Topic: Next Nintendo Direct?

That's an interesting point, in lock down not having to worry about a physical release must make things easier?

@MarioBrickLayer That I just can't work out. A lot of people keep saying "oh Nintendo are definitely going to release a game in September", but maybe they won't... Maybe they aren't going to release a game until October or even November.

The Mario games make sense on paper, but as I think Scott the Woz said, the rumours about 3D World Deluxe and the 64, Sunshine and Galaxy collection made more sense when the whole year was still ahead. Does it really make sense to release those two games so close together? People will look at both games and think to themselves "which should I buy? 3D World or three of the best games of all time for the same price?" If they had been released at least 6 months apart though it would allow both games time to breath and have full marketing. That's assuming the Mario rumours are true.

I think we'll just get random announcements from Nintendo, but when, how many and what we'll get I just don't know. Other than Pikmin 3 and the Mario games, nothing is rumoured or known about, is it? I guess there's supposedly a 2D Metroid and Metroid Prime Trilogy that has spent the last 3 years supposedly about to come out. Besides those games though, other stuff like BOTW2 and MP4 are all 2021 or 2022 games.

That's a good point about the Mario games, do you think it would work if they released one in September and one in late November or early December?

Apart from BOTW2 and MP4 nothing has been confirmed by Nintendo has it? I'm sure I heard on youtube that the Zelda Windwaker and Twlight Princess ports are coming, but I can't remember where that came from and it hasn't been covered in the media like the Mario games have been with reputable people saying they are coming.

@jump I’m not even a fan of the WWE or scripted fighting in general, but I think All Stars was a game that could be enjoyed by anyone regardless. It had a lot of content, easy to learn yet difficult to master mechanics and the animations and expressive nature of the game made clobbering friends so satisfying. I don’t want to to be perceived as mean because I’m sure Saber Interactive have worked hard on this game, but I feel like these arcade sports titles with licenses 2K has access to are their primary weakness.

I can clearly understand what the developers were going for with the art-style: since arcade wrestling titles are exaggerated and chaotic, they decided to use a cartoony art direction to reflect that. But the overall chibi style looks bizarre and I just don’t think it befits the WWE suitably, regardless of its cartoon-like appearance.

All Stars handled this perfectly in my opinion. It obviously wasn’t realistic as it was an arcade-style release, but within the confines of that style, they actually emphasised the muscular body types of the wrestlers even further to achieve it. Even taking a cursory glance at the character models of the game, you can tell that they are of a peak level of fitness and you instantly recognise that you’re going to be assuming control of incarnations of iconic superstars that are somehow even more powerful than their real-life counterparts: their visual designs blend perfectly with the over-the-top gameplay of All Stars. They managed to translate the defining features and traits of the roster despite the complete absence of realism.

2K Battlegrounds on the other hand just looks strange. The developers had so many options available to them for a striking visual style that appears exaggerated and akin to cartoons, but still resembling the WWE superstars the game is marketing so heavily. Of all the graphical styles they could’ve selected, why chibi? The chibi style is not bad by any means, but it’s incredibly specific and is often utilised to depict cute or adorable characters. That’s literally the opposite of what the WWE represents: action-packed brawls between unique superstars. Giving the wrestlers over-sized heads and scrawny bodies with barely any muscle definition to speak of doesn’t look correct in the context of the license. These are athletes of immense strength whose extravagant outfits, personalities and sheer sizes carry immense presence: these pint-sized creeps make me feel like John Cena’s giving me a clothesline just by looking at them, but they don’t have any presence themselves whatsoever. You hit the nail on the head with the design of the female wrestlers. The male wrestlers are uncanny enough, but it’s evident that this is Saber’s initial attempt at recreating female athletes within this style. They just look offputting and some of the organisation’s more sexualised characters can’t be portrayed as such in this game due to it’s lower age rating than the simulation series and family-friendly target demographic..

It doesn’t help that the wrestlers in Battlegrounds seem entirely devoid of emotion. In WWE matches, the sheer passion the superstars convey both vocally and facially is one of the most enjoyable elements of viewing them. Each athlete has such distinct characteristics and personalities which are displayed effectively within matches. Whether it’s confidence, pain, anger, annoyance or joy, facial expressions are pivotal in justifying their characters in combat and elsewhere. Also, the wrestlers attacks and moves are both athletic and powerful, therefore creating intense satisfaction within the audience: how they battle and the reactions derived from both the providers and recipients of the attacks are immensely important and a primary reason why scripted fighting is so popular. All Stars nailed all of these.

The wrestlers in 2K Battlegrounds appear entirely emotionless and lifeless with their facial expressions rarely differing or changing. In the trailers they always possess a straight face with them opening their mouths slightly every now and again: just search for the box art online and you’ll understand what I mean. Even when they take advantage of power-ups and are literally surrounded by flames, they just oscillate in one position awkwardly and lean back with a dull expression. This combined with the stiff animations is just not satisfying to watch; it’s like watching two or more bobble-heads being slammed together. The visuals on Switch in particular lack detail and the textures are very muddy, which is a consistent issue with the NBA Playgrounds titles on the platform as well: they’re just never optimised well, particularly in handheld mode. 2K’s also infesting this one with micro transactions, in game currency you can purchase on the eShop and other digital storefronts and the gold and digital deluxe edition faeces that plague their simulation experiences.

All of this taken together makes for a game that I don’t think will be received with critical acclaim nor perform well financially, much to 2K’s dismay.

The way they presented it in the partner showcase didn’t help its case either: I cringed all the way through with the actor’s quips and movements being almost as odd as the wrestlers in the game and they’d only show three second clips of the game at the most before cutting back to the actors. Hmmm, it’s almost as if they have little faith in this project...

@MarioBrickLayer Well Pikmin 4 was confirmed and nearly complete but that was years ago. They are also publishing Bayonetta 3, Bravely Default 2, Detective Pikachu 2, New Pokémon Snap and some remakes of Tantei Club which probably wont get Western releases.

I anticipate a five-month long Switch first party software drought. The Switch will still "win" this Christmas season because there won't be enough PS5 or Xbox SX consoles available for those who want one. Nintendo can coast as their evergreen titles sell millions of copies this Holiday. Then, while Sony and MS struggle to meet demand (even into March), Nintendo announces their 2021 lineup in January.

@Magician
I think they'll have something bigger for holiday, even if it's "just" a remaster of Prime Trilogy or the Mario games or even a Zelda game, but yea otherwise I agree.

I don't know why people aren't mentioning Bravely Default more, though. I thought that was a fairly big game for rpg fans? Isn't that coming out in the fall/winter?

@Magician That's ridiculous. They published 7 titles so far this year, you don't think they'll release at least one during the holidays? Even if it's nothing big, I'd assume that we'll get at least one eshop only title at an absolute worst.

EDIT: To put it another way, why release Paper Mario in July if you don't have anything for the next 5 months. Delay it to September in that case to try and have something for the holidays.

I wonder if the content of the Direct was cut at the last minute. The purported leaks suggested that around 10 minutes would be for third party titles and the rest first party titles. One wonders if they just cut the first party stuff at the last minute.

At the recent investors Q&A, Shinya Takahashi did admit that “product development is a little behind schedule in some areas due to the impact of Covid-19”. I also wondered if the issues around shipping are affecting game release schedules.

Firstly, games must be approved by the relevant regulatory agencies – most of whom I would assume are either not working or have a massive backlog from earlier in the year. The other problem Nintendo might have is with shipping products. It is difficult to send items via air due the limited flights operating now and there is a backlog of boats for shipping, which take months to travel across the world.

I wonder if Paper Mario was actually supposed to come out way earlier and Nintendo actually held it back because of the pandemic, but already had the regulatory approval and the game already shipped to their warehouses across the world – so simply had to get the game to the retailers.

I basically think this is why the Direct announcement was so sparse.

@link3710

I suppose my previous post was a tad alarmist. Just to clarify, I hope Nintendo releases the rumored Pikmin 3 port, Mario 3D World port, Mario remasters, or the MP Trilogy between now and Christmas. Nintendo can't fill the rest of 2020 with just third party software. But for anyone expecting a "one more thing" new first party game? Eh, your patience with Nintendo over the next five months will be tested.

@Yoshi87 I dunno. Other Switch physical releases have been coming out as expected (Jump Force, Crystal Chronicles, Captain Tsubasa, PGA Tour 2K21 (Yeah we're getting a golf game finally), and Samurai Jack are all releasing physically next month without issue. Even though Nintendo does have to deal with shipping more units for their games, don't forget they've also been getting Ring Fit Adventure out on shelves again, as well as Switch hardware.

Even if it did restrict how many games they could release, I don't think that's the only issue by far.

EDIT: @Magician, Ah that makes more sense.

@Grumblevolcano @Reprise @MarioBrickLayer
We would still be disappointed, but we wouldn’t be this disappointed. I wasn’t the only one to wake up to my YouTube home filled with negative reactions. We all had these huge expectations and this was nothing in comparison to what we expected, but it was still something by itself.

To be honest, this isn’t the worst Direct ever. March’s Mini was. It sucked. So I’m happy here!

@link3710 It’s an interesting point you make. The only thing I’ll say is that, of course, all the other games are third party releases which might be a bit different. As for Ring Fit Adventure and Switch Hardware, I suspect it’s easier to mass produce existing products as opposed to new ones. I also note Nintendo did have difficulty restocking in Japan due to the way their supply and manufacturing outlets work in that part of the world as opposed to Europe and the US.

I also forget to mention that there is also a strong cultural element to this. People tend to forget that Nintendo is foremostly a very conservative Japanese company meaning they probably won’t announce any further titles unless they are 100% sure they can deliver them on time. I think Nintendo is still haunted by the Metroid Prime 4 development debacle which was very embarrassing for them, even though they handled it well.

I know lots of people contrast this with Sony, but they forget that, despite being a Japanese company, Sony’s leadership is full of European and US executives – whereas in the case of Nintendo the Japanese side of the company has total control.

Anyway, just my thoughts on this.

@BabyYoshi12 Are you happy? I was under the impression that there was nothing in the direct to your taste.

@BabyYoshi12 It was double disappointment! firstly when they said it was a partner showcase and then afterwards when I knew the games announced!!

Right now I was be extremely happy with ports only for the rest of the year, Mario (x2 or 3) + Pikmin would be great, Mario + Pikmin + Metroid or Zelda would be amazing!!

@jump Nothing in the Direct was to my taste. I was delighted to sit down and watch a short Nintendo Direct. I missed that feeling.

@rallydefault Bravely Default II doesn't have a release date, just the very vague "2020" window.

@BabyYoshi12 Have to disagree there, March's Direct Mini while not that good was a lot better than July's Partner Showcase.

@Yoshi87 I'd guess Paper Mario was meant to release on October 30th and got moved forward to July to prevent the gap between Clubhouse Games and the next 1st party game from being massive.

@Grumblevolcano That’s not really that hard to beat. Japan had the better showcase, 2 games that should have been in the western Direct and I only assume didn’t make the cut due to problems getting a translated trailer (?) or they really did feel WWE would some how appeal to their market.

@FragRed While Japan had the better Partner Showcase, I'd say the March Direct Mini was better than the Partner Showcase for Japan too.

@Grumblevolcano Again, not disagreeing with you. Was just pointing how bad it was. I don’t really know why they could have just done a quick fire Direct. 10 minutes is enough time to provide updates on a good few third party games. Would not have been what people wanted but it may have helped make the situation look better regarding upcoming games.