Topic: Next Nintendo Direct?

@FishyS ...If there's any meat to begin with 😛

I guess we'll see. 😆

Last year I got a shiny new OLED TV and it's really disappointing because all of the movies, TV and games I play on it are all litterally the same thing I could've done on my old LCD TV. And now this year they have micro-LEDs and QD-OLEDs? What even is the point!

That's basically your argument here

@Bolt_Strike @MonadoBoy While those are big titles, I'm saying its unlikely we'll get a big 3D Mario, a 2D Zelda, Splatoon, and Animal Crossing all in the same two year span. Those are like- the big four Nintendo franchises, and I doubt Nintendo wants to effectively blow everything they have out the gate.

@skywake TVs and consoles have always existed in an entirely different ballpark though. TVs basically just increase image quality, as game consoles bring new experiences generally. If a game console doesn't have exclusive titles, then its literally useless to me. The only game I've played on my PS5 that is actually exclusive is XVI. Otherwise I play on my PC, and my PS5 collects dust in the corner of my room. The only reason I still keep my switch around is because Nintendo has exclusives for that console. If the switch 2 games release on switch 1 as well, I'm not going to feel inclined to upgrade, since all I really care about is being able to play the games.

In the argument with the TVs, I've kept the same TV for years at this point. I don't plan on buying a new one unless my current TV breaks. Its a waste, since there's nothing a new TV can do that my old TV can't, outside of increasing image quality.. which I don't frankly care for?

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2024/02/toby-fox-shares-ano...

Well, I’m now 100% betting on Deltarune C3 getting shown in the partner showcase.

Well first of all I don't agree with Splatoon coming early. They might be able to sit on that a bit. Now as far as the notion of those being the biggest Nintendo franchises and blowing them out of the gate, they have more than 4 and I think they can afford to have multiple in the first few years. These are all of the IPs they have that have sold 10+ million on the Switch for reference (in order of sales):

Mario Kart
Animal Crossing
Smash
3D Zelda
3D Mario
Pokemon
Mario Party
2D Mario
Ring Fit
Luigi's Mansion
Splatoon
Switch Sports

So first of all, 2D Zelda isn't anywhere near their Top 4 IPs (in fact, no 2D Zelda has ever cracked 10 million), so you shouldn't be too worried about it appearing alongside other big IPs (3D Zelda has, but not 2D Zelda). Second, there's 12 IPs on this list that you could consider "huge" going by the metric of 10+ million sellers, which is enough that we could get 2 of them a year. And you know that some of these are going to have multiple entries (Pokemon is pretty much yearly, there's probably going to be at least 2 3D Marios, there's going to be at least 2 Mario Parties, and they might be able to squeeze out 2 Splatoons and maybe even start with 2 Mario Karts), so it's probably more like 15-20 and we could easily get 3 per year. So don't worry about seeing several of them together, Nintendo will be fine as long as they end up being quality games and they don't schedule like, 5 or more of them in one year.

@DiamondCore No. Toby said a while back that Chapter 3 isn't releasing until Chapter 4 is finished.

@VoidofLight oh, where?

Not quite sure what you mean here since Link's Awakening sold more than 5 million just on the Switch and even original Zelda sold more than 5 million on nes.

As for 2D versus 3D for Zelda in general, it's kind of hard to compare because BotW broke the mold. 3D and 2D sales were more comparable before BotW at least for the best games. Overall, the best selling Zelda have been:

1. BotW - 33 million
2. TotK - 20 million (and growing)
3. Ocarina of Time - 14 million
4. Link's Awakening - 12 million
5. Twilight Princess - 10 million
6. Skyward Sword - 7 million
7. Link to the Past - 7 million
8. Legend of Zelda - 7 million
9. Majora's Mask - 6 million
10. Wind Waker - 6 million

If you want to restrict to versions on one console the numbers will be smaller, but the entire list except TotK have sold on multiple consoles. Regardless, some of them sold 5+ million just on one console.

Since Nintendo found a way to triple their new 3D Zelda sales, maybe they could do the same with 2D as well. It probably won't happen soon given recent Nintendo comments on Zelda and it would have to be a really creative 2D game rather than a remake, but I could definitely imagine Nintendo making an amazing 2D Zelda game which sold 10-20 million in the future. I would love if that theoretical game was on Switch 2 next year but I am not optimistic.

@DiamondCore https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&a...

He confirmed it in one of his previous notes on the game.

Replace new TV for PS5 or Switch 2 and you might understand what my point was. If you don't care about higher resolutions or refresh rates and the same content exists on previous hardware? Well more power to you. You can now freely not buy the new console without fear of missing out. But for those who DO want better performance the lack of new hardware means they have no option but to live with whatever level of performance the current hardware delivers

The traditional console model is a ball and chain. The more we can dilute these generational transitions the better. I'm sure there will be some Switch 2 exclusive titles but I would hope that the vast majority of titles land on both. Because, frankly, the vast majority of titles don't really need the additional power

@skywake I just think getting rid of exclusives is a mistake. Without a console having games, people won't see any reason to upgrade. I don't like the concept of generations being gone, given that the fluid structure creates a feeling of not getting anything out of your actual purchase. At least imo.

@VoidofLight
Ok, but picture this. Imagine a world where Nintendo never shut down the Wii Shop Channel or 3DS/Wii U eShop. Imagine if not only did they not shut it down but there were still games appearing on those shops for those consoles. Not only that but your purchases from well over a decade ago were still available to download on Nintendo's newest hardware. And maybe they even remastered some of those games along the line and made those versions available to you

And you might say to the above that all of that's crazy talk but..... that's pretty much how every digital store front works for a large variety of media. That's how iTunes works for music and movies. That's how Steam and other PC based digital store front work. It's how purchases on Android and iOS work. The only notable exception is consoles. And it's not a benefit

I mean sure, it's something that used to make sense 20 years ago. Even the above examples of Wii, Wii U, 3DS and Switch there's a solid case to be made for it not being a thing given how dramatically different all of those platforms are. But I think it's something we really want to see die out. Again, I'm sure there will be at least some titles on Switch 2 that couldn't possibly work on Switch. But I really, really hope that the main reason to buy Switch 2 will be how much better the games run on the greatly improved hardware rather than them partitioning off titles that could have easily run on the OG Switch

If day 1 has Switch 2 only title Rhythm Heaven I'll buy it because I certainly do want some new Rhythm Heaven but..... I won't be happy. Because there's no reason why that title shouldn't be on Switch

@skywake I mean, I think we're underestimating how big of a tech jump the switch 2 could end up being in general. If its PS4 level power that we'll have, then it means that it would benefit more from games that actually take advantage of the system itself, instead of games releasing upon the previous gen. I also don't disagree that they should carry over digital libraries and eshops, but I just want a console that isn't stuck with a singular set of features and is just "More powerful."

I want them to continue to do interesting things. Create interesting ways to play with the console itself. I want another camera, for them to bring back the microphone, or even bring back the Dual Screens one day. I feel like it would be lame just to keep getting switch after switch after switch, with nothing big feature-wise to really differentiate themselves.

If a game can run on the original switch without hinderance, then I wouldn't be opposed to that, at least in the transitionary years to the new console. But if its something that's meant to show off the full power of the next console- I'd rather it not be held back by being released on a console that was outdated the day it launched.

@skywake
I agree with you that Nintendo, starting with the Wii, should have been keeping a consistent eShop "channel" with their classic games and digital-only indies. 100% agree on that.

But when it comes to their AAA 1st-party, "2nd-party" partner, and contemporary 3rd-party stuff, they need to utilize new hardware because we're starting to really fall behind and lose out on titles. For instance, I REALLY want to see the FF7 remake on Switch, and we all know it just ain't happening with the current Switch specs.

The other wrinkle with your argument is that, yea, digital storefronts like Steam "make sense" for a lot of people (I use it a ton myself), but there are plenty of games on Steam that force players to upgrade their PC hardware if they wanna play. I couldn't play Baldur's Gate 3 on a PC I built in 2012, even if otherwise the PC was still working fine for less-demanding games and such.

So, even though PC gaming SEEMS to have hit this utopia of no hardware upgrades necessary, all games accessible at your fingertips, it's not strictly true. There's still hardware upgrading that needs to happen, most often with the most expensive components (CPU and GPU), every now and then (roughly the span of console lifecycles, funny enough how that works) if you want to play the latest games OR play with non-muddy settings.

Bottom line: We're just not at the place I think you're envisioning. We need a hardware upgrade, Nintendo needs to actually utilize the upgrade and actually force people to move to it. It's how they go about that transition that will make it feel natural or painful, but the reality of needing it is not gonna go away unless you wanna play pixel art indies for the rest of time.

@Nintoz Maybe the Switch 2 delay to 2025 turned a Partner Showcase into a general Direct?

@Nintoz CADENCE OF HYRULE.....TWO!

@Nintoz Theyre just toying with us now.

That said, itd be cool if we unexpectedly got a general Direct, although it would likely rule out a switch successor announcement in the medium term.