Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

Captain Toad and Mario Kart will be the last ones standing; presumably we won't get sequels of those until Switch 2.

@rallydefault
I'm not sure what you're expecting to be honest. How they'll handle the existing library is an interesting question that we can actually talk about because we already know what "existing Switch game" means. Remastering or porting this game or that is also an interesting discussion that again we can talk about because we all know what the existing and already released games are and how they could be improved

Being excited about new and unknown things? I mean sure. And I think everyone here is more interested in new things Nintendo comes out with. I was very happy that we got a new 2D Zelda over pretty much any of the options that could have happened. But for "unknown things", what is there to discuss? We don't know what unannounced new games are. We don't know what innovative new ideas they might explore. Of course we want it more than just retreading old ground but until it's announced there's nothing to discuss

Plus, it's not like wanting decent backwards compatibility and for some games to get upgrades is at the expense of new things. If anything if they handle backwards compatibility well it'll mean there will be LESS need for endless last generation ports. I mean, you whine about people wanting WWHD on Switch.... do you think anyone would be asking for it if Switch could natively play Wii U games? No? Exactly! And that's why how they handle BC matters

Tangentially related to the above discussion, I was just thinking about how Nintendo titles its rereleases of existing games. I think there's a semi-consistent logic to it in most cases, so I decided to make this flowchart showing Nintendo's thought process when it comes to titles of rereleases.

@Dogorilla
I wouldn't be surprised if we start to see some new suffixes/prefixes for Switch 2. I anticipate 4K being used somewhat frequently. Possibly we'll also see "Ultra" being used as a prefix to kind of imply "Ultra High Definition". I don't think HDR will be even though it's clearly more important

Or they could just go all DS, Wii, 3DS era and throw the name of the console on it. Depending on what the name of the console is. Hell, maybe they go all in and name the Switch 2 the "Switch Ultra"

@FishyS
We had Mario Maker 2 pretty early in the Switch, right? That wasn't a Wii U port.

@skywake
Oh boy here we go, now I'm "whining" according to you - thanks for steering things into the negative, bud. All I did was (correctly) tell people, multiple times, before the Direct last week that WW HD and TP HD weren't happening because it was a waste of Nintendo's resources to release games they already remastered on their last console - release games that, literally, they would have taken away features (the Wii U gamepad stuff) if they put them on the Switch while simultaneously not providing any real visual upgrades (they're already in HD, hence the names lol).

You seem stuck on this idea that it doesn't take any of Nintendo's time, money, or resources to remaster and/or port games. That is... just so detached from reality, in my opinion. Sure, they can walk and chew bubble gum, but they still need to put devs on port projects, and they're still paying those devs, and those devs could be working on something new instead. It's as simple as that, even if it only takes a small team, it's still a small team that is now working on a port instead of helping on a new project or even spearheading a new project.

Ok, now for the new stuff we COULD be talking about with the Switch 2: I think people have (quite strangely) already decided the Switch 2 is just gonna be a beefed up Switch, maybe with those magnetic Joycon rails or whatever.

That would be very unlike Nintendo.

I think we're gonna see something out of the ordinary, and what I think it's gonna be is some kind of dual screen capability. Maybe it will be the Switch 2 allowing for Wii U-like gameplay with both the TV and gamepad asynchronously for certain games. Maybe it'll be an actual hardware attachment. Or, crazy enough, maybe it will even be a clamshell dual-screen device. The last option to me seems unlikely given the potential sizes of the screens that we're hearing in the rumors, but technology truly is amazing these days, and you never know.

So yea, instead of giving time to the very real possibility that Nintendo is going to be Nintendo and give us something very creative with the Switch 2, we're stuck here talking about how they're gonna release a Switch 2 version of Xenoblade 2 lol

I thought WWHD/TPHD made most sense for the next Zelda game considering you'd want to save a brand new Zelda game for the new console. That's why there was all that speculation about TotK being a Switch 2 launch title before the TotK Switch OLED got announced.

In the end it wasn't the case and the 2nd half of 2024 is a normal 2nd half of the year in the sense that every Switch era 2nd half of the year except 2018 and 2020 was heavily focused on new games.

I think 2025 will look something like:

• January - DKC Returns
• February - A Fire Emblem remake
• March - Metroid Prime 4
• April - Animal Crossing New Leaf HD
• May - Splatoon 1 Campaign Remastered (Urchin Underpass and Saltspray Rig as multiplayer stages end up appearing in Splatoon 4)
• June - LM1 HD
• July - A small eshop only game like Pushmo
• September - Switch 2, 3D Mario (Switch 2), tech demo game like Wii Sports was for Wii showcasing what's new about Switch 2 (Switch 2)
• October - Mario Kart (Switch 2)
• November - Pokemon Legends Z-A (crossgen)
• December - Xenoblade Chronicles X (Switch 2)

@skywake That does seem plausible. I remember in the UK Official Nintendo Magazine's 100th issue they had a tongue-in-cheek prediction of the contents of issue 200, including Wind Waker 4K (WW HD had just launched at this point). ONM didn't make it to 200 issues but it's entirely possible we'll be getting Wind Waker 4K in the next few years.

As much as I dream for it, it just seems unrealistic to expect Nintendo to drop performance patches for Switch games to run better/glossier on Switch 2. Games like Mario Kart 8, Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom, NSMBU, Smash, Splatoon 2/3, have shown Nintendo how well revised/improved software, re-released at full price, can sell by the bucketload, when the time is right. So I don't think we'll be awash with re-releases of Switch games on Switch 2, we'll possibly get a few, but I'd expect them to drip feed them over the next 10-15 years, instead of patching them for BC.

@Grumblevolcano We're never getting a remaster of any main series Animal Crossing game, that's not how that series functions. It's like Mario Party or Smash Bros: You'll get a bunch of legacy content in a new game. Happy Home Designer Deluxe / 2 / Plus / whatever they call it is far more likely than New Leaf HD IMO.

As for the rest of that? Splatoon 4 is almost certainly deep in development, so I don't know who'd remaster Splatoon 1 (unless they plan to make it a standalone e-shop title and not DLC for 3...?) It'd be a very weird release since Splatoon 1's campaign is like, 2 hours long, so yeah. If we really aren't getting Switch 2 until September somehow, then I think we'd get a new title in May. I'm going with a new Advance Wars from WayForward would fill that slot instead.

I don't think we'll get LM2 HD and LM1 HD on successive years. If anything, I'd expect Tantalus to take about a year and a half to remaster it if they were put on it again after 2 (which set a pretty high standard for updating graphics), so maybe December / January, after the Switch 2 launched when we're still getting a trickle of Switch 1 games. A remaster does make sense... but I'm going to go with HAL releasing an updated version of Kirby Squeak Squad instead (there's no way we're going 2 years without a Kirby game after all, and the next main series title is probably on Switch 2 fairly early in it's life)

I definitely don't see Legends Z-A being cross-gen, it's gonna be Switch only, but the timing seems quite likely. And with that change, the Switch 2 launch window looks way too dry. Given that Nintendo's devs are all clearly holding back, I think November could easily hold a game from NLG, maybe Luigi's Mansion 4?

Unrelated, but I asked a few months ago whatever happened to Tantalus because they've been so quiet, and now the question has been at least partially answered. With them doing Luigi's Mansion 2 HD we know what they've been up to for a bit under half the time they ghosted... though there's still a good chunk of time unaccounted for with no project to show for it. Still think we don't need WW / TP HD but the timing still does line up with the rumors of when the ports were made and shelved...

I mean... assuming back-compatibility, any Switch 1 game which comes out after Switch 2 is by definition cross-gen. I don't think there will be any 'Switch only' games. Will Z-A arrange it so it runs a little better on Switch 2 since Arceus struggled a bit? Maybe, maybe not, but it can do that regardless of whether they sell a seperate Z-A box that is stamped Switch 2.

Imagine if they marked cross-gen games as 1-2 Switch 😆

@rallydefault
Wind Waker HD made sense and still does. Just not this year given the new 2D Zelda which we didn't know about before the Direct and which clearly covers that space in the year's lineup. Also I'm not at all saying that ports and remasters take zero effort. I'm saying they take less effort because a lot of the assets already exist. I find it amusing that you can shout "not happening" and "I was right" about this with a straight face after a Direct that included DKCR HD, a Wii game that in one way or another has been released on Wii U, 3DS and now Switch....

And for backwards compatibility, well, there is some effort involved there but it's generally at a systems level. If there is decent backwards compatibility there would be little need for a BotW remaster, which if you go back was literally the point I was making. As you said, ports do require some effort, backwards compatibility generally doesn't on a per game basis. That's why in an ideal world they'd find a way to limit ports to games that aren't yet available on active platform. Games like (gasp) Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, Prime 2 & 3, Galaxy 2 etc are prime candidate for ports on Switch or Switch 2. Stuff like BotW, TotK, Odyssey should be handled via BC but may get enhanced given its profile. Something like a Hogwarts Legacy probably deserves a re-release

Again, this isn't at the expense of new content. If anything BC is to the benefit of new content especially compared to the requirement to port the Wii U library to make this happen for Switch. But, more importantly, a deep library is to the benefit of the new platform. There are a lot of Switch games that are perfectly fine as they are. Someone who skipped the Switch or puts the Switch in a shoebox post Switch 2 launch? They benefit from these games being available. And Nintendo benefits from the sale of them

And yes, you are whining about it. You take every opportunity you have to complain when someone dares to talk about any of these things. I'm not being negative calling this a whine, that's just what it is

Luigi’s Mansion 1 and Animal Crossing New Leaf are the current Switch ports/remasters I want most. Most of my favorite games are already on Switch, and these two are the two biggest exclusions for me out of my favorites.

@FishyS GameCube has BC, yet we still got a differently marked box for Twilight Princess. DS did, yet there were still two versions of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, etc. Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 came out after the 3DS, yet weren't considered cross-gen releases, they are considered DS only.

Anyways, any game that's a Switch game that can be played via BC isn't a reason for people to upgrade. So in the context of what I was saying, yes, if it's not a cross-gen release, then it won't be the sole game released that month by Nintendo. It's only 2 months after launch AND the month to best sell holiday games.

@link3710
I believe @FishyS is working under the assumption, which I also think is how it'll pan out, that a lot of these "cross gen" games will be more like Pokemon Gold/Silver on GBC than Twilight Princess on Wii. i.e. the same physical release but when you drop it in new hardware it branches into a new code paths that maybe changes some graphical and performance settings. As opposed to a full port of the game to the new platform

That wasn't really possible for DS/Wii which is why those games were ported like that. There's no real technical reason to believe Switch 2 will be the same

Just going to add my 2c to the never ending meme that is the "Nintendo be Nintendo" bit people seem to always push. Basically this sentiment:

I think this is a misreading of Nintendo's philosophies in hardware and software design. Fundamentally there are two major ideas that have dominated Nintendo's approach. The Gunpei Yokoi inspired "lateral thinking with withered technology" and the mid-to-late 00's push by Satoru Iwata for uncaptured gamers via a Blue Ocean Strategy

I would argue that until Iwata took over Nintendo's home console and portable divisions were at odds. The portable side of the business experimenting with the ideals of Yokoi and the home console side just making hardware they could use to showcase their games. In my mind I would argue that the NES, SNES, N64, Gamecube and to some extent the GBA (which was post Yokoi and pre Iwata) are all very much standard consoles. The advances they brought are largely as a result of general technological advancement over time. And sure, people like to point to the N64 controller, "look how odd it is". I'd argue that those kinds of things were less about innovation and more just a reflection of the industry in general trying to figure things out

But then we come to the DS. The DS marked the beginning of Nintendo's Blue Ocean Strategy that would end with the commercial failure of the Wii U. Of course there were "gimmicks" all across this era, it was the main feature. But these tricks existed in an effort to lower the barrier of entry. The Wii Remote is called a Remote and is shaped the way that it is because people are already comfortable with the idea of a TV Remote. Touch controls were brought in for a similar reason and 3D was brought in due to a desire to make 3D platformers easier

But then we get to the Switch which, I would argue, didn't try to appeal to non-gamers. Of course it's a fairly simple message, console for home and on the go, but it is at its core a console for gamers. No tricks, no gimmicks, just a traditional controller and a screen. It launched with big gamer games and has always been marketed in that way. And while it isn't technically impressive today when it launched back in 2017, while not insane, it was pretty solid for a portable gaming device. Certainly more advanced for its time than the GB was back in the late 80s

Now of course, Nintendo are first and foremost expert craftsmen. Skilled developers of games. And that has been the case across all of the platforms they have released. I'm sure this will continue. But, IMO, I would argue that the NES, SNES, N64, GC, GBA, Switch and upcoming "Switch 2" all follow a simplistic strategy. Where the hardware itself isn't the reason to buy into the platform but is rather just a shell they can use to deliver their quality works

So yeah, tldr, I don't think Switch 2 will offer something "out of the ordinary". I think people expecting this have completely misread the history of Nintendo. I think it'll be largely just a shell to deliver great software. Like the Switch has been and all of their home consoles were throughout the 90s were. And that's fine by me

@link3710 Splatoon and Animal Crossing seems to be one or other so a New Leaf remaster would fill in the Animal Crossing drought caused by Splatoon 4. Also it at least seems on the surface that the New Leaf vs. New Horizons debates are very much like the classic Paper Mario vs. modern Paper Mario ones so a New Leaf remaster would have a similar effect as the TTYD remake.

My idea with Splatoon 1 campaign remaster was about 10th anniversary celebrations. 1st game's campaign remastered and some details on Splatoon 4 releasing in 2026 on the game side of things.

Regarding Luigi's Mansion, I think the strategy will be to get the whole franchise on Switch before LM4 releases on Switch 2. Considering Battle League released in June 2022, October 2026 sounds like a reasonable guess for LM4 and it's close to the 25th anniversary of the franchise.

As for Legends Z-A, I think it'll be the only November release considering November 2017 was all about the 3rd party support. Could go either way regarding Switch 1 only vs. crossgen but I think it'll be treated as crossgen because it'll end up running better on Switch 2.

@Grumblevolcano Is the AC / Splatoon link really true still though? Animal Crossing New Horizons and Splatoon 3 only shared a handful of artists on staff, and none of the managers / coders. It looks like Nintendo may have split those IPs up since they're both top selling IPs. I know it used to be the case up through Splatoon 2, but it seems like Nintendo's changed tactics.

I would love a Splatoon 1 campaign remaster, but it's nowhere near large enough to be a retail game. I'm just confused if you expect it to be an eshop release or DLC? Or do you think it'll be expanded into a full size game?

Regarding LM4, Battle League was only done by a subset of the Luigi's Mansion 3 developers (which is why it was lacking content. Person who did the analysis said about 40% of the staff). NLG has to have had another game in development since LM3 came out, which was 5 years ago now. I highly doubt it'll take two more years to finish it, even with part of the team on another project. I'd expect a 2025 release at the absolute latest.

On Legends Z-A, I don't think GameFreak's developers have the time to implement a cross-gen release. They don't have the space to finish the games before releasing them on even a single platform release. But I'll admit I could just be jaded at this point.

@skywake
Uhm... what...?

You wouldn't consider the Switch an appeal to non-gamers? You wouldn't consider the Switch a creative, even "blue ocean" piece of hardware? The Joycon, the dock... all standard, core gamer stuff right there, eh?

With as straight a face as I can muster after your many failed misreads of Nintendo in the past, I can say that your opinions are certainly your opinions.

But anyway, back to the riveting discussion of which remasters from the last five years we already want to see on the sparkling new console that will be exactly like the current one just maybe with some 4k and magnetic Joycon rails lol

@skywake To add on, the blue ocean strategy was really only successful with DS and Wii. I'd argue that strategy failed with 3DS, as the 3D effect was turned off by most and many games, including some of Nintendo's own, didn't use it at all. People largely bought the system as a next gen Nintendo handheld to play their games.

@rallydefault The Switch is definitely not a blue ocean product. It's a system that is largely sold off the backs of traditional games designed for gamers. Nothing about it is designed to capture people that never played a video game system in their lives the way DS and Wii were. The hybrid form factor was simply their solution to the problem of split development resources in the HD era.

@link3710 With Splatoon 1, what I had in mind was either DLC for Splatoon 3 (that game does a lot with the number 3, the 1st DLC is Inkopolis and the 2nd is Side Order so Splatoon 1 campaign could be 3rd) or a NWC style release where its a cheaper digital release and then some physical stuff gets added to the physical version.

I don't see LM4 releasing close to 3D Mario so I definitely think it would be 2026, I went with October considering Halloween is October and the original game released in September 2001.