Poll: No, Really, What Was Nintendo's Worst Year?

The last year of the Wii was pretty bad. The transition between consoles seemed like it took forever.

Hmmm...I don’t see how anyone could say 2020 lol. It’s been pretty strong with Animal Crossing(biggest game of the year) xenoblade, paper Mario, min min dlc, clubhouse games....it’s literally like any other strong year but with less predictable announcements. 2014-2015 are abysmal, like Nintendo is dead bad

Probably 2020 so far but with everything going on, I can’t exactly blame them. If you own literally any other console, it’s largely pointless owning a Switch so far this year as it’s been ports ports ports.

This serms unfair without seeing the rest of the 2020 games at least.

2012 was a bit pants. Kid Icarus Uprising and Xenoblade were the only real highlights, apart from them the Wii U launched with a bunch of PS3/360 ports

2015, the passing of Iwata

I wouldn’t call 2021 a bad year for games. I think like everyone else Nintendo was blindsided by all of this COVID junk. They have not communicated with their fans very well, but when have they ever done that?

The year isn’t over. I’m sure they have some plans, but they will need to do better than the Mini Direct. They at least need to give us an idea of what to expect in the second half of the year.

2015 - Mario Tennis Ultra Smash, Animal Crossing amiibo Festival and Chibi-Robo Zip Lash

Honestly 2020 for me. I’m not into Animal Crossing, and paper Mario was really the only thing I liked.

2015 because it had Chibi-Robo Zip-Lash. That's a sin that not even God could forgive.

2018 was by far the weakest year of the switch, no contest. Like dreadful almost. Smash was literally the only big game, and it came at the very last second. How is 2020 worse than 2018?

How to know if a year is bad, people say "it had paper mario and port of a wii game"

2016 was particularly bad, forgot how good 2014 and 2015 were until I started looking back.

I voted 2020, but 1 decent game would porbably put it ahead of 2016

It hardly seems fair to exclude 1889 to 1985 from the polls.

My great grandfather used to ramble on about what a disgrace to humanity the first Call of Duty was back in 1914.

Some things never change.

I won’t forget 2008

2015 was quite the downer in my opinion, so that's where my vote's going.

Anyone who doesn’t think 2020 is a poor year so far is delusional in my opinion. The key is so far, still some left to push it up a few places.

I think a lot of people don't realise how good they have it, these days. Even if years like 2015 produced a lot of disappointing sequels, some of the years in the 80s and late 2000s only produced one or two notable Nintendo games. I'll take Star Fox Zero over Star Fox Command any day.

As stated by Nintendo this was the plan all along!
As for published by Nintendo releases this has been the worst year with the lowest number of published releases in a long time. This excludes new console launch years.

2015 was one of Nintendo's strongest years surely. They were firing strong on 2 consoles. Splatoon, Mario Maker, Xenoblade X, Fire Emblem Fates, Majoras Mask 3d. They'd all come in the top 6 if they came out this year.

The years following the release of the WiiU.

Who the hell voted for 2017? BotW, Splatoon 2, Super Mario Odyssey, XC2 etc., what do you want more?

I’d expect the share value to drop if the lack of announcements continues.

has to be something in the Wii U era.

Who could even possibly remember what happened during all of these years?

What a stupid poll

2015. That was a nothing year for sure. Even the n64 did not have that creativity drought at its life end.

@Crockin I agree with 2015, but 2014? In 2014 DKC Tropical Freeze, MK8, SSB4, Pokemon ORAS etc released, how is that abysmal?

I’m surprised so many people are voting 2015. Sure Nintendo had a poor E3, but for the Wii U we had Splatoon (a HUGE new IP and the first time Nintendo ventured into third person shooters with a primarily online component), Super Mario Maker (first time you could ever make your own Mario levels — and a great way to use the Wii U GamePad), Xenoblade Chronicles X (a great open world game with lots of content), Yoshi’s Woolly World (a delightful 2D platformer), Fast Racing Neo (a great game similar to F Zero), and Kirby. A pretty good year I would say!

2018 on the Switch was probably the Switch’s worst year so far, besides Smash. Pokémon Let’s Go was a huge disappointment for me, and I don’t think much else released besides Octopath Traveler (if you’re a fan of old school RPGs, otherwise not for you), Celeste, and Captain Toad (which was a port). 2018 was far worse than 2015 IMHO.

And people, let’s wait until 2020 is over before we vote 2020 as the worst year lol.

@jump It’s almost August and there’s nothing for information for what is planned for the rest of the year. That does not bode well.

2015.
Amiibo Festival, Happy Home Designer were a HUGE mistake.

I don't think 2020 is a worst year for Nintendo.
Blame on Covid19 pandemic as the cause.
Nintendo (Ox zodiac) in Rat year 2020 is actually pretty good.

1995. Nintendo finally finished the N64 design and decided to go with cartridges and forced a ton of developers to jump ship to PlayStation. How different would the gaming landscape look today if that decision hadn't been made.

For your reference, a list of Nintendo games by year:

<a rel="nofollow" class="external" href="https://nintendo.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Nintendo_games_by_year_(US">https://nintendo.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Nintendo_games_by_year_(US)</a>

Edit: the link is being difficult due to the parantheses in the url but I think it should work now

The N64 and the Wii U both had slow years. At least the Wii U was supplemented with the 3DS.

The GC, GBA, Wii, and DS all had some pretty good years.

As for NES, GB, SNES, and GBC years, I don’t know those years as well. Between 1st party and 3rd party titles, there was probably a lot of decent games released.

So far 2020 is pretty poor, you listed a lot of games which are predominantly ports of older titles which isn't much of a defence. As for new games, Animal Crossing is good but didn't build upon the formula enough to keep me hooked and the general reaction to Paper Mario is mixed to say the least.

As for worst year I'd have to think about it, the Wii U had some rough periods

This year has been good, not the best...but we're just over halfway through. Could always be a few surprises.

I don't enjoy the years where Nintendo says they're supporting the current consoles but are actually killing it off, because they haven't revealed what's next. Those are always a bit weird, but every Nintendo era has it's gems.

I kinda liked zip-lash and starfox zero and guard, so for me this is the weakest year for nintendo

Right now got to vote for 2020. Compared to what the east are doing under simular restrictions Nintendo has bin struggling this year. So far we got 4 games this year, and we know nothing else for the rest of the year.

Will hopefully be different by the end of the year, but right now this has to be the worse year so far

2015 gave us Splatoon, Super Mario Maker, Xenoblade Chronicles X, Majora's Mask 3D and Fire Emblem Fates, Yoshi's Woolly World as well as the underrated Tri-Force Heroes and Code Name: STEAM. Anyone calling it Nintendo's worst year is just pinning their frustration on a few underwhelming sequels they likely haven't played for themselves.

2020 has been awful so far. I've played Paper Mario on Switch - That is it. If I wanted to play Dex, I would have 3 years ago. That has been the story on Switch, over and over.

WiiU years were rough but that was expected - I bet on the wrong horse, things would go down hill. But at 56+ Million Switch, this should not be happening.

I have been following this website for years, and I signed up today just to vote 2020 and comment about it.

It is unbelievable the denial and logic behind (oh, who expects mario from partners showcase).

This is definitely the worst nintendo year ever, you can’t compare the silence and lack of games in the era of thriving console with over 50 million owners, to any past era of failures like Wii U or whatever.

The fans and switch owners are fuming for the disrespect and disregard Nintendo is showing in 2020, no excuse, not even a global pandemic, which really started in March 2020

Japan had few weeks of lockdown, the only meaningful 2020 game (animal crossing) was originally a 2019 title that got delayed for polishing and tweaking, add to that the lack of top-tier indie games in 2020 ( Silksong could make up for that)
When you look at the rumors and promises for the near future, it gets even more depressing. Who could believe that a holiday game for a very successful console with huge hungry fan base is a remasters-collection (not even remake) of a 10-20 year old games.

Nintendo, you should do better than that, you are going downhill with the new leadership in NA and Japan, no communication, no transperancy, no games, nothing, just finances oriented and horrible marketing.

You may earn billions of yens this year, but you are riding on the push of amazing 2017-2018, and it will not last forever.

@KillerBOB Agreed. Without doing a lot of research, I can’t pick a specific year.

The year of federation force that was a bad year. I think people have short memories. There’s not a lot to complain about at the moment.

The year of Pac man Vs. as the big reveal at E3.... was a total joke!
I think it was 2003 or 2004. I loved the gamecube but Nintendo pushed many of us away so hard it was shocking.

2020 because no interesting games for me. And the situation about a new Direct would give hope, but nothing happens, nothing is announced. 2020 is also the year when I slowly realize after the hype about Switch that the console is relatively disappointing. Zelda BotW was also available for Wii U, NSMBU as well, and MK8 as well. Switch will be the first stationary Nintendo console since the SNES without its own new Mario Kart. Generally too many remakes and older ports, also from 3rd party. I still had hope until 2019, but now it is clear to me that Switch is mainly a console for playing games of the last generation portable, for a few sequels and indie games. In years to come, the switch will tend to think of the hybrid console / handheld feature rather than the unique games that go down in the story.

2015 and 2016 were pretty bad

The one thing saving this year for me so far are the plethora of amazing indies I’ve been playing. Murder by numbers, lonely mountains, underhero and so many more

Oh come on. 2020? Really?

It's absolutely the Wii U era. My vote goes to 2015. But I really mean the Wii U era overall. Yes the Wii U has a few great games. But I remember going months and months with nothing. Like no major releases. And overall the Wii U library is terrible and barren with a few oasis of good games mixed into a wasteland of just nothing.

2016 was probably worse than any Switch year on record. On Wii U you either bought whatever title Nintendo released every other month (many of which were becoming little more than schedule filler at that point) or nothing at all since 3rd party support had long since dried up at that point. 3DS was probably still getting a few good things, but I imagine that by then most of it's big hitters were already out.

Yes, 2020 has been slow for big announcements, but between Tokyo Mirage Sessions, Brain Training (in EU), Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, Animal Crossing, Xenoblade, Clubhouse Games, & Paper Mario, they're still averaging about 1 first party release a month, and unlike Wii U it's getting quite a bit of 3rd party releases still (ports are better than the nothing that system was getting a few years in) as alternatives, so other than recency bias, I can't see how anyone could choose 2020.

@__jamiie Good point! The PS1 was the first time I bought a non-Nintendo console first.

I didn’t buy a Wii U until the Wind Waker HD bundle, so maybe the year the Wii U launched??? I have no regrets buying the Wii U, I played it a lot. Pikmin 3, Mario Maker, Nintendo Land, MK8, WW HD, TP HD, BOTW, etc.

As I didn't have a Wii U, I feel that this year has been poor so far. I have no interest in Animal Crossing, I don't like Paper Mario because I only like true RPGs and we don't know if the 3D Mario Collection is real.

The only new game I am looking forward is Bravely Default 2. Edit: I also want to buy Tokyo Mirage Seasons FE Encore but that's only two new games (I didn't have Wii U) for 2020 for me.

2015 by a long shot. Mainly because it had a lot of games that were either big slaps in the faces or games that nobody asked for.

People who say 2020 just weren't there i 2016. There are so many fans who came with the switch though, it's fascinating.

@RupeeClock Star Fox Zero is an underrated gem! The controls which really only took a VR mission to acclimatise, however journalists were never going to give it a chance.

I didn’t vote in the polls, but sounds like The Year of Luigi holds up!

@mariomaster96 aye, I think I got it mixed up. Whichever year Wii U launched is what I meant

While I’m at it, I take back 2015 as well. Great year actually

2016, imo. The only game that really grabbed me that year was Pokemon Sun/Moon, and they're my least favourite in the series.

2015 had Splatoon and Mario Maker - perhaps two of the strongest arguments for the Wii U's existence.

@Dark-Luigi Xenoblade Chronicles X - the best looking, largest, complex, most advanced and customisable Xenoblade game yet (X2 is parred back in all areas to run in a portable), Yoshi, Kirby, Splatoon, Super Mario Maker, just off the top of my head, if that's a bad year, I don't know lol.

@RR529 2020 is really a great year so far! I think people are confusing no directs with no games. Purely subjective, but I think Animal Crossing and origami king are stronger titles than anything in 2019

This is why I long have wished for Nintendo to increase their development capability. You shouldn't have droughts when things are selling like hot cakes. It's been an okay year for third parties but most of the games are really late coming to the Switch. I've used this year mainly to catch up on backlog and to pick up deals on third party Switch games.

@HunterLeon well your forgetting the Wii U has a string of Nintendo's best ever games on it. You could say the main reason to own a Switch is to play slightly updated/tweaked Wii U games you missed out on.

You know, there’s a reason 2020 isn’t as great as it could be. What’s that reason again? COVID-19?

2012 hands down was the worst.

also tokyo mirage sessions released this year, ppl seem to skip over that even nintendo life, while it uses a fire emblem franchise.

SHAME!!!!

@Slowdive You didn't have a Wii U then. Splatoon, Super Mario Maker, Xenoblade X, Star Fox there are more but that's just a few off the too of my head.

@Matthew010 Scott the Woz is probably having a heart attack reading those words together

@carlos82 I believe you mean Paper Mario instead of Mario Party

Considering 2020 isn’t over yet, you really can’t judge it. 22% of votes say this is the worst year we’ve had when we’ve had Animal Crossing, Paper Mario, Borderlands Collection, Bioshock Collection, Xenoblade Chronicles, Trials of Mana, The Outer Worlds, etc. My wallet has really been hurting this year. Doesn’t make any sense.

2013-2014 because how can the "Year of Luigi" not entail Paper Luigi: The Devilish Dessert Kingdom?

@Big_Fudge I don't know how people are ignoring what happened, didn't happen in 2016. Basically they stopped everything to move it to the Switch the following year. For instance, BotW would have been one game that would have made 2016 incredible, but it was delayed to be a simultaneous released on the Switch.

@Agramonte I do wonder if Metroid was meant to be the big game this year and it being restarted has left a gap they can't quite fill. It doesn't help when Sony and Microsoft are shouting about new games left right and centre whilst the main rumours out of Nintendo are some old Mario titles.

I've got to be honest I've been on Furlough since the end of March but stopped playing Animal Crossing a week after and haven't even touched my Switch since

The launch of the N64 in 1996 is really what sealed Nintendo's fate with 3rd party publishing for the next decade. Based off the percentages, it appears most of your readers are too young to recall this, because it's easily the lowest point in Nintendo's history. Sony's move to disc format and Nintendo's reluctance to embrace it, forced literally all of Japan's biggest publishers over to Sony and Nintendo didn't recover until the original Wii. To be fair, the original PlayStation was in fact a SNES disc upgrade, but even after that collaboration fell through, Nintendo still chose the more expensive ROM based cartridge format anyway and publishers said "no way" and ditched the Big N. The Switch is the closest Nintendo has come to regaining true 3rd party support since the days of the SNES back when it dominated.

I don't know why some people are saying 2015, we got games like Super Mario Maker and Splatoon

@gaga64 Only correct answer.

I am really shocked at how high 2015 is. Are people blindly picking it cause others said it was bad.

If you looked up the games that were released that year then it is far far better then 2016. I am just talking about Nintendo released games.

@Heavyarms55 2015 was a decent yeaer with Splatoon, Mario Maker and the most technically advanced Xenoblade to date, but the Wii U is better than ever now. It is unquestionably Nintendo's best ever console, all round great to use, creative with a fun, unique, well designed user interface and is a great multimedia system. Not only that but it has a massive back catalogue of Wii and GCN games - I've installed my own collection on it, all accessible from the homescreen, and that's not including the VC and Retroarc.

Switch has great support but its just so corporate bland in its user experience.

@DonutYoshi 2015 wasn't about the games, but like @gaga64 posted. About Iwata's passing.

@Big_Fudge Xenoblade is not a port..

Plus you're forgetting about Animal Crossing, which means your criteria has already been met.

What am I reading?? 2015 the worst year?? I mean, Mario Maker, Yoshi Woolly World, Splatoon, Xenoblade X, Fire Emblem Fates, Tokyo Mirage Sessions, etc, you consider worse than...this??? Only Animal Crossing and Paper Mario. If you don't like any of both (as I don't like AC), you have pretty much nothing. Appart from the lack of announcements of new games...
I've never seen a drought like this, with nothing to look forward to neither. You can't compare it with that year. No way.

How quickly people have seemed to forget the wilderness of the Wii U years, and I am not talking about just lack of Nintendo made games but lack of any games of worth.

My backlog is so full now I could be playing for 2 years without the need for another game (but of course I want more!)

There is a world wide pandemic going on so do as Take That said and have a little patience.

@DonutYoshi and Xenoblade X!

@liveswired I’ll agree with that, I really enjoyed Star Fox Zero.

I couldn’t really pick out a worst year, I’ve always had something to dip my toes in throughout the years.

With all the comments, it seems to me that most of them ignore the 3DS completely. Sure, the Wii U years weren't always the best, but the 3DS was at its peak!

@quinnyboy58 Someone forgot that 2015 hosted Ultra Smash and Chibi Robo Zip Lash.

@iulis84 you can't please everyone. But saying Animal Crossing isn't a great game is just objectively lying.

Why ARE people saying 2020? They have had an okay year with a couple of highlights. Lacking more in the announcements field than games themselves, really. And most of what they lacked was outside of their control because of lock downs and cancellations. :/

2008 (I think) was the year of cammie dunway and the wii music e3. I can't remember the year in terms of game releases, but I know that was one of the few times I was reconsidering video games as a hobby. Even through the bad, bad stuff (Iwata passing, droughts, etc) I was never embarassed like I was then.

I mean 2020 has Animal Crossing, which is one of my top favorite Nintendo franchises. The candidate for the worst recent year is 2018. I know a lot of people like Super Smash Bros, but it didn't do much for me, and that was the only game of significance Nintendo had that year.

But none of the Switch years have been fantastic. Unless you never owned a Wii U, then you probably had a lot more fun than me. I still have some games I'd like to try from 2019 when I get money again (Luigi's Mansion) and I do want to give the new Paper Mario a chance. But years like 2018 and 2017 were a one Switch game year for me. (Understanding that in 2017, I played BOTW on the Wii U, it's home console)

Going back further, I'd really have to think. It's been a while now.

"(In 2020) we've awarded over 30 games a review score or 9- or 10/10"

This is the problem with Nintendo Life.

@Slowdive
I think that you really underestimate Splatoon here. Maybe you didn't like it but that doesn't mean that it wasn't HUGE. It is by far Nintendos biggest new franchise. (Number 18 of all nintendo franchises right now while it only has 2 games. https://vgsales.fandom.com/wiki/Best_selling_Nintendo_games )
It sold almost 5mil units on the Wii U, which means that more than 1/3rd of the Wii U owners actually owned it (the Wii U sold 13,5 mil units). That game is probably one of the only games that got more Wii U sales instead of owners leaving the system.
https://vgsales.fandom.com/wiki/Splatoon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii_U

@Diddy64 haha, I wonder why I wrote that

Can't believe all the people that are giving Nintendo a pass this year because of the flu. Didn't know so many boomers were here. 😅

Having said that, seems like the last few years have had weak first halves. But at this point in the year there's usually an idea of what the future holds. Right now there isn't, which makes me fear there's nothing. Or at least not much. It's been pretty sad.

2015 a pile of crap on the 3ds. A pile of crap on the wii u.

I voted 2011 because of the 2011 E3 Wii U presentation. Do not get me wrong; I loved and still love the Wii U. For me that console was awesome: asymmetrical gameplay; built-in microphone; front and behind cameras; Virtual Console; Mii verse; voice chat; video chat; etc, etc. Unfortunately; that E3 2011 presentation dropped the ball. Like so many people; I thought it was simply a Wii add-on. Oh man I was so wrong; but marketing should have been better.

I agree with most saying 2015 was the worst.

@BlueOcean If you look over at their review section for 2020, they've reviewed over 250 games. 30 of them being rated 9/10 or 10/10 shouldn't be concerning
https://www.nintendolife.com/reviews?year=2020

Hard to pick a bad year really there is always something to play in the backlog, I just hope for those Mario remastered cos animal crossing, paper Mario not for me xxx

Thing is that when people are discussing Nintendo hardware, they mostly discussing Nintendo 1st party games.

Those two are never seperated for most of the gamers who spend time talking about VG on the web.

2020 hasn't been great, where's all the first party titles we were promised as they're only working on one format now? You can't blame Covid for games that will have been developed months ago for release this year.

The saving grace of 2020 is that we know plenty is coming, and we've had 3 solid years of releases on switch. I got back into Nintendo in 2014 during the Wii U, and not only was there a huge draught of content, but we also knew fairly soon that they were focusing on the NX, so it was just a case of sit and wait until the new console arrived, dark times indeed.

The only 1st party Nintendo games I've bought since 2017 are Mario Tennis, Luigi's Mansion and Links Awakening. I buy Nintendo consoles because I love Nintendo games but they've disappointed me since that incredible opening year. No new Mario Kart, Donkey Kong or Starfox,no smaller titles like Excitetruck, Yoshi and Kirby games that are alright but not great..... Just too many ports and not enough new content.

I had my fill of Smash and Mario Maker on Wii U and I'm not interested in Pokémon or Animal Crossing so these past 2 and a half years have had little to interest me, from a 1st party perspective that is. Links Awakening I loved but it's a remaster of an old game and Mario Tennis is basically an improved port of the Wii U game. So Luigi's Mansion 3 is technically the only 'new' 1st party game I've played since I bought Mario Odyssey.

Now I don't expect every game they put out to be for me, but I do expect there to be at least 2 or 3 games a year I'm interested in.

All that said, I love my Switch and I have more than enough games to keep me happy. I would just like a few more classic Nintendo experiences on top.

2015 for me. For the train wreck E3, which it was obvious the Wii U was in its final dying breaths. Federation Force, with no knowledge of a new Metroid known, and Animal Crossing amiibo festival, which frankly never should have happened. Worse yet, Nintendo completely trolled us with that trailer.

I think 2020 being on some people’s lists is kinda, weird. I don’t know how you can already judge a year that’s only half over, especially when we didn’t know about Paper Mario until May. I just don’t feel it’s fair to judge it just yet.

2020 needs an asterisk. Nintendo can't be blamed for a global pandemic. Also, fiscally they're doing well right now thanks to the public buying Switches and the software they had ready being a smash hit; it's just their upcoming games that got hosed. If the pandemic continues on its current course, next year will be even worse.

@charlesdjones1

hmm might have read the question wrong.
figured it was based on first party output not persee third party's.

agree with you on the n64 being the worst case for nintendo in terms of third party support.

only now are they gaining support back, even from company's who never supported nintendo in the first place, or havnt since the ds times, really.

gotta add though, kinda sour square supported microsoft with full kh before nintendo, esp microsoft getting dq now, which is great for them, but a big slap in the face from square
wouldve figured we gotten full square support by now, guess not

Perhaps 1995 with the values of the Virtual boy?

I would’nt say 2020, nintendo announce their profits recently are good.

So far 2020. There was years when there were games droughts but we knew that was because there was a new console on the horizon.

If no new console is announced, then 2020 wins the vote.

@BradC40 I'll give any company a pass for not operating at full capacity this year, there are more important things at stake than getting video games on time.

Many will say 2015 but I would say 2016 was worse because at that point Nintendo was just trying to bury the Wii U as quickly as possible so they could focus entirely on Switch and it clearly showed.

2015 and 2016 were tied for me, but my vote was still the latter. Sticking points are for both years.
-Unforgivable and incompetent shortages that any other company would be blasted for. Store exclusives are especially hard to get to the point that there's rumors about some autistic guy buying tons of them out of hate for the characters with family and government handout money. GameStop was DDoS'd by people trying to just get a Ness Amiibo. This was bad enough when FE Awakening was hard to find at launch, now it's happening with their products across the board and mostly in NA despite it being one of their biggest markets. No excuses because other regions were way more responsive to this with restocks and reruns of stuff.
-Horrendous localizations with forced memes, missing DLC, cutting/disabling content instead of trying to make it work, bloated filesizes despite no dual audio, and delays between regional releases (almost a freaking year for XCX and Fates to be released in English and like 3 months for Yoshi's Wooly World in NA despite it already being out in Europe). Fates and TMS were so bad that they can be pointed to as a catalyst for the 3DS and the Wii U getting hacked just to use fan translations. Even Sony was cashing in on this by letting devs go wild on PS4 (this was before HQ moved to LA).
-E3 2015 was an absolute bloated joke with more time spent on games we already knew everything we needed about going in. MPFF was a poorly communicated and timed announcement that brought unwarranted hate to the team making it. This was made worse when Iwata passed away and that was his last show, all in puppet form. 2016 was so barren that all they had was Zelda and Pokemon (iirc) with Treehouse. Not even a Direct.
-Not entirely sure, but didn't Club Nintendo die during this time as well?
-"Who asked for another Sticker Star?" 1.0
-Wii U was getting mogged by the 3DS hard throughout this time and knowing that "NX" was coming just made it harder to bother getting one especially with all the games that were skipping it that year.
-3DS doesn't come with a charger anymore because they want to sell the proprietary one and Europe apparently requires you to use a standard (can't blame them for not wanting to use the carcinogen that is micro USB tbh)
-The worst Mario Party to date and a horrendous Animal Crossing board game that needs Amiibo
-The entire Fatal Frame fiasco. Franchise is probably dead now because of how hard 5 bombed and their terrible handling of its release has no excuses.
-Speaking of which, poor marketing all around(Super Spoopy Trailer xD). Also doesn't help that someone at NoA got publicly sacked for escort work.

It’s hard for me to be complain about Nintendo first party games for 2020 because the Switch has such an amazing overall library, especially indies... unlike the Wii U that never took off.

@TheDanslator They said in their statement that game development hadn't been too affected and titles slated to release this year are still on track. So going by that, even without the pandemic, things wouldn't have been much different. Perhaps the pandemic has actually saved them from having a poor E3 show.

Anyone who actually says 2020 is Nintendo worst year is either too young, or a complete moron.
And 2015, Nintendo had one of their worst E3, but the year itself? Far from being Nintendo’s worst, not with the games that were released that year.

2008 gave us Mario Kart Wii and Smash Bros. Brawl, sure. But I remember that E3 to be extremely disappointing. While we were hoping for an official announcement for the long rumored "Metroid Dread" and at least something/anything announcing an official Zelda on the Wii, instead we were blown away with...Wii Music. Anyone remember that awful presentation?

It depends on your perspective. If you aren't in the mood for all the overpriced indies that you can also get (cheaper) on Steam and/or you are only in the mood for first party then this year is the worst (so far). I mean, there's only Animal crossing so far. Nintendo is hiding behind the Switch sales, hiding behind the indies, probably already preparing for Switch 2. I find that all nothing to be excited about, I want to actually see them doing something with their franchises (almost all their franchises are dead)!

Oh, and I am also a indie-player, but know its not the best option to play them. But it might be the easiest for me.

Give me back 2003!!!

Hard to say about all of those 35 years but about Switch's, so far, 2020 is the worst since 2017, no doubt about that.

Voted for 2020 just to be a clown. 2016 was pretty awful. But this year, as far as first party, it has been a bummer. AC, remasters and Clubhouse Games is pretty weak. Adding Mario remasters will be sweet for me bc I have not played them. But I can see how people would be disappointed if this is the big release for the second half of the year. I am hoping for the remasters and Clubhouse one big one or two smaller releases.

In my life time of being a Nintendo fan since getting my NES in 1987, no year has ever been worse for Nintendo fans than 2011. That was the year that the Wii had essentially nothing in North America. Nintendo had games like Xenoblade and The Last Story that they held back from North America that year, and had literally nothing else in their place. Anyone choosing any other year either didn't live in North America or somehow forgot it.

Depends on context. I would say the last few years if the Wii were pretty lean, and it felt like Nintendo were coasting on shovel ware. This in turn lead to a lukewarm start and response for the Wii U. I won’t throw the Wii U under a bus because it had really strong first party published titles. Plus you have to take the DS and 3DS into consideration.

As for 2020, we have had less with TMSFE, Animal Crossing, 51 games, Paper Mario, Pokemon DLC, and Good Job published by Nintendo, but we’ve been pretty spoiled for 3 years- not from the Jan-Aug run, but the mass of games in Sept-Dec. Just because we don’t know what’s coming, doesn’t mean there is nothing for this Autumn.

I have a feeling that everyone who picked 2015 barely remembered what games released that year. (I also didn't remember till I saw that list in the comments) 2015 gave us Splatoon, Super Mario Maker, Xenoblade X, Yoshi's Wooly World and more. 2016 was probably the worst year I would say.

I couldnt remember which year wii music came out, or I could have voted for that terrible year. 2020 is the second worst to me. TOK was all I didnt want from a PM game, and while we've had several good remasters, they are just that: remasters. Nintendo has pretty much abandoned 2020. Unless they shadow drop 10 games in november I dont see how this year can improve for them

For me it is a tie between 2010/2011 lull and 2020. Barely anything released by Nintendo in a lull from mid 2010 on lead up to 3DS in 2011, then weak 1st party support for 3DS, the 3rd parties held the consoles early months. Well 2020 for me I haven't bought or been interested in any Nintendo games so far, that's my perspective as a gamer. I have spent more money fleshing out my 3DS and Wii U libraries and on Xbox this year so far. Hopefully it will change as October approaches.

@liveswired i agree for the most part but the switch has stuff like joy con drift and in my opinion the first party games are way too expensive in canada one game costs like 80$ a pop yeah back in the 90's games were even more expensive but in this day and age sony and microsoft discount their games a lot in one year you could get stuff like horizon zero dawn monster hunter world and god of war for the price of a nintendo selects game but i feel like when they discount their games and makes a controller that is tested to not drift at all its second place for me at least

I’m having a great 2020 in terms of games, personally. Admittedly, nobody told me that I was only allowed to play games released this year.

2020 would be a joke to claim as such. Not only it's not over yet and Switch has already scored a bunch of awesome first- and third party releases, but it looks like Nintendo could have released Animal Crossing ALONE and still be wiping themselves with $100 banknotes by next January. Hardware sales, too - not to diminish PlayBox One4's relative spotlight eclipse or celebrate the unfortunate circumstances that ended up boosting video game spendings, but Switch's performance even in the face of stock shortages is eloquent on multiple levels. Including the irony of being called "a tablet you have much less use for if you don't game on the go" - so why wasn't it the pure home consoles the locked-down customers flocked to for digital interactive entertainment? When you hunger for quarantine gaming pastime for yourself and/or your family, neither expensive Gen 9 months away remains much of an obstacle in the way of, say, a relatively cheap PS4 Slim with Graphics(tm) and Performance(tm) and a genuinely massive library of its own. But it was still a "Zelda tablet", a cheap-chipped "handheld full of indies, ancient XBox 360 ports and mobile shovelware" people flocked towards, to the point of starting to court scalpers again. ¯(ツ)/¯

I'm not even sure what WOULD count as Nintendo's "worst" year - even the release years of SMB movie and Virtual Boy should have had their highlights... but if forced to pick, I'd say 2015. Iwata's passing. Yes, much of his legacy has been carried on, but he and his passion and his insight still left this world, and way too soon at that. You can potentially rebound from any business slump, re-earn any amount of money lost - but when you lose a person, and one of Iwata's caliber at that, there's no kind of future you'll be building without some of the compromises this loss entails.

Forgetting about the past the Switches best year for a constant run of 1st Party games was launch year 2017. I long for a repeat of that.

voting for 2020 when we're JUST over halfway through the year seems weird

In my memory, it's probably 2016. On the Wii U front, the system was on a game drought, with Star Fox Zero hampering the Big N' reputation, with only Paper Mario: Color Splash to end on. The 3DS was also on a big game drought too, and Pokemon Sun/Moon was kind of the only highlight from that year. Federation Force was also a big controversy in itself, and an example of why you should make sure core audiences are satisfied BEFORE making spin-offs. There was also the issue of Breath of the Wild getting delayed on Wii U for a simultaneous Switch release. Up until that point, it felt like there wasn't much, if anything, that Nintendo had to offer. It was seriously grim, and that's coming from someone who got really involved in video games during the Wii U era.

2015 had its own share of problems, and the disappointment from that era's probably carrying over into my memories of 2016. The reason I'd say it's not the worst is because of Splatoon alone, and Code Name STEAM with got me through some long car rides.

As for 2020, I'm still convinced that things would have been better if the lockdowns didn't occur, then we would have had better communication. The first major releases for this year were Animal Crossing and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon at the start and end of March, respectively. April was quiet, and May was too until Xenoblade Chronicles popped up. June had Clubhouse Games, and the Smash and Pokemon DLC, and July has Paper Mario. There have been some notable 3rd party releases like Spongebob, Ninjala, and Crysis, and some notable indies. It's far from the worst year, but the lack of communication reminds me of when Nintendo hasn't had anything to show, like before the Switch launch. I'm sure they're skittish after the lockdowns, but it would have helped just to talk to people more about it instead of being quiet and letting people guess.

Yeah, the only real argument for 2015 (Splatoon and Mario Maker) is that Iwata passed away (fair). If 2020’s saving grace is an internet rumour about a bunch of ports, that does not bode well for 2020. The year still isn’t over. It could get better.

The console is still in massive demand, so how people can say they have dropped the ball this year is beyond me, but of course this is based on opinions by the core gamers, everyone else, ie the potential Switch customers will see a console with loads of content.

Nintendo have far too many game droughts don’t they?

2020 is the switches worst year for sure (so far)

They could drop the new Zelda and all would be forgiven

2001. The marketing and launch for the GameCube was terrible. If they had put the black or silver 'Cube forward and had a Mario or Zelda to show off at launch it would have changed the generation. SMASH BROS. was not what it was yet and LUIGI'S MANSION did not garner enough interest. My launch title was ROGUE SQUADRON II and it showed how powerful that system was with it's texture and sound compression software; it didn't need all the memory of the other two systems. But seriously, they were going against HALO on XBOX and FF10 / GTA III releasing on PS2. People want to point to the N64 era, bit for me this is when Nintendo began losing ground in the Console Wars as they were at the time.

https://nintendo.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Nintendo_games_by_year_(US)

Going by the games list for recent years, I'm going to say 2016. 2015 was miserable too, but we did get SMM/Splatoon. 2016 has just nothing redeemable in it.
If you think 2009 was bad, look at 1994. I think that's my pick.

@Entrr_username Over 250 games this year? I admit the number of games released on Switch is overwhelming but looking at the eShop the majority of them is mobile shovelware.

What is even happening? 2020 Nintendo's worst year? Far from it. Must be too young to remember the Nintendo game droughts of 2009-2012 and 2015-2016. Or the Gamecube years. 2009, 2012, and 2016 were abysmal years for Nintendo. I can't think of a worse year than 2012 for them. Nearly everything was shovelware, and then the bright spot at the end of the year was Wii-U's lackluster launch lineup. Just awful.

2008. Wii Music at E3 <shudder...>

2012, because the Wii was such a big disappointment to me, so I had no interest in buying a Wii U. I missed so many great games on this system and had to play them much later in 2016.
For no personal reasons 2012 too, because the Wii U had a bad marketing.

@Monkeido port, remake. It's the 3rd time theyve released it and barely anyone bought it the previous 2 times. I'd imagine most people trailed off after a few hours too, its far from the best jrpg on switch.

Who vote 2020 must be 12 years old or less. This year is bad not only for Nintendo but FOR ALL THE WORLD ECONOMY. But, as i said, who doesnt work or struggle with living costs simply cant understand that.

@johnvboy Pretty much this, anyone picking up a Switch this year for the first time won't have a clue about what anyone here is complaining about, they'll have 3 years worth of top drawer games in its back catalogue to dig through and keep them busy for a very long time. Not everyone is glued to a screen for hundreds of hours a week since day one going "next?" They'll have droughts, normal people won't.

2016, if all you had was a Wii U, you basically seen ZERO games released. That year almost made me give up on Nintendo, glad they fired back with the Switch.

2015 was the worst poor games, lack of quality,the start of mobile games

For me personally, 2020 hasn’t been that bad gaming wise. Tokyo Mirage Sessions, Animal Crossing, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, Xenoblade Chronicles, Rune Factory 4, 51 Worldwide Games, Paper Mario, Story of Seasons, Catherine, Brain Training, Trials of Mana, BioShock, Borderlands, Snack World, The Wonderful 101, Trails of Cold Steel III, Langrisser 1 & 2 — all 2020 releases on Switch that are new gaming experiences for me. And I’ve bought a lot of older releases as well. My only gaming related problem this year is my backlog. 😅

2020 is everyone's worst year. It's an outlier and should not be counted.

Who the heck voted for 1995?

2016. No contest. Barely any games that year and the ones that did come out were poorly received.

2015/2016, or one of the later years of the Wii, probably. 2020 has been pretty good on Switch so far. I don't know what y'all are on about.

1995. Nintendo picked cartridges over CDs. Paving the way for Sony

1894 was clearly their worst year. No need for debate and it's a shame that was not included as an option in the vote.

I say we should wait until closer to the end of the year

2020 definitely seems a bit dull but there have been several great games and promises for the near future.

There have been hiccups and speed bumps here and there but to call 2020 Nintendo’s worst? Nah.

Every year when I’ve been invested in a Nintendo title or console/handheld, it had kept me busy and happy with a title or two, I then completed them and moved onto the next title on my queue/backlog/shelf. Not much has really changed save for the latest system or controller provided to play said games I had purchased.

I can’t really think of a time when I was completely disappointed with what I had played or what was offered by the company. (Well- maybe Virtual Boy but I was a bit too young to purchase one and the retrospective reviews had me avoiding it completely...)

2020 was an unpleasant year for everyone I think but not in terms of gaming preferences or announcements but Covid-19 and social/economical and government instability...

I voted 2016 since Nintendo basically stopped supporting the Wii U and 3DS in preparation for the switch.

It's gotta be 2016 imo, I think the only game I actually enjoyed that year from Nintendo was Paper Mario: Color Splash

It's easily 2020

Anyone saying 2020 didn't own a Wii U, or are wilfully kidding themselves. There were months - years - of absolute desolation during that console's life. And that's coming from someone who loved the Wii U.

I remember thinking I just stopped liking video games because of my disinterest in the WiiU. I still liked my 3DS and aging Wii, but if you asked me if I was a gamer around 2015-2016 I would have said no. Once Breath of the Wild was released I immediately wanted a Switch and have had no regrets since; even if this year is a little slow on releases.

Ive endjoyed a lot of switch releases this year even if we had quite a few ports.

for me the biggest downer is that it feels like were in the dark in terms of what is coming out in the future or what has been delayed,

Naturally all we can do is wait and worker safety is top priority but i would love to know what is being worked on even if it is likely to be delayed since it is nice to look forward to things even if we have to wait longer

Uhhhh maybe wait for 2020 to end before calling it the worst year lol

Though in terms of the our overall global socio-economic status, 2020 has been the worst year by far due to Covid alone.

I'm curious whether Scott the Woz's recent videos will influence the results towards 2015. Of course, it was a pretty bad year for Nintendo.

@KingBowser86 See I went with 2004 from the same list, only because Nintendo wasn't getting as much 3rd party support then.

But of a ridiculous question without also listing the releases. There were a few dry years in the gamecube era but I really don't recall. Also going back it could well be different in different regions depending on when and which games were released.

That is a stupid question .

2014/2015 was in general the worst years of Nintendo in general close to 1995 when Nintendo decision to not adapt to CD format his games, make a lot of Third Party companies give up Nintendo and choose Sony as the main companie to develop game in his console, 2014/2015, specially 2015 was the year Wii U received very bad games for the console.

I think saying 2020 is a tough pill to swallow in my opinion. New Paper Mario, Xenoblade Remaster, ANIMAL CROSSING NEW HORIZONS, ton of great ports by 2K, and tons of great indie games. If you say 2020, you don't know your history about the Wii U with the latter half of 2015 and especially the entirety of 2016 having genuinely nothing because of the obvious switch to "NX" development, where if you weren't a fan of Atlus, you had nothing to play on a Wii U or 3DS outside of backlog. At least the first half of 2015 had Xenoblade X, Splatoon, Mario Maker 1, & Majora 3D. Afterwords, it was dud after dud after dud (Amiibo Festival, Ultra Smash, Mario Part 10, Devil's Third, Color Splash, etc.) until March 2017. What about 1995 when development switched to the Nintendo 64 and Nintendo had only 3 notable releases (Earthbound, Yoshi's Island, and Chrono Trigger and everything else was the Virtual Boy). 2020 hasn't been perfect, but to argue it's Nintendo worst year for major releases is a joke of a statement.

@iulis84 But again, the year isn’t over yet. The best time of the year for games is usually in the fall. Who knows what Nintendo has up their sleeves? I was just illustrating the variety of really good games that have come out so far and we still have 5 months left of the year.

Gotta be a Wii U year. 2015?

I don't get why people hate 2015. Mario maker, Yoshi's wooly world, Splatoon and Xenoblade x all launched that year. it wasn't the greatest but considering the Wii u was nearly on life support some really great games came out that year.

I think the last year of the Wii only had Skyward Sword and some of the Wii U years were pretty empty

@OorWullie They said that months ago, before I think anyone really understood the gravity of the situation. It may not have affected software in the short-term, but I believe their conservative approach to summer announcements shows they are unsure of whether they can fulfill their long-term releases on time. I suspect it will continue to be a dripfeed of small announcements going forward, rather than any major pushes.

The unholy trilogy. Animal Crossing amiibo festival, Mario Tennis Ultra Smash, and worst of all. Chibi Robo Zip Lash. That’s all that needs to be said

@Crockin 2014 had Bayonetta 2, Smash 4, Captain Toad, DKC Tropical Freeze and Mario Kart 8. It kinda sucked for the 3ds but it was easily the Wii U's best year. No idea how you could say that was one of Nintendo's worst years

2020 easily. When you have 50 million hungry fans that you know are just sitting at home dying to play something new and exclusive, maybe with a well developed online component (lol) and you give them refried leftovers, a farming simulator and Donkey Kong Country... Thank God I never bought a Switch.

More homebrew on my Wii please kthanks

Maybe Nintendo hasn’t announced much in 2020 because they don’t want to deal with “fans” who get mad because Nintendo keeps pushing back release dates due to COVID interrupting development. 🤔 Also when did how good/bad a year was change from how many bad games came out, to how many Directs Nintendo did?

Clubhouse Games is also an awesome release from this year. I do hope for Mario 64 at 60fps on Switch, and Sunshine at 60fps too! Pikmin, a 2D Metroid, and Breath of the Wild 2 would be sweet too, but I'm not expecting those this year. We'll see....

People who say 2020 was Nintendo's worst year clearly got mindwiped of how barren 2016 was for them. The big Wii U games that year were Paper Mario Color Splash and Star Fox Zero in addition to spinoffs nobody asked for like Metroid Prime Federation Force and Mario Party Star Rush which both ended up being well below the standards of their respective series quality wise; all the hype for Breath of the Wild being the Wii U's swansong was completely eliminated when it was announced it was coming to Switch as well. Couple that with the fact they basically kept their lips sealed on anything Switch related until close to the tail end of the year while people were starving for info.

2020 is a bad year, but it's out of their control. We're in a pandemic and we can't do anything about it. The fact that they still managed to pump out three major and well recieved first party games within the first half of the year is more than I could say for 2016 at all.

@fortius54 i agree, though i presume that you mean 2020

@BenAV look at 2010 and 2011 and then try to say that 2020 is fine for first party games

Anyone who put 2020, I feel sad for you.

@TheFrenchiestFry looking back at the lineup i probably wholeheartedly agree with you. The only game which was interesting for me that time was Pokemon Sun. Color Splash was mediocre at best, Star fox zero was a disappointment, Metroid prime Federation Forces was a joke, don't even remember Mario party Star rush anymore... I was probably too hyped about the breath of the wild trailer that time.
This makes me not want to complain about this year anymore, especially when it is not even done yet.

@87th we’ve not had it good for literal years
Look at 2010-2011 then say we have it good these days

1999 looks pretty bad, looking back through Nintendo release lists: if you didn't have people to play Smash Bros. 64 or Mario Party 1 with, there wasn't much else. DK64. Command and Conquer. Some rereleases.

2008 is another where without multiplayer, there's nothing: Mario Kart Wii, Wii Music, Mario and Sonic, Brawl, Animal Crossing City Folk...

1997 looks pretty bad too: if you don't have multiplayer people for Mario Kart 64 or Diddy Kong Racing, the only other Nintendo published N64 game for you is Star Fox 64. Thankfully, if you have a Gameboy, you have Donkey Kong Land 3...

I can't honestly say 2016 was worse for 3DS owners than some of these other years. In fact, there were some pretty good 3DS games. Nothing stellar, but some solidly good games (Sun/Moon, Fates, Planet Robobot, plus a couple multiplayer games including Star Rush). The Wii U was basically relying on Pokken Tournament, Star Fox Zero, and Color Splash. Not a great look. Wii U by itself would be the worst year, but I think 3DS pushes it past some others.

A lot of the NES era had one or two solid games a year and a few more kind of boring games.

2015 isn't in the running imo: Wooly World, Splatoon, Xenoblade Chronicles X, Mario Maker, there were too many actually solid games for it to be the worst.

Ruling out remakes and rereleases, 2020 might be in the running for Nintendo's worst year: New Horizons and Origami King are both good, but so far, that's it.

Showing some mercy to NES years, I think 1999 looks the weakest. I wouldn't want to go back and play Mario Party 1, Pokemon Snap, Donkey Kong 64, and Smash 64 for a whole year. I know Snap has a fanbase, but none of those are games which I want to spend much time with.

I voted 2020. There's been very little to look forward to altogether. Xenoblade Def is one of the best games Nintendo has made, but that's because it's mostly just Xenoblade from 2010. There's about nothing on the horizon barring Smash Ultimate DLC, and we don't even know what that'll be. Right now fans are excited about a hypothetical Mario game that might not exist.

2015 had promises of Splatoon, Fire Emblem Fates, the Smash Ballot, Super Mario Maker, and Xenoblade X. 2016 showed us the Switch and gave us Tokyo Mirage Sessions and Kirby: Planet Robobot. 2018 kicked the door down with Smash Ultimate and released the Octo Expansion, in addition to nice Wii U ports. And there's always been a Pokemon game to look think about.

I keep seeing people mention Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash here. I would accept that if those people cared even one bit about it at launch.

@LilMuku I actually don't think those were that bad. 2010 we got Mario galaxy 2, Pokemon black and white, donkey kong country returns, metroid other M if you like and xenoblade. 2011 was maybe a bit thinner with mario kart 7, super mario 3d land, Zelda skyward sword... personally there was the last story too which i love

I can't understand why 2015 has the most votes. It was arguably the Wii U's single best year.

Splatoon
Xenoblade X
Super Mario Maker
Yoshi's Wooly World
Kirby and the Rainow Curse
Mario Party 10
Mario Tennis Ultra
Animal Crossing amiibo Festival

Yeah the last 3 games weren't great but that's not a bad list overall and not even close to being their worst year. The following year was poor though and a definite contender for the worst ever.

I disliked the WII. Hated that Nintendo sticked to hardware specs that Xbox original had.. Nintendo should've pushed the hardware to higher specs. Never forgave them for that.. holding back everything

2015 had Monster Hunter, Pokkén, Splatoon, Mario Maker, Kirby and Xenoblade X
Even 2016 had Pokemon and Tokyo Mirage Sessions
2020 has only had Animal Crossing and Paper Mario
Why is everyone forgetting this, in terms of new Nintendo games 2020 is objectively the worst by a MILE

Mario is feeling disappointed that coronavirus happened

@BlueOcean When you filter it to 7 and above (a score I personally find to be the bare minimum), you get 7 pages of reviews. It wasn't all bad

@OorWullie unless you lived in japan that time, there was no tokyo mirage session for you though, as far as i know it released 2016. I agree though that overall 2016 was much worse

@LilMuku but the year is not really done yet and even by your list 2020 and 2016 seem to be at least the same level of bad

Had to go for 2009, E3 2008 was infamously bad but the actual lineup in 2008 was very strong. 2009's lineup was poor and was a big deciding factor in me getting a Xbox 360 that year.

@Solaine Yeah I just took that out my list. It released in Japan at the end of 2016. Pokken also didn't release outside Japan until 2016. Even still, it's not a bad list. I wasn't a fan of those 2 games anyway haha.

@nessisonett Yes because animal crossing is a port and so is clubhouse games. Oh don’t forget Paper Mario which is just a port of color splash. Nintendo has only released 2 major games in the first half of 2020. What are we going to do. They can’t do another mini direct or a Twitter drop again. That would mean that they’re actually doing something which we all know that they aren’t doing anything.

Regarding the multiple citations of ChibiRobo Ziplash, Mario Tennis Ultra Smash, and Animal Crossing Amiibo Festival: I watch Scott the Woz too. Those three games were particularly boring and poorly designed. But Scott himself points out several good Wii U and 3DS games from 2015. That has to beat multiple years where Nintendo had 1 or 2 okay games in the NES and N64 eras.

@OorWullie same sadly... which made 2016 even worse. But i just saw that Fire emblem Fates released 2016 at least

This is a completely pointless article. We haven’t finished the year yet and everyone says that this year is awful. Nintendo is still going to announce some more games. The lack of news is them waiting till they are done with the games to announce so that they can guarantee a release date. If they were to have announced games like normal and most of them got delayed fans would be even more mad so it’s better for them to wait. I personally like the Twitter drops better because we have less time between announcement and release which means less waiting. You can’t want something if you don’t really know what it is.

It’s weird. A simple question is asked - “What was NINTENDO’s worst year”.

Comments= people stating THEIR worst year as a fan of Nintendo (ie. whether they’ve enjoyed the games that have come out, etc.).

There is no way that 2020 is NINTENDO‘a worst year. They’ve made a killing. They literally were unable to keep up with demand (admittedly, a big part of that was due to COVID related production issues- but they still made an absolute bomb!).

Darkest times were definitely one of the Wii U years. I'd say 2016 as previous years had outright classics. 2016's strongest game was probably Twilight Princess HD. This was great, but shouldn't have been the best new title. In that year the 3DS was starting to wind down, we'd just had Animal Crossing Amiibo Festival as the big Christmas release for 2015 (one of the worst uses of a flagship franchise in all of entertainment history), and the rest of the year was sparsely populated with either disappointments (Paper Mario, Star Fox) or niche titles which sold poorly due to being on a niche console (Tokyo Mirage Sessions). Added to that, the Switch was just around the corner so everybody knew all the best titles would be shifted to that platform. Re other Wii U years: 2012 was poor but the 3DS was on fire so not a write-off for Nintendo as a whole; 2013-2015 gave us some cast-iron classics, and 2017 was Nintendo's redemption. If 2020 doesn't deliver the goods in the second half of the year, it will be a disappointment for me personally as I'm not an Animal Crossing fan.

@bobzbuilder I get your point, but 1. You don't know that - Nintendo not having more big releases is also possible. Bad outcomes aren't impossible. and 2. This at least shows a major flaw with their current marketing strategy of only announcing games a few months before release. People see that few games are on the horizon and believe that Nintendo has nothing planned. This is like the plan in Last Jedi: Holdo could have at least told everyone that there was a plan and avoided most of the conflict in the story. Nintendo is using a bad marketing strategy if they won't say that games are planned or what they are. Can't blame anyone for actually assuming they don't have games or a plan if they won't even say that they have games. They used to announce games more than a few months beforehand: they created this marketing problem for themselves and I can't do too much more than roll my eyes when they already have the solution.

(I do suspect they have some holiday releases lined up. It's just their own fault that nobody cares without knowing what they are)

@BenAV did you forget donkey kong country returns or is that in decent releases? other than that i probably have to agree: 2010 was not really too exciting

You guys auto give any Nintendo game an 8 or above...so that really isn't proof of anything.

I haven't really seen anyone say 2020 has been a bad year for Nintendo games at all. There are a lot of ports and remasters, sure, but heavy hitters like Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Paper Mario: The Origami King are really carrying the year for more. Plus we're definitely going to be getting some announcements soon for Fall and the holiday season.

Altogether I'd say it's been pretty solid. We just need a couple good games to close out the year.

2016 for sure, both on the 3DS and Wii U fronts.

Unfair to judge 2020 yet. But at least we've gotten the aforementioned games(yes, third party ports count). Wii U and 3DS in 2016 didn't even get strong 3rd party ports like the Switch has been getting to soften the blow.

I would say this would easily be the 2013 - 2016 Wii U era, the worst era for Nintendo. Back then there was even talk about Nintendo giving up on the hardware business since they were doing so poorly. The Wii U was a failure, the 3DS was really showing it's age, it just wasn't a good time for Nintendo.

Runner up would probably be 1995. That was before the N64 released, the PS1 was out, and the SNES was really showing it's age and looking really outdated.

Objectively 2020 has been a great year for Nintendo. Animal Crossing has been firmly a part of the best sellers list for months and the Switch has been selling so well and in such high demand that it's been selling for way above retail since nobody can keep them in stock. I think a lot of fans are simply getting caught up in a lack of big new releases dropping all the time this year, which is kinda dumb since Nintendo really doesn't need to be releasing new games all the time at this point. They have managed to build up a killer lineup over the past 3 years and by now there is a fantastic variety of games for just about any interest gamers could have.

1997 was the worst. There was nothing. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING scheduled for the holiday season during the Nintendo 64's (well documented) game drought(s).

If people on here think the Wii U days were bad, they didn't live through the N64.

Anyways, whatever had been scheduled for holiday 1997 was delayed into 98 (and beyond).

However, 1997 became the year that Rare saved Christmas for Nintendo fans: They brought Diddy Kong Racing seemingly out of nowhere. THAT was Nintendo's holiday release. It was a "surprise title" that seemingly came out of nowhere. A game so similar to Mario Kart......

So glad it's not like that anymore. Remember, there was NO eshop or indies to pad out a library.

@HammerKirby yea, I already took it back, see above. 2015 was actually good too.

@GrizzledVeteran Yeah, I picked '99, but '97 is as good a pick. People look back at the N64 library and see so many classics and masterpieces and forget that there were often one or two of them a year... And so many of the good games weren't great single player games. (Mario Kart 64, Smash 64, the Mario Parties, etc)

I don't remember what I played on the 3DS on 2013 but for the WiiU it was horrible. Not the entire year but the period from holidays 2012 to holidays 2013. We got a pretty good launch lineup, then nothing for months, than Lego City Undercover in spring than nothing again until Pikmin 3 in summer and than another period of nothing until the Holidays were we finally got some good games like Rayman Legends and 3D World.

@GrizzledVeteran I mean not really though. 1997 was an awesome year. Mario kart 64, yoshis story, goldeneye, star fox 64, diddy Kong racing, blast corps, bomber man 64 to a lesser degree....not too shabby even if these were spread out. I do not recall feeling starved, all these games had tremendous replay value

1996 imo. The N64 didn't have any of compelling software beyond Super Mario 64. The Game Boy was becoming an afterthought since Pokemon would only come to the west in 1998. This would be the year Nintendo would kill the Virtual Boy, which barely had life to begin with and the Super Nintendo was really starting to fall behind, with the only notable releases being Super Mario RPG and the highly controversial Donkey Kong Country 3.

@KillerBOB IKR? I expected at least a couple of highlights from each year, otherwise what's the point?
But of course, this being NL, we have to do the busywork and look them up ourselves.

While 2020 is the weakest switch year for me ( I'm not into animals crossing) at least for now we still have half a year left.

I would vote for basically every wii u year. With the exceptions of some pearls, my wii u was a basically a dust collector, while the switch put my ps4 on the reserve bank.

I don’t play Animal Crossing, already finished Xenoblade Chronicles twice in the previous systems (Wii/3DS) and definitely wouldn’t go full price for a third copy. I own Bioshock Trilogy elsewhere, Catherine Full Body is cheaper elsewhere and all the other ports are also much cheaper in other platforms.

Is a toned down Paper Mario the only fresh game that’s left in 2020?

If people really think 2020 is as bad or worse than 2015 and 2016 you are plain wrong

Nintendo will announce something big before the end of august. They need to please the shareholders.

@rushiosan since you mentioned all the games i would recommend this year seems to be very grim for you... but they might still release something, probably hollow knight: silksong and bravely default 2 if you are interested. there must be at least one other first party game right?

@Kyloctopus I thought you meant the n64 in general! Yea 96 was kinda lame actually beyond Mario 64. Gotta shout out to Kirby superstar. And if you include Japanese titles, you got Pokémon and Mario kart 64 in there

2015 is winning, really??

-Splatoon
-Xenoblade X
-Fire Emblem Fates
-Mario Maker
-Yoshi Woolly World
-Mario Party 10
-Tokyo Mirage Sessions
-Pokken Tournament
-Mario & Luigi Paper Jam
-Code Name Steam
...

Meanwhile, in 2020:

-Animal Crossing New Horizons
-Paper Mario Origami King

@KBuckley27 Talking about Nintendo games only, yes, it's DEFINITELY worse. Specially than 2015.

2016 easily. Pretty sure the only game I picked up at all was Pokemon Sun.

2015 had Splatoon, and that alone makes it a decent year haha.

People who are seriously complaining about the number of Nintendo games released during a hundred-year pandemic really need a little perspective.

Oh, at least 2020's few games were quailty, 2015 and 2016 sucked lol

@Crockin

So, two first party games, one niche game, one DLC and Clubhouse games. That is a strong year in your eyes? Im flabbergasted

Gotta say, 2020 is sharing up to be the worst year in Nintendos history. That is not just because of the lack of games, but the directs has been awful and Nintendos radio silence towards their fans has been very dissappoiting to say the least.

Pandemic or not, you need to communicate with your audience. We all know the reasons behind the lack of games this year and that some will be delayed, we're not stupid. But, at least tell us about development of the first party titles and some surprises. Nintendo did say in their investor meeting that Covid has not affected development of first party games. If thats the case, then whats up with their dead silence on games?

2020 definitely isn't the worst, but it's close so far. Like, Bottom 10 if not Bottom 5. I'd have to go with 2015 as the worst, simply because there were too few good announcements and releases and a lot of bad ones, 2016 wasn't great either.

@Apportal honestly 2020 for me too, I didn't like any of the first party games that came out, not even really a fan of xenoblade

@Matthew010 mario maker, splatoon, xenoblade chronicles X , majoras mask remake, monster hunter 4 ultimate,

@HotGoomba mario maker, splatoon, xenoblade chronicles x, boxboy, monhun 4 ultimate, boxboy

2018 and 2020 have been lame. No real games.. just indies and bs..

@Dr_Corndog why is it that Sony can pump them out but Nintendo can’t. Pandemic n all..

@HypnoVike the WiiU and 3ds sparked my interest in gaming again. I loved it. It just sucked that it ended so badly.

@Samuel-Flutter True as that is, CD-i is the stuff of nightmares to a buying public. Also memes.

2019 to me has been the worst year since I've been following. Pokemon Sword and Super Mario Maker 2 were the only two new games I believe I had picked up. Pokemon Sword can be enjoyable, but its quality level leaves a lot to be desired. Super Mario Maker 2 was just a poorly handled release as it didn't come bundled with a stylus. 2020 has had New Horizons, Xenoblade and the Origami King, and all are solid experiences.

2015 and 2016 felt like really bad years in terms of excitement level within the community, but I feel the stretch had a decent line-up especially in 2015. With 2016, it has Pokemon Go and Federation Force, which puts it above all of Switch's years except 2017 so far. 2020 could be a very solid year still. Right now, it's just a bit better than 2018 and 2019, which is disappointing as I had hoped 2020 would be the next 2017 for the Switch before the pandemic happened.

@Norwegianguy for today’s standards yea definitely. Especially considering one of them will most likely be goty. Look at a year like 2018 and tell me it’s better. And what about 2019? What great games did we have by July? Mario maker and niche title, fire emblem. Pretty standard so far I’d say

2012 was a bad year.
2015 was actually a great year for Nintendo gamers

2015 Amiibo festival, Ultra Smash and Mario Party 10. This year also marked the death of Iwata and Chibi-Robo. I'm also still waiting for Pikmin 4 you said it was almost done in like 2014!

Hate to break it to you, but you listed a slew of ports and Animal Crossing which released at the start of quarantine. Xenoblade is a remaster while Paper Mario was not what we asked for. Clubhouse has the most charm out of all of them.

You cannot deny this is Nintendo's worst year since before the Switch launched. Of you don't think it's slow, you obviously haven't seen PlayStation's track record this year.

Voting 2010 since that's the year Other M released

The last years of the Wii U were very tough before the switch was shown we were doubting if Nintendo could survive another failure. (I do love my Wii U though )

Except our govs and Amazon, I guess 2020 was the worst year for almost everyone...

That year where all they had was Pacman VS for Gamecube at E3.
Was it 2005?

That was embarrassing.

@KillerBOB you remember Twin Peaks though Bro?

Cup of Joe and Cherry Pie?

2015 for me its was boring and not to many good game showed up, Its not fair to say 2020 is the worst yet. we got animal crossing and may still get are mario games, so far 2020 looking abit of both.

Whatever year they basically abandoned the GameCube, and whatever year they released the Wii U. Those years.

2015 was awful. They had nothing at all Amiibo Festival and Ultra Smash. 2016 was equally *****, but at least at the end we had the excitement of the Switch and Zelda around the corner. 2020 has not been great but hardly fair on Nintendo when you consider the world is on fire at the moment. Although seems there isn't going to be a big game this Christmas.

2020 has been pretty bad, and a lot of ports of good games and DLC isn't going to change that for me. I don't care for Animal Crossing at all, and Paper Mario is now done for me a series. Two great games, and then 15 years of rubbish. There's literally been nothing for me. I'm sure people will go nuts for the Mario ports, but again, it's not exciting getting games I already own and can play quite easily.

Having said that, it's not as bad as 2016. 2020 has had nothing for me, but I struggle to see how anyone was satisfied with 2016.

1992 when nintendo u-turned on the sony cd add-on without even telling sony.

@KingBowser86 That's a fair point. I had forgotten about the Phillip's games.

2016 was so bad that it made me buy a PS4. That was the Star Fox Zero year. Truly, truly awful.

2016 and 2020 are by far the worst, with 2015 a close 3rd.

@WiltonRoots,

In all fairness Animal crossing could easily carry 2020 on it's own, and with all the other Switch evergreen titles the future looks bright for the console, sure some more announcements for this year would be nice, but it will hardly make or break the console, and I am pretty sure Nintendo do have other stuff planned for the console this year.

@mariomaster96 2017 was terrible if you couldn't find a Switch. 😉

@Justifier It is far from over, but August is practically here. Couple of months left for the rest of the year and still no announcements. I thinking that there won't be much at this point except a Mario port.

I don't actually think 2020 is the worst year for Nintendo, but I voted for 2020 anyway for the lulz.

Can't pinpoint an exact year, but yeeeeeah, like the article said, just because this year's quiet doesn't mean it's "THE WORST NINTENDO YEAR EVER". Still have a bazillion games to get from the eshop, and I have a hard time believing people were able to keep up with every single good release that's come out. I've been taking the time to get through my backlog and it's been kinda awesome. A quiet year's only a bad year if there's a lackluster console imo... Like the Wii U xP

@Snatcher No everyone likes Animal Crossings. Paper Mario is so so. And we will be lucky to get a Mario port at this point. The rest of 2020 does not have a sunny outlook.

2008 was the year of the bad E3, wasn't it?
I think that was the Wii Music presentation, with Animal Crossing City Folk the one highlight.

Or was it 2007 they spent half the presentation just gloating about the Wii beating the PS2?

I voted 2016 because at that point it was painfully obvious how done Nintendo was with Wii U. They didn't even try. 2012 was pretty bad as well with the Wii being pretty much done and just waiting for Wii U at that point. 2006 again wasn't great, another transitional year. 2020 isn't over yet so I can't say it's been the worst but at least there's a legit reason why 2020 has been very slow. What was their excuse in 2012 and 2016? Many people would say "well new consoles coming soon in those years why make an effort to save them? Well SNES and NES were fantastic still the year the following console came out and even N64 had some really great hits the year it was discontinued.

For me I'd say any late gen year is usually a bad one, as you wait for the next system to release and there's barely any new releases. Like for example the end of N64 in 2001 (up until Gamecube released, at least in North America). But for me 2011 is the worst. 3Ds just released but there was barely anything worth playing on it all year. Then on Wii, only Europe got two games worth playing which North America didn't even get till later: Xenoblade, The Last story and that's it really. Great games for sure but all told, that's about all there was, all year round, and North America wouldn't get these until the year after. That year was a big desert for me.

@87th bro triforce heroes is one of the worst zelda games. I will admit it's fun with friends but it's more of a spin off than a zelda game (like four swords). Sure it's good fun with friends but to be honest I wouldn't even call it a good game just an ok one. Although I must admit your right a lot of good games were listed for 2015.

@GrizzledVeteran It's not my kind of game but 1997 had GoldenEye, a game that I can't deny probably was the biggest impact N64 game of that year.

@LilMuku Really? The last gasps of the Wii, and the launch of the 3DS? There were a handful of great games, but there were massive gaps in those calendars. I certainly wasn't missing those days in 2017.

2012 because they launched the Wii U

2008 is absolutely the correct answer. Like in other years, it was more like Nintendo didn't put themselves in the best position.

Nintendo in 2008 was the dominant company in gaming, without question. The combined success of DS and Wii is the type of thing that might just never happen again for a console manufacturer. Outside of Brawl and Mario Kart Wii...what was Nintendo even doing? Like even a lot of their good casual games weren't that year. Like I look for what came out, they had so little on both systems, its embarrassing (and some of the best stuff they did have...was stuck in Japan for at least a year, so yeah...).

Anyone saying 2020 is shortsighted at best. Or maybe is a small child (literally or otherwise).

@Mgene15 Is this supposed to be a serious response? Wow.

2020 is the worst year during the Switch era in my opinion. None of the releases this year interest me, and no announcements yet to get hyped up about. 2018 was somewhat similar, but we were pretty much catching up with the barrage of stellar titles which came out in 2017.

@KingMike For sure. You're correct! I was only thinking about the dismal holiday season that year. But yes for many people, Goldeneye alone would make 1997 one of their best years!

@San_D maybe because your just picky doesnt mean 2020 is the worst year and we still have august to december besides nintendo did say they got more directs planned for the rest of the year.

I have to say 2016: The Wii U was on its last legs with hardly any notable new releases, and even the 3DS wasn't getting many new games anymore. Even 2015 was filled with good releases in comparison.

@Solaine don't think either will be coming this year. I hope I'm wrong, though. No news on release dates so far and we're slowly approaching the middle of Q3...

@Crockin Hey Crockin, I like your list, but this poll if opinion based, right? And yes, those games you mentioned were spread out. And while I wasn't a fan of many of them (Blast Corps, Bomber Man), or was finished in like one or two days with others (Star Fox 64), or was COMPLETELY let down by (Yoshi's Story.....after just finishing SNES's Yoshi's Island, was personally a letdown) I was starved heading into that holiday season. My memory is colored by the fact I was in college living with 5 roommates who were all Playstation fans. They had some cool games that holiday and "Diddy Kong Racing" was announced to fill the hole left by delays. I was still frustrated that Ocarina of Time had just been delayed out of 1997. It was a crappy holiday season to be a N64 gamer for me (again, I like your list from a historical gaming perspective), but for me personally, 1997 was not awesome.

a lot of you kids were probably not 10 yet in 2015. 2015 when literally the end of the Wii Us life they admitted it failed that year, Zelda BOTW got delayed that year. and smash bros was a Joke whole heartedly 2015. if you think 2020 is bad you must be new here.

@BulbasaurusRex 2015 was the year BOTW got delayed, also the Wii U was literally on life support. 2016 the switch hype ramped up

@RudyC3 The launch of the 3DS alone saves 2011 in my book. Yes, it initially failed to gain traction, but it was a still an impressive new handheld that had a number of good releases that first year including "Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition," "Dead or Alive: Dimensions," "Mario Kart 7," and "Super Mario 3D Land."

@Evenmoresteven 2015 was worse zelda got delayed the Wii U was dieing and smash was a joke crap holiday season 2016 the switch was born.

@NintendoPok Yes, but the Switch and "Breath of the Wild" didn't actually come out until 2017, so 2016 hype for them means nothing.

If the Wii U was on life support in 2015, then the plug was pulled in 2016. 2015 at least had several good new releases on both the Wii U and 3DS, while 2016 had practically nothing but "Pokémon Sun and Moon," "Kirby: Planet Robobot," "Pokkén Tournament," and "Tokyo Mirage Sessions."

I was totally committed to 2015, then I saw Splatoon, and Wooly world... So that was the worst, and the best time for wiiu owners xD

2015. I chose this year not because of the games but because it was in the era where it was clear the Wii U wasn't going to be as successful as we thought and the 3ds was running its course. Iwata passes and it was uncertain just what Nintendo was going to do.

Had to do some serious research on this

To the people that said 2017...you're joking right?

People weren’t mad at the showcase for not showing Mario, they were mad because there was literally nothing of interest to the majority of fans, as well as lack of content.

The only cool thing was Shin Megami Tensei.

@TheDanslator great games continue coming for other consoles despite the Global Pandemic. DOOM Eternal, Ghost of Tsushima, last of us part 2, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Resident evil 3, with more like Halo Infinite, AC Valhalla , Avengers and Cyberpunk 2077 still coming. Most companies have suffered delays for a few months but have been able to still try to push releases. I think Nintendo probably had nothing to begin with.

@Casco thats bs and you know that nintendo does have games in store for switch for the reminder of the year just trying to take their time because of covid 19 plus they ll have a few surprises for us this year.

2020 is easily a contender for worst year right now, although I'm crossing my fingers that we'll get a big game release soon.

Animal crossing didn't do it for me at all. It's too shallow, it lacks the sheer breadth of daily events/visitors that past games had. New stuff IS added, sure, but at a drip pace that's not even close to the amount we had in older games yet - and it's always advertised heavily in advance, robbing you of the surprise you'd have in older games when meeting a new event NPC.

I adore TMS#EE and Xenoblade, but the former was a really barebones port (didn't even address a pretty game-breaking bug from the original). I have way more respect for Xenoblade's remaster, it's great, but it's still 95% a game I played years ago. If we're ranking years, I'm hard-pressed to credit 2020 for recycling 2012 and 2016's games.

Paper Mario, my complaints with it are pretty much the common ones.

Rescue Team DX, didn't play this one, but another remake. Cute art, at least.

People point to the twilight years of past consoles as the worst, but those consoles were always supported by handhelds with amazing games still coming out. 2012 saw Kid Icarus, Xenoblade, Pokemon B/W2, Pokemon Conquest, 2 NSMB games (although personally I love U and think 2 is trash) etc.

2015 saw Code Name STEAM (a personal favorite, I'll confess), Xenoblade X, Mario Maker, and FE Fates Japanese release, which is kinda cheating but I imported it so heyo.

2016 saw the proper western release of FE Fates, the original TMS, Pokemon SuMo, and Pokken Tournament. Honestly probably the weakest (finished) year on this list IMO, with a lot of duds like Federation Force and Color Splash. But still, I just listed 4 games (with Fates being like, the content of 3) that were wholly original and that I would gladly rank about Animal Crossing or Origami King, even if they weren't perfect.

So yeah, I don't want to say 2020 until it's done, I'd love to give the year some credit based on what's coming out in the second half.... but we know NOTHING about what's coming out this year from Nintendo, really. I'd like to revise my vote in 6 months, but right now it's absolutely the worst year.

@Dr_Corndog , @Mgene15 is only 12, don't worry about him...that's his schtick... "nyaaahhhh! Sony good, Nintendo crap!" Every single post.

@NintendoPok 2015 had several fantastic games (Mario Maker, Splatoon). I’d say you have it backwards, 2015 voters mainly decided by watching a YouTube video about the year rather than actually having a cogent experience of it.

@RiasGremory hope they do have a few surprises. My switch’s been gathering dust since I finished the Witcher 3 other than a replay of Odyssey and DOOM 64.

I went with 2016 but could have been 2015 also. The 3ds was doing better in 2015 though it seems.

1895. The Hanafunda years.

@NintendoArchive Animal Crossing Amiibo Festival, Mario Tennis Ultra Smash, Codename STEAM, Metroid Prime Federation Force, Trip Force Heros, Devil's Third, CHIBI-ROBO ZIP LASH, Little Fighters eXperience, Mario Party 10, Mario Vs. Donkey Kobe Tripping Stars, Pokemon Rumble World and Super Mystery Dungeon, Mario and Luigi Paper Jam, 2016 Olympic Games, Mario Party Star Rush, Mini Mario and Friends, Paper Mario Color Splash (to some people), Star Fox Zero, Mario Maker 3DS (not WiiU), Super Mario Run, and Mario Party The Top 100 announced.

@Solaine 2016 had a massive release in a major franchise and an original RPG
Yes, ACNH is huge now but AC wasnt a huge series before it, and Paper Mario is a spinoff
So a massive entry in one of the biggest franchises ever, and a brand new rpg in 2016, VS 2020’s cult entry and a spinoff

@BenAV Galaxy 2, Metroid Other M, Kirby’s Epic Yarn, Pokémon HGSS, Monster Hunter Tri, Donkey Kong Country Returns

2010, objectively, was a damn good year for Nintendo
Personally I'm not judging this based on my opinions, im going off how big the games/franchises are and ignoring whether or not I like them

whoever voted 2020 probably never owned other nintendo devices.

@87th
2010:
Super Mario Galaxy 2, Metroid Other M, Monster Hunter Tri, No More Heroes 2, Xenoblade, Pokemon BW, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Kirby’s Epic Yarn

2011:
Kirby, 3D Land, Mario Kart 7, Skyward Sword

@Ultrasmiles list 2020’s first party Switch exclusives

2008, when Nintendo hit rock bottom: the Wii Music presentation.

I maybe should have picked based on actual releases, but I picked 2008 based on how abysmal E3 was. If I could redo it, I'd actually probably say 2018. Pretty much nothing I can remember was released besides Smash at the end of the year...A lot of people also say 2015, but I can't even remember what came out that year.

I voted 2015. I was a huge Nintendo supporter then and had been since the SNES & game boy, and I was a big advocate for the Wii U at the time. Nintendo’s 2015 E3 digital showcase was so disappointing and they basically just gave up on Wii U and making any games for it anymore. As a consumer, I felt betrayed at the time. I think I went out the next day and bought a PS4. I have owned a switch since Mario odyssey released, but I think they lost a bit of my trust as a consumer in 2015. They are still a bit wishy washy in the communications and messaging now. Which of their 1st party games are releasing next & when??? #stillwaitingformetroidprime4 ✌️

Nintendo’s worst year for games was 1986 or 1988.
As bad as some years felt in real time, every year since 1989 they have released multiple bangers every year.

My two favorite games of all time are Xenoblade Chronicles X and Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition, so that excludes 2015 and 2020 for me by default. 2016 was a pretty terrible year all things considered. Only game I can think of that I liked that year was Detective Pikachu.

Edit: My sense of time is really a mess, it didn't come out in America until 2018 and that's when I played it.

1995 and mid 1997 to mid 1998.

@Dark-Luigi 2015 brought Splatoon, Super Mario Maker, Yoshi's Island, Kirby and the Rainow Curse and Xenoblade X. It was arguably the Wii U's single best year. Kirby wasn't brilliant but the other 4 are top tier.

2015 saw Splatoon, Xenoblade X, Mario Maker, Fire Emblem Fates and more. It was hardly The Big N’s worst year in terms of games.

@Ultrasmiles I voted 2020 and I've owned every home console since the 64. Quality wise, 2016 was worse for sure but at least it still brought something I was interested in, this year there's been nothing for me. If the rest of the year passes and there is still nothing I'm interested in, then it will be my worst Nintnendo year without a doubt. I don't recall ever going a whole calender year without buying a new Nintendo game.

"Worst" is a subjective term, so I looked at the list of all products Nintendo has released to make some objective comparisons.

In terms of volume, 1989 is the single worst showing the Big N has ever had. That year they developed and released only 7 games, and 5 of those were the first batch of Game Boy titles. For the NES they only made two - Tetris, and a Power Pad game called Short Order/Eggsplode! The exclamation point is theirs, not mine. Nintendo HEAVILY leaned on 3rd parties back in those days, kids.

1995 was also a lean year, with only 5 console games, plus the release of the worst mass-produced console of all time. This was the tail end of the SNES era so dev resources were being poured into the Ultra 64 at that point. The only big name releases were Earthbound (which was a massive commercial failure), and two all-time greats in Yoshi's Island, and DKC 2. So, not a bad year tbh. Except for that Virtual Boy thing.

1997 was another lean year. New N64 owners snapped up Star Fox 64 and the genre-defining GoldenEye 007 but otherwise it was all quiet on the Nintendo front. This was the sad year sandwiched between Mario 64 in 96 and Ocarina of Time in 98. By the end of the year Sony had resoundingly won the 32/64-bit era.

2006 was another transition year for Nintendo console owners, as the GameCube was completely abandoned. Cult classic Odama and Baten Kaitos Origins were two 2nd party games released that year and Zelda: Twilight Princess was concurrently released on both the GCN and Wii. That Wii launch was insane, and brought Nintendo bad into the public limelight, so while 2006 started out horrible, I suppose it redeemed itself in the end.

What 2016 didn't lack for sheer volume (25 games) but the quality was poor by Nintendo's standards. A series of polarizing titles like Pokken Tournament, Star Fox Zero, Paper Mario: Color Splash, and Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE were released for the long-dead Wii U and even the stalwart 3DS had a whole bunch of non-classics launched, including Kirby: Planet Robobot, Metroid Prime: Federation Force, and Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam. The Switch was just around the corner, but 2016 was a sad time for Nintendo fans.

So, how does 2020 stack up? Well, we've only received 10 games so far, including 4 download-only titles and 3 ports (TMS #FE, Pokemon MD:RT DX, Xenoblade). Clubhouse Games is a niche title at a discount price so that leaves us with exactly two full-price, new titles in 2020 - Animal Crossing, and Paper Mario. That's...not much, even if you love both games. If nothing big launches in the 2nd half of this year this is stacking up to be one of the worst on record.

My brain says 1997 was the worst, since that year cemented Nintendo's third-place market share for the next decade. Even so, I voted for 1995 because the VB was hot garbage, y'all.

@roboshort Yep, not even close. 2015 was actually one of my favourite Nintendo years because of Splatoon, I was obsessed with that game haha. I also really loved Mario Maker and Yoshi's Wooly World too. Xenoblade X never grabbed me though, despite putting in a lot of hours.

Dunno how people can play the “E3 was bad during Y200X or Y201X” card with a straight face when 2020 has had no E3 at all and so far no big direct. At least the Wii Music demo made people laugh.

@LilMuku better yet list switch entire first party exclusives over its lifetime. There’s not that many

I voted 1986, although it's a little tricky since the NES did a test launch in 1985 so I consider Super Mario Bros and other launch games a 1985 title. But with that in mind, the only notable games of '86 (in America) were the following:

-Urban Champion
-Balloon Fight
-1942
-Ghosts n' Goblins
-Gradius
-NES ports of Donkey Kong and DK Jr.

Say what you will about 2020 but it's quite a bit stronger than that puny lineup.

2016 was a pretty sad year as well.

@WiltonRoots good to no you been paying attention

@RangoTheMerc there’s a lot of those people on here. Simply in denial. No games this year. And that’s the truth. Like I said before, if you’re a switch owner you had to have been bored out of your mind. There simply happy with indie dumps and ports. There’s like 6 switch exclusive 1st party titles in its lifespan that are even worth a damn. No to yoshi,Kirby etc for switch those were trash

i picked 2015, because there was nothing that was holding my interested, other than Super Mario Maker, Splatoon, Blocky Bot and Xenoblade X, Yoshi was a late release here in america if i had gone back to 2015 and wanted to get one more game that year, it would been Yoshi and Kirby, Devil's Third was also release late here in america, and wasn't that great anyways, i picked up Amiibo Festival really late after Wii U's ended it's production, Fatal Frame V was a Free 2 Play title here in america (for some reason?), Mario Party 10 looked okay, but it wasn't a day 1 buy, Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash, looked bare bones, and sadly we lost iwata that year as well

2018 would be my second choice, as Smash Bros Ultimate , Kirby and Sushi Striker, were the only things that i've pick up that were new and made by Nintendo,

with 2020, i'm definitely going be going through my back log of switch/Wii U/3DS games that i haven't pick up yet. so that will be a perfect time to catch up on getting those (including Mario Tennis Aces).

i'm happy for people that did enjoy the games that most people didn't like.

I don't know why many people aren't talking about 1995, it was the year when the virtual boy came out!

2020 but you know whats going on now not going to go hard on them

@batata - To be fair, that was also the year we got Donkey Kong Country 2, Yoshi's Island and Chrono Trigger, so on the whole, it's probably not the worst year for Nintendo (that was probably 2016, which saw absolutely nothing from the Wii U and only Pokemon from the 3DS)

2020 may not be great compared to the past few years, but at least we got Animal Crossing and, to a lesser extent, Paper Mario (and ofc, the GOTY: Clubhouse Games )

Edit: Actually, I change my mind on 2016. I just did some research into the 3DS entries that year, and we got not just Pokemon but: Fire Emblem Fates, Phoenix Wright: Spirit of Justice, Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, Kirby: Planet Robobot, and Monster Hunter: Generations as new exclusives. That beats out 2020's 3 games, so considering 2018 got Smash Ultimate, Kirby, Mario Tennis, Mario Party, Octopath (for a time) and Labo, I'd say 2020 is actually a decent contender for worst year (at least so far). It's certainly looking like the worst year in the Switch's life so far (although to be fair

I think its too soon to really call 2020, "Nintendo's worst year" when we're only barely past the halfway point. I feel like it'd be fair if September's gone past without the typical Nintendo Direct and there still hasn't been any games since Paper Mario.

Other than the lack of an E3, the release timing hasn't been any different than past years for the first half of the year. Most of Nintendo's best games come out in the second half of the year.

I started following Nintendo closely around the end of the Wii era, so I can't speak for any year before. It's hard to tell, and it's definitely harder if you count Nintendo as a whole. 2016 was a pretty bad year for the Wii U, but the 3DS somewhat made up for it. I don't think 2020 is Nintendo's worst year. We've already had heavy hitters released. And to be quite honest, the pandemic will always be the main reason for the somewhat lacking year, so it's hard to compare with the rest.

Those 12 months from Summer 2014 -15 seemed like Nintendo had lost focus in a big way, the 3DS was doing okay-ish , but the Wii U, man... Nobody is likely to forget the couple of Nintendo Directs that were infested with Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze extra character nonsense. I think I was half out the door at the point, just buying what were becoming late generation low print run Wii U games but not actually playing the thing.
Good riddance to those days and that huge flop of a console.

@Heavyarms55 Totally agree, the Wii U was a terrible era for Nintendo and only served a purpose to incubate some decent games to be ported to the Switch, out of all Nintendo's previous machines, I really think the Wii U is one that you'd never need to return to as everything good was plundered and the rest can be played on another system anyway. What a waste, and that's coming from someone who still has 60-70% of all the PAL Wii U games, the 3DS really had to work hard not to sink the ship for that half a decade or so.

@LilMuku xenoblade , animals crossing ,bravely default 2 , no more heroes 3 , shin megami tensei 5 , bayonetta 3 , metroid prime 4, zelda botw 2 and rune factory 5

@LilMuku and dont say they're not out yet , cuz the year isn't over yet either

@OorWullie so 2016 was worse for sure , but you didn't feel like it so you voted 2020 , okay.

@NintendoArchive Out of the games you listed, Splatoon is the only one I really cared about. Not really a Xenoblade or Monster Hunter fan, Mario Maker never grabbed me and neither did Majora's Mask 3D. I'm not saying these games were bad, just that they didn't interest me personally.

@Ultrasmiles Well, Shin Megami Tensei V is confirmed for 2021 so that one can be off your 2020 list for sure.
Bravely Default 2 and No More Heroes 3 still have a fair chance this year, but I honestly don't see Metroid Prime, Bayonetta, BOTW 2 and Rune Factory 5 releasing this year.
You can add Deadly Premonition 2 to the list of exclusives of this year though. (although not first-party)

I will say that this has been one of the more fun debate topics I've seen on the site. Lots of people have interesting reasons why they say a year is good or bad for Nintendo and why one year is worse than others. And it's been a lot less dumb and mean than "Pokemon/Paper Mario/Controversial Game Which Should Be Better But Isn't Awful" topics.

@Ultrasmiles I made it clear the reason why I voted 2020. I didn't say I voted for it just because I felt like it, you said that.

I said ''quality wise, 2020 is better for sure'' meaning I recognise Animal Crossing and Origami King are better quality games than Starfox Zero and Color Splash but I don't like either series. I then added the reason I didn't vote for 2016 was because it still gave me a game I was interested in (Starfox Zero), whereas 2020 there's been nothing that interests me so far. And if the year ends that way then yes, it would be the worst Nintendo year for me, as it would be the first time I've gone a whole calender year without being interested in any of the 1st party games they put out.

@LilMuku I am not sure if ACNH not being big before is a good argument, it is big now so it is a major selling title this year right?
Also, one may argue that Tokyo mirage sessions may not be a big franchise compared to paper mario as well.

On the flipside, if we only go by games that have released that year without looking at its quality, yeah we also got a new paper mario, a new fire emblem, a new metroid, a new mario party and a new Star fox in 2016 so it is probably really gonna be much better than 2020. It might depend more on personal opinion than i initially thought

Lastly, i guess the year is only halfway over, so does it really make sense to compare these two years, especially with all that silence right now?

@rushiosan guess we really can just hope for the best, but don't be too pessimistic. Bravely default 2 at least was pretty much confirmed in 2020

@LilMuku Animal Crossing absolutely was huge before too. Both Wild World (DS) and New Leaf (3DS) had 12 million in sales. Most games don't even sell a fraction of this.

@FullMetalWesker If that is so, then 2015, the time when we only got a few 2d platformers is the worst year for Nintendo. It was when Chibi Robo Zip lash came out

@Ultrasmiles Although i also don't think that 2020 is not that bad we gotta be a bit more realistic... Xenoblade is a remaster as good as it is, shin megami tensei is set for 2021 and Metroid 4 is in development since 2019 after it got initially scraped, zelda botw 2 would also be quite the shadow drop if it still comes this year(very unlikely for zelda).
Not saying that those games cannot happen, it just does not seem too likely

@Dodger It is pretty fun, especially since you can view the topic under many different viewpoints(e.g. sales, personal opinion, disappointments and so on)

@FullMetalWesker Xenoblade remaster was also a solid game, and friggin' Crysis made it's way to Switch as well! People are just spoiled by the past few years and are underwhelmed by what was not at all the worst a company can do, I mean Sony last year only had Death Stranding and Days Gone.

@batata While i absolutely love Xenoblade and am still playing through it, it is still a remaster for sure, same as Crysis and Catherine:Full Body, they are great for me since i have not played them but the only actual new games are paper mario and animal crossing.
this year is not over yet though, Nintendo could still have something big for Christmas and some various smaller things beforehand

I sat out the Wii U era so in fairness I can't pick any of those years. I think it's crazy that this year is receiving so many votes. Objectively Animal Crossing New Horizons, Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition and Paper Mario The Origami King are all great games. AC, in fact, I'd say is a legit Game of the Year contender even if it's a style of game I don't care for.

There's been far worse years for Nintendo than this one. Imo, it was a toss-up between 2008 and 2011. Ended going with 2011 because the only game I remember being worth a damn was Zelda: Skyward Sword and I was a little down by it. 2008 had Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Mario Kart Wii. Brawl was a massive disappointment but Mario Kart Wii was actually my favorite in the series until I played 8 on the Switch.

I haven't been around gaming long enough to go further than the earlier half of the 2010s. I would still say 2015, cuz that was when the Wii U offerings that year were super slim. Even on the 3DS side, I wasn't that interested, but I've heard some good things.

I had Pokemon Alpha Sapphire, I was set for that year (it came out the November prior, so I spent my 2015-16 just playing that game). Looking back, I thought that Nintendo offering very little that piqued my interest was just me, and in some cases it was, but more often than not, it was indeed the games themselves that looked bad anyway.

I'm not sure because I grew up playing Sega. However, this may be an indicator here: I'm not coming to this site daily like I used to because the updates are weak. So to me nintendo needs to start swinging the bat again in 2020.

@Ultrasmiles no release has even been given for those games
Unreleased 2020 games are only valid if s definite release date for this year has been given
Bayonetta, BOTW 2 and Metroid were never even given a 2020 date, in fact Bayonetta and Metroid are still early in development .

Also the fact that you listed a remake and a bunch of games that arent even confirmed for this year to defend 2020 is really quite alarming

2013 was quite bad because that year they learned just how far they had dropped since the height of their Wii days.

2013 their stock dropped a lot and from there it was only down hill further. The 3DS was even failing until they did that price cut and sales started to improve..but the Wii U was a major flop and I remember Nintendo adverts basically begging people to give the console a shot.

@Solaine personal opinion doesnt factor into it. Games are big regardless of whether or not I like them

@Evenmoresteven I ventured off and got a Vita in 2015. It’s a cool little system.

@FourBs the first party line up was awesome! I really enjoyed a lot of what the WiiU had to offer. I still love the gamepad. It was just a product of bad timing.

@rockodoodle same, i actually love it for a lot of multiplayer gaming. sad that most games did not fully realize the potential i think. However, these were still great games so no wonder most of them get ported now

2018 wasn’t that good, the only game I really liked was WarioWare Gold. In my opinion Smash ultimate was pretty disappointing.

I don't know the years well enough to comment but the Wii Music year was DIRE.

2008 and 2012 were far better than that.

@OorWullie Yeah. Xenoblade X was not for everyone, but it was one of the most unique titles put out by Nintendo in the past 10 years. It was a much, much better blend of JRPG and WRPG than FF15, I thought.

And Japan also got Tokyo Mirage Sessions in 2015... though it took quite a while to make it stateside.

@Mgene15 Yeah in a sea of sensible thought out posts yours seem to jump out for some reason...

Can’t remember that far back, I must be getting old. But from a personal taste perspective 2020 so far has been a big zero for my Switch have not purchased one game. Which is pretty bad really. One can hope later this year might perk up a bit.
But I wonder sometimes what Nintendo first party in house studios are doing?