Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@NaviAndMii couldn't have worded it better. Haven't played the Wii U version but loved every bit of the DS and Wii versions, especially Wii couch co-op. I had wished for something like that ever since taking turns for Mario Bros. 3 and Mario World.

@Grumblevolcano I'm thinking Mario Tennis might be the June game. Early June is still Spring after all.

Edit: Also a Pokemon Mystery Dungeon should be somewhere in the lineup, as we're due for a new one.

I'm still hoping for a 2D Super Mario game with a lot of focus on Mii characters. Meanwhile, Miis are being discontinued and left behind by Nintendo (they almost never used them except for bad useless games like Wii music and Wii sports, what they were hoping for this brand???) so basically I will never see what I was waiting for and it will probably be hard to find Mii support even in future episodes of games that used to have them (like Mario Kart and Animal Crossing).

@Grumblevolcano SMM was very limited and basic. It was a nice idea, but the quality of the experience doesn't match a good platformer made by actual game developers.

@NaviAndMii BOTW is a Wii U game that was delayed and delayed so it could make the Switch launch. Splatoon 2 feels more like 1.5. The others are new though.

@toiletduck Haha! Yeah, I know what you mean! Growing up with the SNES - and a brother and 2 sisters to share it with - I used to dream of the day when the old 'pass the controller' style of playing Mario multiplayer would be replaced by something we could all enjoy simultaneously! ..the NSMB series was just a dream come true in that respect!

I get that some feel that the NSMB series became a bit stale (which is why I believe a port would more than suffice) ..but it'd just fit the Switch like a glove!

Full screen, frantic, four player, fabulousness...yes please!

@SLIGEACH_EIRE I just don't get this idea that the Switch is 'port central' - Nintendo pump out new games as frequently as anyone...and if a WiiU game could reach a wider audience (and fill a gap) on the Switch, I don't really see the problem.

@IceClimbers If we're getting a new Pokemon Mystery Dungeon game this year, I think it'll be 3DS. My list was for Switch only.

@Grumblevolcano I'm pretty sure it'll be a Switch game. Gates to Infinity was a 3DS game after all, rather than a DS game.

@NaviAndMii You've really missed my point by a mile. Yes, there are some new entries to SOME franchises on the Switch. (I wouldn't fully count BoTW, by the way, as it was built from the ground up for the Wii U. It's for the same reason I will never count TP as Wii's Zelda game).

You need to realize the context of what I said was coming from Grumblevolcano's idea (one that is not exclusive to them, I have seen it espoused many times before) that a Super Smash Bros 4 port would come out instead of a new Super Smash Bros. I've seen this said about Mario Kart, too. Two of my top favorite franchises would, then, only be ports on the Switch. That is a pretty big deal to me.

In reality, I'm not against a port here or there to allow Switch owners to enjoy the games they didn't get to play on the Wii U; however, if these ports are going to mean no new entry on the Switch of those franchises than I am absolutely against them.

@Harmonie The SNES had a Mario Kart game of its own - so did the N64 - so did the GameCube - so did the Wii - so did the WiiU...the idea that the Switch won't get one just doesn't seem to stack up (I have no idea why people keep saying it!) ..same goes for Smash - but if Nintendo aren't planning to release a new entry before, say, 2019/2020 - a port can help to fill the void

Nintendo's game output is very, very high - they bring out a whole host of new games year after year...and anyone who believes that they're going to neglect some of their biggest selling franchises (like MK, Smash, AC etc) is just letting unfounded fear cloud their judgement I feel - those games print money for Nintendo, they're just keeping them up their sleeves for a later date, that's all

@NaviAndMii To add on to what you said, Nintendo has been putting out TWO Mario Karts per hardware generation since MK64 / MKSC, thanks to having separate portable and home releases. With them only having one platform now, there's absolutely no reason we won't see a new one during the Switch's life.

@IceClimbers Nintendo was desperate in the early 3DS era (you don't do a massive permanent price drop for your system a few months after launch if the current situation is fine) though so Gates to Infinity may have been only been on 3DS to guarantee more software. The Switch picture is a lot different so Nintendo may want to use Pokemon Mystery Dungeon as part of their plan to show the 3DS isn't being abandoned yet.

@link3710 Oh sure - assuming that the 3DS will get phased out in favour of the Switch (rather than being replaced with another, different handheld) Nintendo will be able to pool all of their development resources on to one platform (plus a few mobile games) ..which is bound to help increase their game output even further

@NaviAndMii This is also the first time a console got a port of a previous Mario Kart game. So it's difficult to say what's going to happen. However, as long as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe sells well, they have no reason to release another one. And what's the point of releasing a new one at the end of the Switch's lifespan? If that's the case then I think they're going to delay it until their next system.

@Octane Exactly, unlike single player games (e.g. Zelda) it doesn't make sense to release stuff like Mario Kart and Smash at the end of a console generation so it makes more sense for MK9 and Smash 5 to be early in the next console's lifespan.

@NaviAndMii Games are neither developed nor released in a vacuum. It's because I understand this that I can see the logic in what Grumblevolcano and many others have said.

I think Mario Kart has a higher chance of seeing a new Switch game than Super Smash Bros. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was, after all, released very close to the Switch's launch. There will doubtlessly be more time to let it sit on its own in the market while a new one is developed, as Mario Karts are developed rather regularly. With that being said, it doesn't mean that we will for sure see a new Mario Kart on the Switch.

And as is the case with Mario Kart as well with the possible Super Smash Bros, we have really never seen these titles get two full retail entries on a single console before. It's possible that doesn't matter, but we do not have any history backing up whether Nintendo would be okay with it or not.

Either way, I think Super Smash Bros. is in a very different position from Mario Kart. Historically, Super Smash Bros games take a very long time to develop. I also take it that IF a port of Super Smash Bros came out it would come with new content - like new characters, that would require lots of work and ideas from the SSB team just for the port. Thus, the SSB port would function a bit differently both from the minds of the developers (who already had to throw in some new ideas that would have went toward a new SSB instead) and the consumers. I've already seen a number of potential customers saying they don't even want a new SSB, so if this really happens... You could easily end up with the company and enough of the consumers both being content with only the release of the port.

The port of SSB4 that so many are suggesting is not simple and developing and releasing it could certainly mean no new SSB for the Switch, unless the Switch lasts as long as a Nintendo handheld.

Honestly with the size of my backlog, Nintendo can release nothing but ports for the rest of the year and wouldn’t bother me.

If these rumours end up being true, I would suspect that Nintendo feels they have released enough heavy hitters to entice people to buy a Switch. They must also feel there are enough potential Switch owners who were non-Wii U owners that wouldn’t see them as ports, but a chance to play a game on a system they want to own.

It can get a little skewered here as we are all Nintendo fans and therefore likely to have bought and played a Wii U.

Furthermore I’m taking the NSMB U with a pinch of salt. I doubt it would have much success on the Switch and with both Yoshi and Kirby expected out in 2018 thats plenty of 1st Party 2D platformers.

Switch isn't a generational leap from Wii U, it's more like a step. So with that said, I don't think a sequel to Mario Kart or Smash could bring much new to the table. They are much better re-releasing games like Pokken and Smash, as a deluxe version, optimising them as much as possible and carrying on with more downloadable content. After all, those wanting a new game would more than likely be moaning that X, Y and Z are missing that were in Smash Bros WiiU lol after days of release (You know it's true lol)

We don't know how long the Switch generation will last. It's only just come off the back of its first Christmas - and I expect it to have several more ahead of it...2020 might just be the mid-point of its lifecycle for all we know! ..and with 3DS likely to be phased out before too long, Nintendo will have more development resources to draw upon (assuming that Nintendo will just focus on Switch/Mobile going forward) which will only enhance game output still further, surely?

It's easy to be pessimistic in the absence of news but, personally, I would expect a new Mario Kart (there always is - I think that they just dropped MK8D so that people could play a fun, ready-made multiplayer game 'anywhere with anyone' as advertised ASAP) - and a new Smash (although, they don't really change that much, so an 'enhanced port' may suffice) - and an Animal Crossing game (likely held back from WiiU) - several Pokemon games - at least one Metroid Prime - possibly BotW 2.0 (as Aonuma seems quite keen to reuse the BotW engine) - at least one 2D Mario (and maybe another 3D too?) - and several surprises as well!

...the pessimism is just based off of fear as far as I'm concerned - there's no real logic to it; if it makes money, it'll likely come

@NaviAndMii I wouldn't call it pessimism about the idea of Switch only getting ports for Mario Kart and Smash. Pessimism would be that those ports never get any post-launch content.