Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

Honestly with the size of my backlog, Nintendo can release nothing but ports for the rest of the year and wouldn’t bother me.

If these rumours end up being true, I would suspect that Nintendo feels they have released enough heavy hitters to entice people to buy a Switch. They must also feel there are enough potential Switch owners who were non-Wii U owners that wouldn’t see them as ports, but a chance to play a game on a system they want to own.

It can get a little skewered here as we are all Nintendo fans and therefore likely to have bought and played a Wii U.

Furthermore I’m taking the NSMB U with a pinch of salt. I doubt it would have much success on the Switch and with both Yoshi and Kirby expected out in 2018 thats plenty of 1st Party 2D platformers.

Switch isn't a generational leap from Wii U, it's more like a step. So with that said, I don't think a sequel to Mario Kart or Smash could bring much new to the table. They are much better re-releasing games like Pokken and Smash, as a deluxe version, optimising them as much as possible and carrying on with more downloadable content. After all, those wanting a new game would more than likely be moaning that X, Y and Z are missing that were in Smash Bros WiiU lol after days of release (You know it's true lol)

We don't know how long the Switch generation will last. It's only just come off the back of its first Christmas - and I expect it to have several more ahead of it...2020 might just be the mid-point of its lifecycle for all we know! ..and with 3DS likely to be phased out before too long, Nintendo will have more development resources to draw upon (assuming that Nintendo will just focus on Switch/Mobile going forward) which will only enhance game output still further, surely?

It's easy to be pessimistic in the absence of news but, personally, I would expect a new Mario Kart (there always is - I think that they just dropped MK8D so that people could play a fun, ready-made multiplayer game 'anywhere with anyone' as advertised ASAP) - and a new Smash (although, they don't really change that much, so an 'enhanced port' may suffice) - and an Animal Crossing game (likely held back from WiiU) - several Pokemon games - at least one Metroid Prime - possibly BotW 2.0 (as Aonuma seems quite keen to reuse the BotW engine) - at least one 2D Mario (and maybe another 3D too?) - and several surprises as well!

...the pessimism is just based off of fear as far as I'm concerned - there's no real logic to it; if it makes money, it'll likely come

@NaviAndMii I wouldn't call it pessimism about the idea of Switch only getting ports for Mario Kart and Smash. Pessimism would be that those ports never get any post-launch content.

@Grumblevolcano That's not pessimism, that's realism

@Grumblevolcano I didn't mean that in a derogatory way or anything - I just understand that my point of view is perhaps on the 'optimistic' end of the scale, so the opposing point of view is pessimistic by comparison

I'm pretty confident that Nintendo won't neglect their most established and lucrative franchises though -
and I'd also expect the Switch to have a fairly lengthy lifespan (compared to the WiiU for example) ..so I am seemingly more hopeful than most that most of the key IP's will get standalone games on this platform - even multiple releases in some cases - to capitalise on the success they're having with this particular hardware iteration

...I just don't think that the assumption that we won't be getting a 'Smash 5' or a 'Mario Kart 9' should become the status quo, that's all - we might, we might not - but sometimes I just feel that optimism that we will get those games gets dampened to a point where people begin to believe that we won't & I just like to remind people that the hope is still very much alive!

There's no real reason to assume one way or the other - it's just hope, fear or guesswork at this point really - but I'm firmly in the 'hope' camp myself!

@Octane We still have the big unknown that is the paid online subscription

If they would just announce whatever the hot ish they're gonna drop this year is, all these ports would seem awesome.

Like if they said Pokemon release August, Mother 3 October, new Mario RPG before Christmas, we would be crying tears of joy for these ports.

Also, to add onto this point about not getting a Mario Kart in the future - since the DS, a new Mario Kart game has been appearing every three years, and [technically for Europe at least] the trend has been that the handheld version launches the same year as the console launched, while the home versions are two years after launch. Since Switch takes the form of both, 8 Deluxe is the 'handheld' game, with 9/10 being the 'home' version in three years time.
However, I can understand the point about convention breaking, since that is something Nintendo seem to be doing recently - at least since the Switch's reveal.

'Mario Kart Switch' wouldn't necessarily have to offer a visual improvement over MK8D...they could go down the 'Double Dash' route instead and offer a twist on the format, perhaps? (just to offer something different to what is already available) ..it'd certainly need a USP - and if the selling point isn't the graphics, it'd have to be a new/different way of playing instead

EDGE Magazine review scores.

Lost Sphear - 6
Arena of Valor - 6
Celeste - 8
Brawlout - 3

They like Celeste, though not as much as everyone else. Brawlout took a hiding. And the other 2 are just above average. It's interesting to compare their scores with other sites.

As for Mario Tennis Aces being an early June title, that would actually make a lot of sense. I forgot to put Nintendo Labo on the list which is already a confirmed April game. Hyrule Warriors Definitive Edition and Nintendo Labo is enough for April. I still think Yoshi will be June so maybe Mario Tennis Aces in early June and Yoshi in late June.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE Arena of Valor is in beta version, so why did they score it so early?

So the upcoming Pokken patch adds video capture support in addition to balancing and Aegislash (needs the DLC purchase to be unlocked obviously).

@Azooooz The same reason PUBG was in the Game Awards even when it was in beta. I don't know!

@subpopz Well there is a lot they can still innovate with the Mario Kart franchise. I mean, if they were really struggling for idea they could just steal the idea of tracks changing during the course of the race from Sonic and All Stars Racing Transformed or whatever it was called. But this being Nintendo, they probably have plenty of original ideas they could bring to the genre.

@Grumblevolcano I really can't imagine Xenoblade X being the Switch big 2nd year Xmas game,not by any stretch. There will be more ports for sure but there will be several big games from Nintendo as usual mixed in between. If they're just going to be releasing ports all year, then what are all the first and 2nd party teams going to be doing. Koizumi said back in December, and he's said it previously to that too, that there will be a steady stream of games throughout the year just like last year, there will be IP that they've yet to use as well as new IP and non traditional Nintendo IP.Plus there will be games that make use of the Switch's unique features . Labo falls into the latter obviously Not sure about non traditional Nintendo IP though, Labo is still very Nintendo so I'm not sure it could fit that description.

I think there will be, at the very minimum 6 big non port releases by Nintendo themselves this year,Mario Tennis and Fire Emblem included. That's less than they would normally put out on any single console, never mind a hugely successful one in its 2nd year and no 3DS to support.

I'm thinking Mario Kart 9 will probably have a "Transform" feature, which your vehicle can transform into another form. Imagine from Go Kart changes into a Motorbike or from ATV changes into Mini Aeroplane, etc. Probably, a new type of vehicles, floating vehicles like Magic Carpet / Mini Aeroplane / Jet Pack / Superhero cape / Wing , etc (Remember Chocobo Racing PS1 ? There were Bahamut with its wing, Black or White Mage with their Magic carpet )

I don't get the logic of people who are saying that Nintendo should make sequels rather than ports because they want "innovation". Because somehow a brand new Smash Bros and a brand new Mario Kart is the most innovative thing they could be doing. They have to release these games, they're the games that move systems. And clearly people don't seem to care that they're ports judging by the sales. So they've done what they needed to do.

So isn't it better that Nintendo can instead put those resources into different games entirely? For example if Mario Kart 8 Deluxe had been Mario Kart 9 we wouldn't have got Arms. I'd personally rather have Mario Kart 8, Smash Bros 4 for Switch and another two entirely different games than "proper sequels" of Smash and Kart.

@OorWullie Well the big holiday game for 2017 wasn't Xenoblade 2 in December, it was Mario Odyssey at the end of October. So the big holiday game this year with the list I created would be the Smash 4 port of which it's Smash so for most the fact it's a port won't dampen the hype, especially if it includes all the content from both versions.