Feature: Nintendo's 2018: A Remarkable Year In Review

The Switch is a fantastic machine. Had it since launch and it has dominated my gaming ever since. I've got over 50 games at this point, 30 of which are physical retail releases.

Are there still improvements I want for the system? Heck yes there are! (VC, themes, folders, Netflix)

But overall, am I still as in love with the thing as I was in the beginning? Nope. I like it even more than I did at the start!

Here is to hoping 2019 will be yet another awesome year for the platform!

And to everyone else: HAPPY 2019!

Last day of 2018 and haven’t bought one Switch game this year. I have a years worth of systems updates since I haven’t turned it on. Still might get Smash tho.
I started Moss yesterday and throught ... this is the experience Nintendo should be leading. Instead we get a lot of ports. Smash ultimate is just shinier version of the last game.
Looking forward to Luigi mansion 3 and Metroid in 2019.

Nintendo's Troll of the Year (2018) = Isabelle on Smash Bros Ultimate announcement at first then Nintendo revealed Animal Crossing for Switch at the end of Direct.

I didn't have a Wii U so the ports were essentially new games for me, however my highlights were all towards the end of the year regardless. If they can improve online and add some good third party support to the numerous first party titles coming then we could be in for the best year in a long time. 2018 was good, 2019 will probably be on another level.

Great year, great games, Pokemon Let's Go & Smash were the icing on the cake for me this year. Happy Gamer

The Switch is the best console that Nintendo has ever made (to me, obviously).

It has given me the wish to play and the freedom that my other old consoles never could.

I love it so much because it doesn’t force me to play its way, but allows me to play my way.

With my old PS3 I had to fight for the TV with my wife and kids so I ended just giving up.

With my PSP and PS Vita I didn’t have that problem but the experience was always kind of watered down compared with the PS3.

The Switch gives me freedom and the best of both worlds. It’s the perfect system.

Although it's a 2017 game, 2018 was pretty much the year of XC2 for me. The base game is absolutely fantastic and the expansion pass is pretty much the definition of DLC done right.

As for everything else. The Wii U ports were fantastic and the faster the Wii U becomes just a retro console the better (Switch's retro collection will always be a joke, a natural result of being a subscription "extra" rather than its own thing like VC). Post launch support for games has also been fantastic. The new games (Kirby Star Allies and Mario Tennis Aces) were disappointing at first but post launch support improved them.

There were 2 main negatives on the Nintendo front this year. Nintendo Switch Online being so bad by even 2005 standards and the amount of time Nintendo dedicated to Smash Ultimate.

So far the online service has been pretty much a complete waste of money. NES only is garbage, support for online games has actually decreased since the service went live (Splatoon 2 no longer gets updates, there's only been 2 Co-op challenges in Mario Tennis Aces, etc.) and special offers is pretty much a lie at this point.

Smash Ultimate is a very good game but E3 was way too much and to follow it up with that August Direct with no normal Nintendo news in between was ridiculous. It worked as shown by Smash Ultimate constantly breaking sales records but still, 2018 needed more non-Smash announcements.

So overall an ok year, hopefully E3 2019 takes a 2017 approach rather than spend most of it on Animal Crossing for example.

@Grumblevolcano I agree so much with XC2. My favorite game on Switch still! I've put so much time into the game and am still restraining myself from putting more into it right now because I've already beaten it and I keep buying games, so I should really play some of them. XD

@maruse
Can i have your PS3 ?
I wanna play FF XIII, the Sims 3, etc...
...
...
...
Just kidding ! 😆

@Anti-Matter Sorry.... I sold it to get my PSP.... and I sold that to get my PS Vita.... and I sold that to.... well, you get the point, don’t you? 😁

I thought it was really slow at first, but I've actually bought a ton of games. Feel like Nintendo's been a bit better on the pricing during deals, particularly on Indy games, but even on some bigger titles.

@WOLF13 Calling Smash Ultimate a shiny Smash 4 is going to get you massacred here. Hope you’ve got some good arguments to support your point.

2018 was a great year for me gaming wise. Except all the great retro games I bought for my handheld collection, my main focus has been on Switch. I got the console in December last year, so I didn’t just have great fun with all the awesome games released in 2018; I also had all the 2017 goodies to catch up to. Great gaming year for me personally. And 2019 looks really nice already!

could have done much better nintendo. the first year was so great compared to 2018.

Next year, I'd most like an improved eShop.

Yeah, a nice year...
But not on Nintendo Switch, shovelware ports and almost no exclusive highlights.
A great year on XBox One and PS4 it was

Happy New Year from Melbourne 🥳

For me personally, I didn't mind having a slow year in terms of first party games. My company had a bad year, so it was rough financially for me, so I was kinda grateful that it was a slow trickle of games for the year.

However, I am not a barometer for the mass public, and it was indeed a pretty slow year, at least for Nintendo anyway. Nintendo's release schedule was sparse and was more of a bookend year. We had Kirby in March, Aces in spring, then a looooong break until things picked up again with Mario Party, Let's Go and Smash. Yes, Octopath was in there too but that was a third party release. And yes, three ports I can think of, Bayonetta, Tropical Freeze and Captain Toad, but those weren't new games.

For as much flak as we give third parties, they actually saved Nintendo this year, keeping the months remotely busy (hats off to Panic Button). Honestly, one of my favorite games this year was Diablo 3, cause it's perfect for the Switch. The pick up and play mentality really works for it, and I actually appreciate it much more as a handheld game.

If it wasn't for them we would have had a very dry year, similar to what the Wii U saw, and I'm not sure how acceptable that is since the 3DS isn't exactly going full force. For now though, I'll hold judgement on that cause next year does look amazing, and that's just what we know so far. It could have just been that some things got pushed back, but next year is looking stacked indeed. If Nintendo had a good year this year, imagine how it's gonna go next year, especially with that quiet monster seller, Animal Crossing.

2017: Amazing and surprising - A+

2018: Disappointing and shallow - C- (this would be even lower if Smash hadn't released this year)

2019 looks to make up for how pathetic 2018 was

I was very disappointed by Nintendo's output this year. We mostly got ports of mediocre Wii U games (except Hyrule Warriors). Yeah, Smash was great, but Nintendo is showing that they just can't handle success. Once they get it, they become lazy. It happened with the Wii, and it's happening again with the Switch. Almost nothing has been announced for 2019. Maybe third party games will keep the Switch going hot, but I don't think I'll be spending much money on games in the next year.

And am I the only one who notices Nintendo Life's almost unabashed praising of virtually everything Nintendo does? Was 2018 really a "remarkable year?" Also, Labo bombed in sales and yet is there any acknowledgement of this? When it comes to Labo, are they really only "slightly less enthused?" This is the same crew that gave a positive review for Star Fox Zero.

A 'remarkable' year? Really? Hmmm...

Summarized

Nintendo in 2018:

January:

• Nintendo becomes fastest selling console in US History
• Dark Souls improved confidence over Switch 3rd party
• Labo announcement
• Celeste

February:

• Mario film announced
• Billy Mitchell under fire (he eventually proved he wasn't a cheat)

March:

• Toys R Us goes brankrupt
• Reports that 3rd party Switch docks had been bricking systems, changing how people look at 3rd party hardware
• Smash Ultimate announcement
• Luigi's testicles

April:

• Nintendo Labo
• New president Shuntaro Furukawa
• Sega Ages and NeoGeo Classic announcements

May:

• Nintendo Switch Online Service details and criticism
• Mario shaved his face
• Pokémon Lets Go announcement

June:

• Quality of Life dies
• Fortnite
• Waluigi complaints
• Splatoon Octo Expansion

July:

• Crash Bandicoot
• Nintendo took action against online sites illegally distributing ROMs
• WarioWare Gold
• Octopath Traveler

August:

• VR found in switch code
• Streets of Rage 4 announcement

September:

• Nintendo's N falls off Kyoto's HQ by typhoon
• Luigi's Mansion 3 in development
• Final Fantasy VII, IX, X, and XII announcement
• Nintendo Switch Online launches
• Bowsette

October:

• Birdo's gender dependent on where you live
• Mega Man 11, Luigi's Mansion 3DS, Starlink, Dark Souls, Super Mario Party

November:

• Mr. Game & Watch's animation offends native americans
• YouTube app
• Detective Pikachu trailer
• Link does not have a crotch
• Pokémon Lets Go, SEGA Genesis Classics, SNK 40th Anniversary Collection

December:

• Smash Ultimate
• People find SNES Classic more powerful than Sony's PlayStation Classic
• Soulja Boy releases ROM console which would later be taken down
• Sonic movie criticism

@TheFanatic
It’s not a diss. It’s called the ultimate version. There’s more characters, stages and modes. It’s not the next step for the series... just more of the same. It’s a AAA title... but it’s also the only AAA title Nintendo released this year.

@WOLF13 In many ways, your point stands. However, spirits mode and WOL, despite being polarising, really do shake up the formula in an innovative way. Plus, the restructured classic mode also benefits the game immensely.

@WOLF13 You don’t count Kirby, Mario Tennis, Pokémon Let’s Go, Super Mario Party or Fire Emblem Warriors as AAA games?

@JDORS Almost nothing announced for 2019? Yoshi, Fire Emblem, Animal Crossing, Travis Strikes Again, Daemon X Machina and Luigi’s Mansion 3 says hi! And I guess we’ll have a new Pokémon and hopefully we’ll see Metroid Prime 4 and Bayonetta 3.

@Quarth

Well, nothing good has been announced, in my opinion. I don't see any of these games building momentum for the Switch. You might say Metroid, but that was always a game for the hardcore, and I suspect Nintendo will screw it up like they did with Other M.

@Quarth
Pokémon might sell millions but it’s not a AAA gaming experience. Reviews of those games average 7s. They’re not in the same category as God or War, Spider-Man, Red Dead 2 etc (yes I realize “Nintendo only” fans think these games are boring and awful). Moss is better than anything Nintendo did this year. Nintendo should pave the way for family online gaming. Innovation is lacking at the big N.

@JDORS So it’s in your opinion then. OK! It almost sounded as you stated it as facts at first.

I think the big sellers of those I mentioned will be Pokémon and Animal Crossing, with the others bringing in some success as well.

Edit: What do you want out of a Nintendo game?

@WOLF13 So a big budget game needs to get an average score over 8 to count as a AAA game? Interesting take...

Edit: So innovation is lacking, you say? How can they innovate?

Edit 2: I’m not a ”Nintendo only” fan. GoW and RDR2 seems like really great games. But I prefer Nintendo games, there’s no denying.

2017 was greatness with the release of Mario Odyssey and Zelda BOTW, followed by third parties like Sonic Mania, Skyrim and Doom.

2018 was a "good" year in the end, thanks to Smash Bros. and Pokemon Let's Go. From third parties we also got a lot of GREAT games like Crash Bandicoot 'Nsane Trilogy, Octopath Traveler, Valkyria Chronicles 4, DragonBall FighterZ, Wolfenstein II, Diablo 3 and Dark Souls. We could say a decent year for Nintendo first party games but also a fantastic year thanks to third party support! Can't forget all the beautiful indie gems like Hollow Knight, Celeste, Hyperlight Drifter and Monster Boy!

2019 will be another fantastic year in my opinion! We will see the release of highly anticipated games like Fire Emblem, a New Pokemon game ad a new Animal Crossing from Nintendo, while from third parties Doom Eternal, Mortal Kombat 11, Crash Team Racing for sure and hopefully Persona 5. Unfortunately I feel Metroid Prime 4 and Bayonetta 3 will probably be delayed to 2020

Happy 2019 to everyone!

@WOLF13

"Pokémon might sell millions but it’s not a AAA gaming experience. Reviews of those games average 7s. They’re not in the same category as God or War, Spider-Man, Red Dead 2 etc"

I'd like to state that this phrase makes absolutely no sense. Consistently "selling millions" is part of what makes Pokemon a AAA gaming franchise. Also, review scores have literally nothing to do with what makes a game AAA or not. Just ask Fallout 76's dreadful reviews. That was a big AAA effort that bombed horribly.

@deusX Yeah, the third party support this year has been awesome! Cheers!

Personally 2018 was a huge disappointment for me on Nintendo hardware. After the AMAZING 2017, I find it hard to believe but I think 2018 was worse than any year of the Wii U era, and goodness knows they were pretty bad. There was alway the 3DS in those years. Across the Switch and 3DS, the only thing I've wanted to play was Octopath Traveller. I know people love Smash and Pokemon Let's Go, but they're not for me.

Bring on the real Pokemon, the Fire Emblem, Luigi's Mansion, and maybe even Bayonetta 3 and Metroid Prime. 2019 has the chance of being fantastic.

What a shocking awful year! After a drought of nothing to a selection of sub par first party titles.
If it wasn't for smash 2018 would have been a right off!
Followed by the laughing joke Nintendo online service.
In 2017 I bought many top quality first party titles. In 2018 I bought one third party and zero first party.
Let's hope 2019 is more promising...tho with the high chance of metroid being a 2020 release I'm sure 2019 could end up being light on purchases as well.

@MoonKnight7
It also denotes quality and the highest production costs. None of those titles required the production costs of a AAA game.
My point was Nintendo didn’t deliver the highest level of gaming for most of their titles. Sure, some would say Pokémon is the peak of gaming. But in general, most would disagree. I said AAA experience... like wow this is a great game. Maybe not the best term.

Coming off the heels of a great 2017, Nintendo follows that up with a sub-par 2018. Jan-August were terrible. Old ports and indies. An underwhelming Mario tennis by most reviewers, a Kirby that was just whatever??. My game of the year for switch were ports of course (Hollow knight & Dark souls remastered). As many have stated if Pokémon and smash didn’t come out at the end this would have been an all time worse year. I’m all for indies and ports, but the meat and potatoes of your library shouldn’t be that, and that’s what Nintendo rolled with this year. C-

Unpopular opinion: the only thing notable this year was Smash, everything else was forgettable .

@Lord Watch out waving that opinion around here you might get in trouble.

@electrolite77 prob by me XD

@electrolite77

Pokémon, yes, although I'm not a fan so it doesn't do anything for me. Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem? No. Given Nintendo's vast resources, there should be a lot more than this coming up.

@electrolite77
Lots of stuff to play in 2018? Yes (old ports and indies) . Lots of new titles on switch in 2018 ? No. That’s why 2018 was not excellent. And what do they start 2019 off with? A near 7 year old port lol. 2019 should be better than 2018 tho, at least I hope so. New games and sequels is they key. Ports and indies are cool, but shouldn’t be the highlight of your library for the year

lol this was a good year?

I think 2018 pales in comparison to the Wii u 2012-2015 outputs, not to mention the 3ds outputs. Additionally Nintendo and fan websites weren’t pretending that lazy ports of 5-10 year old games counted as actual new releases.

@WOLF13 The ports wouldn’t be so bad if people stopped pretending they were major releases. As for the new games, not a lot of effort either.

@MrMetroid dude we got so many games....that are lazy ports of 5-10 year old games I already owned. Your standards are to high.

I'm not going to argue with people, but I'm nowhere near done playing all the 2018 games I wanted. I haven't even been able to buy all the 2018 games I wanted. Starlink, Paladins and Dead Cells kept me going for months, Pokemon LG is captivating me now, Hollow Knight is on the back burner along with a bunch of other games, and I haven't even picked up Smash, Diablo, Katamari, Hyrule Warriors, Valkyrie Chronicles 4 or Civ 6.

Splatoon 2 expansion, XC2 expansion, Mario+Rabbids expansion are ALL waiting for me to have enough free time to try them.

For me, 2018 was a beautiful year on the Switch.

Pretty meh year for me, as most of the indies/ports I already own on PC/PS4, and I'm not a fan of smash or playing online.

This was certainly the year for excellent single player PS4 games, no question there.

2018 was honestly pretty disappointing, barely saved only by Smash and Pokémon Let’s Go. Nintendo seemed like they rested on their laurels and relied too much on the games launched in 2017.

The good news is, 2019 looks to be amazing!

@WOLF13
Ultimate feels a lot different than smash 4. In most multiplayer games the sequels will only introduce small changes. The only time that they truly overhauled the game was for brawl and honestly that's my least favorite.

I'm reading alot of folks saying 2017 was better than 2018. I didn't even really know much about the Switch until January 2018, and certainly hadn't even seen one or know anyone that had one. So can someone lay out what the difference was between '17 and '18 that makes so many folks prefer last year as the better? (All I know is Mario, Zelda, Splat, Skyrim came out and Switch launched.)

Either way, I've had a fun year with this little fancy doodad. The beeps and boops it makes are quite pleasant.

In case anyone has forgotten...the console isn't even 2 years old!
HA!

@Medic_alert Ah, thanks for that. I was kinda figuring it was a rose-colored glasses thing. Sounded at first like there were all these games that launched or in first 3 months, then I though "No, that definitely can't be right". I remember the initial Wii launch and its first two years. Gotta say, this seems much better. and the year isn't really over till March as far as Ninty's concerned, yeah?

But please start to release some good games. 2017 was good, but this year was very spare.

2018 was a very good year. Perhaps nothing as genre-defining as Breath of the Wild or Odyssey, but as someone who doesn’t own a Wii U or either of the current Sony or Microsoft consoles, ports such as Bayonetta 1&2, Tropical Freeze, Crash Bandicoot, and especially Diablo III kept me very busy. And Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is simply sublime, well on the way to being one of my top five games ever.

I play mainly single-player and local multiplayer games, so I’m most personally eager for more games, first- and third-party, but I answered that improving Switch online was most important going forward for the health of Nintendo overall. Sakurai’s urging of Smash Bros. players to buy an additional LAN adapter for online play was frankly ridiculous. It would be one thing if Nintendo’s online were still free; but if we’re already paying for the privilege of playing online at all, it should run much more smoothly without requiring users to shell out even more.

Dang, a lot of salt in here. As much as someone can downplay ports, they still count, and there were some really good ones(Wolf2, Crash, Ys VIII, Civ 6, Diablo 3 etc.)

Eh... I thought 2018 was a step backwards from 2017. There weren't a whole lot of compelling new Switch games that year for me (then again, I have a Wii U). Switch Online ranges from meh to okay at best IMO, but I will agree that Nintendo made some truly silly decisions with it and they could do quite a bit more with their new paid online service (like putting in SNES games, messaging people on your friend list, letting people use a bluetooth headset for voice chat instead of that smartphone app, and enabling cloud saves for ALL games). I will say that Smash Ultimate is awesome, though!!! Definitely the highlight for 2018 for me.

The Pokemon Go friend code page is the reason I'm STILL getting friend requests, even though I entered my code over four months ago.

WiiU ports were more/less a given since only 12 people own the thing. I bet my mushrooms that people would stop complaing about WiiU ports as soon as Super Mario Maker gets ported.
Third parties are for the most part putting up their games for the Switch with some suprising announcements, some of which goes to Panic button senpai, and everyone is reaping the benefits. If Mortal Kombat 11, DOOM eternal, and CTR means anything, it can only go higher from here.
Octo expansion was nicely done. Celeste was an wild and hard adventure up a mountain. And Smash is smashing as always, though the online while better in features could be more stable since we're paying for it now.
2018 was obviously a mostly lull year mostly to dump WiiU ports and third party ports (though not of a problem to this guy who hasn't owned a WiiU or the other big two consoles) minus a couple of surprises and Smash and other companies like Capcom and sega filling in the Virtual Console void.
Let 2019 commence.

@electrolite77 by November 2013 the end of Wii U’s first year on market, they had released Nintendo land super Mario U pikmin 3, nes remix, Windwaker HD(a worthy remaster) and Super Mario 3D world, in addition to the 3rd party exclusives Of LEGO city, Zombie U and Wonderful 101. Then there’s the 3ds which saw the release of Luigi’s mansion 2, Link between worlds, Pokemon X, and Y, Fire Emblem awakening and bunch of other games. I dont consider 2013 a super awesome year, neither did anyone else. 2018’s well and worthy Kirby, content light Mario tennis, disappointing octopath, shallow Labo, and cobbled together smash don’t sound superior to 2013 exclusive output.

As for the ports that are new to some people, outside of Mario kart deluxe and some indie success stories, sales figures would indicate their old news to most people. I prefer games that are new to everybody not just some people.

It was an alright year. Not as good as 2017, but still alright. Here's to a great 2019.

Reaction to Switch Online:
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=facepalm+gif&hl=en-AU&authuser=0&rlz=1C1CHWA_enAU632AU636&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwjSiNe728vfAhVQaVAKHZ2PB7QQ_AUIDigB&biw=1920&bih=938#imgrc=Sbx39K8_-3hrDM:

I'd say it was a decent year for the Switch. It didn't have as much of a bang as the first year until the very end for obvious reasons, but its new releases and ports/remasters have been pretty solid from my observations.

Here's to an even better 2019 for the Switch!

With the year over I must say that 2018 was on par or even better than 2017. There are plenty of games released during 2018 that I haven’t had the chance to play (read buy) yet.
I have no complaints about 2018 and I’m quite excited for what’s coming (or supposedly coming) in 2019.

2018 was a good year but not a great one for gaming, certainly nowhere near the overall quality of 2017. There were however some standouts across all platforms such as God of War and Spider-Man for PS4, Octopath, Smash and The Messenger for Switch and I've heard nothing but good things about Forza Horizon 4, also people seem to like RDR2 but I find it a bit boring. Unfortunately I've barely touched my Switch this year with only Octopath and The Messenger holding any interest for me, Smash looks good but I have all previous entries.

Looking forward to the future though and the likes of Luigi's Mansion 3, Metroid and hopefully some new Mario or a new Mario Kart at some point

@electrolite77 I’ve beaten world of light in smash as of yesterday hour 1 is equivalent to hour 30, as seen in the tenuous connections the fights have to the spirits they represent. Not a lot of development went in that, even if one thinks requesting archived promo art is strenuous. Outside of 6 characters and 4 stages, it’s all legacy content, and even in that department it’s lacking when you consider all the missing modes. It was put together in 2 years while the others were put together in at least 3 or more. Like I care about 92 on metacritic.

As for ports, they’re fine, but million sellers while profitable are not big deals and they don’t excuse the absence of new games; by new I mean developed from the start for the particular system they’re sold on. There are far too many teams that have been dormant for too long,

It was a bad year like 2013. The only difference is that the Wii u was a failure commercially while the switch is not. I judge things by effort and craft not sales figures. octopath evoked FF3; it by hearsay at least doesn’t touch it or come close( l haven’t played it myself). Mario aces evoked Mario advance, it wasn’t that at all.

I will not applaud lazy Nintendo products.

I’m not saying the Wii u was great, I’m saying the switch is hot garbage for this year, whilw last year was “good”.

@electrolite77 the quantity might be typical the quality is subpar. Regardless of how my opinion mislaligns or aligns with others, truth is not a matter of agreement.

This article is mistaken; and I believe time will vindicate my “interpretations”.

Also your right, it is very difficult for me to consider any year as great: I have standards as you probably do too.

Happy new year.

@carlos82 That’s why it was difficult for me to get excited about Smash. It’s more of the same with not that many new sights to see. Nintendo’s innovation was flat this year. Single player games? I’m hoping you owned another system in 2018. Switch is new so it can’t compete with PS4 development cycle. Nintendo can make me turn off Red Dead or Spider-Man or God of War etc. But Nintendo titles in 2018 aren’t on the same level.

@Hoho Smash 64 started development sometime in 1998 and ended sometime before January 21st 1999 (1 year at best)
Melee started development in 1999 and ended sometime before November 21st of 2001 (About 2 years and 10 months)
Brawl started development October 2005 and ended sometime before January 31st of 2008 (2 years and 3 months)
Development for Wii U/ 3DS started after Kid Icarus Uprising finished development (March 2012) and 3DS was finished sometime before September 13th 2014 (2 years and 7 months) while Wii U was finished sometime before November 21st ( 2 years and 9 months)
Ultimate started development after Smash Wii U/3DS DLC was done (January 2016) And was finished some time before December 7th 2018 ( 2 years and 10 months)
Longest to Shortest Dev. Time in Smash Series
1.Melee
2. Ultimate
3. Wii U
4 3DS
5. Brawl
6. Smash 64

@Mrtoad I stand corrected, doesn’t make the game anymore impressive.

Why not just say Bowsette and leave it at that?

@Hoho LOL, yeah can't wait to pay full MSRP for New Super Mario Bros. Deluxe!

@MrMetroid I’m so excited, it was a disappointing launch game but I Love it cus it’s on the switch now. The fact that that game is being spoken about with even a modicum of enthusiasm makes feel like I’m taking crazy pills.

2018: playing more good and great games (on switch) than I have ever played in my life. Spending hours a day playing, and I still have more than 40 games on my wish list. It is a great time to be a nintendo fan.

My 2019 predictions are Nintendo will thin out the line up,
Jan :no more hereo's indie
Feb: 3rd party
March: yoshi
April: 3rd party
May: Fire emblem
Jun: 3rd party
July: pikmin 4
August: 3rd party
September: bayonetta 3
October: 3rd party
November/December: animal crossing

I feel the big 2020 titles will be pokemon (8thgen) and metroid 4