Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@Ralizah I believe there were rumours about a February Direct. Maybe they'll release Yoshi before E3 and call it a day? Kirby, Yoshi and Mario Tennis in terms of new games. None of them are big, or system sellers, but maybe they think it's enough in combination with Labo.

@Grumblevolcano I think that would be a terrible idea to consider Labo as the major game for the first half of the year. If Nintendo truly sees that as the big game to push then they are going to have problems.

@Octane That is an incredibly risky move to take which I hope they don't do. I feel with the lack of the third party support that the other competitors receives on a continuous basis, Nintendo need to rely heavily on first party games to sell systems. Unfortunately as you stated, neither Kirby, Yoshi or Mario tennis are those games. A slump in momentum for the Switch could be difficult to turn around.

If LABO is their "big" "game" would be terrible from most of our viewpoints, but the profit margin is probably pretty darn favorable. So for the business side of it, maybe it will be a success. But continuing the growth of the console, I don't know.

Then again, lots of us around here were very wrong about the Switch's initial reception, so maybe a bunch of cardboard is what the people want.

Labo is not for everyone, it's for a specific market. Nintendo knows this too. It won't appeal to a broad market. It's not the next Mario Odyssey or Zelda.

It just feels as though the first half of the year is already full enough on the quantity front and with Labo releasing in April, it may end up being that Mario Tennis is our June game while Yoshi is later in the year. After all dependent on the definition of Summer being used, the end of Spring could be consider May 31st or June 20th.

I think we'll either see:

February - Bayonetta 1+2
March - Kirby Star Allies
April - Hyrule Warriors Definitive Edition, Nintendo Labo
May - DKC Tropical Freeze (the 3rd party game Dark Souls Remastered is in the late May slot that the big 1st half of the year game usually has)
June - Mario Tennis Aces

or

February - Bayonetta 1+2
March - Kirby Star Allies
April - Hyrule Warriors Definitive Edition, Mario Tennis Aces, Nintendo Labo
May - DKC Tropical Freeze
June - Yoshi

Where the next Direct focuses on DLC, reminders of already announced games and announces some summer games.

I personally enjoy the ports, but for those who don't, I totally understand the disappointment. I hope Nintendo can wow us next time they have an event

@Grumblevolcano Its kinda depressing that Dark Souls seems to be the only big third party game coming to the Switch this half of the year. Unless you count Dragon Quest Builders but that's a port of a two year old game.

@FragRed Isn't Wolfenstein 2 Switch first half of 2018?

@Grumblevolcano I think Labo is a secondary market. A potentially big one financiall, but it's a "third pillar" for sure, that has a secondary effect of driving some Switch sales in the short time. I don't think they intend to move many Switches for Labo. Cart before horse. $30 of cardboard won't drive $300 consoles. Pokemon will drive consoles to kids, and then those kids will want Labo which works with their console, which can potentially be a frequently recurring revenue stream with new project kits.

Now, Nintendo may still be intending that to be their "big" game pre-E3. But there's also a reason they gave that its own announcement outside the mini Direct rather than showcasing it as the grand finale and making it a major direct. They do seem to know that's a separate market. Sell Labo kits for kids to play on the parent's consoles. Labo is more a replacement for 3DS (as a business unit) for the "for kids" market, I'm guessing, addressing concerns we all had here about moving from having two businesses down to one by merging home and handheld together. There's your QoL-esque second business.

Pokemonpokemonpokemonpokemon. Nintendo does not hate money. They know what is going to drive Switch sales in 2018 and that little else matters. But there's nothing to announce until March or April on that (isn't that when they announced SuMo?), or much later. Not releasing in 2018 means releasing in 2019 as a summer game at the absolute earliest. And I can't see them holding back Pokemon that long. Maybe it won't be ready, but GameFreak is too good at business. They'd keep the scope and ambition of the game back to hit a needed business target for Switch than make a better game and miss their ideal timing.

@NEStalgia I think you're right on the money. For the record, SuMo was announced February 26th, 2016 in a Pokemon Direct. Which... if Nintendo is putting this much pressure on TPC/Gamefreak, then maybe we might see it as part of the rumored larger direct this month?

Rumour: Mario Party 11 To Arrive In 2019 For Nintendo Switch

https://segmentnext.com/2018/02/05/rumor-mario-party-11-arriv...

@NEStalgia Sun/Moon was a February announcement and XY was a January announcement.

Wolfenstein doesn't count?

@Therad Nope, all signs point to a Q3/Q4 release, so not this half of the year.

@link3710 @Therad Yeah, we would know by now if it were releasing in the first half of the year, especially as the Switch isn't exactly overflowing with third party releases. And the sad part is, no one will care by the time it comes out besides the few whom don't own another console but absolutely want the game.

@FragRed I think the Japanese market being slow to adopt the next gen is certainly one reason (although it doesn’t explain the dual releases of COD or FIFA - the Western ‘casual’ audience that includes many adults but also a ‘hand me down’ audience of kids). Even it we’re just Japan though it’s important to understand why (I’m sure it’s more complex than the lazy ‘oh Japanese gamers just only like handhelds now’ answer) and to appreciate the same could happen anywhere in the future.

Sony has the strongest relationship with publishers - which helps them immensely - but they also have the simplest and easiest to communicate plan when compared to their rivals. In many ways that’s the more powerful tool in their arsenal.

I’d say you’re definitely wrong on Sony not knowing about the One X though. These big companies always know well ahead of time what their competitors might do - it would be dereliction of duty if they didn’t (their shared suppliers probably even tipped them off - maybe even showed them a prototype and told them how many Microsoft was planning to sell. Such is business).

The ability to create mid generational refreshes and incremental upgrades would have been a big part of the sales pitch for switching to x86 that both Sony and Microsoft sat through. They’ll have assessed the potential impacts differently but Sony - taking the assessment it was worthwhile themselves - must have assumed Microsoft would come to the same conclusions.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE That's extremely believable. I could see that being a Spring/Summer 2019 title.

Also I'm 100% certain we'll see Wind Waker HD in Spring 2019.

They should redo Skyward Sword. That game could use some pretty notable changes and improvements. Satiate those who need their full of that type of Zelda.

Rereleasing an exclusive remake just sounds silly.

I'm not sure about the Zelda remasters, though Wind Waker HD would be the more likely of the 2 if any were to happen (Wind Waker was the closest the Zelda franchise had to BotW before BotW existed).

@-Green- But Skyward Sword was bad too.