Topic: Nintendo’s Flagship 2018 Game?

@Grumblevolcano I highly doubt we're getting four ports next year...

@Octane That I do certainly agree with, one new IP per year is a good way to supplement sequels to known games. I would assume Platinum will have something hopefully coming out in 2018 exclusive to the Switch which would help bolster the lineup. Yoshi is outsourced itself so that kinda helps free up internal resources too.

@Grumblevolcano I don’t get why so many people are expecting a Smash 4 port early next year, I guess I can get why something like that could be announced during the rumored Nintendo Direct in January, but with only 1-2 months notice with a game like Smash? Even if it’s only a port?

People expect something Smash related like anytime something Nintendo happens.

Animal Crossing Direct. Smash?! Xenoblade Direct. Smash-ash?!!

It's a meme at this point.

Well, I think online games like Dragon Quest Builders, Monster Hunter XX, Payday 2, Arena of Valor, Smash Bros., Super Mario Maker, Animal Crossing, and the new F-Zero are held back to hype the start of the online service.

@NintenNinja16 Well the games we do know about are releasing during Spring at the earliest so either there's an unannounced game coming before March or Nintendo's giving the idea that 2018 is going to be drought heavy (December 2nd to March/April is a long time without any 1st party games). Announcing a Wii U port 1-2 months before launch sounds more reasonable than a brand new game.

I still don't see a two month gap without heavy hitters being that big a deal. Like... the vast majority of people are going to still be picking up games released during the crazy holiday season, I think we'll survive without a first party release for two months. Most likely, we'll see a first party eshop release of some sort during that time, similar to the Dr. Luigi/Pushmo/Dillan's/NES Remix/Box Boy/Photo Finder/HarmoKnight/Mario&DK games that were released last generation. It's been nearly a year since Puyo puyo released, so a new Dr. Mario could be due, or SNES Remix, or a new Mario & DK following up on Oddyssey, or a new out of the blue game from HAL Laboratories. I highly doubt it'll be a retail release though.

Ranked in terms of likelihood:

1. Retro's new game
2. Animal Crossing
3. Fire Emblem
4. 2D Mario game
5. Metroid
6. Pokemon
7. New Smash Bros game.

I'd bet my bottom dollar Retro is working on something big and bankable.

Lmao people are still banking on Retro releasing a game.

I wouldn't be suprised to see the schedule beefed up with 1 or 2 3rd party collabs (not unlike this year's Mario + Rabbids & Fire Emblem Warriors), that Nintendo wouldn't have to develop themselves, but would be able to fill their release slot for a month.

I already have too much games to play right now but really looking forward to Fire Emblem in 2018. Wouldn’t mind Pikmin 4 if it’s gonna be next year too. Couldn’t care less for Wii U ports tbh

Super Smash Bros
Animal Crossing
Pokemon Generation 8
2D Mario or Super Mario Maker

Pick 2 of the above 4.

The above 4 are the games that will grab attention from the mainstream gaming audience and can sell 10-15 million copies. Games like Kirby Star Allies, Yoshi, and Fire Emblem are good B-Tier, ~2 million sellers that will cater to a particular niche and ensure the Switch has a good flow of games during 2018.

I also expect Mario Party 11 and Mario & Sonic at the 2018 Winter Olympics on Switch next year as well.

A 2D Mario is too much of a seller not to see the light of day already next year. Hopefully it changes up the New Super Mario Bros. formula some..

Now till end of Q1 2018 confirmed releases below. Not sure which will be the flagship, but Owlboy looks nice.

http://www.metacritic.com/browse/games/release-date/coming-so...

Tennis in the Face
The End Is Nigh
Party Planet
Pinball FX3
Yooka-Laylee
Bleed
Unepic
Crawl
Tiny Troopers: Joint Ops XL
Max: The Curse of Brotherhood
Frederic: Resurrection of Music
World to the West
Lost Sphear
The Longest Five Minutes
Monster Energy Supercross: The Official Videogame
Owlboy
Penny-Punching Princess
Blade Strangers
Atelier Lydie & Suelle: The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings

Good one! I spilled my tea, you're funny

If I were guessing on the line up for 2018 I'd probably speculate something like the following:

Feb: Mario & Sonic at the Winter Olympics - surely it's coming? I don't know anyone who cares but it's surely coming right?

April: Kirby - It seems to be further along than Yoshi so I think they'll push it out earlier in the year. I'd guess April rather than March because it's the start of the new financial year - they'll already be so far ahead for 2017 that it makes sense to push it into the 2018 financial year.

May: Smash - It's definitely coming at some point in some way shape or form. In recent years Nintendo has launched some big games around this time, in particular Mario Kart 8 (both the Wii U and the Switch versions) launched very successfully in May.

It makes a lot of sense - not much else happens before E3 and they'd have a few weeks of solid media focus on a game that will anyway continue to sell over a long period of time.

I think they'll also want a reasonably big "4 quadrants" game in the first half of the year to keep Switch sales up and to prop up their figures. Smash allows to do that without worrying about burning a game (because it will continue to sell well throughout the life of the system) and it also allows them to do that without using a big brand new game that would be better spent in the run up to Christmas.

June: Fire Emblem - Fire Emblem is the type of game that's less likely to be overshadowed by E3 because it has a dedicated and well informed fan base. It's also something that keeps fans busy for a few months over summer. June or early July are a good fit.

August: Pikmin 3/4 - Pikmin is a slightly perplexing series. It's generally successful but it's never broken through beyond the core Nintendo fanbase. I think it probably just asks too much of players from a control sense to be able to do that. Nevertheless it is red meat for the fans that isn't Mario or Zelda or Pokemon so it diversifies the range of 1st party IPs and genres on the system.

If they can't give us Pikmin 4 in 2018 then Pikmin 3 should be an easy and well recieved port.

September - Yoshi - It'll be out before the end of the year. I'd have to think they'll want it out before the Christmas present buying period really starts. September seems to fit.

October - Something from Platinum or something from Retro - Hmm. Depends on what they're both working on!

You've got to assume that Platinum are working on something for Nintendo. They have a good relationship and Platinum finished a few projects in late 2016/early 2017. They have the bandwidth to make a couple of big games a year - particularly if the game we're talking about is a sequel to Bayonetta or Wonderful 101 that could reuse a lot of assets.

We know that Retro are working on something but we've no idea what. For all we know it's a DKC match 3 puzzle game (oh wait sorry - a 'New IP' match 3-puzzle game...). It could be a huge adventure game or it could be much more understated.

November - Animal Crossing - I think Nintendo will want this out in 2018 as the console passes over the 20 million units threshold. It's just a game that will keep selling throughout the console's life and, for a game that relies on a big network effect November is the time when you get the best chance to get a lot of people hooked in straight away.

December - Mario Party - They've almost annualised the Mario Party series so it wouldn't be a surprise to me at all if we see it arrive on Switch in late 2018.

...

That would be a good varied line up that would keep the console selling if it were supported by some good 3rd party options at the right times and it would allow Nintendo to clear the decks for 2019. Of course it also fails to answer questions like "what is Sakurai working on" or "what is the Super Mario Maker team doing?".

I suspect Nintendo will really push the new online games service in January, and treat that as a new game release in itself. Also, it wouldn't surprise me if Nintendo opts to package some of the bigger indies as main releases, provided they are Switch exclusive. I'm thinking of the likes of No More Heroes, which could fill a window in the doldrums of summer. Basically, whenever there's a lull in first-party releases, Nintendo will roll out a big exclusive indie or drop another few games on the online service.

I imagine Yoshi will fill the Mario Odyssey slot in October, and definitely agree with the suspicions that Kirby arrives in March/April. I'd imagine we'd have had more of a sniff of Smash by now if it were truly happening in early 2018.

Still, who knows? Looking forward to the January Direct.

@StuTwo Platinum is already working on a mobile game and a PS4 game for 2018. Scalebound got cancelled recently and that was a 2018 game as well IIRC. I don't think they can handle four games in a single year.

@Octane Scalebound got cancelled at the very start of 2017 (or at least that's when it was announced publicly - Platinum probably knew a few weeks before that). A game arriving in late 2018 would have had almost 2 full years between it and the point of Scalebound's cancellation. Enough time if we're talking about a sequel for a game with a lot of assets already prepared.

A mobile game is also likely to be relatively less taxing on their resources.

@StuTwo Even three games would be pushing it IMO. Maybe, but not likely I think. It's more like one-and-a-half years, and that includes planning and design as well. And I can't think of a Platinu, game they can simply retool in a short amount of time, and call it a sequel.