Topic: Disappointed by the lack of new exclusives

When the Switch got released I was hyped. I was amazed that Nintendo merged their handhelds and home consoles into one device.
And that's not just because of the portability:

My main hope was, that by merging handheld and home consoles we would get a higher amount of exclusive games on the Switch.

Think about: In the past, in each generation Nintendo released different exclusives for their handheld and home consoles.

For example, the last generation saw two mainline Mario games on Wii U as well as two Mario games on 3DS. That's 4 Mario games total. In the Wii/DS generation it was also 4 Mario games. So I assumed that Switch, representing both markets, would also get 4 new Mario games, but instead we got... one??

Another example is Zelda: the Wii/DS generation gave us two Wii Zeldas and two DS Zeldas. The Switch, again, has only one! (I don't count Links Awakening as its just a remake of an ancient game, whereas the Wii/DS games were NEW)

And there are plenty of other examples like Fire Emblem, Metroid, Wario...

I understood that by having Switch as the only console this generation, Nintendo would be able to put more resources into the games, but I'm honestly seeing the opposite. I think there are less exclusives than in most console generations, although exactly the opposite should be expected.

I sometimes wonder if it would be better to release two separate consoles instead of the Switch; we would have to pay more, but also more Mario and Zelda games would be released.

What do you think?

I think Nintendo having one console to focus on, should pay off in the end. I think it's fair to say the pandemic has had a significant negative impact on game development across all platforms for nearly two years now.

It would be interesting to know what games we'd have if we hadn't had the pandemic.

The pandemic has slowed down game development across the industry so its not a fair comparison really tbh

While I'm sure the pandemic has impacted games quite a bit, I'm also sure we wouldn't have had as many as for the handhelds & consoles combined
There'd be several reasons for that, of course & it's not really a good comparison, IMO.

@chipia If I didn't have a Switch backlog of about 200 games then I'd probably be agreeing with you, but there are more than enough great games on Switch already. So provided Nintendo is making less software but polishing the software it does make as shinily as much of what they have released in the past 5 years, then I can forgive them. But they have disappointed me in the lack of motion controlled gaming. Since ARMS and 1-2-Switch, about the only significant use of motion controls has come in the form of LABO, Ring-Fit and Garage (maybe also Super Mario Party, I've not tried that yet). If we go all the way through the Switch generation without a next-level sports package along the lines of Wii Sports Resort I'll feel a tad hard done by.

But the Switch isn't over yet, so there's plenty of time left to hope for more.

@chipia I noticed you mentioning the Wii U - did you actually own one? Because if you want to talk disappointing the release schedule of the Wii U was tragic (let alone some of the games that were actually announced, like Animal Crossing Amiibo Festival). The Switch is a huge improvement over that. I think what your feeling comes from "The Nintendo Problem" which is they could be doing so much it's easy to get carried away with what could be.

Congratulations, its 2021 and you've just noticed that game companies make less games on modern, HD consoles. I mean, I'm not happy about it but this has been largely true for a long time. Especially when the PS4 came along.

I do think its still hard to tell how much of that is because the 3DS devs have just taken their sweet time to get to Switch (Mercurysteam had put out zero games between Samus Returns and Metroid Dread, and that's four years) and how much of it is a genuine missing level of quantity of games because development is so weird and made more weird in recent years. But if not, Nintendo should look into improving that (bringing in Wayforward for an Advance Wars remake is a good start).

Also quite frankly, as someone who owned a Wii U AND 3DS, it...mostly feels like they just got rid of the redundant games. Man, what do I want more, two versions of Yoshi's Wooly World or three 3DS Mario Party games?!

also we do have four Zelda games on Switch, and none of them are Phantom Hourglass, so I see a clear winner here

It's worth remembering that hindsight is 2020. You're comparing the full lifecycle of something in the past to something that's still in progress and development and you need to keep that in mind when drawing comparisons.

I also think that Nintendo diversified a fair bit this generation and developed a few new IP's which is always nice to see 🙂.

I'd definitely agree with @gcunit when they mentioned polishing the software so maybe Nintendo made the decision for focusing on quality over quantity.

Fingers crossed though that more games to your liking are on its way over the rest of it's life cycle. I definitely don't like the idea of people looking back and feeling disappointed with the selection of titles that came out on their chosen systems.

@chipia There’s this thing called a pandemic that’s been slowing down all game development for half of the switch’s lifespan. Hope this helps.

@chipia
Developing games is not as easy as making cupcakes.
Added with global pandemic, it slowed down the developing process.
Be granted if Nintendo still able to release some games during pandemic.
Also, you just only counted the 1st party games. The 3rd party games still have some contribution for Nintendo Switch.

Guess we just skipped the Wii U/3DS games.
I am also thinking that since the Switch is only halfway through its lifecycle, you can't really say that there are less games than before, after all we do have a new zelda game announced, as well as another metroid. We got a new luigi game, in January, we will have 2 Pokemon games, 1 Wario game(but there was always one, i think), 1 metroid game already, 1 smash bros(as usual), 1 Fire emblem and so on. I guess you are only counting Odyssey as new mario game and not mario maker 2
Granted, some games are missing, like new 2D mario plattformers or a new mario kart, but we also got new games like SMT V, Astral Chain as well as many other great big releases like Monster hunter rise or Xenoblade.
Bottomline is: all the games you are missing might still release on the switch at some point in the next few years and we don't really know how much the pandemic has slowed down development

The console still needs time, I think working on just the switch is an amazing move, your not being fair here.

To be slightly fair, I do think you're likely right that the Wii and DS combined got more games in the same timeframe. That seems accurate.

Well, making games for the little considerably less powerful consoles was probably faster and cheaper. Now every game they make has to be on the big 3D HD one.

So instead of the output getting a 2x multiplier from combining both branches, it's more like a 1.3x.

I understand feeling like there are fewer releases, but objectively, the Switch has had six Zelda games and will probably have at least one more by the end of 2022.

1. LOZ Breath of the Wild

2. LOZ Link's Awakening

3. Hyrule Warriors Definitive Edition

4. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity

5. Cadence of Hyrule in Crypt of the Necrodancer

6. LOZ Skyward Sword HD

7. LOZ Breath of the Wild 2 (due 2022)

Now, if you want to argue about it, yes, three of those are remakes, three of them are very different from traditional Zelda games, and one of them was both a Wii U and Switch title. But that's exactly what happened with Zelda in previous generations. Link's Awakening had a DX version on GBC as well as the Oracles games. The DS featured OOT, the 3DS had Majora's Mask and Hyrule Warriors Legends. Gamecube had Four Swords to pad out its lineup of two LOZ games (one of which was delayed and released as a GC swansong / Wii launch title, exactly like what happened with BOTW). And things like Triforce Heroes, Four Swords Adventures and Link's Crossbow Training were all very different games from trafitional Zelda ventures.

So, no, I don't think Nintendo releases have slowed down at all. Even with the pandemic. It might seem that way, but it's not real.

I dunno, I think they're doing a great job of releasing plenty of first party releases. Wii U had a good amount of first party titles, especially for a system that was a failure, but there were plenty of droughts. I don't get comparing the library of two systems to one, especially when one isn't even HD, making games for 3DS took a lot less time. Two systems are usually going to have more games than one, lol.

I'm not sure why you are listing all the spinoffs and ports/remakes given that they weren't part of my argument to begin with.

The N64/GBC, GC/GBA, Wii/DS generation all had more NEW MAINLINE Zelda games than the switch (4, 3 and 3 respectively) in a timespan of 5 years which is close to the current age of the switch. So the switch has with only 1 new mainline Zelda (which isn't even a real exclusive) way less games than earlier generations.

Just like the the GC and Wii generations had more Fire emblem games (4 and 3 vs 1).

@Eel I see, you to are a person of taste.

I mean, I do agree that Nintendo has lacked in brand new traditional Zelda games lately. I just think the spinoffs are cool enough that for one Nintendo console once, its not bothering me. But I'd certainly be all for a new traditional Zelda game other than the long, long wait for BOTW 2.

You’ll have to just keep a spot in your heart for Nintendo pre-HD and dedicated handhelds. Everything is more expensive now in entertainment than it was in decades past. As costs have gone up development has concentrated. Business itself has concentrated with publishers controlling more of the major releases. Risk aversion is high. Competition is more money-backed than ever before with new kinds of investment. Playing habits have changed, some naturally, some forced by profit models, some by an evolving planet of people. Nintendo, reliant on it’s games business, has to respond to all that. In some instances it will mean fewer games for some of their franchises. But this is a unique generation too because they have had a well of WiiU software to pepper their release schedule with. It’s worked. But that too will have to evolve for next generation.