![Wii U Games](https://images.nintendolife.com/d557919d2a14b/wii-u-games.900x.jpg)
A little over seven years ago, Nintendo made a big, but understated move that would go on to have an enormous impact on its future: it unified its handheld and console divisions. At the time, this just seemed like a move that would allow the two kinds of development teams to better share ideas and development resources, but there were also rumours floating about that suggested the company was doing this to gear up for a new unified hardware concept. Some expected this would mean a hybrid kind of hardware, while others predicted that games would be made which could play on both a hypothetical future Nintendo console or handheld. As it would happen, both groups ended up being right, in a way. Nintendo officially unveiled the Switch itself a little over three years after the merging of its divisions, while it unveiled the Switch Lite about a year ago.
The move to a single platform was largely lauded as the right one, given both the company’s then-recent struggles with home console game development, and the fact that Nintendo handhelds had always been the strongest pillar of its business. One of the (many) reasons that the Wii U failed was due to the lengthy ‘droughts’ between notable releases; significant third parties releases were all but non-existent on the platform and the Big N was still figuring out how to pump games out consistently in HD.
Thus, it was surmised that having all Nintendo development staff working on one platform would surely mean that the volume and development workflow of new games would be greatly increased and improved. During the latest Nintendo shareholder briefing, President Shuntaro Furukawa even echoed this sentiment in one of his responses. When describing why he believes the Switch has been building such great momentum he said:
…The second factor is that Nintendo’s development resources are concentrated on developing content for a single platform, Nintendo Switch.
![Switch, Lite & Games Flatlay](https://images.nintendolife.com/d4caffd33bdac/switch-lite-and-games-flatlay.900x.jpg)
The key thing here, however, is that it seems plenty of fans once believed the concentrated development resources would result in a denser and more consistent stream of new, distinct games. For example, looking back at this article posted shortly after the Switch’s reveal, many comments reference an expectation that the Switch would be receiving effectively double the amount of games of a typical Nintendo home console. The thinking behind this was that all of those games that would exist on a hypothetical handheld device would now be produced on the Switch instead, thus padding out the release calendar.
Now that we’re comfortably a few years into the Switch’s lifespan, the question then is this: Has Nintendo actually met those lofty expectations, or were they misguided?
For the purposes of this investigation, we decided to tally up every game Nintendo was part of from the Wii U/3DS era and compare those numbers with what we have now in the Switch era. To keep the list focused, we went with games that Nintendo both published and had some significant level of involvement in development. A good example of this would be the Mario & Luigi series, which has always been developed by Alphadream, an external studio not owned by Nintendo. Another one would be Bayonetta 2, which was developed by Platinum Games, but financed and partially overseen by Nintendo.
Even so, we haven't included every game that Nintendo published, as many titles were third-party games that were merely promoted by the company in specific regions. Good examples of this would be the Yo-Kai Watch series or the Bravely Default games, both of which were published by Nintendo in the West, but wouldn’t be considered a part of Nintendo’s own slate.
Furthermore, release dates were determined by the first time a game was made available for sale for the first time. Most of the time, games came out in Japan first, but there were a few stragglers that saw a Western release first, in which case, we recorded that release date.
We pulled our numbers from these curated lists on Wikipedia which note seemingly every game released for each Nintendo system. And while, yes, a publicly changeable site like Wikipedia certainly does have its pitfalls, we dare you to find a more thorough and properly-sourced list of every game ever made for a Nintendo platform.
That all being said, the numbers are as follows:
3DS games
![3DS Stack](https://images.nintendolife.com/9fdcfa0465fd4/3ds-stack.900x.jpg)
Year | Number of 3DS games released by Nintendo |
---|---|
2011 | 13 |
2012 | 15 |
2013 | 10 |
2014 | 8 |
2015 | 21 |
2016 | 16 |
2017 | 14 |
2018 | 6 |
2019 | 1 |
Total: | 104 |
Wii U Games
![Wii U](https://images.nintendolife.com/c1241b56c0e8e/wii-u.900x.jpg)
Year | Number of Wii U games released by Nintendo |
---|---|
2012 | 4 |
2013 | 13 |
2014 | 12 |
2015 | 10 |
2016 | 8 |
2017 | 1 |
Total: | 48 |
Wii U/3DS Games Combined
Year | Number of Wii U and 3DS games released by Nintendo |
---|---|
2011 | 13 |
2012 | 19 |
2013 | 23 |
2014 | 20 |
2015 | 31 |
2016 | 24 |
2017 | 15 |
2018 | 6 |
2019 | 1 |
Total: | 152 |
Switch Games
Year | Number of Switch games released by Nintendo |
---|---|
2017 | 11 |
2018 | 18 |
2019 | 19 |
2020 (so far) | 9 |
Total: | 57 |
So, to analyze this a bit, we’ll start with the Wii U. For the first four years of its existence and following the criteria we set, Nintendo was credited with thirty-nine Wii U releases. The Switch has had fifty-seven in that same window, although we’ll concede that the Wii U only launched at the very end of 2012 and thus didn’t get the full year. To account for this, we knocked off every Switch game that launched before October of 2017 and the result still comes out to forty-nine games for Switch.
On the handheld side of things, forty-six games were released for 3DS' first four years on the market. We could drop that to forty-five if we only include games that released up till July 2014, but the concession we gave to the Wii U doesn’t apply here as the 3DS and Switch both launched in the first quarter of their respective years. Either way, the Switch again comes out ahead as it's seen fifty-seven Nintendo games to date, and that number is likely to go up a bit as we still have half of this year to go.
Thus, from a raw numbers perspective, the Switch has beaten the 3DS and Wii U when comparing Nintendo releases in similar time frames, but that doesn’t give the full picture. We’d argue that the 3DS and Wii U should be considered together, as the two collectively represented the full ‘Nintendo experience’ for any fan during that time and we now get that same experience through only one outlet, rather than two.
![Games](https://images.nintendolife.com/7b45bbcbcd46b/games.900x.jpg)
Now, details about specific development timelines aren’t public knowledge, so it’s impossible to know exactly when Nintendo began development of the first Wii U games, and we’ll never know how that affected ongoing 3DS development, monetarily or in raw manpower. Even so, to make the comparison a little fairer, we decided to draw lines at November 2012—when the Wii U launched and Nintendo thus became a two-console company for that generation—and at July 2015 (the end of our corresponding 34-month period here in 2020). Bearing this in mind, the Switch soundly loses, as its count of fifty-seven games doesn’t hold up to the collective eighty-one games that the 3DS and Wii U delivered in the 2012-2015 period that we’ve defined.
So, in a nutshell, Nintendo has not developed/published as many games on the Switch as it had done when the 3DS and the Wii U were the only supported hardware.
What do we do with this information? Well, it puts to bed the idea that Nintendo has been outputting the same volume of games, as it most certainly hasn’t. That twenty-four game deficit between Switch releases and Wii U/3DS releases is greater than what Nintendo averaged per year when it was supporting both those older platforms. In other words, we’ve missed out on roughly a year or two of hypothetical games that would have potentially released if Nintendo were currently supporting two platforms and stuck to its previous release pace delivering games of the same technological level.
Of course, it’s not all about raw numbers. At the end of the day, all that really matters is how satisfied we are with the Switch library as it stands. And while, yes, Nintendo may not be putting out games as much as it used to, we also have a substantially higher volume of major third-party releases and indies on the Switch to compensate.
Still, we’re curious what you think about this. Do you wish Nintendo still had separate home and handheld console lines? Have you been satisfied with its output for the Switch? What do you think of the Switch’s library so far? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Comments 287
Making as many games? Yes. And I believe their quality has gotten a lot better over the years as well. Aside from this year I’m very happy for all Nintendo’s been doing to satisfy their fans.
You didn't count in the mobile games, right? Some resources went into them, right?
The problem is we always had some games in a near horizon that we want to buy. No I don't see anything that isn't already launched or there is no idea when it will be
Stop trying to compare 3DS graphics to Full HD ones. AAA Games are getting bigger. They cost more. And they take longer to develop. Whether some of these trends, like longer length, are good or even necessary is worthy of discussion. This is not, in my opinion. Their software output is on pace with or exceeds their peers this generation, which should is the best point of comparison.
well... that's not bad numbers coming from Nintendo, being the Switch 3 and a half years old, plus the COVID situation, having 50+ games from first and second party teams it's a lot.
and to be honest, the quality have been better and with more content.
Biggest Zelda game, Biggest Mario game, the more complete smash/ mario kart, and so on.
You're numbers fail to take into account the fact that 3DS and Switch games were releasing simultaneously. Shouldn't you be adding those two together as well, since development was still split during that time?
Edit: also this double counts stuff like Smash 4, Mario Maker, NES Remix, and Yoshi's Woolly World that got dual releases between platforms.
I don't care about Nintendo releasing a ton of first party games each year if most of them are just okay in quality. Just give me 2-3 really good ones and I'm happy. I play a lot of VNs, JRPGs and other various indie games that can easily keep me occupied the rest of the year.
I think the Switch library ranks among Nintendo's best. But is it fair to compare console generation output when games have become much larger and require much more resources from a dev and QA perspective?
Nintendo has also been pretty good at adding additional content to games post-launch, which requires continuous resources and testing as well.
The overwhelming majority of Nintendo titles on the Switch have been fantastic. I think if we were to find 20 Nintendo titles for a hypothetical "Switch classic," we would see it is right up there with some of their most cherished legacy systems.
You still had 22 3ds games being developed by nintendo after the switch launched so you probably have 79 to 81 for the same time frame.
@Apportal “proud?” You going to hang Nintendo’s report card on your fridge?
The 3DS probably has the best library out of any console, hands down. There was so much variety and loads of new ideas all crammed into that handheld. If people are saying you shouldn’t count 3DS because the graphics weren’t on par with Switch games, that’s nonsense because you’ll always work within the parameters that are set for you. They got the absolute maximum output from that thing and just look at some of the games we got.
@Jashin I thought that the mobile division was handled by DENA so its another company making those games
So uh. How many of those Switch games were actually just ports of Wii U/3DS games?
How satisfied am I with switch's library of games? Well, this is the first Nintendo generation I went and bought a non-nintendo console. Finally got tired of them repeating the same problems generation after generation tbh
And don't even get me started on their "online" fumbles.
Man, i want some mario and luigi.
Don't have time for an over thought comparison. They are making enough games lol and some of the best they have ever made. That's enough for me.
I have bought to much games for my switch to last its hole lifetime, so im pretth happy
I think the Switch has been fine. I mean, I was there during the N64 years. Now those were dry spells...
At least with the Switch, there's a sizeable amount of third-party content. Also, many indies work better on the Switch than on any other platform, thanks to portability.
The result is that, despite Nintendo's current radio silence, I've always had something to play on the Switch.
I think the real issues are two: on the one hand, Switch came right out the gate with Breath of the Wild and Mario Odyssey. It's been very hard to live up to that. (I mean, it's been hard for the entire open-world genre to live up to Breath of the Wild.) So we're waiting for the next "best game of all time" — and it won't be coming for a while. (N64 at least spaced out Mario and Zelda by a few years.)
The second issue is, as everyone's saying, the current radio silence. This is exacerbated by a couple of big releases that've gotten lukewarm responses, like Paper Mario and Pokemon. Though Luigi's Mansion 3 and Animal Crossing have lived up to expectations.
It doesn't really matter, in the end. A few choice announcements will make everyone forget this current dry spell.
This years been a little spartan, but have a solid backlog to get through anyway.
18 and 19 first party Switch games in 2018 and 2019 respectively is very impressive. And 9 this year so far is actually more than one game per month.
So yeah, they're definitely making as many games.
@GrailUK opinions.
IMO SM3dWorld was better than Odyssey. It's a little apples to oranges but 3D World was more of a "true" mario experience for me.
And with BOTW also being on Wii U, that one's a wash. Same with Color Splash and Origami King.
The better yoshi game is on Wii U as well.
I've played more indie titles than Nintendo titles on the Switch. They just seem to last a lot more than Nintendo's stuff. Nintendo aren't making bad games just nothing that really "wows" me like they used to.
We seem to be waiting for next year rather than what's coming up this year...EVERY YEAR since the Switch came out and it seems like we're making do with DX versions of Wii U games or game like Mario Maker 2 that lack new content the previous game had. I think of games I'm looking forward to from them and its the next Zelda and Metroid Prime 4...but maybe they will be out next year? Maybe they will be delayed...maybe? Which is fine, Breath of the Wild took its sweet time and was fantastic but I miss their little surprises...the likes of the first Mario Maker, Splatoon, Pikmin, the first Smash Bros, Kirby's Mass Attack. Games that come out of the blue and we just fall in love.
This year? A port of a niche GBA Pokemon game, Paper Mario which seems like a fine enough game but I wont ever buy it as Animal Crossing which I played a lot for a month and then went back to Stardew Valley 'cos it feels empty and erm...I can't remember anything else! Basically games that just feel that they don't have that care and love that we expect. Luigi's Mansion 3 had that care and love and that's the only one I can think of released last year that had that, Pokemon definitely didn't that is for sure.
Maybe we've been spoiled by having a home console and a handheld, remember their handhelds were always crushing it with excellent first party support and it seems like we're losing those extra titles.
I feel they lost heart and soul when Iwata died and that is evident in their games and sounds like Miyamoto has way too much control over other teams to let them flourish.
@LUIGITORNADO fixed it, you happy?
Very satisfied with what we got with the 3DS and what have gotten thusfar with the Switch. It's the forecast that is worrying ppl, but I am calm at the moment. Ha.
Well, the Switch is halfway through it's life and it already has more games than the Wii U did through it's entire life (and with a higher quality) so I would say they are doing a good job.
Too many games not enough time.
Most of the games you would want have been released for the Switch, there will be stuff not announced for console this year, just be patient.
It’s interesting information, but it’s tough to draw any conclusions from this. Games being released one year, doesn’t equal game made during that year alone, and some heavy hitters will clearly take more time making, while others are merely ports of previously made games. How much resources could Nintendo divert the first two years of the 3DS while almost no games were being released during the two last years of the Wii?
There was an obvious divide in quality for Nintendo's games last generation. The Wii U and 3DS had lots of great games...but also a lot that were pretty mediocre and nobody needed or asked for.
These days it seems like there's teams working on new games and smaller teams bringing the back catalogue (mainly from the Wii U), to the Switch. But they're working through the Wii U's library pretty fast so I'm interested to see what happens afterwards. Hopefully even more big titles or a few quirky gems for the eShop.
Ive been pretty happy with the stream of games Nintendo has been putting out. Significantly more and I wouldn’t have the time or money for a lot of them. Having said that, this year sucks.
I think what many seem to forget is that games nowadays are way more complicated and time consuming to make. I've seen people moan that R* hasn't giving us a new GTA this gen when the PS2 had 5 of them while forgetting Red Dead 2 was the big R* game this Gen, i suspect next gen will see GTA 6 and that will be the big R* game of that Gen. I doubt the Switch will see a completely new Zelda game again for instance, yes we are getting BotW2 but its a sequel and not a new Zelda entry in the way OoT was or Wind Waker was or BotW was. I will say though the Switch has seen quality over quantity and i'm happy with that.
Good to see the actual numbers put to rest the lie that the Wii U/3DS era was a big drought. And not all Switch games are AAA extravaganzas like Mario Odyssey or Smash Ultimate, there can be (and have been) smaller releases that could've been 3DS games as well. Some of those games are also ports, I would've liked to see the analysis with and without ports included.
The fact articles like this are even up for discussion is proof that this year is indeed very dry.
Now subtract the rereleases. Just count new games and see what happens.
I could be wrong here because the line drawing got quite confusing, but when talking about the Switch releases from 2017 onwards, we surely have to include the wii u and 3ds releases from the same period up until now which would bump the first party number up by 22 for that period.
That's extremely idiotic. Just because Nintendo don't have now two platforms doesn't mean that they should have double games into one console.
For one point, it would be like Sony putting out as much PSP and PS3 games on PS4 on this generation. It's the same reasoning with 3DS/Wii U and now Switch. Thinking that Nintendo will publish as much games as both platforms is insane because only one was HD, while the other was cheaper, non-HD, with less staff, less development time, etc while an HD release which is what the Switch has will get much more. Aside from that, many developers which aren't from Nintendo transitioned to HD, with some not being able to do it like Alpha Dream while others were able to have the resources and capacity to work on it.
Anyway, point is, Nintendo won't ever release as many games as they did before on two different platforms of different size of games but they still release a lot of games on Switch to the point where they are one of the companies with most releases in the industry. And like any company, there's resources and staff for all of this and they aren't infinite to pump out games so they need years to pump out others depending on the division, company or contractor as some teams are 1 project per time.
@Cevil Lego is a license which they have nothing to do. It's a product sold by the company. Your comparison is ridiculous.
@Moonlessky No, DeNA only supports Nintendo mobile releases. All of those releases on their partnership are developed by Nintendo or in the case of Fire Emblem, by Intelligent Systems.
First party titles? Hell no
As another commenter mentioned, you should exclude the Wii U ports from the list of Switch releases.
I fully expected there to be more games coming to Switch from Nintendo, but that's because I expected them to have a steady stream of 2 types of games at 2 different price points: $40 releases that weren't full HD games but were more like indie-caliber graphics, and $60 HD releases. I don't understand why they haven't made a new Advance Wars, or Mario + Luigi, or 2D Metroid that could add to the library without taking a ton of development resources and time.
Instead, it seems like they just focused all of their development resources on new $60 HD releases, which obviously wouldn't generate as many titles as they did on 3DS + Wii U. A big missed opportunity, IMO.
I know this, I infinitely prefer circle pad on 3ds to switch/switch lite stick. L3 is least satisfying button press in games ever xxx
now start counting the ports and re-releases and the number will change.
@RandomDudeSTL shouldn't they exclude the Wii U ports from the 3DS releases too then? There has to be at least a half dozen on that system as well.
Wouldn't be such a big deal if the Switch had a proper virtual console.
people should just give up on 2020 being this fantastic year for Nintendo games this is clearly not their year
In my opinion, switch has been carrying itself with Wii u ports like Mario Kart and breath of the wild for way too long. It is true that other consoles, like the gba or Wii had worse years towards the end of their lifecycles but switch is in its infancy. After 3 years I still feel like switch has not become much more than a Botw player. Paper Mario and 1-2 switch are not the AAA games I'm looking for. It is time to release some games, just dump the remaining Wii u ports inthe eshop and make something new. If they don't have any new games, if they have been doing nothing in the last 3 years, at least sort out virtual console.
They are totally making enough games. I think you’re a little unhinged if you think they need to make more. How much entertainment do we actually need?? We don’t need to sit in the edges of our seats awaiting the next game, when we have access to literal thousands across all platforms. Being content doesn’t seem to be as common these days, and the big games companies only want you eyeballing the next new thing. Enjoy what you have, find the new within the old.
@BenAV I would be ok with Nintendo's output if I had more third party games. I can't be the only one who doesn't think Indies are some magical cure.
@KBuckley27 tbh it hasn't looked "fantastic" since 2017 ended.
What's fascinating to me is that Nintendo appears to be repeating their mistakes with Wii all over again. Sure, sales wise it's a big success and that shouldn't be discounted. But the fall out around sales numbers was detrimental. It got to the point where the wii brand itself was a mockery.
Switch is selling well, but just like with wii, nintendo again appears to be resting on its laurels of success(to borrow a line from the late Iwata). Hopefully another Wii U situation isn't on the horizon again as well.
Switch was so bad this year, I actually bought a vita.
@Moistnado There’s way more to Switch than Breath of the Wild, you can’t name at least one other game? Even if you briefly browse this website, there are usually 1-4 articles every few days regarding Animal Crossing, lol
@SpaceKaren Yes, definitely. It feels as though Nintendo made a sprint for the finish line and got burnt out before they could complete the final lap.
I could of missed it, but for all I know based on the article, Switch ports have been counted which means even less new games have been made (although it is possible the 3DS and Wii U also include ports).
All I know is that as a Nintendo fan, this year has been terrible for me. Stuff that has released so far this year has either been a Wii U port I have played, or I have no interest in the underlying series. I know Covid is a factor, but if Nintendo are serious about actually having games this year, now would be a good time to say what they are. Even with the recent direct mini which revealed Nocturne, the SMT games themselves are not coming until 2021.
Where are the games Nintendo?!
@SpaceKaren
If you thought 2017 was the only "good" year for Switch, then you clearly don't understand why it's been a huge success. The Switch = Wii comparisons make even less sense.
@MS7000 "Where are the games Nintendo?!"
People have been asking this since the N64 days sadly enough. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
@westman98 so, if you read my comment, the word i actually used was the same word from the OP: fantastic. That's a ways off from "good".
Sure, they've had more than 1 "good" year. But fantastic? No, there hasn't been an Odyssey / BOTW year since, well, 2017. A fantastic year.
@link3710 Possibly - though this was only looking at the first few years of each respective system's life, right? I would think the Wii U -> 3DS ports happened later in the 3DS life, but I'm not sure.
I'm from the future Xmas 2020 and the Switch Pro has just been release - and that is why Nintendo has been quiet on game announcements.
I could waste a year playing call of duty while Nintendo gets their act together but oh wait there is no call of duty on the switch. So I spend all my time playing Tetris. I might as well not bought a switch and simply played my gameboy.
@SpaceKaren Hey, different strokes for different folks Won't be long before 3D World is on Switch. See, this generation was weird. Everyone released new more powerful hardware. Now anyone would be insane to release a new Wii U. SO Nintendo had to start from scratch. And instead of releasing more specs fidelity, they improved the off screen play. So I know many moan about Wii U ports, but it's very sensible to put them on to the Switch. (So I really see them as the same system in a certain light.)
@RandomDudeSTL The tables had every year of the systems life, it even went up to 2019 for the 3ds, several years after the Switch released.
@SpaceKaren
Ok I'll edit my comment:
If you thought 2017 was the only "fantastic" year for Switch, then you clearly don't understand why it's been a huge success. The Switch = Wii comparisons make even less sense.
The Wii U era saw months where Nintendo anchored the month with eShop titles or worse an event like Earthbound on Virtual Console before just giving up the ghost and going months at a time without releases due to focusing on 3DS releases, and then eventually just ignoring the Wii U for the 3DS/Switch development. This was made to feel worse due to the lack of third party releases to fill in gap, to the point that indie eShop releases became major events for the console.
The Switch has managed a release roughly every 6 weeks up until this year, and even now is seeing regular third party releases. So yeah, Nintendo's output might be down but there is plenty of others picking up the slack as they most likely are starting development of the replacement for the Switch.
@sixrings I find games from the major third parties kinda boring and same-y a majority of the time. A lot more fun, interesting stuff from indies for me.
@SpaceKaren
If you (and others) did a minimal job and looked into the output, you would see that most Nintendo games released are new and not old instead of making arguments with no basis. You're in the internet, and clearly has time to comment and discuss on a forum so you could have done that.
Only counting retail games and not counting regionally published titles (DQ, Octopath, Fire Emblem Warriors, which are third party titles).
2017
Breath of the Wild - Nintendo EPD
1-2 Switch - Nintendo EPD
Arms - Nintendo EPD
Splatoon 2 - Nintendo EPD
Super Mario Odyssey - Nintendo EPD
Snipperclips - SFB Games
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - Monolith Soft
Remasters
Mario Kart 8DX - Nintendo EPD
Pokkén Tournament DX - Bandai Namco Studios
2018
Kirby Star Allies - Hal Laboratory
Nintendo Labo - Nintendo EPD
Sushi Striker - Nintendo EPD/indieszero
Mario Tennis Aces - Camelot
Super Mario Party - NdCube
Pokémon Let's Go - Game Freak
Super Smash Bros Ultimate - Bandai Namco Studios
Remasters
Bayonetta 1+2 - PlatinumGames
Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze - Retro Studios
Captain Toad Treasure Tracker - Nintendo EPD/NST
2019
Yoshi's Crafted World - Good-Feel
Super Mario Maker 2 - Nintendo EPD
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order - Team Ninja
Fire Emblem: Three Houses - Intelligent Systems/Koei Tecmo
Tetris 99 - Arika
Astral Chain - PlatinumGames
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening - Greezo
Ring Fit Adventure - Nintendo EPD
Luigi's Mansion 3 - Next Level Games
Pokémon Sword and Shield - Game Freak
Dr Kawashima's Brain Training for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo EPD/indieszero
Remasters
New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe - Nintendo EPD
2020
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX - Spike Chunsoft
Animal Crossing: New Horizons - Nintendo EPD
Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics - NdCube
Paper Mario: The Origami King - Intelligent Systems
Remasters
Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore - Atlus
Xenoblade Definitive Edition - Monolith Soft
yes they are not. The majority of Switch library are warmed over ports.
@gojiguy Look at my comment above you, check it on other sources and say that again. This is talking about Nintendo output, which is a lie because most of their releases are new games.
@Nemesis666
Thanks for posting the full list. 👍
It's crazy how misinformation spreads like wildfire.
as usual N cant be bothered and hopes 3rd partys will develope for system. thank god switch gets so many good games and not the ffffffffffffffffffffffffff ***** mountain of shovelware the 3ds and wii got. (wii u didnt even get that) dont get me wrong it has shovelware but vs amount of good games its not even a argument wii vs switch never mind a fight
Looks like nintendo is loosing interest in making games
I don't think the time line of console releases is quite as described above. When the Switch was released, it was released as a home console that could be played away from a TV screen. At this time the 3ds was still a viable console that could have been in line for an up date.
Things quickly changed; gamers used the Switch as a handheld device and after a short time Nintendo announced that the Switch was used by about 50% of gamers who never plugged it into a TV.
I think that it was about this time that Nintendo considered the Switch Lite and put it into production. This they could do reasonably quickly because it is just a stripped down version of its big brother. It was then the 3ds demise was on the cards.
If Nintendo had originally decided to launch a more powerful Switch, it was put on hold because of the rushed planning and launch of the Lite.
Nintendo now have to devices that claim 75% of its own handheld market and just 25 % of the home console market. Yes there are loads of indi games, retro games and third party games ported to play in handheld mode, but the home console AAA Nintendo games market is very weak.
My guess is that a Pro is on the way and games are being held back for that. Otherwise Nintendo will loose their grip on the home console market.
@Nemesis666 A third of the games release this year are remasters and you are claiming this is reasonable?
Removing those means the releases are single digit per year, for every year but 2019.
Well, the other thought to this equation, is while Nintendo made more total games in the 3DS/Wii U era, you could argue that the 3DS games were less resource heavy...and with every generation the games require more resources, people, etc.
Remember when Nintendo said they couldn't release Virtual Console games any faster than they did because otherwise it would impact development of games? Now you have no VC, an online service with only NES/SNES that's still being drip-fed, and less games being developed overall.
I personally don't care about Nintendo making less games, especially when the games they're making are bigger than ever, but you'd think that after all the buzz from the DS and Wii era Nintendo would be aiming much much higher.
@BenAV and I find Indies same-y. This is subjective but there's many of us that don't find 3 first party games a year enough. For instance I'm not into Pokemon (I know it's not first party) not into animal crossing and not into paper Mario. So since last year I have managed to survive on tetris, Mario and sonic at the Olympics and Luigi's mansion. That's not exactly a stellar list. Basically owning a Nintendo means I feel compelled to own another system. Personally I don't think that's the way it ought to be.
Ummmm... A bunch are ports on Wii U games. I'm disappointed in Nintendo from a first party prospective, but everything so far has been high quality.
@Nemesis666 nah bra.
Nintendo's output this gen is laughable. Brain Age, Xenoblade Chronicles remaster, Donkey Kong- all ports.
We didn't even get a new Mario Kart for the Switch.
It sucks.
@TG16_IS_BAE I totally agree 100% with that statement ... I mean... people have backlogs... go complete them!!
It's mostly just Indies and third parties carrying the system for me. Such a shame, where's all the first party titles??
@gojiguy nice way of selecting titles that fit your argument. I can think of many other titles that are not ports.
It just seems like Nintendo has been really slacking in 2020 (COVID probably has mostly to do with this), but I wonder what’s going on internally at Nintendo?
@Apportal Only a Nintendo Switch fanboy can ignore the facts 😂😂😂, overall Nintendo have flatlined, the games are still good though - I think the best Switch games are the Wii U ones with extra dlc.
Take away all the Wii U ports and we'll find the true number.
I do think Nintendo are slowing up due to making cross gen games for the impending Switch 2/Pro which will be out in the next year.
I look at the Switch as being a Wii U 1.5, like we know Nintendo held the Wii U to 720p to give the Switch a selling point, just as they held widescreen from their GCN releases as a selling point for Wii.
The Switch was a test that did well, but the Pro will be a proper hybrid with a decent leap in power.
Obviously, making games for a 240p handheld is much easier and quicker than making games for a 720p/1080p hybrid.
But even ignoring that, supporting one platform removes the redundancies of supporting two platforms:
> Mario Kart: Mario Kart 7 + Mario Kart 8 => Mario Kart 8 DX
> New Super Mario Bros: NSMB2 + NSMBU + NSLU => NSMBU DX
> 3D Super Mario: 3D Land + 3D World => Odyssey
> Mario Maker: Mario Maker + Mario Maker 3DS => Mario Maker 2
> Smash Bros: Smash 3DS + Smash Wii U => Smash Ultimate
> Pokemon: Sun/Moon + Ultra Sun/Moon => Sword/Shield (DLC is not a new game)
> Animal Crossing: New Leaf + Happy Home Designer + Amiibo Festival => New Horizons
> Yoshi: Woolly World + Woolly World 3DS => Crafted World
> Mario Tennis: Open + Ultra Smash => Aces
> Paper Mario: Sticker Star + Color Splash => The Origami King
> Mario Party: Island Tour + Mario Party 10 + Star Rush + Top 100 => Super Mario Party
> Zelda remakes: Ocarina of Time 3D + Majora's Mask 3D => Link's Awakening 2019
> Kirby: Triple Deluxe + Planet Robobot + Rainbow Curse => Star Allies
> Hyrule Warriors: Hyrule Warriors + Hyrule Warriors Legends => Hyrule Warriors DE
> Donkey Kong: Returns 3D + Tropical Freeze => Tropical Freeze Switch
Just among these 15 franchises, we went from 35 entries across 3DS + Wii U to down to 15 entries on Switch.
Some of those franchises may receive future unannounced entries on Switch (Mario Odyssey 2, Super Mario Party 2, Star Allies 2, Hyrule Warriors 2, etc), but the point is clear: Removing franchise redundancy will automatically reduce the quantity of Nintendo's software output by a substantial amount.
@Nemesis666
This is a sad list...
2017
1-2 Switch - Nintendo EPD
Arms - Nintendo EPD
Snipperclips - SFB Games
2018
Kirby Star Allies - hal
Nintendo Labo - Nintendo EPD
Sushi Striker - Nintendo EPD/indieszero
2019
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order - Team Ninja
Tetris 99 - Arika
Dr Kawashima's Brain Training for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo EPD/indieszero
2020
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX - Spike Chunsoft
Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics - NdCube
I'd also argue that smash is basically a port and the remasters are of better quality that many of the new switch games. Also lets be honest that switch paper Mario is marginally better than Wii u and Yoshi wooly world was the superior yoshi game.
At least the Wii u had black ops 2 as a third party game.
"What do we do with this information? Well, it puts to bed the idea that Nintendo has been outputting the same volume of games, as it most certainly hasn’t. That twenty-four game deficit between Switch releases and Wii U/3DS releases is greater than what Nintendo averaged per year when it was supporting both those older platforms. In other words, we’ve missed out on roughly a year or two of hypothetical games that would have potentially released if Nintendo were currently supporting two platforms and stuck to its previous release pace delivering games of the same technological level."
This is my point. What's the point of a unified console division if we get less games a result? Its ridiculous that ACNH and Paper Mario are the only new games (non-ports/remasters) they have released/announced for 2020
Also my Wii U had free online!!!!!
@sixrings
So ummm, why are you ignoring all the other new games in that list? Mario Odyssey? Pokemon? Yoshi? Fire Emblem?
don't feel like the quality difference between 3ds and switch is as great as the price difference.
Definitely something I've noticed. Nintendo's not putting out two systems worth of games, and many of the games they do put out have been underwhelming
@sixrings Well it is how it is so I guess you'll just have to deal with it.
@link3710 yes, but if you read the article they only take into account the first 4 years' worth of data
I'd like to see Nintendo Life take into account the many Wii U ports on the Switch. How many original games has Nintendo developed so far in comparison to 3DS and Wii U combined?
@westman98 Exactly. If the Switch existed on the Wii era, at best we would get one New Super Mario Bros, not 2. Same for others.
@gojiguy You're ignoring the initial argument you made yourself and also ignoring the new titles.
@StevenG I'm talking about the total over the years, not specific years. Nintendo have a bigger share of new titles than remasters, which of course exist due to being developed with less resources and time than a complete new title, obviously done to allow the overall teams of those titles (like Odyssey team doing Captain Toad remaster) to continue development cycle for their next title while also giving titles to the monthly schedules that would have no title on it.
The switch could be a bigger powerhouse with third party games if the switch console had the power to run more modern games.
@westman98 nope. Those are the great games. I was pointing out though that a large amount of the games haven't been great. And again a large amount of the great games such as Botw, Mario Kart 8, dktf, and I'll include smash are more or less ports.
Yoshi crafted world wasn't even good yet alone great.
@BenAV yup that's about Nintendo's marketing approach. As long as the systems are selling there is no reason to release ports or speed up development of the upcoming games.
@sixrings
Your subjective opinion is irrelevant to this conversation. I could claim that "Animal Crossing and Mario Odyssey are awful, and Splatoon 2 and Mario Maker 2 are just pretty much just ports, so therefore none of them count", and that opinion would be similarly irrelevant.
Nintendo needs to up their numbers for the Switch to thrive. At the moment every student is dumping pixel art platformers because they don't know anything else. You got overpriced super niche Japanese franchises trying to fill Nintendo's gaps. Then you've got middling middle stuff. Finally you have epic proportions of shovelware. The gilded, gifted, top notch Nintendo titles... are old, very, very old. For every 1 quality Nintendo title, Xbox and Sony have prob 5-8. Nintendo's attitude is commercial suicide. Why wait another 8 years for the next Mario Kart? Exclusivity will kill the Switch far quicker than rival technology. Me, if one of the other big boys launches a hybrid handheld - I'm jumping ship!
@Nemesis666 Even the total over the years, a significant percentage are remasters.
I would rather not have those and get 1 or 2 new games in exchange. There is limited dev time and wasting it on ports of old games makes a ton of money but doesn't make me happy to have bought a switch. Basically this is rewarding fair weather nintendo fans and screwing over long time fans.
In terms of franchises, Nintendo seems to have improved quality over quantity. But I feel all franchises have taken time to develop sequels. Ratchet and Clank had 4 games on the PS2 but only one on the PS4. It seems that AAA games are taking longer to develop.
However, if you want something like My Hero Academia then you will get sequels close together without much change in quality.
@sixrings Games will take as long as they take to develop. If they rush them to fill the release schedule then we all lose out in the end.
@WoomyNNYes True. The past article with the Suikoden spiritual successor shows how developers really weigh in whether or not they should make something for the Switch. For them to say they rather release to a potential Switch 2 shows how Switch is not their priority right now (even though it is selling big).
@fafonio Exactly! I would also wager that the mass pandemic is impacting their production. Everything seems to be taking a little longer to finish right now, I’m fine with that for the safety of the workers. Nintendo needs to keep their dream team alive!
I’d have more respect for the COVID argument if Nintendo actually came clean and said what they had in store for 2021 rather than leaving it to speculation. It would put a damper on the theory that they’re going to screw us over by releasing a (completely unnecessary) upgraded Switch.
I find it strange nintendo ported Luigis Mansion (gamecube) to the 3ds and did not port gamecube games to the switch.
If you count mobile and remake and/or 3rd party, yeah maybe.
3 years (?) after release. For 2 years my Switch has been collecting dust.
@westman98 if this was so cut and dry then the comment section wouldn't be so active. Clearly this is a polarizing conversation. I'm happy You're happy with Nintendo's offerings but obviously there are many like myself who feel more than a little let down.
The Wii U and 3DS era was my favorite Nintendo generation and I’ve lived through them all. No amount of 10/10 Switch games will change that. The Switch is great also, but my personal interests were piqued much more by the 3DS and Wii U
This article is absurd for numerous reasons, but the biggest is trying to claim that two HD consoles would have led to increased output.
Frankly, Nintendo could have kept the lines separate, but would it really have improved output? I don't think so. Some teams had less experience in HD development than others. If Nintendo released a handheld separate from its console line, it would most likely have been HD. That means Nintendo would be working on 2 HD devices at once. Nintendo barely supported 2 devices with one being HD. To think both would get Switch level support is patently ridiculous. In retrospect, it is pretty wild to think we assumed consolidating would lead to the same output immediately. I was one of those people, and was wrong.
Now, on the topic of why output is lower than Wii U/3DS. Nintendo doesn't need to make 2 versions of any of its franchises now, so it's putting resources towards newer franchises or single releases in existing ones. Also, third-party support for Switch has been consistently better than 3DS or Wii U. Frankly, the software on the whole has been much better on Switch than either of its predecessors. I'm very happy with the Switch, overall.
@MysteryCupofJoe
The biggest victim of this increase in development time is Rockstar.
Last gen:
> Grand Theft Auto IV
> Grand Theft Auto V + Grand Theft Auto Online
> Grand Theft Auto Liberty City Stories
> Grand Theft Auto Vice City Stories
> Grand Theft Auto Chinatown Wars
> Red Dead Redemption + Red Dead Online
> LA Noire
> Midnight Club: Los Angeles
> Max Payne 3
> Table Tennis
> Bully: Scholarship Edition (Remaster)
Current Gen:
> Red Dead Redemption 2 + Red Dead Online
> Grand Theft Auto V + Grand Theft Auto Online (Remaster)
> LA Noire (Remaster)
Next Gen (so far)
> Grand Theft Auto VI + Grand Theft Auto VI Online (Not announced but practically confirmed)
> Grand Theft Auto V + Grand Theft Auto Online (Remaster of a Remaster)
I think part of the difference is that Nintendo was making quite a few, smaller 3DS games that were download only because they weren't even as ambitious as like 3D Land or anything. There weren't a lot of download only Wii U titles (especially when you take out the ones that were retail games in Japan), and that's true of Switch.
Like I looked through that 2017 3DS list, practically none of you played 80% of those games, and that might've been true even if Switch wasn't out. Even ignoring actual retail games like...Mario Party the Top 100, and Mario Sports Superstars (that fondly remembered masterpiece!), they kept putting out smaller titles. Every minigame in the two big 3DS original Kirby games got an expanded version as a stand-alone download title, for example.
If you wanna look at the actual problem, I assume its that Nintendo has most likely not expanded its more 3DS centric developers quickly enough. Making 3DS games and making Switch games are two different things, and Nintendo's games have generally tried to be larger and more ambitious on Switch compared to 3DS/Wii U, which at points does lead to less games generally speaking. Not to mention developers were still working on 3DS for the early parts of the Switch's life, so that was time not spent on Switch. I don't think we can really judge Nintendo's output on Switch as a whole while the Switch still has a few years left. Look at the PS3 if you wanna see how much things can change over a system's lifespan in that regard.
Granted, I do have some concerns about this. But in the same way I think its a waste that Rockstar only put out one original game this gen and Bethesda wasted their time on Fallout 76. Even Capcom only rarely puts out a new game. I don't like how large companies in general are putting out less games, and I mostly hope the trend of Nintendo doing so doesn't continue.
“Do you wish Nintendo still had separate home and handheld console lines?“
God no. That’s a terrible idea.
“Have you been satisfied with its output for the Switch?”
Hugely. They’re putting out a very large number of games, many of which are top quality. It’s saved my interest in Nintendo, another generation like the last (Wii U was poor and I don’t like 3DS nearly as much as many on here) and I might have given up on them altogether.
@liveswired I agree.
For Nintendo, it's very clear that Quality Over Quantity is the correct philosophy. Obviously, we'd like a balance with a greater frequency of quality games. In that timeline, we could have received an improved Star Fox Zero port that plays like classic installments and were just now coming down from a new F-Zero or Mother 4.
But I would still gladly take a break in between games to not have to bear what the Wii U/late 3DS wrought.
@Moonlessky mobile games are developed by EPD team 11 with the assistance of Dena.
People just got more impatient.
The raw numbers game is a bit misleading.
First, HD game development takes a lot longer than SD.
Second, Switch has a fair number of ports and remasters. Not as many as some think but still. However so did Wii U and 3DS-Luigis Mansion, Bowsers Inside Story, Wind Walker, Twilight Princess, 3 NES Remix games, DKC Returns, Woolly World, Majoras Mask etc etc. I’d also argue Nintendo has cut back on substandard filler like Devils Third, Game and Wario, AC Amiibo Festival, Tri Force Heroes, Starfox Zero etc.
@electrolite77 exactly, keeping the console and handheld lines separate would have kept output at what it is now. Hell, probably lower. People love ignoring that and NL is just posting trollbait.
@nessisonett I think what people are trying to point out is that developing games for a 240p handheld is going to require fewer resources and less dev time overall than HD console games, which seems inarguable.
I think this article misses one important point:
@StevenG
“ Basically this is rewarding fair weather nintendo fans and screwing over long time fans.”
Not really. There are plenty out there who like replaying old games especially on better technology. The same happens with every other form of entertainment. The only people being screwed over are long term Nintendo fans who refuse to play old games.
@SpaceKaren and Mario Tennis, Smash, mk8d
The problem for me with games on Nintendo systems is that if I don't care about one game, that becomes a 6 month drought, not a 3 month drought.
For example, I don't care for Paper Mario or Animal Crossing, so now the last major game I bought was Pokemon.
That being said, I am so busy these days, so it feels less obvious.
@liveswired
“ Take away all the Wii U ports and we'll find the true number.”
Ok take all the ports out of Wii U/3DS libraries.
“I look at the Switch as being a Wii U 1.5, like we know Nintendo held the Wii U to 720p to give the Switch a selling point“
I don’t know think we do ‘know’ that at all. Especially as they clearly forgot their secret plan when putting out Wind Waker HD and Smash Bros Wii U.
@westman98 Bethesda has also seemed slower. Though they're focusing more on online experiences than in past generations.
@zool
“ My guess is that a Pro is on the way and games are being held back for that. Otherwise Nintendo will loose their grip on the home console market.”
I’m not sure that’s at the forefront of their thinking. Switch was designed to be something that locks down the Handheld market while keeping a toe in the Home Console market. It basically provides a way to play Nintendo games, and Multiplayer games, on a TV while leveraging its main USP of Convenience. If they were massively worried about the Home AAA market they would have released a different machine.
I Nintendon’t think they are.
And this brings me to my biggest gripe. If we had a proper vc on switch where we can buy any of the last 30+years of nintendos catalog, these gaps would at the very minimum, would be slightly more rounded out.
I think many of the other commenters are making excellent points.
Development takes so long now. I think we took technological progress for granted. We assumed more technology meant better, more detailed, more realistic graphics. And that's true, but all that fidelity isn't gonna draw itself...
I'll just let John Romero do the talking here:
"Doom was easy to make secret rooms for. You just drew a few lines and put a door there. It’s not even a minute. With Quake, it was a lot more work, because in Quake, every single room was made up of six planes – you have to put the floor in, the back wall, the ceiling. You have to add the light in and make sure it’s the right brightness, that it hits each corner of the room. It took a lot more work to build Quake levels, and it’s got worse from there. And because it takes so much longer, people just don’t want to do secret areas, because how many people are going to see them?"
Seems to be in general the more powerful the system is, the less 1st party support it gets in terms of game releases because development is longer and more expensive. The longer Sony and Microsoft continue their "most powerful console" battle, the more it's going to hurt Nintendo.
Microsoft's solution is Games as a Service (GaaS) like Halo Infinite is supposedly going to be the only Halo game for the next decade. Another thing is over the past few years the number of Microsoft's 1st party studios has increased though you probably won't see the effects of that until like 2022.
New PS4 announcements pretty much stopped after 2017 so like Nintendo were very prepared for a 2017 Switch launch, Sony seems very prepared for a holiday 2020 PS5 launch.
Nintendo probably has multiple plans ready in the outcome of whatever happens this holiday. A plan for what happens if Switch dominates, a plan for what happens if Switch does ok, a plan for what happens if Switch does badly, etc.
@sixrings I hate Wii U ports as much as anyone, but that's an exaggeration. Of the top 10 best-selling Switch games, seven or eight (depending on whether you include Breath of the Wild) are brand new games. Calling Smash Ultimate a port is silly. It has 69 fighters in the base game, 4 had 56 after DLC (not counting echoes in either game). Super Smash Bros. for Wii U had 55 stages after DLC, Ultimate has 103 in the base game. The physics system is completely revamped and there are multiple compelling new modes like Spirits and World of Light.
I would be happy to see Mario Galaxy remasters, Star fox zero(better controls) and some sort of Metroid collection. Please Nintendo bring us something.
Also a question that rarely gets asked: How many games does one really need these days?
There is more competition for attention spans now more than ever. Even if you shrink available entertainment options down to just "video games" alone, there are now decades worth of older games that are there for people to explore. Just like kids are still discovering music and movies from the 90s, 80s, 70s, and further, so too are they just discovering "Chrono Trigger."
BOTW, Animal Crossing, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Mario Maker 2, Smash Bros. Ultimate are 5 games alone you could get hundreds and hundreds of hours from. If you're a player that doesnt feel the need say, to play 200 hours of BOTW, that doesnt stop the fact there is a ton of content in there to explore. And on the other hand, there are some players who master and play one or two titles exclusively.
I think Nintendo has struck a fair balance of releases with the Switch so far. We have been promised Metroid Prime 4 and BOTW 2, which will most likely be 2 huge games as well. Given you know, the historic pandemic, and just available free leisure-time to new-game ratio, I don't have any complaints.
pointless article we forget theres a pandemic. Not to mention no one cared about the Wii U. Nintendo is releasing a TON. just look at their eshop right now theres 1,500 games in a 3 year life span. if you think theres not enough, you obviously havent been playing your switch enough.
@Mallow ps: PLEASE STOP with the competition talks with nintendo. they dont want to be number 1 nor do they care they just want money......meanwhile sony and microsoft keep standing off. its ridiculous nintendo is just sitting in the corner doing what they do....
@electrolite77 that better be true because I fear for a sci fi game metroid is going to look prehistoric when It comes out next to Ray traced games in 2022.
@NintendoByNature um two minis and two emulators on switch online. what more do you want? n64 and gamecube? those are the least successful consoles.
@ancientlii youre joking right? you cant be serious.....smash bros ultimate wouldnt even run on the 3ds
@NintendoPok um actually yes, that's what I want. You cant use the minis as an argument, my dude..
Duh, I could have told you that without having to do the math.
Its even worse if you do not count all of the Wii U ports.
@NintendoPok I said nothing of competition with Sony and Microsoft, but competition for people's free time (against all other media and entertainment options). Nintendo exists in their own space.
@liveswired you are the reason I have no hope in humanity anymore. Seriously find something, anything better to do than shame a random guy on Nintendo Life. Please grow up.
@NintendoPok if the 64 is so worthless what's the harm in giving it to us.
Most people, I think, would be satisfied with a few good games a year. The difficulty is that we define that differently. I am still playing Animal Crossing and Clubhouse Games and catching up with some indie games I never got around to in college and some childhood classics like Skyrim. But obviously if one doesn't like Animal Crossing, they're going to be a lot less satisfied this year. Similarly, I'm not particularly interested in playing Xenoblade Chronicles again, so that game isn't one which satisfies me as a Switch purchaser, but others love it.
I think as long as Nintendo is releasing every 1-2 years:
An adventure game
An action game
A casual game
A multiplayer game
A 2D platformer
A 3D platformer
And a roleplaying game,
then most customers will be satisfied. About 4 quality titles a year with alternating genres would get most folks something.
It would help a lot if people knew about advances further ahead so that if an action adventure game fan isn't getting a game this year, they at least know there's one in the pipeline. Services like the virtual console and the eshop help pad that out too.
@Ralizah I can understand that but considering that Nintendo are now focusing on one console, instead of handheld and Wii U, it probably balances out. Especially considering how many Wii U ports there’ve been.
@IronMan30
Doom and Wolfenstein's revival have helped prop up Bethesda's current gen lineup immensely. That's not to mention the reboots of Prey and Rage, as well as the introduction of The Elder Scrolls Online.
On the other hand, Rockstar is now only capable of producing one new game per generation and have effectively abandoned everything outside of mainline Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead.
I’d imagine the development window for a 3DS game would be relatively shorter and require a smaller staff than a HD title running on hardware which could support a larger concept.
That being said I wouldn’t mind Nintendo trying more bite size games with the switch. Snipperclips was a blast, why not bring back Sakura Samurai? The Dillon’s games? Pushmo? Or dare I say more inventive new stuff.
Or even giving some 3DS titles an extra chance like Ever Oasis, Samus Returns etcetera.
Are the Labo games being counted towards this? How does that one work?
And half the switch games were on wiiu. I’ve just bought and Xbox one to play rare replay think that shows how disappointing the situation is right now. I’ve never bought a none Nintendo system before.
@westman98 I did say "seems" to have hit them, not going to debate that they've done okay. Rockstar has been hit much harder and will not debate that at all.
I was just adding to your point that Nintendo isn't unique in output being different than expectations.
@SpiritGun7 how much more work would it really have taken to put the 3ds Luigi's mansion on the switch. Or even the last 2d metroid? He'll I'd take a port of Federation Force. What about the last Mario and Luigi game on the 3ds? All sorts of games could have been saved and used on the switch
@NintendoPok I want to play games on my Switch, not a Mini.
Some of you newcomers are adorable.
@electrolite77 I don't agree. The success of the Switch was not preplanned anymore than the Wi U was build to fail.
How the Switch evolved, just happened, Nintendo had no idea how the launch day would go let alone the next three years.
The quality of Nintendo’s top tier games has definitely increased with the Switch. Smash Ultimate, Oddysey and BOTW are the cream of the crop.
Great article, Switch has had a great amount of Nintendo games release for it this far, even if 2020 has been a slack year, it will however be a very quiet year if they don't have any further releases up till Christmas...
Form a point of view for the average consumer, if you didn't have a Wii U all the ports are new games to you and if I was one of them I would have been throughly impressed with the output on the Switch so far...
But, having been with Nintendo for the Wii U and basically buying every Nintendo game which then got ported to the Switch I feel this Gen while still good could have had alot more original games and not just ports..
I however understand Nintendo needed to make back the revenue lost from the titles selling underpar to the small Wii U userbase, it just makes sense to re-release them with a lick of paint onto a much larger userbase, relatively easy profits for them... Unfortunately for us Wii U owners who stood by the big N when times were tough have less new content to play as a result...
I'm hoping for a surprise release or two in the run up to the end of the year, Nintendo have been way to quiet recently...
A 3DS game would presumably be easier to produce than a Wii game? Maybe not, I’ve got no idea really and making 3D assets might be super complicated for all I know...
Kinda comparing apples and oranges but I can’t think of a better way to go about it. Interesting if speculative read. Thanks for the article
@Yorumi you are correct. People are making it sound like Nintendo's HD games are on the level of Ghost os Tsushima or LOU2. Lots of excuses. The Mario models don't change very much between tennis, party, Kart, New Mario Bros Deluxe but here we are with a litany of excuses. (Two of my examples were ports btw....smh)
I also would have rather them ported colour splash and wolly world and use their development time on two brand new games if development is such an issue.
There’s plenty of good games , I just think there far to expensive,
@Slowdive Many of which are rubbish side-games.
@sixrings I agree completely, Samus Returns is one of the games in particular I would like to see given another chance. A lot of the 3DS catalog would work as a stop gap relatively simple solution to droughts. Heck OOT and MM would be nice for a modest price.
Personally there are a lot of Wii Games that could use the Xenoblade treatment and would likely flourish on the Switch.
Last Story, Mad World, Kriby’s Epic Yarn, Muramasa, Pandora’s Tower, Sakura Wars, Skyward Sword, No More Heroes 1/2, Punch Out. The list goes on and on.
Isn't it obvious that it takes more resources to make an HD game than a 3DS game? So while we should expect Nintendo Switch to have more than Wii U we should NOT expect Switch to have as many as Wii U & 3DS COMBINED since it takes fewer resources to pump it a 3DS game.
Yeah, I'm actually disappointed with the amount and scale of games Nintendo has put out for the Switch to date due to the fact it's now basically the only platform it's supporting.
@westman98 this really puts it into perspective. Thanks for taking the time to make this post brother.
What about 2nd part exclusives? I’d imagine nintendo invests assets into procuring Astral Chain, Daemon X Machina, No More Heroes 3, SMT 5 etcetera
@sixrings
Saying Smash Ultimate is just a port isn't about "being cut and dry" - it is straight-up false.
And once again, subjective opinion is irrelevant.
Is it fair to count DK Tropical freeze, Bayonetta 2, Captain Toad, Tokyo Mirage Sessions FE#, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, New Super Mario Bros Deluxe, Pokken Tournament, Xenoblade Chronicles definitive edition, etc.?
And can we count games on the Wii U that were brought forward from previous generations, like Twilight Princess?
I friggin' love the Wii U library, and I'm happy that big portions of it are available on Switch. But I own a Wii U. These games were already marketed to me years ago, and I bought the ones I wanted. When they release on Switch, they don't feel like new games to me.
I haven't been paying close enough attention to whether this practice has increased, but it seems like it should be accounted for in figuring out whether Nintendo has slowed down.
@westman98 whatever you want to think. Smash ultimate is smash with dlc. I own them both.
@sixrings
You can believe whatever falsehoods you's like to believe in, but don't expect everyone else to believe that Smash Ultimate is a Wii U port when you try to claim that "There are too many Wii U ports on Switch".
I think like 5 3DS games are comparable to 1 Switch game, and like 2 Wii U games (since Switch games are basically two games; one portable and one docked, both need to be tested)
The only problem I see, and that's a minor one, is that there are currently no new Nintendo games for the Switch announced for Q3Q4 2020. But I'm sure there will be a Direct late august or earlier.
@westman98 and don't expect people to fully believe it's anything more than smash Wii u version 1.2
It's ok to agree to disagree. People like myself won't be convinced it's anything more than a port while people like yourself clearly think it's a sequel. I'm ok with your thoughts but I don't know why you feel the need to tell me how wrong I am. It's tiresome Nintendo defender.
@sixrings
Kinda hard to continue a conversation with someone who is deliberately denying objective reality, so I'll end it here.
@westman98 we have different opinions on what the reality is. That doesn't magically make your opinion right or mine wrong. Just two interpretations.
Also I don't really need this conversation to go any further. Clearly we have our two views and we could spend all night conversing about it but I'm sure neither of our opinions will change.
@sixrings
Nah, saying Smash Bros Ultimate is a brand new game is a fact, not an opinion.
I could easily list all the differences between Smash Wii U and Ultimate, but you'd probably ignore them, so there is no point in continuing this argument.
@westman98 it's an opinion. It's on a new system... that is a fact. The game being new is an opinion.
@sixrings
Nope, that's not an opinion at all.
@NintendoPok you can play smash on 3ds for $30 not even pre-owned, no additional fee for online and you get smash run, no cut scenes though.
what about kirby? robobot vs star allies?
Library on Switch is small.. At least on the NES times we got like 3 games on that system.. SNES 2 SMW1 and SMW2. it became a fewer and fewer
@SpiritGun7
Astral Chain and Bayonetta 3 (and The Wonderful 101 Remastered) is a continuation of Nintendo's partnership with Platinum that started with The Wonderful 101 and Bayonetta 2.
SMT5 is a continuation of Nintendo's partnership with Atlus starting with SMT4.
Daemon X Machina and the revival of No More Heroes are new and are very welcome.
Not criticizing anyone, but I don't understand how anyone can not have enough to play on any of the major platforms. They could stop making video games now and I'd still be in my backlog 20 years from now.
@westman98 the game is on a new system. That is a fact. Ultimate being a brand new game is an opinion quite a few others would disagree with you on.
https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.vg247.com/2018/06/14/super-smash-bros-ultimate-hands-on-preview-e3-2018/amp/
https://www.google.ca/amp/s/gamerant.com/is-super-smash-ultimate-a-port-switch-wii-u/amp/
Stop derailing the thread with your port justifications
@sixrings If the Switch is so bad, why did you buy 4?
@WiltonRoots Lol, the fella that seems to hate Nintendo is all over this thread. If I had such feelings over Nintendo, I would move on and not complain about it on a fan forum every day. 😂
@Burning_Spear perhaps they should stop making tv shows and or movies as there must be enough to last the next century. I bought a new system to play new first party games. Not three first party games and some Indies each year.
@sixrings
Smash Bros Ultimate has been out for nearly 2 years, and your proof of the game being a port is E3 2018 impressions from 6 months before the game launched, before anyone knew all of the characters + stages + items + music, Spirits, World of Light, the DLC, etc?
Stop derailing the thread with your falsehoods.
@WiltonRoots easily the best lan party system and the only system with Mario. It's pretty simple. Some things Nintendo does really well. But other things they are terrible at. Online subscription, no voice chat, lag, not enough power, pricey accessories, and in this generation crappy hardware construction at least in regards to the joy cons. But by far the best mascot and the easiest lan set up.
@electrolite77 Funny thing is the people crying about old ports are usually the first people to ask for a Sunshine Remake and an HD remake of the Metroid Prime Trilogy.
@westman98 hey man I don't have the energy to fight with you. Clearly you are right and I am clearly wrong. Thank you so much on educating me on how lucky I am to have so many new games to play. You're the best.
I can't speak for game development, but my Switch collection is easily as large as any console plus handheld collection I've had in the past. Nintendo seems to be doing a fine job with consistent, quality releases. I also understand that not every Nintendo developed game is going to be on the scale of BotW or SMO. With everything going on in the world this year, I can't blame Nintendo for being a little slower with releases. I have enough in my backlog to keep me busy.
@sixrings You should have waited it out then in all honesty before blowing thousands of Canadian dollars...I would sell them if I were you as all you do is complain non-stop about them in here. You'll easily get your money back in this current market.
@WiltonRoots I'd like new games but during a pandemic where clearly they are having issues then now is the time to release the ports.
Also I'd rather have ports scattered throughout the year if there is going to be so few new games released. At least it gives an option to people when games get released that aren't their cup of tea.
For instance again I am not into Pokemon, ACNH, or paper Mario. I'm starving for games which is probably why I'm a big agitated on here. The drought is tempting me into just buying something I know I wouldn't be interested in. However if a Mario port came out at least I'd have that to tie me over until something new comes out.
Ultimately (not the Wii u port) it's a fine balance. I'll fully admit us port begging might come off as hypocritical
@Quarth In a nutshell, yep! I said earlier in the Paper Mario accolades section, I have more than enough games to see me through until next year without buying anything new, even then there's stuff from last year and stuff on my wish list I haven't bought either!
"Is Nintendo Making As Many Games As It Used To?"
Nope, they are riding on the indies.
@WiltonRoots
"Funny thing is the people crying about old ports are usually the first people to ask for a Sunshine Remake and an HD remake of the Metroid Prime Trilogy."
lol
Comment #155 is my favorite. He's has been complaining about Wii U ports nonstop, going so far as to claim new games are Wii U ports, but then immediately begs for 3DS ports.
I'm sure he'd also be the first to complain when those 3DS ports are released and look like uprezzed 240p games rather than actual HD games.
When they combined the teams I was really hoping for some neglected franchises to be revisited a new Golden Sun or F-Zero or something.
@WiltonRoots I still have fun with Luigi's mansion, Mario Kart, splatoon. I'm going to wait it out as money isn't really the issue. It's just frustrating there isn't more games being offered. In my particular case it is frustrating how we went from so many 3DS games having local play while a whole ton of Switch games you can only play local if you have online. Maybe I'll just buy a family subscription. I just think that encourages developers to offer local wireless play less and less.
@sixrings You must have other things you can do apart from play and wait for games surely? Also with the virus, if Nintendo's having problems getting their new titles out, how are they going to put them on the back burner to bang a few ports to tide people over, I don't think they have unlimited staff...they'll still need building, bug testing, playtesting, packaging designed, marketing, printing, manufacturing, despatch...
I call it how I sees it. The good and bad. The switches legacy to me won’t be that great as far as library is concerned. Wii U library was much better. You take away the ports, the indies. What do you really have with the switch? The graphics gap between Wii U and switch is so small you can barely tell the difference. I loved breath of the wild and odyssey, but since those 2 games it’s just been old ***** and late arriving games at twice the price with way less horsepower. The first party exclusives outside of those have been mediocre (yoshi,kirby,paper Mario,Mario tennis) there all just meh.. these Nintendo loyalists on here.. just ridiculous. It’s good to have all three major systems is what I’ve learned.
@westman98 comment 155 in context is saying they wasted energy releasing games on a dying console (3DS) in its last year and It would have made more sense to put those games on the switch making its library bigger.
Would I buy a port? YES because I never played them.
I'm pretty sure Luigi's Mansion remake could have used the Luigi's Mansion 3 assets. But what do I know? Let's keep making things harder than they actually are.
@WiltonRoots Yeah, I know the feeling. My Switch backlog is killing me. But hey, give Paper Mario a try! I love it so far. It even got me a little teary eyed, which was unexpected.
@WiltonRoots I don't understand how Nintendo can outsource certain stuff to say Bandai Namco or platinum but can't find some small studio to handle their ports. Miyamoto shouldn't be spending any time on these projects. Rather he or whatever boss just rubber stamps it when the port is done. I find that we are making things appear far more difficult than they probably are.
@sixrings
I completely agree: all post-Switch 3DS games could have found better success if ported to Switch, since the 3DS was dying by then.
That same logic also applies to the Wii U: all Wii U games could have all found better success on Switch, since the Wii U was dead on arrival. Looks like Nintendo realized this too, which is why they have ported a good portion of the Wii U library to Switch and should continue to do so.
@westman98 that is true. Colour splash was wasted on the Wii u. And it's a shame because then the origami developers could have been doing something else.
@sixrings I don't think that will be easy in this current climate, a lot of studios will be working from home too if they haven't already gone bust or laid loads of people off. A lot of companies are not likely to reopen after lockdown, some of our clients at my place aren't going to resurface until October/November and have slashed all their spending budgets.
@SpaceKaren literally own every Nintendo console... Bought by first non Nintendo system this generation. I don't hate the switch. But it has had to many rereleased Wii U titles that I don't care to repurchase while I wait for something new.
I don’t have many complaints at this time; I’ve got more than enough games to keep me busy for the next couple of months or so. (Their first party line up has been stellar for the most part!) If I had to throw in a chip on the table, I do wish they’d give us a genuine glimpse at Metroid Prime 4 and the classic trilogy released on Switch to tide us over.
Still- 2020 has been a rubbish year for everyone and I’m willing to give the big N a bit of a break during this difficult time.
@westman98 That's another good point about the Wii U, they sort of "course corrected". They knew very early on they had a turkey on their hands. Saying that though reading some comments in here you'd think everyone had a Wii U and bought every single game. The sales figures say otherwise. "We've all played it!!!??!?!!" Even though the game they refer to probably sold 700,000 units.
@WiltonRoots both my wife and I have been told from our companies we are going to be working from home until at least January. Work still gets done and I assume my wife's job will become permanently a work from home job and she is a director of finance at a good size company. Work manages to get done so I'm a bit tired of not hearing any news from a tech company.
When I don't get new games I get forced into watching hallmark movies. They go year round these days versus the old times of just Christmas movies. It should be obvious I'd prefer new games.
I have been wondering if Nintendo is planning to release Zelda BotW 2 (perhaps more) during “holiday 2020” to keep wind in the sails alongside Xbox Series X and PS5 console releases. I expect they will make some significant announcements when Microsoft and Sony finally announce prices and release dates...
@tommydii I would prepare to be disappointed. Good news is BOTW 2 I likely 2021 and Metroid 2022. I don't know how the switch can realistically last much longer then that.
@WiltonRoots
And the Wii U games that people actually did play are among the top selling games on the Switch.
Mario Kart 8 DX is set to reach 30 million copies sold by the end of the year.
@westman98 for the most part I don't think people really hate the ports that much. I have bought several of them. The point was though that the ports are making Nintendo's line up look a lot fuller than it really is. I'm happy to have something than nothing but I don't understand what is taking these teams so long to build new games. What has the BOTW team been doing since the game released over three years ago, Odyssey team? Mario Kart 8 Deluxe team? Kirby team? You'd think by now we'd have a whole bunch of sequels and or completely new games.
@WiltonRoots well.... I pretty much bought all of the Nintendo games and exclusives..... I have most of them now and three ports. So yeah, I feel a little burned but understand the decision. I just wish since at least with me, myNintendo account show a record of most of my purchases. I wish they gave those of us who supported the system a break.
@sixrings
"What has the BOTW team been doing since the game released over three years ago?"
Working on BOTW2.
"Odyssey team?"
Working on Odyssey 2 and the rumored 3D Mario Collection.
"Mario Kart 8 Deluxe team?"
Working on Mario Kart Tour and Mario Kart 9 (on Switch 2). Maybe even Arms 2.
"Kirby team?"
Working on Star Allies 2 and/or some other Kirby spin-off.
@westman98 beat me to it!
@westman98 hey man. All I wish is that I knew that was a fact and had some sort of semblance of a release schedule. Instead Nintendo thinks it's doing us favours by keeping us guessing.
Rumours of Prime Trilogy has been around for years, for a pikam 3 port, that Pikman 4 was almost finished and now a Mario collection. These are all things I'd like to believe in yet until there's evidence why bother. It really doesn't take that long to port Pikman 3.
@rockodoodle Yep I had one too, I haven't rebought any of the games I had on the Wii U, I do know what you mean though.
@westman98 I remember the SMT IV fire emblem deal they had. One of the best bargains Nintendo had. Beat both Awakening and SMT IV.
What are your thoughts regarding crossovers?
I played through both the Xenoblade games recently and came to realization that Monolith and Atlus could make a pretty phenomenal game if they worked together.
@sixrings They've always been notoriously secret squirrel, this whole thing has made them double secret squirrel. There's nothing anyone here can do about it, this site isn't some direct portal to Nintendo.
@ogo79 Capcom Beat Em Up Collection too. I love Final Fight.
@WiltonRoots that's fine if they want to be super secretive but I don't know why some people would find it strange that model being extremely frustrating. I already know more about PlayStation and Xbox future releases.
The switch I am guessing. In fact a switch 2 could come out before BOTW2 and or Metroid at this rate. No one knows and for some it's super annoying. I don't mind waiting if I know what I'm waiting for. I don't like waiting not knowing if anything I'll be remotely interested in is in development
@sixrings @WiltonRoots
Expect Nintendo to become more secretive now that a ton of assets and files from their older games have just leaked over the last week or so.
"we also have a substantially higher volume of major third-party releases and indies on the Switch to compensate" Indie, yes. But 3rd party? 3DS had more and newer kinds of 3rd party releases from the "name" studios like Capcom and Atlus. On Switch it's been a lot of collections and old ports
@westman98 how could they be anymore secretive now that they've gone back to their OLD ways after Reggie left (things were changing before then as well with the changes in leadership in Japan).
@Mgene15 omg an actual voice of reason on these boards - totally agree with you man
@ogo79 but why play golden axe 4 when you can happily play life of black tiger on ps4? Sounds like you're over selling the switches library 😜
Oh and the obligatory, its dangerous to go alone. So take golden axe 5
Maybe if they stopped making phone games
@WiltonRoots I had to get MK8D, Donkey Kong and while not a Nintendo title, I got Rayman. Tempted to get NSMBU bc I never got Luigi, but that’s still a lot to pay for a game I have played half of. Oh and then throw in Splatoon 2, Smash, and Mario Maker.... Those are arguably ports with DLC...
I'll take quality over quantity 6 days a week and twice on Sunday. I love that for the most part they don't milk franchises/ideas to death. Meaning if Mario Kart/Smash was being done on any other Company there would be a new one every year (with loads of "DLC" in between) to the point it ain't cool anymore.
There are a lot of franchises missing right now. I also think it is sad that so many of the games have been ports of WiiU titles. I want original Nintendo based content. The lack of a VC just compounds this. The last Nintendo game I bought was Mario Maker 2. Everything else has been 3rd party and to that end ports of games I did not play on one of my other systems last gen or this one.
The concept of the article is stupid.
It should be noted how the end of the 3DS lifespan was bloated out with quick and easy remakes. The two Mario and Luigi games are a prime example. Me personally I've counted 31 physical first party 3DS releases on my shelf from the entire lifespan of the console. Just over 3 years into Switch and I have 20 first party titles. I expect that to double before we see the next console.
@NintendoByNature
hahaha
The big problem from Nintendo is lack of communication. Nintendo has a huge blockbuster seller this year: Animal Crossing New Horizons. Problem is that they presume everyone should be happy with it and they think they are done for the rest of the year. The other big game was Paper Mario, which seemed like a smaller scale game. They need to tell what they have planned for the rest of this year and for next year. We are days away from August. Sony managed to just release two huge games, and have PS5 on the horizon. My suggestions for Nintendo:
1) Announce Mario 3D remaster/port game announcements, Pikmin 3 and street date for Metroid Trilogy Remasters. Maybe drop a Luigi Mansion 1 and 2 Collection.
2) Don't just rely on remasters/ports, they should be complemented by AAA games. Is there anything on the horizon for AAA games? Mario Odyssey 2, BOTW 2, Metroid Prime 4, Bayonetta 3, Mario Kart 9, something unknown? When?
3) Have a mind blowing announcement from a 3rd party. Something to rival Witcher 3. Maybe Nier Automata, Kingdom Hearts games (all of them), Persona 5 (not some spin off game) and others.
4) How about a 3rd party exclusive for Switch and not just a port? Maybe a Switch exclusive of a new Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid or Tomb Raider to take advantage of Switch. It could be an exclusive spin off game like MGS Peace Walker. It needs to be more than one game.
5) Buy a 3rd party developer or even two. Bring all that developer's games to Switch and announce an exclusive.
6) How about having a best of collection of old games (2 volumes with 10 games on each volume). Yeah, you can get some on Online, but actually be able to buy them.
7) this is unlikely but I would love NHL and Madden on Switch on the go.
8) Have an actual Nintendo Direct with tons of these announcements.
@Dman10 I think it's a bit much but I much prefer your take of shooting for the moon then this slow and painful drip feed of just enough games that you keep your system and buy whatever game released out of desperation.
Some of the biggest switch games were wiiu ports, those should have been left out of the switch count, just saying...
@Dang69
Not sure what this has to do with Reggie.
Massive data leaks like what is happening to Nintendo right now is going to force companies to become more secretive.
I adore the Switch as a console. However, I am annoyed by the lesser number of released first party games. The console by now is as outclassed by the PS5/XSX as much as the Wii was outclassed by its competitors. I'm also sort of disappointed that outside of a select few games (BOTW, Odyssey, AC and Smash), other exclusives are not getting the same budget and attention. (Fire Emblem, I'm looking at you. Best game on the console imo, but those graphics are proof it was underbudgeted.)
I could understand Wii owners not needing a 360 or PS3 to continuously get solid releases as the console was on a totally different lane. However, the Switch has been having performance issues on pretty much 95% of third party games. When your console is clearly trying to compete with the other consoles, I think this is a big issue. Nintendo NEED to announce and release a Switch Pro with more power before the release of the big guns like BOTW2 and MP4.
@EriXz hot take
I just want them to enforce some kind of quality control over the eShop
All I want is Pikmin 4
@sleepinglion you don't like a eshop of half indie shovelware at 95% off. The good news is you can build a huge backlog that you'll never want to play but can keep you busy until Nintendo gets their act in gear.
@TG16_IS_BAE True, Switch has evolved from a BOTW player to an Animal Crossing player for some. I personally am not a big fan of animal themed life sims so I am rather stuck. I feel sorry for NIntendolife who need to generate multiple articles each day, all about the same couple of games, with the occasional wild, unrealistic and tenuous speculation about a new release.
@Dman10 Haha, that's a big list of nope.
For me, I have a lot in my "backlog", therefore, I do not have any problem "the lack" of Nintendo games at the moment, I prefer that they dedicate themselves to making the games very well than launching a lot of them and some result in disaster.
Well here is the problem they're counting the remaster games that came out before on wii u or 3ds. So really they're still more interesting new games they need to work on that do count because it will be something new.
@sixrings Ghost of Tsushima is an interesting example to bring up.
It was first announced to be in development all the way back in the back in 2015. It subsequently released in 2020. The last game developed by Sucker Punch was released in 2014 (in the second year of the Wii U). That’s a 5-6 year gap.
No, it’s not like Nintendo’s games typically have the graphical fidelity of Ghost of Tsushima. But equally, it’s not exactly a strong example of a speedy development schedule either.
@Apportal
"Making as many games? Yes."
They literally wrote the numbers that prove that Nintendo has not been making as making games as they were. It's a simple question with a simple answer. They aren't making as many games.
That doesn't mean the games aren't good, just that they're not making as many.
The Switch is the first Nintendo system where I have barely owned any Nintendo games. Mario, Zelda, and Smash were all great. Ring Fit was a surprisingly great exercise game. Apart from that, I own around a hundred third party games. Nintendo has had poor quantity and quality on the Switch.
Thankfully it doesn't matter too much. There have been plenty of great third party Switch games, like Ori, Hollow Knight, Dark Souls, Cuphead, and Alien Isolation.
During the Wii U era, Nintendo had to focus on quantity over quality.
That is no longer the case, since plenty of 3rd party support for the Switch. I'm glad Nintendo almost always makes the right decision.
You only have to look at BOTW, Mario Odyssey, Fire Emblem, Smash and Pokemon to see the tentpole games have to be bigger and shinier now than they were 5-10 years ago. The biggest complaint of the Wii U is it didn’t have a ‘killer game’ upon release. It had Nintendoland and NSMBU.
Yes, Nintendo have consolidated their Wii U and 3DS production, but that doesn’t mean they’re making the same size of games- just look at BOTW2 and Metroid 2 coming over the horizon to see they’re betting big this generation.
@westman98 I'm saying after he left, Nintendo started getting really secretive in general. It began before that a bit after Iwata passed away. So I'm saying, how could they get anymore secretive than they currently are?
All I think is, what is their next game? There is nothing to look forward to. Origami King is now out so start to tease the next game, or give us a Direct with info on some new games.
If you take away the 99.9% of eShop titles that are pure junk, you'd have the average quality rating go up exponentially. The "Nindies" that replaced the old Virtual Console have had a few genuinely good games, but I suspect given the choice most Switch owners would readily go back to the VC and its focus primarily on retro titles (as long as they'd stay linked to your account and upgrade for free to the next-gen successor of the Switch instead of going back to scratch all over again).
By and large though, Nintendo's annual holiday season first-party support for the Switch has dwindled over the past couple of years, with ACNH falling back to March of this year and now NOTHING currently announced roughly 90 days from this year's holiday rush. Whether and/or how much COVID-19 may be responsible is secondary to the fact that, at present, Nintendo has absolutely nothing to answer the hype surrounding Sony and Microsoft's new consoles. One would have to assume that will (and should, from a marketing and awareness angle) change in the very near future. But if it doesn't, 2020 will be an unmitigated disaster for Nintendo and the Switch on multiple levels.
They unified their console development resources then removed some to make mobile games 🤦♂️
Y'all have to also keep in mind, Nintendo had only been slow in announcing/releasing new games this year due to the global pandemic. Because of that everyone at Ninty now work at home thus development of major titles are also slow or may likely see delays. We probably won't get a major 1st party games announcement until maybe around Autumn 2020 and even so it probably won't be big major releases compare to games from their previous years. The issue with Cero is another big factor since they don't work full time like they use to so getting new games approved for rating in Japan takes weeks now instead of days. We have to make the best of what we have since we're not living in a time when business are active and open like they use to.
We need a god damm direct now!
@datamonkey no Nintendo studio is working on mobile
They hire other companies to do so
A lot of the switch games included in those numbers are also ports from their previous consoles. The Switch release schedule feels too much like the Wii U for me. Yes, there are more 3rd party ports coming in which will satisfy a lot of people, but for someone that buys all consoles and uses Nintendo machines just for Nintendo exclusives... it's really no better than the Wii U.
In 2018, 2019 and 2020, the only Switch games that really interest me are Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Luigi's Mansion 3 and Pokemon Sword/Shield. That's nothing in 2018, and so far nothing in 2020.
I was really excited about the idea of them consolidating and just bringing out a hybrid machine, but personally, there's less interesting games now than ever.
Out of those Switch games, how many are ports from the WiiU though???
I came over from PS to Nintendo after the last Nintendo console I played was the SNES. I love my Switch, the portability is awesome! That said, I am glad I missed out on the Wii era as all the games are fresh. Otherwise, I can see how people feel they are getting more and more reskins with labeled Remastered or HD.
All I know is that I’m a huge Nintendo fan but I am still yet to buy a Switch. To me that says something about their games on Switch. They just haven’t enticed me. I only really want to play Mario Odyssey and Luigi’s Mansion 3. Everything else I’ve either played on the Wii U or I just don’t like the direction they’ve taken with the game, like the new Fire Emblem. But I am also a retro gamer at heart, newer games, including Nintendo’s, just don’t excite me anymore. If I have to play another open world game with crafting or base building I think I’ll give up on new games altogether.
The Switch's first year was fantastic as was the back half of last year.
2018 was almost exclusively ports of games I had, Labo and Square Enix games. They ended with Pokemon and Smash but definitely an underwhelming year.
The first half of 2019 was literally Labo VR, a WiiU port (NSMBU) and a Yoshi game that was a notable step down from its predecessor. Super Mario Maker 2 just about squeezes in I guess.
With the exception of the switch's launch window it seems Nintendo intentionally stack their release lineups to the second half of the year. Since we have no visibility of the rest of the year and they are doing little to raise confidence that the games are in fact coming it's hard not to be frustrated right now.
I know that HD development is much harder than what they were able to do on 3ds but I don't feel that the initial promise of a unified lineup has been capitalized on.
The comparison of Switch's 57 games includes 9 of the 39 games that were released on the Wii U during that same period (I'm excluding BOTW). So it is more like 48 to the Wii U's 39.
@Tantani why can't they hire third party companies to help port old games as well? At least it would fill out the roster
@Aneira other than animal crossing festival I think Nintendo's quality on the Wii u was just as good if not better than the switch. The Wii u had a new super Mario Bros game (switch has its port) and 3D world (which I like better than odyssey). The Wii U had DK the switch has its port. The Wii U had three Zelda games 2 Which were ports. The switch has 2 zeldas both which are ports. Wii U had Mario Kart 8. switch had its port. Wii U had super smash bros. Switch has super smash bros ultimate (how big of an upgrade outside of paid DLC is it?). I'm sure I can go through more games but the Wii U had great quality. The switch has some of its ports + Odyssey, Luigi, ACNH.
@sixrings they can and sometimes they do
According to the rumors, they have a lot of games ready to lunch and waiting for the right timing
Which is hopefully any minute now!.... I hope..... pls?
On a technical level, 3DS games were easier to develop than Wii U. Switch on the other hand should have been easier to develope for than Wii U aswell due to the powerful set of Dev tools Nvidia produced for the hardware. I expected a few more games than we got and ALOT more games I was interested in. Between 3DS and Wii U, Nintendo and 3rd parties had me "just" covered. Switch has been more of a 3rd party machine for me this gen and it is telling I now own more Xbox games than Nintendo this cycle.
@Tantani they have had Pikman 3 and Metroid prime trilogy ready according to rumours for over a year. I'll wait to hear from Nintendo.
@electrolite77 I would love to play the old games, I won't however pay for them all over again. If I want to play wii/wii u games updated I have a PC and an emulator that can upscale.
No, of course not, because they don't have to anymore. You must of been stuck for a topic to write about.
Nintendo's business plan for Switch seems to most closely echo their business plan on NES. That is to say, they only produce as many first party games as are necessary to maintain system interest, and only release new ones when necessary to boost system interest. Beyond that the primary business engine is collecting royalties from third parties that publish on the system due to the interest generated by first party content.
It's smart business, and it's Nintendo's original business model. But after getting used to years of tons of Nintendo games, it's a bit sobering to fall back to a Sony-like release schedule of "one or two big first party games per year to maintain interest, and the rest is third party" - even after years of missing out on third party entirely.
Partially I also believe Iwata to be the missing link. Where he was focused on producing as much creative and entertaining content, the new leadership are shrewd business leaders focused on maximizing quarterly profit potential by spending the least possible for the maximum return possible.
@sixrings I'm glad I'm not alone in thinking Woolly World was better.
This is interesting, but, I think the numbers would be more close if they included cell phone games as well, since that does happen occasionally.
I get the feeling that switch will be supported by Nintendo for 6 or more years, maybe 12, like the gameboy. There might be a transition to it being the handheld alongside another home console but I see switch being supported for ages. I think that's why we have the the slow drip feed of 1st party franchises. If it does last for 10 years, someone will eventually create tools for developing stable games in unity or some other engine, quickly but with a bit of a cookie cutter feel. As the system becomes even more ancient, developer cost will be incredibly low creating a vast catalogue. There will be 1000s of indie games using these cookie cutter engines and about 10% will actually be good games. There will be a botw3 and MP5, probably reusing assets and engines, but we will still buy them. Almost every GameCube and Wii 1st party game worth mentioning will get a port. All of this will be a slow drip feed, just 1 or 2 good, new Nintendo games a year, just enough to keep the platform afloat as they gain royalties from 3rd party shovelware.
@zool
That doesn’t make sense. The Wii U plan was for it to be a success. But the plan was unsuccessful. The Switch plan was for it to be a success. The plan was successful.
That the Switch was designed as a Handheld first is evident in its design. That it was designed with little to no regard for the AAA Home Console market is evident in its design. That spiel about it being a Home Console you can take on the go-that’s marketing.
@StevenG
Which is a choice you’re entitled to make. But it doesn’t mean you’ve been screwed over.
@electrolite77 go back and read what Nintendo said.
Well it beats Wii U's lifetime Nintendo published titles and it will only get bigger.
BOTW2 I NEED THAT
@masofdas Even if most of them are Wii U ports, what makes you think a majority of Switch owners were former Wii U audience? Almost 90% of Switch owners were formerly Wii, PS Vita, 3DS, PS3, and Xbox 360 owners. Because of that releasing Wii U ports for Switch make sense cause now everyone that missed those games the first time gets another chance to play them again now both portably and comfortably.
@retro_player_77 yeah that might be true but this is talking about is making as many games, when they're not when most are just port's
If I had a bit more pace here, i probably try to do a fairer comparison
Wii + 3Ds - Doubles => 1,5 * ActualSwitch - Ports + Coronadeficit
or something (1,5 because of the percieved less development time)
It's all down to expectation i guess, since the merge of teams and console I had expected a more steady stream to the switch, with some 'portable-style' games (mario v donkeykong) filling in the gaps between the AAAs, but it seems those are forgotten.. I miss them..
Still the current drought is in the middle of Corona, so all strategy advise seems a bit irrelevant,.. Let's just hope we get some mario love in the autumn...
While of course I'm happy with the fantastic Switch library overall, it has seemed like there are less first party games than I would have expected since they consolidated to one system.
Granted 3DS games were still being made after Switch came out so not all teams had been working on Switch games, but by now everyone should be working on Switch games so hopefully output improves starting next year. Also Switch games take longer and should require more graphical artists than 3DS games so i wouldnt expect Switch output to simply equal Wii U + 3DS output. But then you have to take into account that a decent number of Switch games have simply been ports or remasters which take far less dev time than new games: MK8D, Captain Toad, DKC, Xenoblade DE, NSMBUD, Bayonetta 1+2, Pokken Tournament are all the ports I can think of. Not saying porta are bad, in fact i hope more come (would pick up prime trilogy and wind waker for sure) but still those 8 ports listed should only count as 1 or 2 games in terms of development time.
Covid is probably slowing down the release of games this year. We dont know what the rest of the year looks like yet, as Nintendo will probably announce games two months out this year but even that is concerning because that means there might not be any first party games until October. Spitballing here, but perhaps BotW2 was gonna be the big holiday title but that could be pushed back now so to compensate they pushed back most of their summer/early fall releases to be oct-nov-dec holiday releases so they still have a packed holiday. Time will tell.
So far at 3+ years in output seems a bit light. If the next couple of years there is huge output from 3DS teams switching to Switch in 2019 or so and Covid-delays coming out then that could change the story. But certainly with only one system to support I expect the Switch to get normal handheld franchises of which only a few have come so far, in addition to the full array of console franchises some of which have been neglected for a while but I dont see any reason for them to not come out when Nintendo only has one system.
So yeah in addition of the games we already know about (Botw2, Bayonetta 3, and Metroid Prime 4, and no doubt another pokemon even though we havent heard of it yet) I'm waiting to see if Switch will get stuff like Star Fox, Fzero, a brand new 2D Mario, another 3D Mario, Mario & Luigi, Pikmin, at least a couple more Ring Fit games, Golden Sun, Advance Wars, Mario Strikers, Mario Golf, Warioware, another Mario Party, a Wii Sports sequel, Pilotwings, perhaps a new 2D Metroid, a game in the Excite(bike) series, Punchout, Kid Icarus, some more ports of popular old games like Metroid Prime trilogy and Wind Waker and maybe Skyward Sword. I would expect all of these games on Switch, or if any don't make it for sales considerations I'd expect other series or new IP to take their place. There are still probably three and a half to four years left in Switch's life cycle, so plenty of time for these games, but if a future library similar to this list doesnt eventually appear I will certainly be wondering what Nintendo is doing instead of increasing game output for only one system.
@NintendoByNature yeah switch online feels like you're renting them i'd happily pay more if it was not part of a subscription
@vikgamer168 id happily pay for them as well to know ill be able to play them 20 years from now . The sub to play them is ok, but its definitely not what I'd call ideal.
@electrolite77 It does if I expected them to release new games when I bought the system.
@StevenG maybe Wii u owners should have been able to swap their system in since they were loyal customers and Nintendo wasn't going to sell these loyal people anything but the very games they already own.
I always find it funny when people talk about this stuff.
How many first party games does Microsoft release a year? (Or Sony for that matter), and are the ones released of Nintendo quality?
(Or just another shooter/walking simulator with a new story and pretty graphics?)
The numbers don't really surprise me at all.
3DS games should be way simpler and, therefore, faster to make.
So if Nintendo combines ressources from 3DS and Wii U to Switch, this will still not nearly produce the same amount of games as Wii U and 3DS combined got.
The Switch numbers are higher than the old Wii U numbers, that much was to be expected and that is what we got.
The only year that seems odd is 2020 so far, unless they will still announce more than we would expect.
The virus might be at fault here though.
"Have you been satisfied with its output for the Switch? What do you think of the Switch’s library so far?"
Yeah, I'm good, really. I'm cool with 3rd parties and indies picking up the slack as long as they look good and play well.
@sixrings I think at the very least they should have been given huge discounts on the digital versions of those games. It couldn't have been that hard to get a list of players with that game on their account then send out digital coupons.
@StevenG I totally agree I was being sarcastic but people acted like it would have been impossible for nintendo to implement such a system and then ultimately say xbox and PlayStation wouldn't have done that. Well xbox is backwards compatible again and I thought Nintendo was the family friendly business but it sure acts like the corporate business more often then not.
Nintendo Switch is the worst console and has the worst game library that Nintendo has ever released. I have literally been infuriated at Nintendo since its release. They are going the route of milking money out of consumers instead of releasing quality games like they used to.
Indie games are garbage; how they came to be so popular compared to our well financed and thought out first party games is beyond me. I blame the ignorance of the younger gen but they don't really know any better. They accept and even applaud this garbage and if you even dare speak the truth you will get mobbed on.
@sixrings they arent doing anything. They cut the teams down and chose a new model. A model with high license fees to put your game software on a Nintendo cartridge. As long as whoever is calling the shots at Nintendo favors mass profit over their legacy; Nintendo will continue to be doomed with garbage games.
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