How to begin?

January 11, 2021 10:58 AM

I'm new to gaming and trying to figure out how to use my Nintendo Switch. I'm having a problem getting past the screen that says, "Press A to begin".

Yesterday, I bought "Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled", by Activision. It's on a memory card (not downloaded). I'm using a third-party controller that I bought from Amazon. All the software is up to date. I'm playing the game with the Switch docked and connected to my TV. There's no issue with wireless -- I'm sitting just a few feet away from the docking station.

When I start the game, I'm having a lot of trouble getting past the screen that says, "Press A to begin". Pressing "A" does nothing. The only two buttons that do anything are the home button and the screen-capture button. Nothing seems to work reliably to fix this problem. I just keep having to restart the game until it finally works. Sometimes switching controllers helps, though I don't know if that's a coincidence. (I now see that a few other people are reporting the same issue).

It's frustrating, because the game itself looks promising and not overly difficult for me, a complete novice with poor reflexes and coordination.

Anybody have any suggestions on how to fix this?

posted by akk2014 to Computers & Internet (8 answers total)

Try it with the Nintendo joycon (either attached, using the Switch as a handheld, or separated with the Switch in its dock) to see if it's a controller issue.
posted by nkknkk at 11:00 AM on January 11, 2021 [4 favorites]

On my third party controller I have to hold the "home" button and then the Switch will recognize it. Hit the top L and R buttons simultaneously and then the A button.
posted by sanka at 11:06 AM on January 11, 2021

Response by poster: @sanka: A clarification. My Switch definitely recognizes the controller. I have no other problems navigating to various screens. And I can get through everything prior to the "Press A" screen. I just get stuck on that final screen (though, as I said, I can eventually move past it, after a lot of fiddling and cursing).
posted by akk2014 at 11:08 AM on January 11, 2021

Is the Screen Lock setting enabled? If so, maybe try disabling it.
posted by neushoorn at 11:42 AM on January 11, 2021

I'm assuming that this is the only game you own, since you don't mention trying it on another game. If you want to test to see whether this is a problem with just this game but don't (understandably) want to make another purchase to do so, you can test it on a demo. Go to the home screen, go down to the eshop, choose the filter on the left that's called "games with demos," and pick the first one you see.
posted by Ragged Richard at 11:43 AM on January 11, 2021 [2 favorites]

From the other reports, it sounds like this is a bug in the Crash Team Racing game. In case the developers have published a patch that fixes the bug, you should check for updates and install any that are available.
posted by mbrubeck at 11:52 AM on January 11, 2021 [2 favorites]

It wasn't clear from the question, so if you haven't hooked up your Switch to Wifi you will want to do that, as it can't find any updates unless it's on the internet. You don't need the "nintendo online service" for this, if you just make a normal account to get into the store that will be enough. These days a lot of games are semi broken at launch even on switch, so you kind of need to get those.
posted by JZig at 3:53 PM on January 11, 2021

Response by poster: Just an update: I was never really able to resolve this problem. I can eventually get past that screen, but it's hit-or-miss whether it happens quickly, or whether I have to restart the game a number of times. Also, sometimes switching controllers seems to help.
posted by akk2014 at 6:55 AM on February 21, 2021