lowpolyduck]

Study why this video did well-- good thumbnail, easy title; 95% of your job is getting people to click

[@Mr.Porygon]

@@lowpolyduck he still stole a thumbnail

[@lowpolyduck]

@@Mr.Porygon and it's the thumbnail that led to the views

[@Mr.Porygon]

@@lowpolyduck he still stole it

[@thekosmickollector7748]

Hey! I'm the creator of the Switch Spines project and the templates etc. Had no idea this video existed and got so popular! So glad to see people like them :D

[@NathanielBandy]

These look so much better then the boring red spines, i might do this as well

[@Zac_in_the_game]

OMG ITS NathanielBandy

[@Liano980]

You have like a trillion games, that would take a few days

[@Spaceofthesupertwins]

Bro you should make a video about doing it lol

[@mrman9262]

nathan...

[@Endermanman18]

DON’T!!!!

[@PSXHistorian]

I didn’t know I hated the switch spines until I saw how cool they could look. Those all turned out really well.

[@StuffedBunch]

fyi, the switch online hub and eshop are actually websites, which is why they're so laggy

[@heyspookyboogie644]

That’s not remotely why they’re laggy. It’s bad coding in multiple ways. Most app stores are just fancy websites and yet are plenty fast.

[@BNWilliamGaming]

I never knew that!

[@LeoFlipnotes]

That’s a janky workaround

[@FollowMe4REP]

@@heyspookyboogie644Plenty is a really strong word. They need to make proper apps. Music was good, but file size needs to be larger across the board, shit needs to load everything in a category even if it’s oFfScReEn, and these apps need a common-sense way of SAVING USERS’ POSITIONS IN A LIST. Nintendo has decided, deliberately, to have maybe a thousand fewer of my dollars just because each of their eShops have been purgatory. What could have been dozens of actual shopping sprees since 2006 have all deflated into me feeling like a victim of Harrison Bergeron’s society and giving up way before I would otherwise have been done spending money. Same with PSN avatars and themes but who cares

[@htsunmiku]

Apparently the Wii u eshop was too?

[@BriansReadingHovel]

Heyyyyy, the Zelda spine at 2:59 was mine, thanks for showing it in the video haha

[@MasterofMonkeys16]

Good job man it looks really nice

[@BriansReadingHovel]

@@MasterofMonkeys16 Thanks, I was attempting to do some Wii U/3DS style stuff at the time. My most recent work is now more focused on keeping series uniform with one another

[@WindowsXP2600]

@@BriansReadingHovel does look 3dsy

[@BriansReadingHovel]

@@WindowsXP2600 That was the goal! I liked how uniform Wii U and 3DS games looked, so I was making Switch spines in line with them

[@KartvelArca]

Love the wii u/3ds era throwback you did there, good job

[@pinksuiren]

One of the girlies who contributed to those! the animal crossing one is my design (rip it getting a bit cut off lmao). I have a ton of designs I havent even uploaded there but its fun to make and amazing to see in a collection

[@carl_lenn]

Splatoon 3's box art can be inverted so the game has a unique spine. So it made me think that maybe the next nintendo console could go down a route like that, so people could choose either consistency or artsy.

[@EvilgooseMan13]

Yea

[@cristiany140]

Yeah. Or sell a cardbox slipcase

[@Brimoe18]

Most cases have a slip with two sides already 😂

[@Telvarous]

Yeah just like many playstation games will do. Especially first party games.

[@PerryTheOneArmLegend]

Lovely video Karsten. I'm one of the contributors to the sub reddit and I had the same feeling when I decided to give my spines that added flare instead that brick red look. Most of the time, I tend to go for the weirder or off the wall games when it comes to what spines I do. Either it's always fun seeing someone's collection get that extra level of care and hats off to the other talented spine makers. Hope you get a chance to add more to your collection. 👍

[@PixelGameSquad]

Hell yea! That looks better. The original is clean BUT I’m a OG NES collector and I’m all about wild art on the shelves. Crazy colors and life!

[@Lewdles]

Interestingly, I'm polar opposite to this! I really like the red spine on Switch games with the white text on them! I live in the UK, and my main system is the PS2. EVERY game spine follows the same black and white format (PS2 brand at top, title beneath), and it makes it look a lot more consistent. I'm super glad you found a system that works for you! It adds a LOAD of personality and uniqueness to your collection with your Switch games looking different :D

[@FullaEels]

I like the red wall! makes me go "fwoooh, my collection is getting big"

[@legoboy-ox2kx]

Watching you cut the spines with scissors made me scream lol. Just get a $10 paper cutter from the same office store where you printed them!

[@DangerouslyStupidGamer]

Me: "Eh, he probably just didn't want to spend money unnecessarily" Me when he bought 20 copies of Everybody 1 2 Switch for a quick gag: 😶

[@MrWesleysnyps]

@@DangerouslyStupidGamer he could just get random games to make this scene ;)

[@DSprich]

If I ever need a chiropractor, I'll come to you - you clearly know how to adjust a spine!

[@JoeFredrick]

Great video! I wonder if it would yield better results to print out the entire boxarts? Like photoshopping the spine onto a Nintendo Switch cover sheet (that way you don't have to worry about things slipping out of place or seeing slivers of color between the spine.

[@pinksuiren]

while it WOULD work, it would also be a big waste of ink and stuff, and not every cover has a good scan and stuff so its a bit difficult do to so. but its definitely possible to do it!

[@KevinOnEarth_]

^ not only what this person said, but if you ever want to resell any of your games, things like the original case cover are very important to have and in good condition. I suppose you could store them all somewhere carefully but just the spine slip seems to work perfectly.

[@omegadavids6362]

Your idea is Amazing I hope the spines from their physical covers had this style for Nintendo Switch 2

[@mattb6522]

These new spines are eye-catching! Very well done! I always thought the pure red of the original spines was just ugly and bland, but this looks worlds better! They look awesome on display! I might try this out for myself!

[@DnerSU]

Love these new spines. Finally looking as they should. But what happens if you open the case? I think the new spine flip around. Most guys just use the cases for display and keep the actual games in a dedicated organizer. This would fix the new problem.

[@KingAgniKai]

So basically, the PlayStation style of spines

[@Chase90000]

Basically

[@PredictableEnigma]

And xbox. And every nintendo home console before the switch

[@pokemonduck]

@@PredictableEnigma the Wii and the Wii U also had spines like this (though some third party games didn't)

[@PredictableEnigma]

@@pokemonduck I didn't have a WiiU but NONE of my Wii spines matched (in north america)

[@davidcbeaudoin]

This was something I didn't know I needed in my life and now I think I have to do this. Thanks for bringing the reddit community to my attention and the construction tips.

[@TwoBirdsWithOneGame]

Wow these look great! So awesome that a community can come together and do cool stuff like this. May do this for my switch games soon!

[@TheEPICMarioBros2]

These spines look absolutely delightful, I might have to do this once I get a shelf

[@SpeedySibug]

This is brilliant. I love that there's a community around switch spines.

[@SuperWiiBros08]

it would be neat if the Switch 2 and later games boxarts have this spines designs

[@al3xg4m3z4]

thats so sick!! I've never thought of this idea, im definitely trying this one out

[@wrenegade2638]

Thumbs up for that "opening credits crawl" alone 👍🏻 Extremely clever!

[@Jadisons]

I grabbed a few from my physical collection and I'm gonna be printing them, this is such a good idea and I could never quite figure out why I didn't like my Switch game spines. Thanks for the idea!

[@memerlordv1265]

nintendo: im mad that i didnt do that, so ill sue him! hahahahaha!

[@LeandroBarbksa]

This really made me appreciate the minimalist red spines. It really looks messy having all the colorful spines together.

[@luciabaran8346]

Yeah it’s so overwhelming to me 😭

[@vectoralphaSec]

It's very rare but sometimes Reddit is actually good.

[@_zoom606]

With how well edited and put together this is I really expected like a million views at least, so I was shocked when there was only 1k, your channel sort of reminds me of Scott the woz or chadtronic I love the videos please keep it up! And these spines look so much better and so much more fun with the creativity and joy of classic Nintendo really enjoyed the final product!

[@Vintagesonic1]

I don't really play my Switch anymore, nor do I have many physical games for the system, but even so, after seeing this video and seeing how there's a community people who make Spines for the games, makes me inspired to make some of my own for everyone to use. I've had experience designing box arts, but those take a lot of time, so It'll be nice to create something smaller now and then.

[@alexzoin]

This video made me happy to be a PC player. Thank you Valve for making customizing your library easy.

[@Shimmi_Official]

Yeah, I only 2 problems that I actually have with the switch outside of games… My first problem is actually the game spines coincidentally And my second problem *is* actually the switch themes, one of my favourite ideas was made by GetMadz which has it so whatever cartridge you have in the switch changes the background to a theme based on the game

[@denischen8196]

The letters on the Metroid Dread spine is hard since they blend in with the red background.

[@OrangeToadGamer]

These are so cool, thanks to this video I might actually try using custom spines for my covers too

[@gligarguy4010]

Gotta say, despite the impressive work, I prefer how it currently is. It's very pleasing on a shelf to see

[@swalczyk]

I’m with ya, I don’t blame anyone for preferring the variety, I’m more surprised that that crowd is as large as it is. Personally I really dig the block of red on my shelf surrounded by the spines that do have the mix of colors

[@JC-hi8fk]

@@swalczyk yeah why would someone wanna actually tell their games on the shelf apart….

[@SamuSteiner-ng5um]

Great job! I'm glad to see people improving their collections by tailoring them more to personal taste. Having the games on the same shelf as PlayStation and Xbox, the new spines look really nice. I have the European style of the boxes (centered titles instead of left-aligned, some in all caps, half in German, Age of Calamity with additional French and Italian AND a few coloured custom fonts - WHY?!?) next to the white spines for 3DS, which imo looks awesome. I might give custom spines a go at some point, but I'd go with white font on red background and add little icons to differentiate them more easily. KH Melody of Memory already has a tiny Kingdom Key, which I love...

[@thehuntstudio17]

If you put the 1 2 Switch spines in the games you already have, instead of buying an absurd amount just for the gag, I salute you.

[@Britney-tl4ge]

i’m always impressed by how much care you put into each video!

[@thebling-blingcheese1691]

This is such a great video! I didnt even notice this was made by a small youtuber at first

[@Mr_Mimestamp]

wasn’t convinced until i saw how the whole collection looks together, it looks great! great video!

[@cartergamegeek]

The thing with the spines looking the same is a half truth. The EU normally centers the text and uses a different font. Then anything not written in English stands out if the spine is written in Japanese Chinese or Korean. Around 10% of our Switch games are imports so the spines can be way different. The main weird thing is the US and EU text placement and font. Once you notice that it sands out more. If you grouped games by spines then your US English and EU English would need to be grouped apart for this reason. I love our games and many of those imports never came to America. I like physical games so collecting games from around the world makes the spins stand out more when they don't 100% match.

[@Matt3683683]

The way you stacked printed cases to do the opening credits...immediate subscribe

[@hazeldavis3176]

Looks SO MUCH better!

[@jarrettbellboy]

For anyone wanting to do this yourself, make sure you use photo gloss paper, and if you are printing on your own printer, use the “best quality” settings. Also, make sure that the pages are printed in 100% size, with no margin. Love the Mega website!

[@punkinnonstop]

from "Lame as hell, to Flame as Hell" The Switch Spine story" | Love the way they all look on the shelf oml!

[@hyakin7818]

your printer will actually print popping colors if you set it to highest quality and use good shiny paper

[@MythKiller77]

Remember that one Super Bomberman game for the switch? Had the same red spine and everything, only difference was Konami jazzed up the font with bold letters, from the cover of the box.

[@bartowskiofficial]

Two minutes in and I'm already started 🤣

[@ICharlyl]

Great video, loved the effort to print more spines dor the intro, nice sense of humor, the cut away gags were tasteful and also amazing editing for such a small channel, you're going places, im subscribing!

[@Zekushion6]

I like the visual unity of all Switch spine covers, same thing in european PS and PS2 covers, it's clean.

[@FurkanYFH]

It's an amazing and creative content, keep it up bro

[@JoeFilms5420]

That's honestly a really fun idea, and they came out super well. Might try this with some of my Switch spines.

[@captaincz5763]

Lmaooo that was a very hilarious way to start the video. This was a fun video to see how a switch game would look with an actual spine instead of the standard red one

[@darkfox1603]

God damn it dude I never really paid attention to it before and now you make me want to do this

[@davidaltizer]

yo! just found your channel! Love it! new sub! thanks!

[@gavincunningham6207]

The fact that a bunch of nerds on Reddit made better spine covers than actual Nintendo is just the funniest thing ever.

[@Pit1993x]

Nice idea. I was actually considering just putting my Switch game cases in the attic once I get my own place and keep the games in those small cases that hold a few dozen games at once. But I might actually go for this at some point. :)

[@Salvefolksiosonomatteilcartoon]

I still remember the first time I got my Nintendo switch at Saint Lucy’s day with Mario odyssey and I was 7, I loved it so much and after 7 years, this beast is still alive. I’m so happy :)

[@Welipe]

I love how they all look but at the same time I do love the minimalist red style of the switch boxes, damn idk what to do

[@StefanPiano]

It looks really nice, but I think some of them are a bit too busy with their background, making the title hard to read. I've been making custom covers for a while, so if I wanted to do it, I could probably make something that would fit my needs. A community just for Switch spines is awesome

[@JoseSilvapy68]

Nicus discovered benefits of mass production

[@MariaFloresRopeLover]

With how well paced and engaging this video was I genuinely thought this was made by a big channel. So imagine my surprise when I realized this video was made by some new guy with less than a thousand subscribers.

[@huskygxd]

same here! I was actually really shocked, it felt immersive and got my full interest and I don't even use physical cartridges anymore.

[@JaredScott]

There are Etsy shops that do this for cheap. I’ve been happy with the results so far

[@swalczyk]

Reddit is the incredible crossroads of absolutely nasty stuff, insufferably online people, and the most supportive niche communities you could possibly find - what a world

[@_b_a_g_u_e_t_t_e_3191]

What you call fixed, I call ruined. I like how the switch spines all look the same, makes it look good on display. The ones you made make it look messy imo

[@manunimbus]

Looks so cool!

[@Zac_in_the_game]

if you are having trouble with lining them up, have a little overhang on the top of the spine to fold under the art cover, it makes it way easier

[@illshouyu]

This is a good idea. I predict a headache of constantly adjusting them after every case opening otherwise.

[@montanajackson3713]

This is amazing work.

[@Kiedys]

You haven't fixed it, you've destroyed it.

[@Edboimck]

as someone who grew up in a pal region, i am so use to the spines have plain text and no personality that i never realised nintendo had stopped doing that in america. very strange but great video :)

[@nols8244]

This makes me so glad. I got absolutely flayed alive on Reddit during the 2-3 first years of Switch when I on some occasions claimed that the spines were super boring and ugly. I was in awe by that so many (99% of the commenters) loved those super boring spines and also loves the European PS2 spines which were also in all uniform. I still don't understand this.... I really really really hopes that with the next Nintendo console improves with this matter.

[@frozenninja4030]

Man, what a huge upgrade! Looks great! Wanna talk about something that will drive a perfectionist crazy... The nice, uniform look on the red spines is mostly ok. Except when you get a PAL version of some games. My Astral Chain is PAL and the game title is in the MIDDLE instead of left aligned. It's the only one I have like that! It makes me freaking crazy!

[@NicusStudios]

I've been fortunate enough to have not gotten a Pal Switch game yet. The consistency is the only thing I give the red spines credit for, and the center aligned logo for one game would drive me MAD

[@Ray_2112]

Haha, I have the opposite problem, having three games from Limited Run being the only ones where the title starts at the top, but all others are in the middle. 😅 Kinda crazy how they ALWAYS have to do stuff like this different somehow, also with other consoles or movies...it's just impossible to have them all designed the same for whatever reason.

[@Revster]

Watching this video I’m blown away by how far Nintendo will go to cut costs I thought the quality of Pokemon games on switch and the lack of performance upgrades in the OLED were the ones that keep bugging me but now this is stuck in my head 😂 Really hope they redeem themselves with the switch 2 and Legends Z-A

[@kingdanett4043]

Tip from a Staples Employee: Ask for the Flyer / Color Expressions Glossy Paper. It is the exact paper used for game cases. If your unsure you can ask if you feel the paper first. Then make sure you state you want actual size and also that your file doesn't have bleed, the printers by default don't allow bleeding and there is like a 1.5cm border on the paper that can't be printed on. I don't know the exact bleed unfortunately but you can test it on normal paper if you worry it won't work.

[@Jackosaurus117]

Up until now I liked the red spines. After watching this video I hate them and want yours 😂

[@SirAlex0014]

I love the fact that we have options. I will say the plain red ones are rather boring but works well if you don't want flashy designs. The colorful designs have so much more personality. I've always quite liked how the Xbox and the PlayStation does the designs better than the Nintendo ones.

[@deanhuff123]

I'm considering this for the sole reason of covering up the damn centered labels of the few PEGI spines in my collection.

[@cristiany140]

Glad that I am not alone in this. The first DS cases are the best for me

[@santos-pink-867]

great video bro, had me engaged (it's not an easy task)

[@mario7832]

at first I was thinking I much preferred the red uniform spines but damn this video swayed me

[@DiosChotil]

the fix i do for free is turning around the paper, they USUALLY have a nice design. Sometimes its plain white or smth boring tho

[@jonmayer]

Damn you. I don't even have my boxes on a shelf that is displayed (it's behind a cabinet door) and I still want to do these now.

[@linksaya]

I love this!! Thank you very much!! Do they do this with PS2 games as well? :O

[@teneesh3376]

Here's a tip. Have a little extra on top of the spines and fold it. Make it act like a hook for the cover

[@SmithBluedevil8]

Thanks for sharing, awesome idea!

[@imanafshari6128]

I like the red spines, would be nice if it had the logo of the spine but uniform all in the middle

[@thepickinpreacher]

Great thumbnail! You caught my attention lol! I’ll watch video later but I’m out of the house. Anyway… Nintendo should take your lead on this

[@brooklyngray1527]

I feel like every week I learn about a new, incredibly niche community on Reddit

[@xxroyalprincexx6811]

I don't mind the red spines on the Nintendo Switch game cases, I quite like them.

[@GiuseppeGaetanoSabatelli]

At first I thought Microsoft did kinda the same thing as Nintendo with the Xbox One spines. But granted, they had a proper logo, and I eventually realized that it's not too far off from other consoles like Sega Saturn and PS1 long boxes. PS1 jewel cases had plain text. Honestly not sure what the idea was behind the plain red for Switch cases. In the past, Nintendo would put a wraparound label on the cartridges. I do have a Limited Run Games copy of Star Wars The Force Unleashed that has a reversible label for the original spine. But it's weird that it's my ONLY non-red spine. LMFAO.

[@FlameRat_YehLon]

I kinda have a feeling that these weren't really meant to be printed out, as there's no bleeding or safety margin, which means there's no room for error. On larger prints this is less of an issue, but on tiny stuffs like these it's really tedious to avoid mistakes. If I were to design these I would probably make the spine 1mm wider on each side to make them easier to cover the whole red part, leaving 2mm of margin on each side to avoid the text gets cutting off, and have an additional 2 or 3mm of bleeding so that any error wouldn't expose the white paper or another spine. (Also having bleeding allows the spine to be cut using a die cutter, so that there's no need to manually cut them if the print shop offers this service.).

[@silentswitchsis]

I think they look awesome, I wish that the Nintendo switch logo was a bit smaller

[@Spartan80HD]

I’m totally doing this when I get home from work

[@Ken_Leep]

Nice work, but I prefer uniformity. I would probably go for something like the Wii or US Sega Saturn boxes with the white uniform spines, but the stylized logos. The only PlayStation spines that I liked were PS1 haha.

[@generositygamer7971]

At 8:37 you can see the 3rd lego game's "LEGO" icon is slightly off. Enjoy your OCD.

[@Garedactyl]

The bad quality FireRed covers and stuff, that's not your printer's fault, it's the low quality paper If you use photo glossy or anything like that, it will look x1000 better

[@Jarred-Pegg]

I actually strongly prefer the uniform, red spines. My OCD appreciates it, I think I might be in the minority with that.

[@FunkyNutbar1982]

Had to pause the video on the photo of the alley, I was sure I recognised it. Yep, in my home city of Glasgow. I have peed down that alley on a night out once.