2019 is already shaping up to be a rather mysterious year on the Nintendo front; there are a number of major titles already scheduled to launch over the next twelve months, but there's a distinct 'there's going to be more than this'-type feeling in the air, leaving fans entirely unsure of what to expect. Can you feel it?
For months now, fans have been waiting for a Nintendo Direct presentation to spill the 2019 beans once and for all, but there's still no sign of one coming. Should we start to assume that there won't be any more games than already promised, then? Absolutely not, as pointed out by Nintendo Director and Senior Managing Executive Officer, Shinya Takahashi in a recently shared Q+A session:
"I have heard some people say we have a tendency towards slow development, but thatʼs certainly not true in every case. We have titles currently in development that we havenʼt announced yet, some of which weʼre preparing to release this year, and I donʼt anticipate the kind of delays they would be concerned about."
The statement comes as a response to a question asking about Nintendo's process management for software development. Interestingly, Shigeru Miyamoto followed up on Takahashi's words by talking about the importance of Nintendo's younger developers.
"I am continuing to entrust more authority to younger people, and I believe it is through them that we have established our own unique, Nintendo-like development structure. I want to continue to nurture their growth, while we preserve Nintendoʼs unique way of making games."
So, more unannounced Nintendo games are planned to arrive this year, and the company is actively nurturing its young talent. It certainly sounds like the future is going to be a bright one.
What games are you hoping for Nintendo to reveal this year? New IPs? Sequels? Remasters? Let us know in the comments.
[source nintendo.co.jp]
Comments 125
Cool. Lets see them.
If only there was a way to let us know DIRECTly?
It feels like they are shaping up to a direct, but this is nintendo we're talking about. We can't expect anything at this point.
1st party = Miitopia 2 ??
3rd party = THE SIMS 4 & DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION !!!
Now that Monolith Soft is done with Xenoblade Chronicles 2 content I hope that they're working on a sequel to Baten Kaitos.
Splatoon 3 maybe...?!
well well what do we have here? In another post he said that they didn't put enough effort to get new people to buy a Switch and one of the reason is that many people complain about lack of new games coming out until arguably October. So now they have some games, like a lot of games, coming out this year, some even unannounced and fans were waiting the whole January for a Direct, it would have been a perfect moment to keep the momentum from December to keep people hooked especially the casual one but no... Still NOTHING about a nother direct -.-
Pikmin 4 (since it's already done) and Mario and Sonic at the Cracker Factory
The comment doesn't seem to be specifically mentioning Switch so could be more 3DS games.
3DS collection on Switch
I'm not so impatient for a Direct like a lot of other people need to be. If the next big first party release is Yoshi then there was no point for them to have a Direct in January and it wouldn't surprise me if we're waiting a little longer until closer to Yoshi's release. It'll come when they're ready and until then I'm content to just enjoy my near endless supply of Switch games I already have. Already way too much to play.
No delays? Well that's fantastic, how about we know what's going on past March then??
All right then. Let's see them! Say...on a Thursday later this month? I'm starting to go into hype train meme withdrawal.
Hopefully more unannounced titles doesn't mean more Labo stuff. Surprise us with some of the best titles from your IPs Ninty and I'll gladly throw money at them.
Anticipated delays doesn't mean they still won't happen.
@Grumblevolcano or mobile, they've dropped new IP's on mobile too.
@BigMac1204 That would be quite the mistake on their part at this stage.
Loads of properties warranting a new game of some form, be it 2D or 3D. Especially if they have shifted away from 3DS development.
Mario, DK, Zelda, Metroid
OR out left field F-Zero, Starfox, Pikmin, 1080
OR y'know, tide us over with some re-releases be it individual releases or collection...
God damn it Nintendo let me give you some money
#NintendoDirectWhen
Can we hashtag trend things on Nintendo Life?
I really don't think Nintendo understands reality. They're sitting back making us wait, thinking we're all dreaming of the next big Zelda or Mario, but all we're doing is having nightmares about whether their next game is going to be Pullmo 2 or Pushmo 2.
And the longer they make us wait, the more we will be disappointed. That's just human nature. They make us wait long enough and no matter what they show we'll still be disappointed.
NDs were great when they were every couple of months, they really don't work well twice a year only appearing after people expect them. They need to release before we expect them.
They need to pull the trigger then, and show at least something new.
I’d even settle for what Prime 4 looked like.
Like some videos, and screenshots for the time being.
I do wonder if Bandai/Namco will repackage Prime 4 as something else.
@Anti-Matter
The Sims 4 is supposedly the worst in the series, I'd rather have the Sims 3 with all DLC. Not that I'd buy anything published by EA.
It's an old saw, but presumably Retro Studios have been working on something all this time, and are now close enough to finishing that they've been able to take over Metroid Prime 4. Whether that's a rerelease or remaster of old titles or something wholly new is anyone's guess. Who wants to guess?
@DynamoDouglas don’t forget WaveRace Switch edition. How about an extreme sports package based on Pilotwings, Waverace, 1080 and ExciteBike?! Arrr man I hate/love heart racing speculation like this. It’ll kill me some day though.
I just want DATES for Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing!
@Spudtendo The Sims 3 is the better game in almost every single way. EA really dropped the ball with The Sims 4, sadly. It's one of my favorite franchises, so that makes me sad. Nevertheless, imagining how badly The Sims 3 + all EPs runs on my PC that was built specifically to run it at max settings with minimal lag, I can't imagine how horribly it would run on the Switch. I don't even want to. lol
Obviously they are lying. The year is almost over and we got no Direct and they announced absolutly no games at all!🙄
I mean it's almost march, for god's sake!!!!
@Spudtendo
But i really like The Sims 4 than The Sims 3 for more Cartoonish looking and Six pack slider from the beginning. I can make a lot of Muscular Six pack guys and put them in beautiful houses from The Sims 4.
Beside, i still able to experience "Open Business" from Get to Work expansion pack, so i can become a Police / Restaurant owner / Bakery shop owner / Boutique owner / Flea market owner / Doctor, etc.
@MrBlacky Almost March? It's only the 8th day in February.
To everyone’s disappointment it’s going to be a mobile game.
Pikmin 4 please...
Then cough a Direct up!
@Harmonie
Except, The Sims 3 was lack of Open Business expansion pack. Consignment stores on The Sims 3 wasn't good at all.
And from The Sims 3, i cannot make my Sims have bigger body and wide shoulder like Bodybuilder on The Sims 4. The Sims 4 was Just Great for me in term of making characters and house designing. If only EA wants to revive MySims with proper gameplay or just make The Sims kids version (aka MySims with gameplay like The Sims or Dragon Quest Builders).
@Anti-Matter So that's what it is about for you? Well, to each their own. The Sims 4 did two things I really liked as opposed to previous titles: 1. Gender identity/expression options and 2. Seasons (winter is done in MUCH better detail than previous Seasons EPs, lack of snow depth set aside). But sadly those two things can not make up for the closed, decorative worlds. The game just feels too limited.
Until It's announced it means nothing.
Nintendo always announce tons of games just a few short months before they release. Sometimes they have even shorter windows. This is just how they roll.
I sure hope so. Has Nintendo ever gone into a year and not announced any new titles? It’s only February, after all.
@Harmonie
Psst...
Don't forget if i really really able to make RuPaul guys aka Drag Queens on The Sims 4.
So, i can make a man with handsome looking but with Feminine walking style and Woman outfits. 😆😂
@Anti-Matter We accept you for who you are, but The Sims 3 is way better in every aspect.
I'm sure we'll get some more info soon.
@Anti-Matter Dude a Miitopia 2 would be sick. Heck, just give me an HD collection with Tomodachi Life and Miitopia for Switch and I’ll be set for life
@BenAV
I agree. I hope Nintendo has an exciting year planned but I've got more than enough games to keep me busy at the moment.
@MH4
If there will be Miitopia 2 with Controlable All characters like FF XII style and Open World style..... (Gasp) 😮😮😮
The big game in the works is Super Piranha Plant World, a game about planting and growing Piranha Plants.
It will include every single character from the Mario universe, except for Waluigi.
@Magician I’d be amazed if we didn’t see a remaster of Xenoblade 1
@Magician baten ip is still owned by namco man.
I know people are begging for a Direct, but the more I think about it the more I think Nintendo has the right idea. I mean, we know games are coming. Telling us X is going to release in 'Winter' is really kind of pointless, and only sets them up to potential delay announcements. Isn't it much better to say "Hey, here's this awesome new game, and it's out in 3 weeks"?
Anything Golden Sun please, remake of the originals and/or number 4.
Doesn’t Nintendo’s fiscal year end In March? Just sayin
I'm saying it now: F-Zero! Hahahaha, but seriously, Nintendo has BIG PLANS for this year, now that they've said they're putting the bar higher for their estimated sales for the next fiscal year.
Good things come to those who wait
@retro_player_22 probably at least 1 Labo
But not only
I just hope these unannounced games aren't just more Wii U ports. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy those games are getting another chance to be appreciated but I think teasing unannounced games should be for actual new games rather than ports of ones we've had before.
Okay... I'm curious. I guess.
I can't get hyped to just the promise of "something", I'd like to know if it's even in my wheelhouse of interests.
The problem with unannounced games is they are also unhypeable games. They've driven the internet wild with title screens. Oh wait... I just made myself sad.
Yeah, fine okay, you want something locked in first. But if they're coming this year there must be something tangible to see by now.
Well, why not SHOW them then?
Honestly I don’t know whether I prefer an early reveal and long wait or a late reveal and a short wait.
One advantage of their late reveal strategy is it means shareholders won’t badger them to release soon and at specific points like so many AAA 3rd party publishers.
Metroid Prime Trilogy,
Another Metroid game?
F-ZERO
Star Fox
Mario Kart 9
Zelda stuff
Enhanced 3ds ports (Luigi's Mansion 1 and 2 etc)
GameCube remasters
Hoping for geist 2 and sadness still lol
I mean, the fact of the matter is Nintendo would be absolutely bonkers not to allow Miyamoto time to invest in the younger employees, but then let those employees go wild with their creativity under his direction. Perfect recipe for producing new developers in the vein of Miyamoto. Excited for the future of Nintendo!
Mother Trilogy HD? Man, I'd buy that on release day!
@BenAV Same here. I just don't need a Direct every three months. They've got games in development, we know they've got games in development, I don't need to see a frame by frame analysis every time a character gets added to Smash Bros. Give me a Direct when a game is about to drop, not a title card for a game that's two years out and might just get rebuilt from the ground up in the meantime.
People need to have faith. Nintendo isn't going to stop making games. And in the meantime, I've got a Switch backlog that just gets bigger every month.
There's probably a good reason they're unannounced: I think if they were titles to genuinely get excited about then Nintendo would have mentioned them by now. I expect some smaller spin-offs and the like at best.
I want to know what they are. Wave Race? Super Mario 3D World 2?
@abbyhitter
My post could be a little bit over the top deliberately. 😉
crosses fingers and repeats F-Zero, F-Zero, F-Zero, F-Zero... crosses fingers
Meh. Not holding my breath to be honest. I'm expecting tons of indies and I'm very much ok with that.
Well, what could it be?
Some old IP's revived, or some new ideas? Hard to say.
What is safe to say (and luckily), is that it won't be any of the titles that Anti-Matter mentioned. Those titles are WAY too niche, and are only interesting to a handful of people.
So, for now, I'm not going to expect too much, but I'll stay cautiously optimistic, seeing as Nintendo may be a rather quirky company, but because of that, they also manage to frequently surprise us in a positive way.
@beazlen1 I'd buy that extreme sports package in a heartbeat. You've got good taste in games, my friend.
By the way: kudos on the avatar. 1080 Snowboarding is still one of my all-time favorite Nintendo IP's.
The reason we haven't had a Direct yet this year is because Microsoft is in the finalization phase of buying out Nintendo. Everything should be official and ready to announce come E3 this year.
We already have a new Fire Emblem, Animal Crossing, Smash, Splatoon, Xenoblade, Kirby (disappointing as it was), 2 new Pokemon games, and Third-Party surprises like Octopath & Mario + Rabbids within 3 years... not sure what I could personally ask for at this point other than a Pokemon spin-off like a Mystery Dungeon game, which would be weird to do 3 Pokemon games in the same year, or another new IP.
This company is becoming a ridiculous joke. Their customer service is the worst!
INdirectly announcing games, eh?
The possibilities for dormant series are all there. New Donkey Kong for Switch? A Switch or 3DS sequel to Golden Sun: Dark Dawn? F-Zero? Star Fox Racing?
Even ports will do! Skyward Sword HD? Switch ports of Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD? Metroid Prime Trilogy for Switch? Pikmin 4? Further DLC for Breath Of The Wild, Smash Bros. Ultimate, or Super Mario Odyssey? Animal Crossing? A Pokemon-centric Direct introducing the world to the mainline Pokemon RPG for Switch?
Bring on the Directs, waiting long intervals without information burns consumers out and disappoints, the Wii U can attest to that. Do not be afraid of scorched earth marketing.
Mario Golf please!
@JoshStein
"#1 Welcome to Animal Crossing, Releases 13 September 2019
#4 Pokémon King & Pokémon Queen, 15 November 2019 "
Oh, WOW !
Sounds official despite we know it just a rumour.
They should hurry up and announce them because this year looks even worse than last year so far.
Hope for new ips,sequels to old franchises and reboots/revivals of classic franchise. Then again if they port certain games they will make my day ,but please announce some of these mystery games soon through a direct. Hope we don't have to wait until March
10 new Labo kits spread out through the year and 1 Wii U port in the month of November.
@BigMac1204 But Ive not finished Splatoon 2 yet!!
Delays not anticipated...yeah right! My point, all games in development will be pushed to a later date, because the Metroid Prime 4 debacle has made a hole in the holiday schedule. They have nothing to fill that up (yeah, I don't believe in a big Retro title arriving this year. What they did in all this time, probably nothing). So games like Luigi's mansion 3 and Fire emblem will hit much later then initially planned.
For Nintendo it doesn't matter one bit: The Switch still sells, the indies sell, the ports sell. And if there's Pokemon at the end of the year, that will sell to. To me it will be another boring year though. Luckily I still have a huge backlog.
Xenoblade Chronicles X 2 pleeeeeease!!!!! I would buy another Switch to thank them if they do this.
.....Aaaand cue my hope once again for a new F-Zero and a NEW Star Fox. Also cue me not holding my breath.
Can we please get Mario Maker for Switch now?
@ThanosReXXX
"What is safe to say (and luckily), is that it won't be any of the titles that Anti-Matter mentioned. Those titles are WAY too niche, and are only interesting to a handful of people."
Psst...
"It might be hard to believe, but DDR has been around for twenty years. To mark this occasion, Konami announced their newest version of the game at Japan Amusement Expo.
Titled DDR 20th Annivesrary, this cabinet celebrates the Dance Dance Revolution anniversary in style. For one, the entire machine is bathed in a golden color scheme. The screen is also massive in keeping with the design aesthetic from DDR A cabinets."
Of course they're gonna say they have more games. It would be really stupid of Nintendo to say "nope, those are the only games we have this year, sorry".
I want them to show us the games and tell us the release dates. Why all the secrecy? The furthest game to launch this is year is a maximum of 11 months away, enough time to create hype and not too far away to create a problem.
They announced prime 4 with just a logo 2 years ago... If there's games to launch this year they have to be in playable state by now.
@Aozz101x
I was thinking the correlation between Pokemon King / Queen with "Project Beluga" from last time Game Freaks told from their Twitter.
Beluga = Whale, King size of Mammals ???
And also, King / Queen = Card symbol,
Casino. Pokemon will be in Las Vegas city ???
Yay more ports.
@Anti-Matter Doesn't matter how long a game series exist or how popular it is in some circles. DDR still is kind of a niche title, and so is your taste in games, considering your age.
That doesn't mean that there is anything specifically wrong with it, but you certainly do have a very specific taste, that most of us don't share.
But besides that, this article is about unannounced games for a Nintendo system. That doesn't necessarily mean that it will only be first party Nintendo titles, but I don't think DDR will be an option, since most DDR titles on a Nintendo system have only ever sold averagely, so if Nintendo is trying to get us excited/hyped for some as of yet unannounced titles,
I don't think that anyone is realistically going to expect a dance game.
And seeing how EA is treating Nintendo, I wouldn't hold my breath for any Sims title either, or maybe it will be something more along the lines of the MySims games. They did release one serious Sims game on the Wii, but apparently, that wasn't very successful, so yeah, not very likely.
Nintendo should be porting over the best of the past couple gens catologe. Twilight, skyward, wind, prime, galaxy etc... there is no excuse. Instant $$ grabs and would continue switch momentum.
@JoshStein
13 Feb 2019 ?
Seriously ?!
Are you a man from the future ?
Here's a crazy idea, how about they actually announce them? At the moment there's not even release dates for any first party games, besides Yoshi. Just announce something because at the moment 2019 looks like a barren wasteland.
Please, oh please, may one be Persona 5. Would also love "We Love Katamari" Or a Wario Ware game might be nice.
...Oh who am I kidding, it's probably a port of Project S.T.E.A.M. or something nobody really wants...
PIKMIN 4!
Or whatever Retro was working on.
Sorry, but I’ll take it with a grain of salt until I actually see it. I’m still old enough enough to remember when they gave this speech in July and everyone assumed they had another E ticket title (to go with NSO) or a mini-console to release. As it turns out, they were mostly bluffing and the only E ticket games to release were the ones everyone already knew about.
https://www.nintendoenthusiast.com/2018/07/12/5-big-secrets-nintendo-could-still-have-in-store-for-2018/
On the other hand we didn’t know about Smash (other than some musings from that SJW site) at this point in 2018. But 2019 already has at least two E ticket titles already announced (Animal Crossing, Luigi’s Mansion, and possibly Pokémon). So I’ll believe it when I see it.
"We're releasing games this year."
Okay.
My guesses are -
2D Zelda game (possibly a 3DS project moved across to Switch)
Mario Sports title, probably Golf
Pikmin 4
Retro's secret game
Metroid Prime Trilogy HD
A Paper Mario game
A couple more Wii U ports, Wonderful 101 is the most likely, Project Zero would be very welcome.
Imagine if they had no more unannounced games lol.
Direct incoming, i hope.
Mario Maker 2 is going to be a phenomenon.
2D Zelda - maybe a reworking of Links Awakening
Starfox GP
A Pikmin 3 port
Nailed it
Why are you reporting now on week old news? All of this came out immediately after the share holders meeting
@EasyDaRon ??? Switch became the fastest selling console in history in 2018.
They're pushing their luck a bit now to the point where I'm beginning to lose faith in them. First all those empty promises about the online service and I'm glad I didn't take the bait, the online play is shockingly bad and there's no substantial retro library or these promised special offers to tempt me either. Secondly, as a Wii U owner I'm fed up with the ports being drip fed to paper over the cracks. I was OK with them to begin with, but to be relying on them two years into the switch's lifetime is starting to leave a bad taste. Where are the new games to get excited about?
Still, you should never write Nintendo off, but man a new fire emblem is not going to cut it for a whole year. The fact that they're being so sheepish about these 'unannounced' games doesn't fill me with confidence. Prove me wrong Ninty, please.
I'm in no rush for new game announcements, let Nintendo announce/reveal games when they're good and ready. Another thing, I like Nintendo's usual way of announcing a game AND releasing it within a 12 month period. Announcing games too early like Sony and SE like to do doesnt make the game come out any sooner and people are still left in the dark anyway. In the meantime, Ill be working on my Switch backlog.
@Archius9 totally agree!! show me the money Nin!
@Harmonie Firstly, don’t forget that the way a game runs is dependent on how it’s coded... they could easily code it for Switch (not to say they would).... AND secondly... the comment about Sims being the game to come out, was a Joke! Not the prefferred game lol.
@WebHead No seriously we have games. We swear. We're not joking. They're just in Canada but they said they're going to come visit us soon.
TETRIS EFFECT PLEASE
And so on and so forth, you get the picture.
@Euler I remember that speech and I seem to recall gamers running away with assumptions. I don’t recall Nintendo suggesting they had any other unannounced triple AAA titles. Just that there were games that had yet to be revealed at the time. The assumption on what those games were was all on gamers. Even with this latest comment, they’re not gonna exactly promising the likes of an F-Zero or Star Fox. But it is correct that we should probably wait and see before getting our expectations too high.
Lets see, Mario Sunshine 3DS, Wario World 3DS, Wario Land (Don't) Shake It 3DS, Pokemon Colosseum and XD 3DS, F Zero GBA Collection 3DS, Pokemon Channel 3DS, Star Fox Adventures 3DS........
I am guessing some Wii HD ports.
Metroid Prime Trilogy
Mario Galaxy 1 and 2
Xenoblade Chronicles
Wario Ware Smooth moves
Skyward Sword
If done really well and not just upscales some of those would be pretty sweet.
There are plenty of titles that they could be working on, some more likely than others, my hopes would be fot:
Paper Mario
Warioland
F-Zero
Pilotwings
Switch Sports
Skyward Sword re-release
Déjà vu... I could've sworn they said this last year.
Just give me something good. Luigi's Mansion and Animal Crossing are gonna be amazing, but you need more than 2 big games a year to sell a console.
Rumour has it a direct is set for next week
My sources say it will be "BattleToads vs Mario"
@FTL EA could not get it properly coded for release on the PC, the primary audience of The Sims. Why on earth would they care to do that for the Switch? Which you notice, EA is not prioritizing the Switch, at all.
I want to say hypothetically, yes, they could do it... But I don't know about that. I don't know if EA is even capable of coding The Sims 3 properly. lol
Baten Kaitos 3, Xenoblade Chronicles X port, Golden Sun 4, Final Fantasy 6 remake (in the HD-2D style), a 2D The Legend of Zelda game, Super Mario RPG 2, Mario Kart 9 (with greater emphasis on flying) and I can happily die
Next Direct better reveal release dates for FF9 and the Grandia remasters... that's all I care about right now.
@Harmonie Totally agree - my point was just that many people assume that because a game runs a certain way on say PS4 or PC that it’s not even possible - but infact it may just need optimisation to run.
But completely agree that EA wouldn't even bother.
I think we're going to see pikmin 4 soon.
@WiltonRoots
Lol! That should be the first image that comes up if you search "nintendolife comment section" under images on Google.
A new Battalion wars would be nice and perhaps a mario
strikers and a real paper mario
the unannounced game has to be a port of persona 5. joker coming to smash, all the other games (pikmin, pokemon, animal crossing, etc) are ips we all knew were eventually coming. PS5 is the only game thats coming out of left field to be on the switch. just my opinion. my selfish pick for a game i want would be the yakuza series. That and other more mature titles could appeal to the folks who already own a ps4 or xbox and might boost more sales.
Nintendo is terrible with news.. they're like a little kid with a secret. Stop teasing us with previews and just be direct with us.
I would absloutley die if out of nowhere game freak goes here is a title we have been working since we announced Lets go eevee and pikachu and its a remake of the sinnoh games coming April 7th 2019
Perhaps I was wrong and that Mystery Retro Studios game was not canceled...
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