Topic: Switch 2020 unannounced game release speculation.

@Grumblevolcano I genuinely don't think we'll be getting BotW2 this year. Pushing it to 2021 and releasing a Wind Waker HD/Twilight Princess HD double-pack seems much more likely, imo.

Pikmin 3 seems like a shoe-in. Pikmin 3 in 2020 with a vague "2021" release date for Pikmin 4. Calling it now!

@Ralizah Thinking that Nintendo would actually release Wind Waker HD/Twilight Princess HD in the same package. Lol. I hope you're right if they do decide to port them to the Switch.

I really hope that BOTW2 is a release this year. Switch needs a year where it hits it out of the park for me. With Animal Crossing New Horizons in the first half of the year, and BOTW2 in the last half of the year this might be the first Switch year I'd be content with.

Still, I understand BOTW2 is by no means guaranteed a 2020 release.

@Ralizah I agree we won't be getting BotW2 this year but I don't think we will ever see Nintendo release a Wind Waker HD/Twilight Princess HD double bundle. If those two games get released, Nintendo are going to charge full price individually for them and they won't come at the same time. Wind Waker HD will be this year, and Twilight Princess HD will be 2022 allowing for a Zelda game every year.

@FragRed Yeah, I was initially thinking Oracle remakes in the style of Link's Awakening for 2022 with Twilight Princess HD for 2023 but I doubt Capcom would allow that or Minish Cap meaning the 2D remake cycle is pretty much complete.

@Grumblevolcano Question: Why do people think Capcom has control? The development of those games was actually done by Flagship, a developer partially funded by Nintendo (as well as Capcom and Sega), specifically for this purpose. Either Nintendo should have the full rights, or they should be split between Nintendo, Capcom and Sega.

@link3710 Didn't realize about the SEGA involvement but I figured that any situation of partial rights would mean any of the owners could say no and that meaning it doesn't happen. Otherwise we'd have seen Pokemon on Xbox and Playstation systems as Nintendo doesn't own all the rights.

@Grumblevolcano 2 million for a launch year first party game, even a new IP, is still pretty low. And being the 2nd best new IP when there's only been 2 is nothing to brag about. Splatoon's first game sold 4.94 million much later in the lifespan of a console that sold much worse. Nintendo is probably looking for closer to those numbers out of a new IP.

@Grumblevolcano Well the main issue with that is we haven't seen any issue with the Oracle games or Minish Cap being rereleased on VC in the past. Koei-Tecmo's issue with Capcom are well documented, so their refusal to use Capcom created characters isn't indicative either way of the legal status of those games. And I don't know what else would lead people to believe there's an issue either way.

After all, the way rights are distributed when companies collaborate is set out at the beginning of a collaboration, not the same every time. And unlike Pokemon, Kirby and the Amazing Mirror was also developed by Flagstaff, and characters created there have appeared in later Kirby titles. Same with Squeak Squad. So all evidence would point to Nintendo having reserved all rights to the characters developed as part of their games in these collaborations.

I think we can rule out Mario Kart 9 for Switch for quite some time.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is a great game, one of the best looking Wii U titles even though it's 6 years old, and it's selling like hot cakes on Switch. There's absolutely no need for another game eating into its sales.

And the new mobile game Mario Kart Tour is one of the best-grossing games for Nintendo, not to mention it's also great looking and great playing, and a growing game, where gatcha mechanics don't get into the way and microtransactions can be ignored for the most part. You'll need the Gold Pass though to keep up with the p(l)ayers. Since it's a growing moneymaker, Nintendo and Bandai Namco's priority is to add more to it, so there won't be much time or resources to work on another one for Switch. MK8D is good enough. Maybe next console.

And there are at least two great alternatives on Switch already!
Pick up Team Sonic Racing or Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled (which won best racing game of the year at The Game Awards 2019) if you want another good Kart racer on your Switch!