Topic: 2019 will redeem 2018

@Magician You forgot the core 2019 Pokemon game as well. Even if Bayo and/or Metroid misses the mark, hopefully the Pokemon can pick up the slack.

@link3710 Not that I know of. Nintendo's official page says its being published by Grasshopper themselves. Even if they were, its a digital game. Not that its a bad thing, but it would be more like a Snipperclips before the DLC. A side-note (though, I do love Snipperclips and am hoping to love Travis).

@Magician I'm not expecting there to be a December Direct, we already know more about early 2019 than we did about early 2018 before the January Direct. On the Direct front all I think will be left this year is a Smash Direct in October/November.

@Magician 2018 also had Let's Go Pikachu and Torna.

Plus the huge sum of 3rd party....2018 is more first party heavy but we'll see if 3rd party rolls back at all. A lot of the "big" western games that can fit are already 2018.

@Magician, Pokemon Let's Go, Torna (depending on how you want to count it), and the three Labo kits are missing from your 2018 list.

The fact that LGP/E hadn't even been mentioned until the last posts, including not being mentioned in a post that brought up Pokemon 2019, really pleases me. Please, sweep LGP/E under the rug where they belong.

Anyway, with Animal Crossing and Pokemon, 2019 could really be the first big year for the Switch for me. I know both games could easily turn out super disappointing based on their historical tendencies to have hits or misses (Pokemon having a heck of a lot of misses lately, shakes head), but I want to be optimistic here for once. At the very least they are new games, they will be the Switch's own. The Switch will finally get its own identity for some of my favorite franchises beyond Mario Odyssey. (I'm just going to pretend like LGP/E don't exist, because that is not the kind of identity I want to give the Switch)

For better or worse, Let's Go is a remake of Yellow.

And I don't count Labo; those are more...experiences (building & crafting)...rather than games.

I excluded them on purpose. One is a remake, the other is DLC with a digital and physical release.

@Magician Yeah, but Let's Go looks extremely different and goes a bit beyond remake, for better or worse. And Torna is pretty much a new game that plays a bit differently from the base game that you can also just buy separately.

So since someone brought up comparing 3rd party 2018 vs 2019...

@NEStalgia To be fair, on third party ports they probably won't be announced until closer to release mostly. But just going by developers:

2K/Rockstar: NBA 2K19, Civ VI and NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 for this year (more than I expected). NBA 2k20 can be assumed at this point, who knows if we'll get anything the likes of Civ VI though.

Activision-Blizzard: Crash Trilogy and Diablo III are big titles they brought to the table this year. As of now, 2019 is empty, so easy win for 2018. We may see Spyro and/or Overwatch, which could bring it up to 2019 levels.

Bethesda: Fallout Shelter and Wolfenstein II this year, matched by Doom Eteranl and Elder Scrolls Blade next year.

Capcom: Megaman Legacy 1+2, X Collection 1+2, and 11, Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate, Street Fighter Anniversary Collection was a huge assortment of classic and new games. Right now we know nothing for next year other than Onimusha in January (and possibly the two AA trilogies and Ace Attorney 7 being next year) Definitely not at the same level just yet, but likely to get there.

EA: Fe and FiFA 19. We can probably assume FIFA 20 is coming, but who knows it we'll get anything like Fe.

Koei-Tecmo: Attack on Titan 2, Atlier port + new game, Hyrule Warriors and Warriors Orochi 4 all for 2018. We know nothing of their plans for 2019

Sega: Sega Ages is starting this year and continuing releases into next. Team Sonic Racing, Football Manager, Valkyria Chronicles 1+4, Sonic Mania Plus, and Shining Resonance Refrain made a solid year from them with nothing announced yet for next year. But considering all those titles were announced this year I believe, that's not saying much.

Square Enix: DQ Builder 1+2, Lost Sphear, Octopath Traveler, FF XV - Pocket Edition, TWEWY Final Remix, World of Final Fantasy made for a strong 2018, but 2019 already has Chocobo's Dungeon, FF VII, IX, X/X-2, XII, and Crystal Chronicles. If we do get a new major title from them, 2019 actually has the potential to exceed 2018. Still, right now it looks like 2018 will win.

Ubisoft: We got the South Park games, Child of Light, M+R DK DLC, Just Dance and Starlink this year (plus AC: Odyssey cloud edition if you live in Japan). We already have Trials Rising confirmed for next year, so that's a good start to match. That said, it looks like a clear win for 2018 in the Ubi category unless we get a lot of unexpected announcements.

Quick summaries on select mid-tiers I'm familiar with:

Level-5: We have... nothing this year, but Yo-Kai Watch 4 may come over next year, Inazuma 11 Ares was announced (and is come to NA!) and Snack World and Layton's Mystery Journey may get localized.

Nicalis: 5 titles so far this year, but there's 1 for 2019 and 6 without dates announced so far.

Nippon Ichi: 4 titles so far this year, SNK Heroines, Disagea 1, Labrynth of Refrain, and Fallen Legion. We know The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince is getting localized for 2019, but that's it so far.

NIS America: 5 games so far this year, 1 announced for 2019 so far.

Telltale: We've got 4 so far for this year (though 2 may slip still), but 2 so far for next year, so that looks on track to be about the same.

THQ Nordic: This is the Police 2 + Battle Chasers Nightwatch and 5 ports so far. Nothing yet for next year, but they don't look likely to slow down any time soon.

WB Games: 2018 gave us all the last two Scribblenauts and the... less than great new Scribblenauts. Probably won't see anything from that IP from them. We're getting three Lego titles, and that'll probably be matched next year. Unless Hitman 2 gets a port (which I doubt) we'll probably just get more Lego next year.

EDIT: Grasshopper with Travis Strikes Again for next year should be on this list too with how major it is, but that's all they have this or next year.

So overall, it's looking likely we'll get a 2019 that almost matches 2018 third partywise, being a bit short on the heavy hitters but higher in overall volume. Of course, there's still a year for announcements for 2019 so who knows.

@link3710 Switch has no games and third parties have abandoned Nintendo!

Great list! Though I hope we don't get anything like Fe. It runs like garbage and burns battery like it's trying in handheld mode. Awful port. Such a shame!

I think Square Enix owns my wallet this year.

I honestly don't think there will be too much difference between 2018 and 2019. Both years have some new big titles padded with Wii U ports, 3rd party ports, and indies. The difference is that us forum dwellers consider 2019's new games to be more appealing than 2018's.

That being said, Doom Eternal alone gives a lot of weight to 2019 imo because it's a big new AAA multiplat arriving day and date with the other platforms.

@link3710 You know, I'm gonna join you in the Third Parties! What potential third party new games/ports can we hope/expect?

Take Two Interactive: Best chance for porting is an X-com game, by Firaxis which made Civilization.
Activision/Blizzard: You're about right, I can only see a late Spyro or an Overwatch.
Bethesda: Other than the confirmed, perhaps Dishonored? Would be cool, or Oblivion but considering their views on it in general, probably impossible.
EA: FIFA 20. Literally the best I can think of, unless they speed develop Unravel 2.
Koei-Tecmo: Wouldn't be surprised in another warriors crossover. Otherwise, generic Koei-Tecmo games.
SEGA: Wildcard. Don't expect another Sonic game yet, but what else? (PLS PLS PERSONA 4 D:)
Square-Enix: Don't expect much more. Bravely Default late in the year is a possibility
Ubisoft: Expecting surprises like Starlink. Of course, we can expect Just Dance 2020. Otherwise, perhaps more mobile ports but expecting more for the second half of the year.
Capcom: Ace Attorney. Possibly another collection of games and if we are very VERY lucky, Megaman X9.

Woah, that was fun. Otherwise, I imagine it would be mostly ports and stuff. Easier to expect those than brand new Triple A games anyways

@ieatdragonz Ooo those are some nice picks. I hadn't even conisidered XCOM, but it might do really well on a post Mario+Rabbids Switch. For Bethesda, I sort of expect Fallout 3 or New Vegas to make their way over. Honestly, it's not like they have a ton of games that could be ported though. Maybe RAGE or Prey?

And for an out there guess, Zone of the Enders HD Collection from Konami.

2018 needs redeeming?

Did I miss a meeting?

it had too many games from the console most people never owned, so it was the worst year of a successful console ever

i guess

Same here what did I miss alot or other fanboys crying popo because their own platform can get a lick right. NSW has so far brought NIN full front and they can't stand how did they do it. Love how everyone decries NSW but forgets there is more then just just. NSW did something no one expects keep on smashing and that's what is missed. If your just concerned about which year is better how about thinking how successful the NSW proved every critics wrong in the end. That's the real story. And shows no slowing down.

2018 looks good to me. 3rd parties really got on board this year. Its odd, everyone whines that nintendo didn't get any 3rd parties on WiiU, then when switch does get them, everyone...still complains? Lots of games were put on switch, and this direct showed off an insane number of games.

2017 really only had 2 nintendo big titles in zelda and mario.

We have Smash bros. this time and that isn't terrible. Kirby and Mario kart 8 also did really well. Xenoblade was 2017's big JRPG. This year we got octopath. So they are fairly on par.

Pokemon lets go will be a great title. As a life long fan, I'm glad to find a way to bring in the GO crowd and revitalize more of the people who haven't played since the first games in a way that appeals to them. I know hardcore pokemon players are the scum of the earth and all the top players cheat, but for me its about the fun, the adventure and this game looks great for that. Core game coming next year will be great no doubt too.

2019 will be massive, but 2018 wasn't bad. Switch sold tons of consoles, tons of games and is supported well by nintendo and 3rd party alike.

@GrailUK In the eyes of us Switch/Nintendo fanatics, no, it probably doesn't need redeeming. But to most others, Switch has drastically lost its momentum since 2017. Many of the year's Switch release from both first and third party have been ports or re-releases, which aren't bad in their own right but certainly aren't as exciting as new releases. And some of the new games that we have gotten haven't lived up to expectations, such as Mario Tennis Aces and Kirby Star Allies. Not to diss 2018 entirely, of course. As a Smash/RPG fan this year has been great for me personally. But if you're not a fan of either of those, then 2018 might not have much to offer you. My main point was that 2019 won't have these problems due to better third party support, more first party games, and more variety among those games.

Ironically enough I created this thread to try and answer the trolls who say "Switch is a junk box that has no good games!11!!!1!" by showing them that 2019 will be an incredible year...and then I ended up sounding like a troll myself. Whoops

@ilikeike Calm before the storm I reckon. It's nice to see all the console companies doing really well. And Switch has had a huge positive impact on the industry. But it's biggest attraction to gamers is it's a different beast to the other home consoles. It's so frustrating listening to folk trying to crow bar AAA thinking into something so leftfield. Most likely why investors are anxious.

@ilikeike Honestly, I have no less than 5 (very casual gamer) friends who are finally getting a Switch this winter due to a mix of Pokemon, Smash, Final Fantasy and the Animal Crossing announcement depending on the person. I don't really think the general perception is that the console is slowing down at all.

I'm thinking 2019 will be a better 1st party year for Nintendo. We already know Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem are coming. We missed out on mainline installments on the Wii U for both of those games. Plus Animal Crossing: New Leaf and Fire Emblem: Awakening are some of my favorite games of all-time. Despite any misgivings I have right now, I still want to give Luigi's Mansion 3 a shot.
I really do see Metroid Prime 4 coming out Holiday 2019, so that will please a lot of fans.