Topic: What 5 games must Nintendo launch the NX with?

1. most if not all of the Wii U virtual console games + GameCube. If the NX is as powerful as the rumors seem to suggest, this will not be a problem.

2. one main series Mario (preferably Galaxy 3, or at least a 3D game) and one spin-off Mario. I'm hoping for Luigi's Mansion.

3. a high-quality port of Zelda U.

4. Mario Maker, Splatoon (or Splatwoon), and Smash Bros. Definitive Edition are all possibilities. Mario Kart 8 absolutely does not need to be on two consoles. I'd like it to launch with MK9, but they probably need more time on that one.

5. ANIMAL CROSSING!

6. a large amount of third-party titles.

1. Open world Super Mario (can be a Galaxy, Sunshine, or 64 sequel, or something brand new I just want it to be open world like sunshine- and not nsmb or sm3dw.)
2. A 3D Donkey kong game- (preferably open world.)
3. A new Mario party game (that tries to be good with an option between everyone in the car and people running around the map free.)
4. Diddy Kong Racing 2.
5. A new mario RPG game (that isn't paper mario- Something new!)

They only need one killer launch title. What they should do is keep a steady flow of first party games. One AAA title every four months. If they can do that, they will be golden.

That is massively cutting back compared to what they do now, right? Between both their devices they normally have 1 big game a month.

@DefHalan: To be fair, he said AAA. Compared to the rest of the industry, there are very few games at Nintendo that qualify as ''AAA''. On the Wii U, only Mario Kart, Smash and Zelda fall in that category.

@Octane: AAA is a meaningless term. Everyone seems to have their own definition of it and it is usually correlated with their preferences of games. Which you demonstrated perfectly.

@Therad:
I thought "AAA" was supposed to be like the gaming equivalent of "blockbuster movie". Which would effectively just mean that these are games that sell well. Or games that should have sold well if the install base was there. Right?

So there are a LOT of games on the Wii U that are in that category. Splatoon definitely counts for one. There shouldn't be any argument about that. Even Super Mario Maker should probably count.

For the Non Nintendo masses? They need the current EA, Activision and ubisoft titles at that time, if they can snag Bethesda, capcom, bamco and rockstar as well that would be great, but the other three will cover sports, shooters, open world and depending on what Bioware is doing WRpgs. Without gimps or cuts. For the rest of us? The new Dragon quest, Zelda (I'll likely double dip), a mario game (3d preferred), splatoon sequel or port, and a port of smash (not sequel, port...Sakurai needs a vacation). That covers Jrpg, adventure, platforming/staple, shooting, and fighting/party. For me? No region locking. If they lock this system I'm not buying it until I have 10 exclusive games for it.

@Therad: @skywake: Skywake is right, it's the gaming equivalent of a blockbuster movie; however, most people take high budget and promotion into account as well. Mario 3D World fits that category as well I think. Splatoon, although it is a huge success, probably didn't have the development budget of other 'blockbuster' games. Anyway, it's a stupid term as I don't think games are as black and white as that.

As I said, it is meaningless since it is subjective.

There are loads of titles that may or may not fit the AAA definition, depending on the definition. If the definition is "Sales", then New Super Mario U, Splatoon and Super Mario 3D world should definitely be on an AAA-list.

Now, most people don't mean just sales, they mean something else, a perceived quality in the game, a game where developers have spent much money on polish. And in that case titles like Bayonetta and Xenoblade should be on that list. And Super Mario 3D world yet again.

Others means they have some sort of grandness in them, an interesting world or open world. Here things like splatoon might fit in along with bayonetta, Xenoblade and Devils third. But also things like star fox can be in this category.

And most people just mean "I like this mass-market game, therefore it is triple-A!!1!1111!!eleven!!!"

So Triple-A is a meaningless term since everyone has their own definition (this is also true of other concepts like freedom, patriotism etc).

I though AAA always meant it was the main project worked on by a large developer.

Well if that's the definition then you can split Nintendo up into a whole bunch of "large development" groups. Where Mario Kart 8, Splatoon, Nintendo Land, Zelda, Super Mario Maker, New SMB U, Pikmin, Super Mario Maker and 3D World have all been the "main project" at one of their arms at one point. Then there are the second party developers where their main projects on the Wii U have included Yoshi's Woolly World, Xenoblade, DKC:TF and so on.

The "B" games would therefore be the games that were developed alongside those other titles. They'd be games like Wii Sports Club, Amiibo Festival, Wind Waker HD, Super Luigi U, NES Remix, Captain Toad ect.

@skywake:
Yeah I suppose AAA in Nintendo terms is slightly different due to the amount of IP it has.
Say Nintendo has Mario Galaxy 3 and a new Zelda underway then that's 2 AAA games being made.
Naughty dog for instance has GTA and that's it.
Makes you think again at how big Nintendo actually is.

Naughty Dog have Uncharted and Jak and Daxter. GTA belongs to Rockstar who also have Red Dead, Max Payne etc.

On top of that, Naughty Dog is also one of Sony's studios. Retro Studios or one of the EAD Groups would be a better comparison.

AAA is a very subjective term normally meant to mean the bigger releases from a company, their "blockbusters" but what is a game blockbuster? Splatoon, Mario 3D World, Hyrule Warriors, Smash, Mario Kart, and Zelda fall into this category. But so do Star Fox Zero, Metroid Prime: Federation Force, Pikmin 3 and Bayonetta. Even with Hyrule Warriors and Bayonetta being developed by other companies, Nintendo published them. In my opinion, Nintendo generally tries to get 1 big game out a month, whether it is something like Mario Tennis or Splatoon or Smash Bros.

Key word being tries.

Between Wii U and 3DS I think they have done this most of the time. Maybe missing a month here and there, and this year has just felt like a mess but I think they try to do 1 big game a month between their two systems.

Tbh I look at there being over a 100 different amiibos and then I think about their games release schedule and it's hard not to be pessamistic.

I have enjoyed most of their big releases on Wii U and 3DS lol