Topic: Next Nintendo Direct?

The problem with DK "replacing" Mario has less to do with DK itself and more to do with everything else, it's that there's nothing on Switch 2 that's a guaranteed hit in terms of critical acclaim and sales. So many of Switch 2's games are either not broadly appealing games that have the potential to sell 10+ million and/or have some kind of major issue that are likely to give someone pause before buying it. Now I will say Bananza is the closest game to not being that, but I can't quite say this for sure yet because no DK game (not counting the DK arcade games where you play as Mario which are very different games, I mean a game with DK as the protagonist) has cracked that 10+ million ceiling. And it certainly won't outsell 3D Mario and probably may not quite reach the highs of the 3D Mario because Mario is simply the face of Nintendo and they'll want to put their best foot forward for that game. But the larger issue is that the Switch 2 doesn't really have that "it" game that's a 10/10 and cultural phenomenon that everyone wants. That's what we need 3D Mario for, Mario rarely if ever misses (I would argue 3D World is a miss, but there are a fair amount of fans that praise it to high heavens and think it's the best game ever so even when Mario is controversial it still gets high praise). The Switch 2 in general needs those megatons and they need them to be high quality games. We need the 3D Mario, the 3D Zelda (yes I know it's not coming anytime soon, I'm just listing it as an example of the caliber of game that is needed), the Gen 10 Pokemon, the Smash 6, the Animal Crossing Newer Horizons, the Splatoon 4, the Luigi's Mansion 4, etc. Those are the types of games that are the surest wins.

@Bolt_Strike unraleted to the topic at hand, but I love how you said stuff like Smash 6, LM4, Pokemon 10, etc... and then hit us with Newer Horizons. Dunno why, but it made me chuckle 😆

@CaleBoi25 I didn't make that one up, IDR who I saw that from, but it is a fun way to refer to the next AC before it's announced.

@CaleBoi25 You could even say the NS2 Edition is 'Newer Horizons'...which must mean Newest Horizons is surely on the cards!

@Nintoz
The amusing thing about the free update and S2 Edition is that in the "what do you want in the next Animal Crossing" thread my wildest idea was shared hosted online towns, detached from your own town, for friends to gather in and collectively own

Now I don't like the limitations of the implementation vs what I was thinking. At least as far as I understand it. But they've kinda done this in the 3.0 update.....

@Bolt_Strike Dunno about Luigi's Mansion - loved 3 but I never considered that a big "it" game. Probably would've put Kirby there(and yes, I know, Air Riders, but that's a non-HAL developed spin-off racer)

People seem to be talking about Mario Odyssey vs DK Bananza in this forum for some reason, so I'll throw my hat in the ring.

I am a big Mario fan and not someone who ever really took an interest in Donkey Kong until 2025. Super Mario Odyssey is in my opinion, one of the most mediocre Nintendo games I have ever played. The controls did not feel good, especially with the lack of a proper run. Additionally, captures often felt like they limited the platforming Mario is known for. Finally, there were far too many moons which served zero purpose once you reached the threshold to move on to the next mundane world.

Donkey Kong Bananza on the other hand controls fantastically, uses its central mechanic to its advantage, and gives the collectathon a gameplay incentive rather than a quota to fill. Overall, I would say Bananza is the vastly superior game.

Some people seem to say Bananza is worse than Odyssey just because Mario is a system selling IP and Donkey Kong, historically, is not. Yes, Mario is far more popular in the eyes of the public than Donkey Kong (and as stated previously, I am more of a Mario fan than a DK fan), but why should the amount of units a title sells dictate its quality or how worth it the game is? Why should I care if Bananza doesn't sell as much as Mario, Pokemon, or Zelda? I had a blast with DKB and the amount of money Nintendo got from it doesn't change that one bit.

People need to be less concerned with sales numbers and more concerned with how fun we find games to be for ourselves.

(Side Note: Obviously Bananza is not replacing 3D Mario. 3D Mario is absolutely coming at some point. I highly doubt we'll see a new 3D Mario before 2027, and that's okay.)

One of Nintendo's key marketing points for Switch 2 was being powerful enough to run the 3rd party games so surely we should be taking into account stuff like Resident Evil Requiem when talking about Switch 2 heavy hitters?

@N00BiSH I'm using sales as a factor, primarily if the game can sell 10+ million. LM3 did, it sold 14.25 million. Kirby has not, its highest selling game is Forgotten Land at 7.549 million. Maybe a future Kirby entry will reach the double digit millions, it's not terribly far off, but it's not quite there yet to put in the "it" game range.

@Bolt_Strike Fair enough.

@Nintoz Animal Crossing: The One With Horizons That Are Newer Than The Previous Entry's

@UpsideDownRowlet That's about how I feel about the two games. I definitely should have mentioned that I do believe Mario is more of a system seller in general than DK, for sure, but so many people seem so focused on "Mario is bigger" that they can't consider that "DK can be big too!"

I'm biased as a big DK fan, but I'd say Bananza is better than Mario Odyssey overall, though Odyssey gets a few points like better music and better themed levels. Bananza has better controls, bigger levels, more purposeful collectibles, better story, better characters (the Void Company Kongs have way more depth than the one-dimensional Broodals), and a WAY better finale.

If the next Animal Crossing has a big city theme like many seem to think, "Animal Crossing: New Heights" is what I would name it.