Nintendo's Upcoming Release Schedule For 2021 Looks Positive, With Room For More

Nothing about that looks positive to me. Especially considering how SMTV is now missing because of course it is.

I'm curious what they have planned for the rest of 2021 after the release of SSHD (exept Pokemon BDSP). Really looking forward to E3

@LinkSword Maybe SMTV isn't published by Nintendo?

I think e3 will be interesting this year lots of room between skyward sword and Pokémon let’s hope they fill it well

I know it’s not Nintendo but I think monster hunter stories 2 will do a lot better than the first entry. In July.
Not long til E3 so we can find out what’s on the cards for Q3 Q4 as Xmas is looking very empty at mo.

Game Builder Garage looks awesome for my kids, but we're not in the English speaking country. Does anyone know if you can contact the game developers and offer free translation to non-popular languages?

I wasn't aware / had forgotten that Pokémon Legends Arceus is early 2022. I'll keep an eye on it.

For this year, I'm getting Great Attoney Chronicles and maybe Game Builder Garage. I'm not worried as I still haven't started Bravely Default II and MH Rise still offers tons and tons of hours

@Pikka Use it as a motivation for your kids to learn English. It was through games that I developed a lot my knowledge of this foreign language, and it is a really useful skill for life. Not only English itself, but training how to learn new languages.

How is this positive? There's hardly anything important coming up.

...I guess it's positive for my back account 🤷‍♂️

‘Shaping up quite nicely’ that’s optimism right there! and we can ignore Metroid & Bayonetta as they’re basically just vapourware right now.

Guess Pikmin 4 is still being worked on in secret

Don't show me those last 3 and tell me that the later part of the year looks good.

Why is Metroid Prime 4 on this schedule? I don't recall hearing any confirmation of a 2021 release and honestly I fully expect it to be a 2022 or maybe even a 2023 game.

I wonder what new 2021 announcements we will get from Nintendo, with the Zelda anniversary I expect remasters and/or ports. OoT and MM HD would be great, even if it's only the 3DS version in higher resolution. It would also be easy to port the Wii U versions of WW and TP so I have no doubts about those games coming to Switch. Remakes of the oracle games may be a pipe dream though.

And as always, I have stopped hoping for a new Wave Race or F-Zero game. My hopes are almost non-existent for even a straight port of the N64 and GCN games.

Anyways, Mario Golf and SMTV is enough for me to make this an exciting year for games. I still have plenty of games to play so I'm not starving for new games, I can wait.

only first party game I'm interested in that is dated is Skyward Sword and that's a game I've already played and beat the rest outside of the TBA games I don't care for thats just me

Very little confirmed other than remakes this year. Pokémon snap is already out so it seems like you included that just to make the list have another truly new game. Other than that Mario Golf is about it, surely they will announce some at e3 if not you have to wonder what on earth they have been doing past 4 years.

@LinkSword SMT5 is third party, this list only list first party games. If you notice games like No More Heroes 3 Rune Factory 5 SMT3 and other third party games are all missing.

@quinnyboy58 you have to remember all this information is as of March 31st. Pokemon Snap wasn't out yet by that time.

I hope this isnt everything they have to offer and they surprise us with lot more at E3.

Considering Origami King was announced with 8 weeks notice prior to release date, and Game Builder Garage has just appeared out of nowhere, I'd expect a few more surprises yet, particularly regarding the last quarter.

For the first time in years, Nintendo's Switch hardware sales forecast for FY2021 (25.5 million) looks fairly reasonable - a 11.48% YoY decrease. It does somewhat implies that Nintendo intends to introduce a new hardware revision sometime within the fiscal year.

Nintendo's Switch software forecast for FY2021 remains too conservative as it has been every fiscal year since the Switch launched. It "could" suggest that one or two big games were delayed out ofFY2021 (though unlike last year, 2021 has at least one major 10+ million-selling holiday title with Pokémon Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl).

My highlights are Ys ix and Monster Hunter Stories 2 none of them published by Nintendo. What a swell job Nintendo is doing

Nintendo should at least give us some screenshots of BOTW2 at E3.

I hope the title is ironic.
2020-2021, as of now, are the worst years that I can remember for Nintendo

@westman98

Do you really think a decrease in expectation would give a thinking of a new model release. It comes across to me that they include switch and lite as one figure so that would mean they expect a fall in console sales even with release of a new console?

I'm unfortunately not interested in any game in the 2021 list so far

@LinkSword SMTV is published by ITV and hosted by Ant & Dec, but it ended years ago! I would give your hopes up of that ever coming back.

Nothing about that lineup looks positive. It looks like Nintendo's coasting, just like it always does when its system is successful.

@dew12333
Hardware sales typically start to decline by a lot once we reach Year 5. A hardware revision may be necessary to keep Switch sales in FY2021 somewhat close to it's sales in FY2020.

As a point of comparison, the NDSi launched in FY2009 in most of the world, yet NDS sales still declined in FY2009 compared to FY2008. Switch sales are currently trending very close to that of the NDS during it's heyday, so that is likely guiding Nintendo's current hardware and software sales forecasts.

As usual when Nintendo do well they fall back to simply coasting along.
I'm glad that I have other systems as I still have new games to look forward to, hopefully stock shortages should ease this year so I will finally be able to grab a PS5 and XsX.

Looks terrible to me. Doubt the vast majority of gamers could pick more than three off of that list. I'll bet the reality is that lots of switches are gathering dust. Not what you want all these new players to remember when Nintendo release a new console. History repeats itself.

I agree the lineup is disappointing at best, but the level of criticism people are dishing out is a bit unreasonable. Did you forget about Covid-19? Or are you so naive that you don't think Covid-19 had an impact?

Really, really looking forward to seeing more on BOTW's sequel, so many concepts have been running through my head for it.

only thing exciting me on this list is Mario Golf

There is a small conference coming up in June where we might hear more about unannounced late-2021 games. Idk how to feel about it as it's unproven.

@ukaskew E3 is next month. Usually has a lot of new announcments. Q1 is always a "slower" period for Nintendo.

This can't be right. We all know Nintendo doesn't actually release games. The naysayers have said so.

@NGNYS I'm fairly sure all the prospective owners of a Wii U would have laughed and felt vindicated for not buying one, if this was the actual release schedule. Me being a Wii U owner would have even been a little disappointed ( but pokemon Snap and game builder garage would have worked so well on Wii U). You are comparing something with a 13 mil user base with something that has 85 mil and rising. The fans of Switch aren't the same as the fans of Wii U, of course expectations are a little higher.

Cant wait for skyward sword! I wasnt interested in the original until my friend showed me it many years later, and it wasn't available anymore in my area at the time, so I missed out. Not this time!

Its not amazing by any standards but there is a few that peak my interest. Pokemon snap im really enjoying and look forward to Detective club and Mario golf (in game content pending) Pokemon looks pretty good and lets hope they take a leaf out of Pokemon Snaps animation. Bayo 3 if it makes 2021 which im very much doubting and MP4?... More like 2056 imo.

I don’t think I will buy anything other than mp4 and zelda and maybe snap.
So things ain’t looking that positive imo. I hope E3 will be better than last year at least.

The rest of 2021? Remakes and Mario golf? I hope they have some good games for the end of 2021, they stared the year off great but has now died off. Luckily we have capcom

Nintendo's Upcoming Release Schedule For 2021 Looks Positive for Your Wallet

Fixed.

@nocdaes Games before health around these parts...

I'm mostly looking forward to Whine & Moan Simulator 2021: NintendoLife Comments Edition.

This is a good line up to go I to E3 with. Nintendo is putting out at least one first party title a month and in doing so they have titles that appeal to all sorts of people. Famicom Detective Club, Game Garage, Mario Tennis don't appeal to me, but that's kind of beautiful?

I got Pokemon Snap which is a game I've wanted for 22 years! Skyward Sword without motion controls has been on my most hoped for games of the last 10 years! No More Heroes 3 and The World Ends with you 2 are exciting new additions to old franchises, and there is plenty of time for September-December to get big exciting First party stuff.

You scalawags!!

Man, I hope I never end up at a party with half you folks.

Snap is great, I'm super excited about Mario Golf, Miitopia is fun and cute and I'm excited to use the new mii tools, and Pokemon Gen 4 remakes are something I've wanted forever. I don't need a new Mario or a Zelda to have a good time. And we can finally play Mario Party online now!

Mario Golf: Super Rush, Game Builder Garage, and Skyward Sword HD. As far "TBA", Metroid Prime 4, and Breath Of The Wild sequel.

As of right now, Nintendo doesn't have much coming before Pokemon Legends: Arceus. I'm used to this, though. lol

Skyward Sword this year for me. Until anything else gets announced for the Switch (which I'm sure it will) my gaming funds are going towards a ps5.

@Bret Pokemon Snap is good, I don't know if I'd call it a great game. I think people just want more from Nintendo. Mario Party released years ago and it just now got a quality of life improvement. I am personally excited for Mario Golf but outside of that there are just a handful of remakes/ports of older games. I want say a new Star Fox or Kid Icarus... just something different outside of Mario, Link, etc.

I am so excited for the new Mario Golf, I just know that will be my big summer game this year.

@LinkSword because SMT V is a 3rd party game

I had a feeling the Zelda's anniversary would be even more crappier than the Mario one unless Nintendo redeem themselves at digital E3 this year.

@duffmmann I haven’t been excited about a game in forever. I got ACNH on launch, but didn’t play it for a few weeks, then really didn’t get into it until recently. I think we get a few more surprises, but this is so disappointing.

I love how everyone is complaining about the lack of games…first of all, this list only includes Nintendo-published titles, which leaves out big 3rd party games like SMT V, Monster Hunter Stories 2 or Rune Factory 5, all of which are coming out this year.

Second, Nintendo is very good at keeping its cards close to its chest and has not revealed any games coming out after SS in what is usually the busiest release period of the year, and with E3 coming soon, have no doubt we’ll see several big hitters coming out of nowhere for the period of August-December, including the Breath of the Wild sequel.

Third, I’m a pretty selective gamer, and yet I’ve already bought three games at launch this year (Mario 3D World, SoS Pioneers of Olive Town and Pokemon Snap), plus several indies on sale; my backlog is MASSIVE, and I literally don’t have enough free time to play all the good games I’ve got at the moment - anyone complaining that their Switches are gathering dust/not being used either has some severely niche taste or is lying by over-exaggeration.

And finally, has everyone forgotten that we are still in the middle of a freaking global pandemic that has been going on for nearly 15 months and has severely affected all industries, including gaming development? Every single studio has had to delay games originally planned for 2020-2021 into 2022 and beyond; Nintendo is no exception. Grow up, people.

@mariomaster96 I feel Nintendo is hiding an ace up their sleeves. Makes no sense to expect 30mil shipped Switchs if there is not a strong catalog of software to help push it. All they needed last year was Animal Crossing, but that was a hail Mary pass that could not have been landed at a better time. But, to push the Switch over the edge to PSOne, Wii, PS2 and DS numbers they need something.

2018-2022; the Age of Ports and Shovelware

@Jooles_95 overall I am fine with the Switch library with 3rd party games. But the fact is, you buy a Nintendo system for Nintendo. I have zero problems with ports and remasters, but for the last year and a half, it seems that they have relied on them as new content practically.

If this is how the year mostly shapes up, I am rapidly losing interest in Nintendo and will shift my business to PS5 and series X. I am sick and tired of Nintendo coasting on by.

@15roundTKO there is a ton of good stuff in there! And honestly it's great that gaming is getting to where film has been since home video where older favorites are coming out on newer hardware! Keeps gaming's history alive and accessible rather than behind a wall of older hardware and used software... And with how retro gaming has been getting more and more expensive that is a great thing!

Mario golf will keep me busy and if the rumors are true a new donkey kong is very welcome

@rockodoodle sorry to hear that, Mario Golf is my jam though, so I'm poised to be very pleased until at least mid autumn, and who knows what Nintendo will have announced for its second half of the year at E3 by then.

How many first party games are coming from Sony and Microsoft? A lot of people here are saying this list looks pathetic, but to me it looks larger than the competition. And it doesn't include third party support.

@ChaoticIgnorance wait people think this is it for Nintendo for the year? Was it not obvious that the last Direct was all about the first half of 2021 (with the typical one big future game reveal of Splatoon 3)? And clearly E3 will be addressing the second half of the year.

So if we remove all the ports and remakes, and exclude everything for 2022 / TBA, we have:
Game Builder Garage - 11th June, 2021
Mario Golf: Super Rush - 25th June, 2021
So we'll have to see what gets announced at E3, I'm gonna hope against hope for BoTW2!

Man, I really wish we would see Metroid Prime 4, Bayonetta 3, or the sequel to Breath of the Wild this year.

Unless Nintendo has something else up it's sleeve, there isn't much there for me.

I am not a Pokemon fan. I am not a fan of Mario sports titles (except Mario Kart), and I am not a fan of visual novels. I might consider Skyward Sword HD in July, though.

I wish I could say I am excited for Splatoon 3, but I stopped playing Splatoon 2 after a couple of weeks. The novelty wore off on me and I just don't like competitive games.

Oh well, the Switch is always there when something does come around that I am interested in.

I am a life-long Nintendo fan, but I also have a Series X and a PS5 to fill the multi-platform void.

I swear this fanbase never learns. This line up, while not amazing is at least a line up. Especially given how many surprises there were last year. Origami King, Hyrule Warriors Age of Calamity. and Mario All Stars being stuff to go by. I'm very interested in Skyward Sword, Famicom Detective Club, Mario Golf, and Pokemon Snap. But I ask how many times have we said, Nintendo has nothing this year only for them to pull that rug out from under us in either spring or middle of the year? I swear this fanbase is the one who never learns. Like I get being doubtful last year because no directs and in a pandemic and it took so long, but this year when directs are back and they are at e3 is just being ignorant for the sake of ignorance.

@duffmmann oh, I am very excited about Mario Golf. I loved the 3ds version...in fact, if you asked me at launch of the Switch, what three games do I want mot, it would be Golf, Madden and Mk9

@mariomaster96 its published by Atlus which I believe is a subsidiary of Sega?

@WarioOfTheYear Yes it is

@Yorumi I have to admit that I am concerned about Golf a bit. I think it’s going to be cool, but I worry about the content- are they going to have enough courses? How will they stack up vs. 3ds?

@mariomaster96 ah ok thanks!

@mariomaster96 im pretty sure botw 2 is coming out later this year along with a few other surprises as well.

@NGNYS Nintendo released more games per year during the Wii U-3DS era than the Switch era, even before the pandemic. And that includes the many rehashed games, which are rampant on the Switch. I think people that constantly suck up to Nintendo are more likely to be paid trolls than people that want their money’s worth when they buy a new console.

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2020/07/talking_point_is_nintendo_making_as_many_games_as_it_used_to

@RiasGremory I don't know, at best in December but I don't see it releasing before that cause otherwise why would they release SSHD in July if they plan to release BotW2 in lets say November?

@Euler I say the same thing about the other side.

@Yorumi I am still preordering. It would have to be really awful for me to regret it.

Gotta getta Fire Emblem game on the calendar this year 🙏

There is nothing that bad about this list as Nintendo is notorious for saving their big hits for the holiday season. Pokemon Snap is being well recvd by critics and fans alike and will likely sell really well just based on it being Pokemon and being an iteration that hasn't seen a new game in 4 generations. I am seriously stoked about Skyward Sword as I never played it on Wii and always wanted it outside of motion controls. We haven't seen a new Mario Golf since Cube and if its a quality title (should be if Camelot is devving it) then its going to sell well. Still....the formula has been to make big announcement for holiday/year end titles at e3 and then to hold some things back and surprise announce them thru directs. As for development of major 'missing' titles. I am pretty sure the BOTW2 probably started development soon after the 2017 launch. That means a game that is going to run of the same engine and likely use some recycled assets has been in development for 4yrs......I will be shocked if that doesn't come this year. Same with Bayo3....its been announced since 2017 and known to be in development. MP4...probably not so likely. I say keep your powder dry until E3 and lets see if things don't perk up.

In what UNIVERSE is this considered positive?

TRASH software output from Nitnendo. They need to buy up some studios and get more games made like the other big 2. Embarrassing.

@Pikka The game supports Japanese, English, Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, Korean, Chinese (Simplified) and Chine (Traditional).

@Pikka If your from Europe, you should be good. If I remember correctly the European Union makes video games published there be available in all the European languages.

Nintendo's published Switch games in 2021:
> Jan: Buddy Mission Bond (Japan-only)
> Feb: Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury, Bravely Default II (West-only)
> Mar: -----
> Apr: New Pokemon Snap
> May: Famicom Detective Club, Miitopia
> Jun: DC Superhero Girls (West-only), Game Builder Garage, Mario Golf Super Rush
> Jul: Zelda Skyward Sword HD
> Aug - Dec: Pokemon Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl

The Switch's 2021 lineup up until July is fairly solid, especially once you factor in some of the 3rd party content (Monster Hunter Rise in particular) and the random surprise release (Game Builder Garage).

Nintendo will need to spend E3 detailing much of their H2 2021 lineup as their Aug - Dec lineup is quite empty outside of Pokemon. Rumors suggest good things to come, but Covid throws a wrench into everything.

@LinkSword SMTV? With Ant & Dec?

Come on June and E3 and fingers crossed BOTW2 news

The only ones that I am interested in that list is Bayonetta 3, Breath of the Wild 2, and Metroid Prime 4, but those are TBA and probably unlikely to come out this year. I love the Mario and other Nintendo remasters but those are supposed to complement new AAA games; I am ready for something new like Mario Sunshine 2. And stop giving Nintendo a free pass for Covid. More and more people are vaccinated (in US), and there are less and less Covid cases. Sony managed to release Ghosts of Tsushima, Spiderman Morales and Last of Us 2 in the middle of Covid. Yes, they had delays too, but they managed those 3 games and Ratchet and Clank is around the corner. All AAA games.

When will we get Metroid Prime Trilogy?

@mariomaster96 theres been at times 2 zeldas in one year before.

@pepepopo troll will be troll wat you just said is complete bullocks theres plenty of games in development by nintendo.

First half was pretty good, third parties and E3 will give us a look at what the latter half of the year will bring. Can't wait for those presentations.

@Col_e_h I wish this was true, but it's either only for major languages, I've never seen any game translated to SEE languages yet...

@87th Thanks!

@RiasGremory yeah but they were on different plattforms
This time both would release on the same plattform

I think it looks pretty abysmal. I want to eat my words…because I want to have fun, but basically a sports game (no interest) a remake, and a port.

Oh an NH3 will be awful because Grasshopper don’t make good games.

@westman98 There’s nothing solid about that line up. Nintendo published or not you fluffed it out with shovel ware. 🙄

Hello back-log my old friend, I've come to play you once again...

@westman98
I thought you would have fair reasoning, and that all makes sense.

I'm still hopeful the pro rumor is not true but that's only based on the effect it will have on my wallet and the baseless argument to my wife to justify the purchase!

@LUIGITORNADO
The only game on that list that may turn out to be shovelware is that DC Superhero Girls game.

Every other game is a relevant title that has received (or will receive) good if not great critical and commercial success.

@westman98 Pokémon snap and miitopia are shovelware. Niche JRPGs, ports and Japan only games. Quite a list.

There’s nothing killer there. Vernier of ignorance I guess.

@LUIGITORNADO
Just because you personally dislike a game doesn't make it shovelware.

(For me, as someone who hasn't played the original and has no nostalgia for it whatsoever, I'm having a blast with the opening hours of New Pokemon Snap. But that's irrelevant to the conversation - the game isn't shovelware).

@Lugazz I agree, english is not my first language either but I learned it because I loved video games and wanted to enjoy them to their fullest. Being bilingual really does open doors for you

There is nothing on this list that is day 1 buy worthy for me. Nintendo's release schedule has left a lot to be desired lately.

I don't think one has to be excessively negative to say this isn't that great of a lineup. I'd say the minimum for an ideal lineup will at least have a holiday heavy hitter, a couple big name games throughout the year to back it up, one or two good multiplayer games, a couple smaller scale projects, and an experiment.

The holiday heavy hitter in this lineup is a Pokemon remake which, based on their promotional materials, might play and look a little bit worse than the originals. When the holiday heavy hitter is a remake, that's not ideal. The main big name release backing it up is a remake of a controversial Zelda game with very few changes or updates compared to previous Zelda remakes. Miitopia is a remake of a game which was originally a smaller scale project, and the Famicom Detective Club games are remakes of smaller scale projects too. The multiplayer game slot is filled by a new Mario Golf game, which could be good, and Game Builder Garage is an interesting experiment.

After 2020, I don't blame a game publisher for having a smaller release schedule. And personally, I have games on Switch and Steam I want to play, so I don't care. But I also can't say this is the ideal for a video game company going into a summer and a holiday season. It's all remakes and not all of them look as good as previous Nintendo remakes. That's not anti-Nintendo or particularly negative: it's just having an idea of what a good situation is for a business and what a less-than-ideal situation for a business is.

I'm interested in most of that list, if not all. Many "day ones". However, as people are discussing, we do need a fair bit more. Surely things will improve after E3. I wouldn't go into "Nintendo year of Nintedoomed" mode personally, lol

Let's hope they have much more coming soon that they have yet to announce...

My Top 10 Nintendo IP Revivals:

1. Super Mario RPG
2. F-Zero (I'd even take a spinoff like F-Zero Adventures with Captain Falcon, Samurai Goroh, Pico etc.)
3. MOTHER
4. 2D Metroid
5. Mario Sports (Sluggers, Strikers, 3 on 3 Hoops, Sports Mix etc.)
6. WarioWare/Rhythm Heaven
7. Kid Icarus
8. Golden Sun
9. Pilotwings
10. Star Fox

If Nintendo really isn't planning on focusing on some of their heralded properties themselves, they should really let good 3rd party developers handle them with some oversight.

Also, not every 1st Party game has to be a major AAA release imo. Sometimes a smaller Super Princess Peach game here and a SnipperClips there helps tide people over in-between the next big release and can be an effective strategy.

... Wun can only hope.

Dunno why people are complaining. When taking third-parties into account, the Switch's lineup through July is extremely solid, and of course there'll be more unveiled at E3.

Looks empty of AAA titles to me. Honestly, the schedule since Spring 2020 has been pretty sad. I’m really hoping for Odyssey 2 or some other fun surprise for this Fall.

@RiasGremory yeah, labo scrap and games set for 2022 release

Positive?

Apart from a luke warm interest in Mario Golf there is nothing that I am interested in until Splatoon 3 in 2022.

Will be getting a PS5 when available unless Nintendo announce something big very soon.

@GoldenSunRM
This for Nintendo looks better then last year

@Incoherent1
This year doesn't look empty at all

@GoldenSunRM
2021 is a better year lineup wise for Nintendo this year

@Petew it is very positive spoiled at best