Topic: Is The Switch 2 Worth It???

I'm looking at the known upcoming **Nintendo** games (not multiplatform third-party) for Switch 2 and there's not a single major release. No, Pokopia isn't a major releases. I was going to say neither is Yoshi but it's not even on there anyway.

I know we live in the age when someone will demand "statistics" and "facts" the moment their own viewpoint is challenged, but I'm just looking at what's upcoming from Nintendo's own website: https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/games/coming-soon

This is what I mean when I say this reminds me of Wii U. I was there. I've been here since the Game Boy. This is a weird situation.

@OmnitronVariant
Well you could've said the same thing at multiple points over the last several years. Nintendo hasn't been outlining their long term release schedule for quite a while now. The idea that this is "like the Wii U" is kinda amusing because, as someone who was also there, back then they announced stuff WAY earlier. They were outlining the entire 2014 lineup in January, they were teasing BotW at E3 that year which was still years off. Presumably all in an effort to try and pull out all the stops to get some sales going

Also Mario Tennis Fever is most definitely a major first party release. Although if you wish to qualify it as "not major" for arbitrary reasons like you're doing with Pokopia also I'm not sure what to add. Mario Tennis Aces was super mediocre, sure, but it still moved 4.5mill units. More than Pikmin 4, Metroid Dread, Arms. I would say it qualifies. And this is before we consider the releases for Switch, which also count, and likely unannounced titles for the tail end of this year

Anyways, this idea of painting the Switch 2 as some kind of history repeating Wii U situation is getting a bit old. It's amusing the knots people will tie themselves into to try and support this delusion

Each year Nintendo tends to have a couple huge tentpole releases, a few more major releases, and a mixture of medium and minor releases and DLC (by minor lets say less than a million lifetime sales).

Since it's a fairly famous and renowned series, lets say 'expected better sales than xenoblade' counts as a major release. On Switch this also approximately equals 'top 50 games' and 'in top half of million+ sellers.'

Games which sold better than every Xenoblade game on Switch include Mario Tennis, Pokemon Snap, and Yoshi. Mario Tennis, Pokepia, and Yoshi certainly aren't guaranteed to do well on Switch 2, but they all have the potential to be major several million sellers given history.

As for other 2026 releases:

• There is more DLC and Switch 1 games.
• There is Splatoon Raiders which Nintendo probably has an idea of how well will do but I don't; it could be a medium or a major game but given that it is a spinoff I am assuming it won't be a tentpole game like a mainline Splatoon would be. Also we don't technically know if it is 2026 yet.
• Fire Emblem had one very good seller but normally sits firmly in the medium category.

So I would argue we know of 3 ish major 2026 games which is a reasonable amount before we have had any 2026 directs. Because of anniversaries we are anticipating:

• zelda something, maybe port (major release but may or may not be Switch 2 exclusive)
• Pokemon Gen 10 (Switch 2 tentpole game)

I am sure the next direct (probably in February) will also have at least one major game we have no clue about right now.

@FishyS Major releases aren’t about sales they’re about scope and ambition IMO. Let’s not forget not all Zelda games sell a lot proportional to install base. Nothing listed so far is ambitious. I concede MKW was ambitious for the series; I don’t enjoy it but I can’t argue it isn’t pushing the envelope for the series, it really is. But all we have to look forward to are far from ambitious at this point in time.

Tell that to Nintendo and to people who buy games. You can have all the ambition you want but if it makes no money and people don't play it, it is a footnote at best.

For what it's worth, the new Nintendo Tennis seems to have a pretty big scope and I think Nintendo intends Yoshi to be a relatively major game. And Pokopia... unless it is utter trash, Pokemon is just a major game by default.

@FishyS
Pokopia actually can be my huge attention considering Koei Tecmo was behind the development, the same developer of Dragon Quest Builders games.
But Nintendo decided to screw up by giving game key card option for Koei Tecmo so I really pissed off.
1st party game got game key card treatment, so disgusting.

I said once again.
Switch 2 doesn't look very appeal machine to buy and play unless Nintendo addressed the game key card issue and giving more game card release for 3rd party kids games since I'm the big supporter of 3rd party kids games.
I might changed my mind about getting Switch 2, but right now I don't see the need to get Switch 2 at the moment.
Read this carefully, I have no intention to talk trash about Switch 2.
I'm being critical and have some common sense to see what is right and wrong.
If you suddenly see me talking positively about Switch 2, that means I already found something that changed my mind.

@FishyS They keep allowing Monolith Soft to make the hugely ambitious Xenoblade Chronicles games despite not hitting very high sales. But it's enough. As a person who enjoys games I don't give a ***** whether the game sold 100m or 10m or 1m. I care about the game. Nintendo used to as well. They weren't afraid to risk not hitting mainstream if they could deliver a vision and not lose money on it. I don't know if this Nintendo is still alive anymore, but that's what I care about. That's why I've played so many of their games over the last 30+ years.

This topic isn't the "defend Nintendo's decisions to shareholders" topic. It's a subjective one. Can we please discuss it like people?

@skywake Except for the most part those ports didn't really matter or had other reasons they were successful. MK8D again, that seems to say more about Mario Kart than Wii U ports, we didn't get a new Mario Kart entry to compare it to. BotW was cross gen, not a port, and more people were interested in the shiny new hybrid than the failed console.

Meanwhile if you look at other Wii U ports, they didn't do so hot. 3D World + Bowser's Fury only sold half of Odyssey's numbers. Pikmin 4 outsold Pikmin 3 Deluxe. TF only sold 4.62 million, and while this isn't a direct comparison, Bananza seems poised to overtake it in one year as opposed to the 7 years or TF had for its Switch version. Captain Toad and Pokken Tournament DX didn't do much either. The only real success story in terms of Wii U ports outselling new entries has been NSMBU Deluxe, and that may not hold because of Wonder's S2E.

You keep talking about BC but don't have any concrete evidence that it's actually mattering. Meanwhile the sales figures for these games is saying old games tend not to matter. It's a nice bonus that people can come back to these games on the new consoles if they want, but the data is very clearly showing that, at least for Nintendo (I am not familiar with sales on other consoles so I can't speak to that, there may be a different in audience there), they're coming for the new games first and foremost.

@skywake
I get what you're saying, I really do, I just don't think it's more complicated than: you need games.

@OmnitronVariant
We're getting a Direct the first week of February. Save the hyperbole until after we see what they have to say.

I would argue Nintendo allows it because they sell enough. 2 million sales is nothing to scoff at for a game. And rank 51 of the Switch best sellers is not actually that low. If the games sold 200k instead of 2 million? They would be on the chopping block.

But I actually agree with you that a new xenoblade would count as a major game. It's just, from Nintendo's point of view, it's quite possible they put it in the same bucket as Yoshi - a relatively but not hugely popular fan favorite series which sells decently but not enormously. Xenoblade tends to review better but Yoshi (the character) has more name recognition so they also both are decent but not at the top as console advertisements.

It might end up being a great game, we just don't have a ton of information about it yet. But yeah, it's a shame they did the game key card thing even though it is a first/second party game.

@FishyS
Yea - I mean, on one hand, Pokopia seems like the type of game that will get tons of updates throughout its run, updates with lots of new items and areas - things that people who love those creation sim games will want to download. Sort of like Dreamlight Valley and stuff like that. So I can see why a full physical release doesn't make much sense because that initial game version is quickly going to be antiquated for the folks keeping up with the dlc.

But on the other hand, there are plenty of people like me who would have been content just playing the shipped version to experience the game and not necessarily keep up with the dlc in the future. It looks like a fun game, but I don't really keep up with games that receive constant updates like that. Would've been fun to play the original version, though, but I won't if it's just a game key card.

And to tack on... I mean, I'm sure prices for the cartridges are cheaper for their own games. They've gotta have some sort of deal worked out that even their closest third-party partners might not get. Just a shame, like you said.

I get it's a Switch 1 only game but I think the biggest 1st party release of the 1st half of 2026 is Tomodachi Life. The 3DS game was huge and there's also the nostalgia factor for Nintendo's blue ocean strategy.

@Grumblevolcano I really think we're going to see a Switch 2 edition of it at the coming direct when they tell us the release date

I think we forget that all the games that sell Megabucks subsidize the games that don't, allowing for more niche games that wouldn't otherwise exist, broadening the library to attract more players.