Soapbox: I'm Tired Of Ports And Remakes - Where Are All Nintendo's New Ideas?

All of these remakes and remasters, yet we still don't get a new F-Zero, or Kid Icarus, or Pikmin 4, or a new Chibi Robo, or Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door Remastered 2½ Definitive Edition, or Wii Fit 3, or SWiitch Sports, or Netflix on Switch, or Mario Kart 9, or Disney Plus on Switch, or Xbox Game Pass on Switch, or Geno for Smash, or a free Samsung Fridge with a purchase of a Nintendo Switch, or a Nintendo console that makes breakfast for me, or a real girlfriend, or my wife or my kids back, or--

I completely agree with you, even though I buy most of these remakes so I know I’m part of the problem. When they consolidated studios it felt like we’d get more AAA games, but it doesn’t seem to have happened and we seem to have also lost the smaller experiments like Pushmo/Dillon’s Rolling Western etc

If I didn't have a Wii U then I'm sure the Switch would be more exciting, but there aren't enough "new games" that are interesting me at the moment.

Slowing down Wii U development made 2017/2018 really good for the Switch lineup, so hopefully those teams will have new games in the next year or two. They're running out of Wii U games anyway, they can't keep it up forever

I agree with this, I’ve honestly not been excited by a new Nintendo IP since possibly the Wii days. Part of why I play my PS4 a lot more than my Switch is because killer Switch games only really come along once in a while. The last brilliant game I played on Switch was Horace, which captured the same feelings I used to get from Nintendo games but haven’t in years.

A brand new P.N.03 or Eternal Darkness would be so good. Some games from the GameCube era like I mention are overlooked and deserve a 2nd chance because they would for sure find now a much bigger audience.

When you see loads of comments online of people saying “remaster this” and “remaster that” it’s not surprising publishers see them as less risky investments.

Breath of the Wild was the last time where Nintendo really got out with a bold new idea/direction. Seeing that it started under Iwata's hand, I would say that we'll never see such a thing again in the near future.

Okay but where's Wario World

The corporate simps are not going to like this column. "Stop moaning! Nintendo doesn't owe you anything!!!".

@HotGoomba next Nintendo Direct, they're going to announce the New Nintendo Egg, with optional Bacon peripherals

Oh, so now is the time people are sick of remakes and ports...
Edit: But yeah, I'm sick of them too. The only thing I'm excited for is the new Mario Golf game, and hoping for a new Mario Kart in the future.

On top of this overpriced Wii U (and now Wii and 3DS) port problem, they also refuse to offer their back-catalogue. WHY can I not buy Golden Sun or Advance Wars on 3DS or Switch for a modern portable GBA experience? WHY do they refuse to sell GC games and make stuff like Fire Emblem nearly impossible to play without pirating, due to the massive used game prices?

We just got Wii U and 3DS games. If they're not going to offer anything new, at least offer us stuff thats hard to play in the modern era. They just need to actually try for once

@KateGray thats fine as long as its Billy Hatcher themed!

But in the end, we keep buying those lazy ports, not even remasters or remakes, like all the people that bought the Mario 3d collection (I admit I would buy a Zelda 3d collection, but not SS alone)... so Nintendo keeps laughing and playing it safe and cheap.

yep agree 100%

@Zuljaras that's only relevant to 3rd party publishers, whose revenue depends wholly on software sales. 1st parties like Nintendo or Sony have the means and safety net to be creative and try new things. That's why so many new IPs come out of Sony on a regular basis, for example

@Zuljaras We are not talking about your neighbor who is developing a indie title together with her friends in the garage. We are talking about Nintendo, one of the largest gaming forge in the world with a lot of money in the vault.

It's not like indies are a lot better, most popular indie games are just cheaper spiritual sequels to existing franchises.

Don’t forget that skipping game they released last year...

I bloody love Kate's articles. Really miss ONM, so it's great to have Kate and Chris here.

And on topic: yes, getting tired of ports, though the odd remake is sometimes welcome. Guess the nostalgia market is doing pretty at the moment well though.

Agree. Surely Nintendo can afford to do both too. Remasters and new games or new IP.

I love the remakes personally, but I see your point. Nintendo better be careful or it (bit of a stretch here) might be a third party developer.

Don’t care... I want a Castlevania!!!

Gimme the new stuff Nintendo. Gimme gimme gimme

@Jack_Goetz I was a subscriber to ONM since I was 8 years old right until it died. Really miss it too so it’s nice to see the old crew on here occasionally. I’ve seen Matthew do a couple of reviews every once in a while too.

Why new ideas or sequels when we could have more Wii U on the Switch?

@kategray "Constantly reliving The Goonies ain't gonna take us back to our blinkered kid years."

Whoa now... i mean maybe we haven't watched it ENOUGH times?

Right?

Yes, but only give the budget to the indies that are not stuck replicating an old game

@KateGray Looks like their next one is in Mario Golf. Speed Golf is legitimately genius!

But you are right, with how easy new gameplay ideas are to make, you would think they would be more prolific than they are lol.

They don’t have any.

@Zuljaras LABO was playing it safe as it only could be. There is not much development time needed for cardboard...

Is it too much to ask for another Nintendo game that is not just the same again again? I cannot stand playing my Wii and WiiU library again and again. For crying out loud, I enjoyed Pikmin 3 in 2013 (!). And even then, I thought that this is such an extension of the feeling I had in the year 2002..

I want to see a Beatmania IIDX style game by Nintendo team. Donkey Conga wasn't enough.

I barely ever get ports/remakes (Original had to age badly, new has lots of improvements or tons of additional content or I lost access to original)
But I don't blame them for lack of new content
I don't believe they take up production budget/time/people, rather they are there to patch out holes while we wait for "new" content

Not the the 2000s. The era of boring sequels and remakes like: Kirby Air Ride, Luigi's Mansion, Wind Waker, Mario Galaxy, Paper Mario 64, Warioware, Pikmin, Drill Dozer, Donkey Konga, Wii Sports, Hotel Dusk, Chibi-Robo, Animal Crossing, Cubivore, Nintendogs, Golden Sun, and Brain Age.

There's no such thing as too many ports. I want all my favorites from years past to be available on Switch. Every one.

I love living in the past you boomer.

@larryisanassman What do we need a Mario Kart 9 for?

Nintendo is just better all-around when they struggle. Now that they're succesfull again it feels like they've become arrogant and are content on cutting corners whenever possible.

As someone who had not played between snes and switch, I do not mind remasters. What I find really upsetting and unfair from Nintendo is the 60eur price level. Anyway I found Mario Odyssey utterly boring. I am fine with indies.

Totally agree, and Nintendo has actually done everything to help third parties create new IP (the Switch is still selling strong after 4 years). They simply cannot anymore, the Switch is at a peak and we've only really seen Square take an interest in Switch exclusives and to a lesser extent now Capcom. I find it totally bizarre that even Indies haven't managed to do much imaginative with Switch. Something like Wii U's Affordable Space adventures, should be occuring every few months with Switch's install base. This gen, no one has taken any risks, yet the same studio's are folding and re opening as "new" studio's. So even playing it safe isn't working out for some devs (surely that is a sign of true stagnation in the market, at least ideas wise).
The whole industry could do with a shake up.

I disagree about not wanting to live in the 00s, have you seen what the world has become in the 2020s!

@Kevember You can call them simps all you like but it is still true.
But on the other hand now that the well ran dry for the market that missed the WiiU there needs to be something new. something fresh to make system remembered by. Even the Gameport Advance had fresh original games that defined the system.

I’m happy to double dip with certain old games, but they never port the ones I want.

I love the last sentence. It captures exactly why the indie scene has become my new hangout for all things gaming. "The weird and the wonderful" are there for sure. But also the original, the honest, the raw, the quiet, the creative, the personal, the flawed, the restrained, the pure genius... the Indie scene is the most likely place to find any of things in video games these days

@Expa0 I agree with this the Wii u had some amazing games cos Nintendo were up against it they really put effort into its releases I feel somewhat let down by the switch in some respects as I either own or have played the best the Wii u had to offer but on the flip side there are millions who didn’t but the Wii u and GameCube are some of my favourite consoles cos Nintendo were forced to produce excellent games to get noticed I feel the standards have slipped in recent times

The big new games take years to create so the ports and remakes are quick and easy releases to tide us over until the next big game is released. If ports and remakes did not happen, there would be long empty periods of time without any big name games, even if many of them are old big name games.

"Things get even more frustrating when things like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe continue to sell ridiculously well because you know they are holding off on putting out Mario Kart 9 as a result."

"What do we need a Mario Kart 9 for?"

I'd rather Mario Kart 8 Deluxe to have even more DLC than to have Mario Kart 9 on Switch. Also, I think "Mario Kart 9" is Mario Kart Tour and the next console release will be called Mario Kart 10.

I would love more new ips and risks but I find alot of the time by not buying new is etc the lesson we teach developers is no thanks give us COD 27, yearly fifa and Skyrim for 4th time and we make it rain cash.
Poor project STEAM, Doshin the giant sushi strikers and ever oasis etc rot in bargain bins discounted till no longer in print.
Even things like Federation Force the pitchforks were out before anyone played it to see if had merit

Excellent talking point. The Switch is fantastic but recently it feels like half, if not more, of it’s first party library has been just ports or remasters.

Obviously we have the great number of Wii U ports. I’ve purchased a couple of them for the games I absolutely love, such as Mario Kart 8 and Tropical Freeze. And at some point I swear I’ll finally buy my first Pikmin game... but outside of those, it’s all been easy to ignore.

Then there are the onslaught of remakes lately: Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee, Link’s Awakening, Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX, Xenoblade Chronicles, Mario All-Stars, and now we also have Skyward Sword HD, Miitopia, and Diamond and Pearl on the way. Add in the Wii U ports and it adds up to a lot of “old” games.

It also doesn’t help that some new titles have been a bit controversial. There was the huge Sword and Shield dilemma and The Origami King definitely saw mixed reactions.

Positives now. Most other “new” Switch games have been fanatic. Breath of the Wild and Odyssey were huge, ambitious strides for their respective franchises and I’m hoping we see more of that in the future. They definitely took some risks with these titles and they felt weird... like GOOD weird. Other titles have been outstanding too like Splatoon 2, Smash Bros Ultimate, Mario Maker 2, Three Houses, Luigi’s Mansion 3, and obviously Animal Crossing.

This year though... well there isn’t a lot outside of remakes and ports. I’m excited for New Pokémon Snap and Mario Golf Super Rush (I’m lowkey a HUGE Mario Golf fan)... and I’ll probably pick up Shining Pearl depending on what extra content it includes. But yeah, that’s about it for me so far.

At least 2022 seems like it will be packed with ambitious new games: Pokémon Legends, Splatoon 3, and probably Breath of the Wild 2 and Metroid Prime 4... just guesses on those last two, naturally. But I would like to see more completely new titles, or at least have Nintendo bring out a dormant franchise like F-Zero or something. Guess we can only look ahead!

@Kevember @nessisonett Insulting people for not believing as you do says everything about you and nothing about them, and assuming that their fandom is blind, in contrast to yours which is thoughtful and measured, is sheer arrogance.

2020 we had Mario kart live, 2019 Ring fit adventure and astral chain, 2018 had Labo, 2017 had ARMS and botw.
They do come out with a new in house experimental title every year, so I don't think this write up is fair. You can't keep a video game company alive without having a bedrock that ppl keep coming back to.
If you keep innovating, you can misplace how people identify you

Whilst I have bought the majority of the ports (mainly for my partner) My favourite switch games have been the "new" games such as astral chain, three houses, paper mario and splatoon 2. But the vast majority of games have been ports and I have already played on previous consoles so its hard to get excited

I've been quite happy with the library for the Switch. A lot of excellent first party titles, the best third party support Nintendo has had since the SNES (for a console. I know handheld they have had strong support from third parties for a while), and a growing number of awesome independent titles. I also love the large number of retro titles available. So many good games!

I do wonder why Nintendo sits on so many IPs and does nothing with them. F-Zero, Pilotwings, Startropics, Kid Icarus... there are so many good IPs that just sit and gather dust.

If you don't have the time and resources to work on them, why not give your partners like Retro, Platinum, Next Level some more freedom to work on them? Or better yet, branch out and give maybe Capcom, Ubisoft or other third party partner the chance to take on a Nintendo exclusive?

Prometheus was actually great. Basically a deep dive into the lore of Alien. I for one loved it and I'm really looking forward to Raised by Wolves Season 2 which seems to connect.

I agree with the gist of the article: more risks, more new experiences, etc.

But here's my counter-argument: we need access to videogame history. I haven't played the Metroid Prime Trilogy, I haven't played Chrono Trigger, I haven't played Super Mario RPG... I'd like these on Switch.

People who buy ports are often people who never played those old games to begin with. I didn't buy the Super Mario 3D collection for the nostalgia. I had never played any of those titles before.

Until backwards compatibility is a regular fixture in the console world — or until the return of the Virtual Console — , ports are going to be necessary.

@JimmySpades

Testify! Let's just be a little more positive.

Although they've certainly climbed aboard the remake train, I feel like Nintendo deserves a pass when it comes to their sequels, just because they are very willing to take big risks within the sequel framework. It's very rare for Nintendo to release a sequel that's exactly like the game before it. Breath of the Wild may be another Zelda game, but there had also never been another game quite like it. Same with Mario Odyssey, which leans a bit into the old formulas, but still provides a distinct experience. Heck, even when everyone BEGS them to make a Paper Mario game just like the old ones, they keep changing it up, for better or worse.

This is an excellent article. I've honestly thought the same thing for a long time know. think of all the whacky unqieu nintendo games that came out on GameCube: baiten kaitos a weird rpg that was pretty good pikmin one of my top 5 games kirby air ride an amazing racing game starring everyones favorite puff ball metroid prime jumping into a fps of all things Mario strikers with it's dark feel for some reason chibi robo which is weirdest of the weird and of course animal crossing. The only thing that comes to mind for switch is labo arms and 1 2 switch, which are fine but two are just eh.

But here's my counter-argument: we need access to videogame history. I haven't played the Metroid Prime Trilogy, I haven't played Chrono Trigger, I haven't played Super Mario RPG... I'd like these on Switch.

They're available. You just need a Wii U. Its impossible to expect videogame history to be on only one console. Having a Switch, a PlayStation 4, a Wii U and 3DS is the best way to have access to videogame history.

@FX102A

They aren't really investments in a lot of cases though. What has Nintendo given us?

Tropical Freeze - adding Funky Kong and nothing else
MK8 deluxe - bundled all the DLC... and nothing else
Mario Bros U - 99% the same
3d Mario collection - all the same, warts and all
Bayonetta - like for like

Its not like they are pouring love and effort into updating these games or even giving them QoL updates in most cases. They are just lazy cash grabs.

Thing is, it works so why would they bother with doing much more. People complain and then lap these up because they haven't got many other options.

New Nintendo games are cool and all, until we get something like Other M... or Federation Force...

@larryisanassman I agree, especially with Pikmin 3 and Tropical Freeze.

An excellent piece, and finally some balance to all the portbegging articles we get here.

@idrawrobots I get your point but I think the idea is that we don't want Nintendo to just rehash all of the 2000s games, not that it was a bad era for gaming.

But I'm old and set in my ways and know what I like

I owned a PS1 in the late 90s, and for me it was The Ultimate Console because it had lots of ports. Ports of games that were several years old already and were previously available only on specific machines, now all came gathered under one roof of PS1 and made shinier, because devs had time to fix post-release bugs. PS1 had the library of, as we say today, Definitive Editions of older games, and that's why so many people, myself included, loved it.

And currently the same thing is happening to Switch. You want new 1st party big budget titles, shiny and chrome? Check. Fancy an indie game with truly original concept? eshop is your friend. Something proven from several years ago? Yup. Link's Awakening that knows gamepads today have more than two buttons? Under different name, but yes, we have that too. One Console to Rule Them All indeed.

@Bass_X0

Having games locked into obsolete hardware is not availability.

I'm trying to look beyond 2021. How are we going to play those old games in 2025? In 2035? That's what I'm worried about.

@Kategray

Why all the malarkey about going all 'grumpy old man'?

Grumpy old ladies can be much more frightening. We deserve our time; we've earned the title.

Own it as a badge of honour.

@Donnerkebab

Pricing is a different discussion. We're debating the validity and existence of ports. Most run for about 10 or 20 bucks, and the Mario 3D Collection technically followed suit.

If you're on the grumpy train to Complainsville you're not a member of the population, you're just a tourist.

Emrin Sha, Complainsville resident since 2004.

Two games I’d love to see revisited more than anything is fzero and timesplitters. It’s been so long for each it’d be a breath of fresh air at this point. Timesplitters rewind is coming along but who knows if it’ll ever come to consoles.

"Stop making ports and remakes."

Nintendo: Looks at sales of Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury, Mario Kart 8 DX, NSMBU DX, etc

Nintendo: "No, I don't think I will."

"All the ports and remakes."

Dude obviously can't count.

@k8sMum hang on are you actually my mum

If only Nintendo would do what Sony does on its console and not have any sequels (The Last Of Us II), remakes (Resident Evil) or ports (GTA V... the announcement of a PS5 port was the highlight of their last presentation).

I almost never buy games I already own in any form, and I think more people should do that. Experiencing new things is good and experiencing the same things forever is bad.

Nintendo's usually at its best when its able to maintain old and new. Its ports and remakes are the right games at the right times for the right audience, its new games work within its franchises while genuinely innovating (not remaking Star Fox 64 again except with a new control scheme), and there's new IPs between all those releases.

We get a good balance I think. Looking back, you had one good Zelda, one good Metroid, a couple of good Mario games on the SNES. Then side stuff and great 3rd party. We’ve actually got quite a bit of fresh games on Switch that offer a lot of gameplay and replay value. I still gotta finish Xenoblade 2, and I have loose ends on Breath of the Wild and Mario Odyssey. I think what ports or remakes we’ve gotten are welcome. I actually get overwhelmed. As bad as I want Metroid Prime Trilogy HD, I would have to make room for it. I think its good balance that we’re getting Skyward Sword HD to hold us over until Breath of The Wild 2. Honestly, a few more Wii games wouldn’t hurt... like WARIO LAND!!!

Did you have to repeatedly use the "grumpy old man" thing?

Having games locked into obsolete hardware is not availability.

Last generation (which is also able to play the generation prior to that) is hardly obsolete hardware.

Well Pokemon Snap and Mario Golf sequels are coming up soon which I'm really looking forward to. At least they're sequels to something older that we've not seen for ages!

I disagree, I love the ability to replay games on Switch. Getting to replay games like Bioshock and Mario Galaxy on a handheld is a dream. And lets not act like just because the game was previously released, everyone's played it. They keep porting over Wii U games because the Wii U sold less than 15M units(!!!) worldwide and people are buying them on Switch.

Furthermore on the topic of existing games being new to people. Games like the Borderlands trilogy, the Metro games and The Witcher 3 are new to me, hence why I bought them on Switch.

I still think Nintendo does the best job of bringing refreshing, new games and ideas to the maket. Even their sequels/new games in existing franchises like Luigi's Mansion 3, Smash Ultimate, Breath of the Wild and Splatoon 2 have something going for them and hard to replicate on the competition.

Okay, so lets think about this question in terms of movies.

Do you want to throw away your original 70s and 80s classics just so you can watch solely modern movies? You want to watch Star Wars? You can only watch the Disney trilogy, not ports of the original trilogy on Blu-Ray.

Often the old games and movies still have entertainment value that cannot be matched by modern releases.

You are awesome for saying that

@nessisonett, you pissed off the whole Splatoon community.

But really, how dare you say that about Boxboy.

@HotGoomba I’d care more about Splatoon if I really played that many online shooters. Even then, I just couldn’t really get on with it. My brother likes it though.

@KateGray
I'll be your cool aunt.

The odd thing to me about the 80s mania is that it seemed targeted strictly toward people way too young to have had anything to do with it. So not necessarily nostalgia baiting (or I guess nostalgiabating, when it comes down to it) but more of an opportunity for very young people to do the very young people thing of getting into something so they can say they were into it before the new version, or some such. If that makes any sense. My god do my comments ever run on.

@Mando44646 Hitting close to home. I just dug out my GBA sp this morning to play the wonderful Golden Sun. I’d prefer to do it on my DS lite but the dpad isn’t reliable. I recently hooked up my PS3 to replay the original Resident Evil games. At the dawn of console eshops companies didn’t mind just selling straight untouched ports of old games for $5-10. The original Final Fantasy 7 is I think $8 on ps3, it’s $15 on PS4. Now I feel like if Nintendo were to put Golden Sun or the Zelda Oracle games on Switch they’d charge $15-25, despite Oracles being $7 or 8 on the 3DS shop.

Give me a GBA slot on the SuperSwitch oh my god.

ARMs and Ring Fit aren’t all timers?

Sir, I disagree. Happen to love both considerably.

Additionally, the thumbnail makes me really hope for a remake of Wario World.

Totally agreed about everything the article said. It's not just Nintendo, it's Sony, too, who just closed their most experimental studio purely because it wasn't cranking out blockbuster hits and wanted to make more niche games, SIE Japan Studio. That studio cranked out most of what I'd consider Playstations's best games since the beginning, but they weren't huge mass market sellers, and a few were flops, though it wasn't helped that the games were effectively set up to fail by WiiU grade marketing efforts at best.

It's the industry standard now. Reel in experiments and crank out the hits. I don't think that'll change until the hits fail. Considering GTAV is going on it's THIRD GENERATION as top dog for reasons I still can't wholly comprehend, I don't see that happening any time soon. My money's still on MS there.

Splatoon came about because Iwata was intentionally courting experimentation. The new management are financiers and bankers. They care about results on the spreadsheet, not creative energy driving the future. They care about last quarter, not next quarter.

Wasn't too long ago I recall the big complaint being "too many sequels", so I guess now we've moved on to "Too many remakes/ports/remasters".

The thing is, Nintendo HAS put forth innovative ideas and creative ventures. Some like Codename Steam failed. We've also seen plenty of successful new ideas with Breath of the Wild, Mario Oddy, Three Houses, ARMs, Ring Fit, etc. For the most part I think this is a fair balance and it seems like Nintendo does this every so often to fill in the dead zones between major releases. I guess it boils down to whether or not you'd rather have a few remakes/ports or have no new releases at all. Skyward Sword HD is clearly meant to keep us busy till BotW2 for example. Otherwise the complaint would be too few releases.

For me personally, I don't mind it. Judging by how well 3D World is selling, I imagine a lot of people are okay with it. It lets people who never got to experience the original get a chance to try it out on a platform they're more likely to own, while old onions like me who enjoy playing an older game with some extras are happy to double dip. For example I've been diving into the Blizzard Collection and the Capcom Arcade Stadium despite owning a means of playing most of the games. This time around I actually stuck with Ghosts n Goblins long enough to beat it (twice) and have developed a stronger appreciation for it. The rewind feature in particular helped me get through some of the tougher parts and practice the bosses. If anything I wish there were more ways to enjoy past titles. I'd love to see Sega release some sort of Dreamcast or Saturn compilation for example. If I have any complaint with this trend it's that we tend to get the same games over and over, such as with basically anything Sega releases. Less Sega Genesis/Mega Drive ports and more 32X, Saturn, or Dreamcast ports.

Then again I'm one of those weirdos who wants a Super NT even though I have an SNES hooked up to a CRT so... yeah.

Speaking of which, all this talk about Wario makes me want a collection of the Wario Land games. Despite owning them all, I'd gladly double dip. Also, Wario Land Shake it would be a nice bonus.

Also. I do somewhat agree with the writer. I needed time to read the rest of the article while at work. I think Nintendo has done well giving us new things like Splatoon and Arms. Xenoblade and Daemon X Machina (not all developed by Nintendo but exclusive to Nintendo) are more my style. I know Chibi Robo and Pikmin probably doesn’t do as well as they’d like. They do try to give us new ideas sometimes, but they aren’t well received. A lot of stuff during the 3DS and Wii U era, I did try to give a chance. I personally would love to see Nintendo try to reach the more serious, mature audience. Do their own spin on games like Metal Gear, Ghost, Witcher, or Dark Souls. Like, a hardcore, new Mysterious Murasame’s Castle game.

I can someone understand the sentiment, but this really reads like a third rate youtuber-like article trying to fan the flames but not based on facts. Nintendo’s done a lot more than the article would have you believe. Nintendo put out Stretchers, GoodJob, Snipperclips, Astral Chain, Sushi Striker, Buddy Bond, probably much more

It also misses that new IP and new idea is not the same thing. Old IP can bring new ideas and new IP can just be derivative (which is often the case)

Totally agree , they really need some new IPs, or bring back some of those they have been sitting on for years.

I want to be able to play all my old stuff on new hardware. I also like new games, we can have both!

NINJA APPROVED

@larryisanassman I don't know what to say I'd rather get new tracks than a new game. A better idea than Mario Kart 9 would be Mario Kart Tour DLC for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

ports will stop when everybody stops wanting them. but everyone gets mad when there is no way to play old games on switch so that is why they do it. the first comment in this thread i saw wanted thousand year door remastered and that is exatly why they do ports.

@HotGoomba
i thought you wanted new games not thousand year door remastered

@Mando44646
you ask for new games but ask why they do not offer older games which are ports. stop contradicting yourself

It actually feels like we're re-living 2005 or so. Remember when EA went on their buying binge, the industry consolidated, and few new games were coming out because everything was bout AAA, AAA, AAA and the idea that big publishers will make a few big games that everybody will buy, and smaller budget games don't have a place in the market? That idea waned for years. Now we're back to it.

Ports of old games are great. And old game is still a new game if you've never played it before - don't ever forget that.

While I'm annoyed by the amount of ports to new games I do recognize the importance of ports. Not only are they relatively safe investments, they are also really useful for training new talent. If you have a bunch of new developers the best way to get them used to game development and the office structure is to have them work on a port. It's just at a certain point it starts to feel just plain stupid. Look at The Last of Us. It was ported to the PS4 & 5 and they didn't really change much. I don't want to see that within a few years of every games' release for Nintendo. Like if they do release a "Switch Pro" we shouldn't see a Breath Of The Wild Ultra HD Edition. That would just be infuriating.

@Zuljaras
i think old ideas can still be good. i mean lets look at a game like link between worlds it takes a lot from a link to the past but still feels like a new game

@Bass_X0
lets be honest mario kart is basicaly a port for every game. they play the same and just look better

Looking at Nintendo's first party published titles for 2021 so far:
> Buddy Mission Bond (Japan-only): Brand new game
> Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury: Enhanced port of a Wii U game + Brand new game/expansion
> Bravely Default 2 (in the west): Brand new game
> New Pokémon Snap: Brand new game
> Famicom Detective Club: From-the-ground-up remake of a Japan-only Famicom game
> Miitopia: Remaster of a 3DS game
> DC Superhero Girls: Brand new game
> Mario Gold Super Rush: Brand new game
> Zelda Skyward Sword HD: Remaster of a Wii game
> Pokémon Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl: From-the-ground-up remake of a NDS game

(Breath of the Wild 2, Splatoon 3, Project Triangle Strategy, Metroid Prime 4, and Bayonetta 3 are also all brand new games, though none are confirmed to release this year)

I think this list strikes a decent balance between new content and ports/remasters/remakes. Obviously, not all of these games may be of interest to everyone (I doubt anyone here cares about DC Superhero Girls lol) and it could probably use like one additional new game to spice things up, but it's certainly not a list of only ports or remasters.

@idrawrobots or what about an open world Mk for this generation?

Regardless, I am pretty underwhelmed with this year’s line up. Mario Golf is my only highlight.

Holy ****, this article reflects quite a bit of my problems with Nintendo at the moment. My only real disagreement is about sequels, I think they are a good thing and to be fair, I think the same problems I have with Nintendo I am also having with Sony (though not quite as bad).

I have never understood the idea that because one developer is churning out ports/remakes, it is okay for everyone else to do the same. It's not. The industry will ultimately stagnate if we remain in this constant cycle of remakes and ports.

I for one, love "good" old games getting remastered in HD for example. What I would love to see is more sequels or games in the same universe. New games are cool too but wouldn't it be cool if most good games continued. I would love sequels to Lost Odyssey, more Breath of Fire, The Last Remenant, more Chrono Trigger, Genghis Khan, more Secret of Mana, more Dark Souls, Dragon's Dogma, more Etrian Odyssey, more Emperor of the Fading Suns, more Battletech/Mechwarrior, more Fallout 1 or 2, more Star Fox and others etc.

I suppose the positive spin on this argument is the Switch will be the only Nintendo console I need to keep and collect for in the future.

I think Nintendo has done a pretty good balance between new games and older games. I'm feeling pretty happy with my Switch experience. Let's hope 2021 fills out nicely in the fall and holiday season.

lets be honest mario kart is basicaly a port for every game. they play the same and just look better

Thats pretty much what I want from the Mario Kart series.

HOWEVER, I would like non-Mario Kart courses from other Nintendo racing games to appear in the retro cups. F-Zero, Wave Race, Stunt Race FX, Diddy Kong Racing, Excitebike 64, Excite Truck. Really shake up the retro cups a bit.

Speak for yourself. F-Zero GX, the greatest & fastest racing game of all time has never been re-released.

I have to agree. But I don't MIND remakes, as long as they're in addition to new games / made by a different developer. We also need old games for cheap as well. By old I mean game and watch to wii. Highest price being $20.
I want this. I would pay for this. But it won't happen. The main game I've been playing isn't made by nintendo, it's made by an indie team.
I don't wanna replay a nintendo game for the 9th time. I don't wanna have to emulate any old game I want to play. I like playing something NEW, or with so much content that I play it for years. We are in 2021 at this point. I only bought 1 new nintendo game last year, they can do a whole lot more.

My favorite game isn't made by nintendo, or sony, or microsoft, or any other large AAA studio. My favorite game is made by an indie studio, Moonsprout Games. But I am sad that it exists. Bug Fables was only made because nintendo wouldn't what fans asked for. At all.

GameFreak won't listen either, but they still get money. I like the switch, but I don't like the people running it. I'm not gonna play a nintendo game tonight, or even on a nintendo system. I'm gonna play Terraria.

@JimmySpades The fanboys' assumption that any criticism toward Nintendo comes from entitlement is misguided at best. I used to be a fanboy myself and I know perfectly well how miserable life can be for a Nintendo simp. Nintendo is still my favorite videogame company but I really dislike where they seem to be headed as of late.

Lots of remakes and remasters. Hmm....Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo. It is the future allegedly. If you want quality and innovation the place to look is at Indie game titles.

I think part of the problem is that Nintendo doesn't seem to really care about story, characters or world building. They are focused on gameplay and developing new game mechanics more than anything. This means that if they have a new gameplay idea, they'll use it for an existing franchise rather than something new. The creation of new worlds and stories doesn't seem to appeal to them (to Miyamoto, at least).

The hat/possession mechanics of Mario Odyssey could easily have been used to develop a new IP. Same for the gravity platforming in Galaxy - that in itself could have been another separate game series. Mario is a long-running series with a lot sequels. But from another point of view, Nintendo has developed a lot of new ideas and new franchises, but they are all disguised as Mario games.

Having said that, I do agree with the article. I would like something new, maybe something radically different from anything they've done before. I don't know what but I guess for Nintendo that would mean something with a stronger focus on story, maybe something more adult and emotional.

@westman98 Looking at Nintendo's first party published titles for 2021 so far:
> Buddy Mission Bond (Japan only): I'm not Japanese
> Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury: Port of a Wii U game+ 6 hour expansion
> Bravely Default 2 (in the west):Sequel
> New Pokémon Snap: Sequel
> Famicom Detective Club: remake of a Japan-only NES game
> Miitopia: a 3DS game
> DC Superhero Girls: Did you really put this on the list?
> Mario Gold Super Rush: Brand new game (still not very unique)
> Zelda Skyward Sword HD: Remaster
> Pokémon Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl: Low quality remake

So the only thing that really counts as something truly new is bowsers fury, golf if you wanna stretch it. Doesn't look very new to me. (especially in terms of new ips)

Can we just be honest here and say that Nintendo hasn't had an original idea for a game in many many years?

What was the last original idea?
Pikmin, 2001?

Everything else has just been variations of something that already exists. Pokemon is just rinse and repeat and it seems they keep giving it the lowest budget possible with lazy games.

@electrolite77 Its difficult but Nintendo has kind of been lazy too.
Last Donkey Kong was 2014, they keep sleeping on Metroid, no original IPs since Splatoon.
It seems they are really good at original hardware and give up on games.

@Low_ink
I made an objective list describing what Nintendo has in store. You are welcome to love or despise every game listed - that's not the point.

Also, sequels are new. "New content" doesn't exclusively mean "New IPs".

@earthinheritor
Arms, Labo, and Ring Fit are all brand new IPs.

Completely ignoring several NEW Mario games for the Switch, the new Splatoon, the upcoming BotW sequel, the still in progress Metroid Prime, 2 NEW Pokemon games, one of which was recently announced and so on and so forth.

New games can't be churned out on a whim, like platefuls of pizza rolls, they do take time to make.

Entitled much? A much too much...

@KateGray Its the purchase that keeps on giving.

Can't help but feel like everyone is being kind of a baby. Just wait Nintendo going to drop some bombs in no time.

@mctrials23 Someone doesn't know the difference between a port and a remaster.

Ports are for people who want the more authentic experience of the game they loved.

Remasters adds lots of extra spit and polish to help smooth things out.

@earthinheritor "no new original IPs since Splatoon"
Arms, Ring Fit, and Astral Chain: Are we a joke to you?

@earthinheritor Splatoon and ARMS are pretty new. Don't be dishonest for the sake of exaggeration.

Yikes, what a bad take.

Rarely are company's able to surpass their older games. So it makes sense to a lot of people to get games from previous gens on the switch. (Yh we talking specifically about switch, but could in a lesser degree also be a graphical upgrade on ps5 and xboxX)

I get that new games is what drives the industry forward, but your mindset is whats wrong with gaming journo's.

Bassicly asking for ppl to crunch so we could get new games constantly as if appearing out of thin air.

What a joke

BOTW, Odyssey, MK8,Animal Crossing etc. are still selling well. Maybe Nintendo is holding things back because of that.

Nintendo are using the switch to sell the games they made for the wii u. Only standout game for switch in 4 years is odyssey

Ports are okay...with certain caveats. The problem with Nintendo's approach on Switch (as with previous systems) is that there's no backwards compatibility to help "future proof" digital purchases in particular. Until recently each purchase was tied to a single console rather than a user account, which was even worse. But they are still miles behind Sony and especially Microsoft as far as BC. And BC would also solve the issue of having to double-dip (or more) in order to play a legacy title on the current hardware. But then Nintendo, like any corporation, is in business to make MONEY, and so such a feature is likely seen as contradicting that goal when they can keep churning out quick and easy ports for the full $60 price, especially when consumers pay it (over and over again).

As for originality, there will always be some new games dropping maybe once or twice a year that are either genuine sequels or original IPs, but overall the Switch has quietly become associated with token effort (look at Nintendo Online and the eShop that's an overflowing garbage bin of countless "Nindie" games that even Steam might turn its nose up at, long gaps between major first-party releases, and tons of ports of older games including third-party titles long since out of vogue on other platforms). It's frankly not a great look.

But it's been ridiculously profitable for Nintendo nonetheless, so why would they care about consumer complaints even if they're valid?

These ports and remakes aren't exactly for whoever "doesn't want to relive the 2000s". They're for everyone who didn't live much of those gaming 2000s to begin with, be it the ones born after or the ones like me who plain didn't have access to the related hardware back then. And heck, I had bootleg A2600, Famicom and Mega Drive clones as a kid, privy to once west-exotic stuff like Battle City - but the romset age still unveiled an absolute abyss of games I had yet to experience. Relive the childhood? My childhood is but a drop in the sea of its contemporary backlogs anyway - and once these backlogs show up on my top fave platform, the choice is kinda obvious. That goes for Nintendo just like any other publisher and developer.

As for new games, they don't and shouldn't come with the goal of being all-timers - few products consciously pursuing such a goal have ever succeeded. They're fun, they resonate with multiple audiences, they remain their own exciting fictionverses and illustrative parts of Nintendo's history. No crime in being "average" - all the masses living on a binary "awesome/awful" tumbler can shove it. But whatever pace Nintendo churns them out at, I still expect more (no matter when - yet again, I can NEVER picture myself not knowing what to play in the meantime), and I sure dare fantasize as much as the next fanbrain. A Nintendo take on an open-world racer, for instance? YES, PLEASE. My body ready when they are.

@Zuljaras Nintendo hasn’t had any real failures this generation. Arms was new and it has sold millions. 1-2 Switch was new. It has sold millions. Splatoon was new for the wii u. That has bern a raging success and are outselling most other franchises nintendo has. Ring fit adventures is new snd that is also a big successs. So I mean. Nintendo slmost can’t fail. They have firstly too much quality. Secondly a giant fanbase willing to try most things nintendo branded. With all the money they have it’s surprising that they don’t invest more in building new teams or buying new teams to help them make more games. 3-4 new games a year isn’t very much for a big company like Nintendo I would argue. The more games they would make, the more games they would sell. But I guess it’s increasingly hard to keep it together if they become too big. Miyamoto can only supervise so much

Resi 2 remake is the gold standard! Nintendo release 3D all stars and put zero effort into it. I would absolutely love a complete reimagined oot. I know it will never happen

1) Final Fantasy 6 Remake (With FF7 Remake graphics)
2) Eternal Darkness 2
3) Beyond Good & Evil 2
4) Metroid Prime 4
5) New Monkey Island
6) New Prince of Persia
7) New Gauntlet
8) New F-Zero
9) New Kid Icarus
10) New King's Quest

Wow! Everything I want is a remake or sequel. I've seen a lot of good in my time... and I want more!

@earthinheritor
arms, ring fit if you count that,

100%. Nintendo is charging full price for lazy ports. Fans line up to overpay so why should they change? If fans could delay buying these games, Nintendo would change their strategy.
I’ve been really disappointed with new Nintendo games on Switch. Many games like Luigi’s Mansion was farmed out and it showed. It was good but far from a must play.
I’m excited about BOTW2 and Metroid, but I’m not looking forward to much else.

Mhh~ Well, I can understand that some people are angry at Nintendo at the moment. But I don't understand it when people eg say that the Switch has no games. Like, currently I have 364 games on my eShop wishlist. But, I also never understood why people say that the Vita was never alive, because I still love my Vita and I'm not done with it anytime soon. :3
It is... uhm... I dunno, people love the XBox these days because Gamepass and stuff, but... sometimes I'm looking at that XBox site to see what's available there at the moment and I honestly couldn't care less about the offer...

What I want to say, without offending anyone, is, that people have opinions, yeah, nothing wrong with that, but instead of complaining people should maybe look around what else could be interesting FOR THEM. I moved from PlayStation to Nintendo this year. Last month to be precise. And aside the handhelds the Switch is my first Nintendo console. So... I'm sorry, but for me (and I'm for sure not alone) all these remakes and ports are new games...

...But, I honestly would advice to not give a billions budget to an indie. Because having no worries is what ruins developers. Like, I read an interview with some developers that said that EA back then didn't destroy them with force but with lots of money and too much love. Seriously, they said that EA gave them too much money and freedom, and that made them fearless and arrogant because they weren't scared about surviving anymore...

...Which you can see at the PS3 for example. Sony was super arrogant, because the PS2 was "the best console ever". They beefed the PS3 up so much, wanted to brag really hard, with such exotic hardware that nobody was ever able to use its full power (Alone the CPU had more GFLOPS than the whole XBox360. Actually the CPU was so beefy that it was able to compete with a 2000$ Intel CPU at this time.) that it had a fail-start because it was how expensive? 600$? 700$?. But it was cheaper than a supercomputer, so the US Airforce build a supercomputer out of PS3s... https://mikeshouts.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/USAF-PS3-544px.jpg

@westman98 the article is about new ideas, and many of those are remakes or ports. Mario golf looks like it's reusing the engine from previous games. And with pokemon the art style is very controversial. Buddy Mission Bond looks to be the most unique and new thing there, but it's a japan exclusive so...

Wait wait wait.... 'trust the process'... @KateGray sixers fan confirmed

The whole Switch is all about re-releases and other ways of getting every penny out of making the consumer paying extra for everything. No backwards compatibility on software, no backwards compatibility on hardware (controllers), extra for online multiplayer, prices are more expensive than ever before...

The Wii U was different. But you see how well that did.

Yet just recently Kate said how great Switch has been while she worked in all these various countries. The Switch itself was very bold for a major hardware maker to try, as the Wii was, and fortunately it paid off. I can see the issue where Nintendo often plays it more safe with their software, and keeps some series dead for years (like F-Zero). But I'm also sure many of these Switch ports were new games to many people. Much of this new game/old port lementing comes down to personal perspective.

If I were to write a wish list, they would all be Ports
Give me the following, and I would be happy (the originals, no iPhone looking tat)
Cannon Fodder (Amiga)
Lemmings (Amiga)
Speedball 2 (Amiga)
Chaos Engine (Amiga)
North & South (not the remake) (Amiga)
Alien Breed (Amiga)
Super Cars (Amiga)
IK+ (Amiga)
Starwars (Atari Arcade)
Chase HQ (Arcade)
Escape from the planet of the Robot Monsters (Arcade)
Rainbow Islands (Arcade)
Cabal (Arcade)
Daytona
Sega Rally
Virtua Fighter
Edit: Pilot Wings 64

The reality is that the Switch is giving a second wind to the 5 years Nintendo invested into the Wii U. Leveraging that library is paying off, clearly. For Wii U-Switch adopters it means one Super Mario title since launch. For Nintendo, they’re on schedule with 3 titles counting the rereleases, the same number the Wii got in it’s first 4 years. Can’t be helped, I suppose.

The thing about ports for me is that if it's a game I like then I already know I enjoy playing it, and I don't have to invest time into playing it until it finally clicks with me. Most new games I don't particularly enjoy from the get-go unless they're just really, really special games. I have to put in some effort up front to get to a point where I'm actually enjoying it. That's obviously not the case with ports of games that I've played before. Plus they give me a chance to play games I missed before. I'd love a port of Spec Ops The Line, though I suppose I could dust off my PS3 and buy it on there.

I miss the 2000s where not everyone thought their whine needed to be heard/read etc by everyone. It could just be me but I am happy with the switch library a mix of new games and ports. I have more games than I will ever be able to finish in the next few years. With more I will pick up and add to the collection and aim to play eventually.

It honestly wouldn't be so bad if Nintendo's low-effort ports weren't priced so high.

@HotGoomba I always feel bad for Pit because he hardly gets his games in the spotlight.

@Low_ink
No company churns out more new IPs to the point where it outpaces the release of sequels and ports/remakes. Would I like more new IP from Nintendo? Absolutely, but at best you'll see one or two per year.

Mario Golf reusing existing engines or Pokemon having a controversial artstyle is irrelevant to the point of discussion (Ring Fit Adventure uses the same engine as Breath of the Wild - does that not make it a new IP?).

Go home boo boo I could care less if it new or repeat... as long as it entertains me and this article did not.

Cue the nintendo fanboys going into a rage over this article.
(Although, i too am a sucker for remakes...)

@blindsquarel no, I want Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door Remastered 2½ Definitive Edition, completely new game.

That was a really good piece of writing! Damn ... you’ll get poached by Polygon

Nintendo Life: we're tired of ports/remakes/remasters
Also Nintendo Life: here's 10 3DS games we think would be great on Switch

Innovation has become a casualty of demands for 4K and 60fps that drive up the costs of development. These push publishers to go with known money makers.

But Nintendo has published smaller stuff this gen. Sushi Strikers, Snipperclips, 1-2-Switch, Arms, Fitness Boxing, Deamon X Machima, Flip Wars, The Stretchers, Good Job!, Jump Rope Challenge, Super Mario 35, Nintendo Labo, Mario Kart Live and Part Time UFO all are new IPs (or new branches of IPs) from this generation.

Many of us seek nostalgia to relive those "better days". It rarely feels satisfying though.

Pokémon fan and no disappointment here. Ignore the trolls.

"I'm Tired Of Ports And Remakes - Where Are All Nintendo's New Ideas?"

Nowhere! Lets milk the whole Wii u/3ds library (those a..holes!)!

I think with the advent of HD games, publishers have to make such big investments in development it is inevitable they play it safe. They can’t afford a dud like they could in the 8-bit or 16-bit eras.
AAA releases get fewer and less experimental.
I certainly can empathize with Kate, but for me personally there is more than enough variety and innovation in indies to tide me over till Nintendo creates their next big IP.
And they do manage to work some innovation into their sequels - I mean, this gen they’ve put some pretty fresh spins on Mario, Zelda, and Fire Emblem. Maybe when they wring the last bit of life out of Wii U ports they’ll get more adventurous - another surprise like Splatoon would be great!

I don't mind imports and remakes as long it's good as the original.

Which yes it's annoying but yet what been happening lately with SJWs pushing crap where do I want a new game with political crap or a remake classic?

Isn't this the same website that frequently posts lists about 3DS/Wii U/whatever games that could use a second chance? I get that you have multiple writers but maybe pick a tone and stick with it.

I think Nintendo is focused on the hardware & gaming experience. They play it safe with their first party games. I do think they support a lot of third party developers to publish games on their platform...maybe that’s where the experimentation is happening?

It might be my 30's talking, but I love nostalgia and reliving the days of yore. As long as it doesn't undercut any new material, I'll gladly buy a remaster, remake or port of a beloved game

@Classic603 I agree. I simply couldn't pass up 3D allstars and would def buy a Zelda collection.
Also some of the ports I never got to play back on the WiiU so they are new to me(SS HD being one of them.).
I would love to see some old classics make a grand return, such as the F-Zero series, Wave Race, Wario World, Cruis'n (Hell they could port the recent arcade release of it.) and many more.
There is a goldmine of IP's they could bring back, it shocks me that they refuse to do so even with fans asking for them for years.

Whatever, bring on the ports. can't wait for the house of the dead and power stone remakes, pretty sure sonic adventure will come and of course Rare Replay needs to be on the switch, its a dream console and having all my favorite retro games on one device that's PORTABLE as well, I'm sold

Nintendo is most generous and experimental when they’re struggling or trying to fill in for third parties not being present. Think to all the creative things in the 3DS Wii U era. Just something like the Mario v DK amiibo game seems like something they wouldn’t do now. Labo, ring fit and Mario Kart Home Circuit are still 10 times more interesting than what other companies are doing, but it still feels like things are missing. We thought that we were gonna get all the handheld and console games together and it doesn’t seem like we’re getting that.

Well, I for one want these re-releases and remakes because I don't have access to those old games anymore or those systems. So keep them coming and add the dormant franchises like Starfox and F-Zero.

@HotGoomba
then why do you not just say a sequal to thousand year door

@Pojos98 I agree. I am getting so frustrated with Nintendo that I am firing up my Xbox One.... if they aren’t careful, I will get a Ps5 when they are readily available.

Codename S.T.E.A.M. - I want a sequel on switch so much. Sigh... it will never happen. What is Intelligent Systems working on these days? (I still hold on to hope).

Obviously original games are better and more interesting. At the same time, ports make these games more accessible. I think back to the GBA era, I got to play Donkey Kong Country, Mario bros 2 and 3... tons of NES and SNES game that I would not have gotten to play.

Ports depend on perspective. Not everyone had a gamecube, or Wii or Wii U. There’s a whole new audience for games like skyward sword, some of the kids who buy that game might not have been born when it came out! Also the switch got many older Nintendo fans, who could have skipped other consoles, back into gaming. Balance and moderation in everything, ports and new games are both good!

New games or ports, as long as I’m entertained I’ve got nothing against what they’re doing.

@BetterThanVegas that’s kinda what they are doing with WiiU ports.... it is infuriating for those of us who already have them. Adding insult to injury, it’s not like they are pumping out new content. Rather, they are all but counting as new content in their release schedule.

@rockodoodle yeah this is underwhelming so far It’s almost like we’re a year into a pandemic or something. Look at the other guys are offering for their new systems, basically nothing.

@blindsquarel Because the comment is obviously satire.

My interest in Nintendo has hit near rock bottom over the past year. At this point my Switch is just there, lying dormant, until I get to play SMTV and BotW2 in 2023 or so.

So yeah, that's a grand two games I want to play on the system that I can't get elsewhere, we don't have release dates for them or anything but teasers, and one isn't even first party.
(And I guess MP4 is a thing, but I might be too old and feeble to hold a controller by the time that's done)

This is my roundabout way of saying that most of Nintendo's IPs are, indeed, stale and boring. You couldn't pay me to play another Mario or Kirby just to name a couple, and Pokemon's been on my ***** list for over a decade.

@rockodoodle Exactly. And it sucks. On the upside, there's like what, 4 Wii U games left they can port? Then they have to either start going through GameCube/Wii games or start making actual new games. At least it's been a decade since those games came out. They'll feel a little more fresh than Tropical Freeze or Mario 3D World.

You say this but...

If Nintendo 64 were made available on for Nintendo online I will go bananas. Come on Nintendo, you know it makes sense...!

Most of the time I spend on my switch currently is playing Mario All-Stars and Donkey Kong Country. Give me Perfect Dark Ocarina of Time and I’ll be set...!

There's always this small, strange army of commenters that seem really happy with Nintendo not releasing new AAA content. They must love handing over full price money for old stuff most of us already played. The remakes would be fine for the youngsters if everyone got a fair amount of truly original and universally acclaimed first party content, but that hasn't happened since 2017.

@15roundTKO
most people who have a switch did not play the wii u games or gamecube.and wii to a lesser extent. these games are new to a lot of owners

@blindsquarel
Well aware of that but like I said remakes are fine if they still made new games that are great. But they don't. They treat Switch (which is now their ONLY current hardware) like the Mini NES/SNES but for Wii, 3ds, and Wii U games.

@15roundTKO
just last year they had oragami king,age of calamity and animal crossing. that is three great exclusives in a year with covid. and they had the pokemon dlc. what they have coming is botw2,metroid 4, 2 new pokemon games and likely more is coming. metroid and botw2 were set to come out this year acording to nintendo.

I think there is a place for both (from a fiscal and nostalgia stand point and from a fiscal and innovation stand point) but I think perspective is in order. There are lots of new experiences that enraged the “they changed it/innovation =gimmick ew, now it sucks” crowd as well as remakes and ports for the “they didn’t change it/I didn’t buy a wiiu, so it sucks crowd”.

Games come out for both types all the time.Nintendo has been pretty good at releasing both in brackets at this point. Don’t wanna relive Link’s awakening? Here have BoTW and the spinoff zelda games (which was not something Nintendo used to like to do without total control). Tired of Smash? Here, play ARMS or arguably Splatoon. Gamers have short, selective memories. And Nintendo has been mixing up artstyles and gameplay styles for a bit.

When I see either pitchfork brigade extreme, I just hunker down and play more games until the hyperbole parade calms down. Play games...you’ll spend less time complaining about them when you do.

I have the benefit of being nearly 40. I got to watch home console gaming grow from the Atari 2600 era, meaning I got to at least follow titles that I might have had an interest in as they came up. There's kids even a quarter of my age that didn't get the chance to experience some stellar titles in their native habitat, and tracking down the means to play them (including the "arr matey" thing, when it comes right down to it) might be difficult to do, moreso than something like a book, film or board game, since you need several components all together to enjoy a video game. I will always be okay with ports/remakes in the name of helping games expand their audience.

Now, if you're remaking something barely three years old, then that's a stretch.

Yes this, but with all systems. Stop with the remakes, or at least make them far less frequent. Give us new games.

And people, stop buying the same game you bought before at $60! If you stop doing it, they won't come out at that price!

I’m happy with the balance they’ve provided so far on the Switch. Got myself a few classics and a few new games to keep things interesting.

I don't get it. I play ARMS every day, all 4 LABO's were amazing, Ring Fit Adventure is totally unique, Mario Kart Live has never been done before, and Clubhouse Games is the game that belongs on every game console (they're mostly public domain), but Nintendo is the only one that decided to make it. These days it seems like everything is just another 3rd person action adventure, or another rpg, or another puzzle game or something so I think that's pretty good for the 9th generation. By this point you'd think all the genres had been invented by now, but there's always something weird they put out. Even within established franchises they put out weird stuff all the time, like Mario Odyssey taking over enemies bodies by throwing your hat, and eliminating levels entirely while putting the setting as Earth rather than a Mario galaxy. Breath of the Wild was completely unlike any Zelda game they had done before, and to the dismay of the complainers on here the new Paper Mario doesn't play like the old ones either.

@Magician Why can't we have both??

Yes please! This 100%.

“ will point out that none of these sequels or remakes are ever bad. They're just not new...”

Hmm... I cannot agree with the gripes about sequels. I mean the Switch has given us new titles in existing IP’s in a very new way (BotW and Mario Odyssey). Those had very “new” ideas that turned out really well. But I CAN understand about the port gripes. Or even the lack of new games in general despite all their resources no longer split between a home console and a handheld console. I mean the only new title we are getting in the first half of the year is Mario Golf. They just keep bringing over the WiiU ports like they did to GameCube on the Wii. I’m all for these good games getting a second shot, especially since most have come with a decent amount of additional content or all DLC included. But... I also want new games too 😂 Especially since I beat the majority of the ports on the WiiU and don’t want to rebuy or replay them again.

I don't know what to say so...
210th comment let's goooooo

Maybe I'm just the oddball who has enjoyed the Marvel and Disney movies (even the live action, except maybe Mulan). Still despite peoples claims that Indie games are better than triple A and that their best experiences of this gem have been on PS4, Nintendo remakes sell, and sell A LOT. Nintendo games are fun, even the ones we have all played before. Just because we've enjoyed them doesn't mean others have as well. If they didn't sell this well Nintendo would have moved on, but it's an easy move, and it works.

On the other side with PS5 and Series X/S, things are just as slow or worse. I've got both consoles and remasters are the only thing they've got now. Halo sells Xbox and Spiderman PS5. If there were any great new game ideas we aren't seeing them yet, still it's easy to sit back and criticize and critique when when we aren't the ones contributing.

@NEStalgia I forgot about that moment in history, and you are totally correct. How interesting!

NINJA APPROVED

@Night-X
You win the innerwebz award for the least understandable post. You did lose 3 points for the buzzwords.

The part about Marvel movies hits home. I'm 40 years old and remember movies that were interesting and quirky. Now we've had 20 years straight of Xmen, Spiderman, and Avengers movies. The rest of the article is spot on as well. You're not grumpy, just observant and objective.

I want em all. Bring all the back catalog of games over! Make me buy Alttp a 4th time!!

"I'm Tired Of Ports And Remakes - Where Are All Nintendo's New Ideas?"

then stop player video games.

I think it depends on person to person, I never played links awakening so was excited to play it but I had completed Super Mario 3d world on Wii u so was slightly bummed that I played it on switch and completed it in a few hours

And every time nintendo or some other company gives you something new you crap on it and cry that it isn't a localization of mother 3 or something. Come off it.

I'm not really sure what the article is asking for here. The title asks for where Nintendo's new ideas are, but the article seems to be ignoring the new ideas they've been putting in (or allowing in) their existing IP's, and dismissing what new IP's Nintendo have made for the Switch as 'good but not great'. Is it asking for a new, original IP that becomes a classic for Nintendo in a couple of decades? Because (putting aside the fact that it's not something you can just do whenever) that's not a problem with Nintendo specifically, that's a problem with AAA gaming and big publishers/developers. Nintendo can try new IP's (and they have), but as we've seen with ARMS, there's no guarantee they'll be a success, and in the meantime, I wouldn't say the new ideas they continue to put in their existing IP's are anything to sneeze at, especially if they lead to titles like BotW and Odyssey.

@Nico07 and wouldn’t now be a great time for Nintendo to release some heavy hitting titles with Xbox and Ps5 slow out of the gate?

Great article. I do feel it’s especially relevant given the switch is a port machine for Wii U. While not entirely new, I’d love to see Nintendo make a new Wario Land or aYoshi’s Island akin to the SNES version not the new yarn or craft stuff. Revisiting some of the old franchises that have been left alone for a while would help tremendously too, like f-zero. Anyways like for ranting about something I can relate to.

Oh and you should consider for your next soap box how games used to cost $40 USD and came with awesome manuals and now games cost $60+ and don’t include any inserts. I know the cost and time to make a game has gone up, but so have profits.

@Mr-Fuggles777 I completely forgot about that game. Thanks for reminding me.

@ARPK Agreed! Would love a Wario game (not the touch stuff).

Not just Nintendo. But the 8th generation was like 90% ports, remakes and remasters and even the "new" ones were sequels or reboots.

@Kevember maybe not, but I got the switch because I wanted to play the best version of BOTW and also for all the rest of the new games you normally get with a Nintendo console!

I won’t be purchasing the next one so fast!

Prometheus is a grower xxx

I hardly think you can lump Blade Runner 2049, one of the best films of the 2000s, into the same 80s rehash has the Ghostbusters reboot.

@N8tiveT3ch Ageist!

Reading this article going "yep", next point "yep", next point "yep". Hard to argue with to be honest. My opinion is the same... I love the old stuff, I still want the sequels, I enjoy most of the remakes, but I need to see more risk and new IP's.

@k8sMum Poor words for someone who has nothing on their profile.🤣

Fully agree with this. All the Switch has these days is Wii U ports or downgraded ports from Xbox or PlayStation. Sadly, aside from the odd session on Mario my Switch is gathering dust

@Chandlero Iwata was fantastic but he wasn’t the whole company. There are plenty of creative people at Nintendo. Good things will happen.

It sucks that ports and remasters have become a thing but it’s sort of an inevitability as the industry matures. New takes on Classics will bring revenue, like the movie industry.

@nessisonett Quality standards are much lower on PS4 though so your comment makes no sense. Look how the Ratchet series is getting away with all the sequels that don't add any new game mechanics.
Meanwhile some Nintendo series get hugely criticized and die for changing too much while Nintendo is getting accused to not try anything new. There 's obviously a double standard and an anti nintendo narrative here.

@JGruns mmm maybe on the costs but inflation covered a lot of that. I remember getting Donkey Kong Country on release and i think it was 70 for couple hours of gameplay? Even if 40 back then, more expensive than now I'd say

Splatoon churning out sequels? That's a goodun. 5 year gap between 2 and 3 is churning them out? Brilliant. There also seems to be a bit of an assumption that everyone's in the same boat. At least Kate uses "I" instead of "we" which is nice. Too many people around these parts get those two mixed up big time.

I wish that Nintendo got into more low budget spin off games. I mean contract out some more indie studios. Fund teams like Robie studios and have them make a new IP. Get into a variety of genres. I know Nintendo can continue to be family friendly and add some teeth to their gameplay.

Awesome article. It would be nice to see Nintendo taking more chances. I'm thinking it's partly because they always got flack in the past for not letting 3rd parties shine more, so this affords them more time to bake an original IP, which is not simple to pull off with frequency. We'll just have to be patient and see what comes.

Nearly all the remakes/remasters I've played so far in the Switch are games I'm experiencing for the first time, so I'm glad Nintendo does this. But I'm also a bit disappointed that Nintendo is so stubborn with this approach. Where's the Prime Trilogy already? Why not include all three Pikmin games in a CAD $80 game, etc? Why not include at least first party N64 and GC libraries in the online offering? And yes, we need new ideas too.

@blindsquarel Animal Crossing I will count. Even though that is the type of game that should be really easy to develop yet it still got delayed. I personally would never play it anyways. Origami Mario is lame, and Age of Calamity is a boring, broken mess intended to sell DLC to completists.

@electrolite77 Whenever I post a comment, I think " I can't wait for that jetski guy to defend Nintendo, he must be getting free eshop cards to endorse their lazy practices"

Yes. No. Maybe so.

1) Wii U ports, IMHO make sense. Only 20 million Wii U's sold. So any good games on the Wii U, only a fraction of that user base got to play it, which deprives many, many gamers. LOL. So if Nintendo wants to let more gamers play those games on Switch, I think that is good for gamers and Nintendo ($$$).

2) As for other ports . . . bringing older games (like N64, Gamecube or Wii) games to the Switch I think also makes sense. There are probably a lot of new Switch owners that never had a N64, Gamecube or Wii. They get to play these great games for the 1st time! And for anyone that sold off their old console, it brings a way to play an old favourite.

3) No one mentioned Mario vs. Rabbids. I don't remember that game being out for GC, Wii or Wii U. And it ended up being one of my favourite games on Switch. I would totally buy a version of that game with new levels. (I already bought all the DLC for the original.)

4) I could totally go for a new Mario Kart for Switch. Bring in new courses and a new mechanics of some sort. My family and I have been playing the same game for 7 years now. LOL. Although I appreciate the 2 weapons vs. 1 weapon vs the Wii U version.

5) As for ports, I would vote for Gamecube Mario Kart Double Dash and Gamecube Super Smash Bros Melee. When the gang came over (before COVID) those two games got fired up a lot, even though we had the Wii and Wii U versions of those games. I miss the two players in one car from Mario Kart Double Dash. When you are done racing each other, it is funny just trying to attack each other. Also . . . funny having the 2nd person in your car not on your team and trying to make you crash while you drive.

@Chunkboi79 or just make some more games that are fun, but low budget. Streetpass type mini games. Steel Diver, Rust’s Baseball. Pocket Jockey. Don’t port, make games of similar stature....

@15roundTKO
well it is all opinion but i loved oragami king and age of calamity.

Nice to see a Nintendo Life scribe saying what many fans are feeling instead of compiling lists of ports the Switch didn't get yet- yaaaawn.
Seriously, well done for calling out the distinct lack of AAA content from Nintendo on Switch.
While some of the third party ports have been nice to have, it's not what I bought my Switch for.
What have the devs been doing for the past 4 years?!

Does Jump Rope Challenge count?

Agreed. This has been the worst gen for Nintendo games.. all ports.

@electrolite77 Hahahaha I can vouch for that, you complained non-stop about the Wii U. It is amazing how if you don't feel the same way as they do you're automatically a zealot or a fanboy or a bootlicker, regardless of whether you don't really care that much. "Why aren't you crying too???!!?!?!?"

There's been some right twitchy people in here over the past few weeks, I blame the lack of fresh air.

They have been actually lazy with their new stuff. My Switch has been collecting dust for months.

@Night-X
Glad you agree with me.

New Switch games: Mario Odyssey, Splatoon 2, Splatoon 3, Mario + Rabbids, Xenoblade 2, Xenoblade 2 Torna, NMH3, Mario Maker 2, Luigi's Mansion 3, Mario Tennis Aces, Pokemon SW/SH, Pokemon Legends: Arceus, Ring Fit, Astral Chain, Arms, Octopath Traveller, BOTW2, Smash Ultimate, Fire Emblem 3 Houses, Yoshi's Crafted World, Paper Mario TOK, Animal Crossing New Horizons, Mario Golf, Cadence of Hyrule, Kirby Star Allies, New Pokemon Snap, Hyrule Warriors AoC, Tetris 99.

but sure the Switch doesn't have new games. Only ports right?

Where is Wario? That's what I want to know.

@6thHorizon a very valid question, not much at all.

Speak for yourself.

I'm loving every last one of them. And make no mistake, there's been tons of new games too. There's been plenty of both.

Sorry if you're disappointed. You do you I guess. But I've never been happier.

Especially since I won't be playing anything for the next year besides Monster Hunter anyways. Onwards to Monster Hunter Rise!

@k8sMum You do realize that just I call you a lazy idiot from that last reply in a certain way.

I question if your skills of understanding others was just sarcasm or you're that clueless?🤦

NO. At the moment, the software they should & need to focus on are ports & the game they already promised us, breath of the wild 2 & Splatoon 3. Many Nintendo Employees are still working form home. The few that are going to the office should be focused on hardware Development optimized for third party Devs. Most games, the Devs at Nintendo make, are not that demanding. Though when New Hardware is obtained, Devs at Nintendo like to familiarize themselves with it. 2021 - Early 2022 is exactly the time to release some ports.

@Night-X

Sorry, I'm too busy laughing at you as both of my replies to you made a huge whoosh as they went over your head. Lol.

I hope someone pushes you off your soapbox.

Honestly it's just like movies these days. People are: 1. Out of fresh ideas. 2. Realize it's easier to just release an already popular franchise (remakes or comic books turned tv shows/movies) knowing they'll make money, either off of nostalgia or from people who never experienced it before.

All said the second option is much more profitable in the long run.

Having not owned a WiiU I can see what they are doing in the interest of making money by porting all the WiiU titles to the gravy train of the Switch to now make the money they intended to make. That said, I enjoy risk, XB Chronicles was a wonderful new IP. Glad to see they are doing Splatoon 3, let's hope it is not Splatoon 2 with 4-5 new boards and enjoy your new game. MK 9- let us customize our points on our car, and not make it 80% drift dependent, and 20% drafting/trading paint.

I'm late to this article but just want to say I totally agree. I don't mind replaying old games but I can't understand why so many people are desperate to rebuy old games with a minor lick of paint. I suppose part of it is because of the whole cycle of new consoles coming out every few years; if you haven't still got your old consoles plugged in, or didn't buy them in the first place, then you'll need old games to be ported if you want to play them (assuming there's no backwards compatibility). But for me personally, as much as I love gen 4 of Pokémon for example, I have no desire to buy the games again just because they look fancy now. (Thank goodness they're doing something new with Sinnoh as well!)

Also, one thing I like about @KateGray's articles is the captions under the pictures. It makes the ONM part of my brain happy

@Dogorilla I only learned how to do captions a few weeks ago, but now they're my favourite part

I think they have a healthy balance between new ideas and remakes/remasters personally. Don't forget unique and exclusive 3rd party titles like Mario + Rabbids, Bravely Default 2, Bayonetta 3, Shin Megami Tensei V, and Astral Chain as well. Top that with the unique IPs like Arms, 1-2 Switch, Snipperclips, The Stretchers, Nintendo Labo, Ring Fit Adventure, Clubhouse Games, and Ring Fit Adventure, I really don't see much to complain about. Unless of course the new and amazing games like Super Mario Odyssey, TLOZ Breath of the Wild, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Luigi's Mansion 3, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate are also for some reason not doing it for you. In other words, I think Nintendo is doing just fine; you can't make everyone happy but I feel like they're trying pretty dang hard.

I see where your coming from with your argument but you’ve fallen into the trap you mention where if a released game is not amazing or bad “everything in-between gets resigned to the halls of "meh" and forgotten forever”

Nintendo had a decent number of new stuff come out over the past few years that got relegated to the meh pool for most people. The Stretchers(late 2019) was a Nintendo developed and published coop game a la Overcooked that I didn’t hear much about after release. Part time UFO(2020) was a great puzzler if a little short, and for the board game enthusiasts the Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics (2020) was an amazing time. There was also Good Job! (2020) which was another great puzzler that I think a lot of people overlooked as well. Again not terrible games but not large scale either so people forgot or ignored them. These small games can easily take a year of dev time to polish & put out. Nintendo is constantly doing large and small projects it’s just most go unnoticed when the social media-verse doesn’t latch on to something.

Heck we got a freakin AR Mario Kart last year! Yes it has the Mario Kart branding but it’s still a fresh experience which is something most other IP holders shy away from. How often do the Call of Duty’s and other annual franchises make any meaningful experimentation to gameplay? Nintendo does this quite regularly (for better or for worse...)

Nintendo also funds things behind the scenes that they may not work on directly but sometimes otherwise allow for games we otherwise wouldn’t get (see Bayonetta 2 & 3)

It takes years to make anything larger scale along the lines of a Zelda or Mario and a company like Nintendo is not just going to turn everything they’re prototyping into a new IP. Looking at other large devs with unique IPs like Naughtydog, they don’t even release games once a year because of the scale of the games. The fact Nintendo often has multiple games to release per year is something Nintendo fans take for granted.

The ports and remakes are there to give us something to do with the short attention span everyone seems to have these days. Which is probably more than we deserve with the amount of vitriol constantly slung at the devs when we don’t get the experience WE wanted. If Nintendo DIDNT release the ports and remakes everyone would be crying about Nintendo not releasing anything at all (overlooking their smaller experiments that are quickly forgotten) because the truly new game changing stuff takes so much time time to make

We'll stop getting ports when we stop paying for them. Just like I'll stop seeing unnecessary (bordering on pointless) Soapbox articles when I stop clicking and commenting on them...

@Rhum17 I know right. What are they waiting for ??