Nintendo Reconfirms Release Windows For Major Upcoming Switch Games

Looks like there's some pretty solid releases ahead of us. Wonder when advance wars will finally be released?

I'm still sort of salty after that bayonetta 3 trailer that made me believe an Astral Chain sequel was in the making. Oh well, happy for the bayonetta fans though.

I dont know if I would call this fantastic... but there will certainly be a direct in the next couple months.

Now that I think about it, with BOTW2 in spring, it may have always been the plan to hold the direct later.

Shame there won’t be a Zelda game (or port) this year. Guess the NSO expansion counts.

@Luigi05 I heard advanced wars was practically done but held back because of the war in Ukraine, which I understand. At the same time, there's always war.

...Why can't they give us a specific date on Kirby? Isn't this like, the last month of summer? lol

I still busy with 3rd party games hunting so i might get Mario + Rabbids Spark of Hope late.

I really hope next year Nintendo focuses on franchises that haven't been shown a lot of love on Switch. My main issue is that Nintendo just focus too much on the same stuff when they have so much more that could probably find some new success with the Switch.

@tameshiyaku Exactly, there were many wars when the other Advance Wars games came out. I have a feeling it may have been sub-par and they used the war as an excuse to give it more time. I know a lot of people didn't care for the art style.

Also that Kirby game seems like it should be a free to play unless it has a lot more content than the trailer indicated. :-/ Maybe it will be free for NSO Expansion Pack owners.

Looking forward to Bayonetta and to be honest I will give the Kirby thing a go as it looks quite fun and cute.
But I am with @moodycat, there really is not many actual games developed by Nintendo, only third party, I am getting a bit worried

Still sat here waiting for Zelda and Advance Wars, not bought a game since Metroid Dread!

I don't get people saying that there apperantly aren't many Nintendo releases for this year? Like, we still have Splatoon 3, Bayonetta 3 (finally), the new Pokemon generation, Mario+Rabbits 2 and Advance Wars would probably also sneak in.
Where do you fit more games this year?

Also, this year we got another big Pokemon game in January, a 3D Kirby game in March, Xenoblade 3 like a week ago alongside smaller games like Switch Sports and Mario Strikers.
Like, I don't think this year is weak at all.

@Joker1234 Because new stuff and also bringing old IPs is quite risky and doesn't always work.
Sure, you can point to Splatoon. But I can also point out Codename Steam.

Like, I'm one of those people that thinks that, if Nintendo made a new FZero game, it would sell like 500k lifetime at most and people would only notice it years later when it gets the "hidden gem" status while selling poorly at the time... Oh hey, just like FZero GX.

Hope the collector's edition of Bayo 3 gets a restock. Totally missed that

@Bunkerneath I guess Pokemon, Bayonnetta, Mario+Rabbits and Splatoon don't count?

@GrailUK ...BTW, what happened with the Xenoblade 3 special edition in Europe?

3 is clearly the magic number... Xeno 3, Splatoon 3, Bayo 3.

I'm hoping it continues with 2023 - surely 2023 will be the big year we've all been hoping for since 2020. BotW2 and Mario both back with amazing new games, and surely, surely it's Donkey Kong time?!

@jowe_gw They are selling all the extra gubbins at a later date.

@GrailUK Why are selling something that is for ultra fans of Xenoblade 3 not at launch?
I guess that is an issue related to the release date of the game being earlier than expected.

Nintendo "reconfirmed" Breath of the Wild 2 back in February this year for 2022 then 1 month later its delayed so this "reconfirm" release dates/windows means nothing

@jowe_gw Could be, or something happened during the manufacture of the extra stuff. Who knows. Just one of those things I guess. Shame and a bit messy but doesn't seem to have put people off buying it.

@jowe_gw Fire Emblem Awakening was kinda risky for Nintendo in terms of trying some new ideas to the formula. You would think after the success of Fire Emblem Nintendo would try to bring some of these older IPs back. I mean even Pikmin 3 Deluxe and Metroid Dread found some success too on the Switch so it's time to bring some of these other franchises back.

No game in august and December, I guess Kirby will come out in august and maybe advance wars in December.

@spottedleaf or BOTW 2 gets delayed again which is very likely

@jowe_gw Well no as Splatoon is the only game developed by Nintendo.
Pokemon - Game Freak
Bayonetta - Platinum Games
Mario+Rabbids - Ubisoft

@Joker1234 And even then, Fire Emblem Awakening was the last chance of the series at the time to come back. The fact that it actually sold is what made the series successful.
Again, for every success you point out, I can say multiple that didn't do too well or even failed.

Smaller niche games that Nintendo publishes don't usually do that well. Even being subseries of popular franchises. Remember how they did Wario Ware on Switch? Or how on 3DS we got a new Rhythm Heaven game alongside a physical game of Dillon (the armadillo guy)? Remember Sushi Striker the Way of Sushido? Or the remakes of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon? (ugh... why people didn't bought more this one?)
2of this games sold ok, another sold ""ok"" and the other two were definetive flops.

Don't get me wrong, arround 1 million is a good number for these games and some get those numbers. But those are not numbers that tell to Nintendo to make those games consistently. Hence those are treated like experiments and/or just to fill calendar slots between big releases.

Like I said, there is a lot of people that scream how much FZero deserves a come back but that doesn't mean that it would sell and that is the big reason why it hasn't come back.

Sorry for all of this rambling... It's just that it angers me a little to see people clamering for a series to come back only to do poorly and then question why Nintendo "only focuseses on the same franchises" while ignoring those games were even released.

@Bunkerneath 2 of these three games are published by Nintendo themselves. Or you don't count something as a "Nintendo" game unless is made by their internal devs?

Why don't they just release Advance Wars... What's the point in delaying it indefinitely? Yes, I know what their excuse is but other, more violent war games have released since

@jowe_gw Just so you know WarioWare GIT and the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon remake are both among the best selling games in their franchises.

@moodycat I dunno, seems pretty packed with Mario & Rabbids, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, and you add in Bayonetta 3? That is some solid games coming right at the end of the year. That and Splatoon 3 in late August kind of bleeds into Q4. Is it as packed as in previous years? Probably not, but still really solid end-of-year titles. That and Nintendo needs to give Pokemon space to breathe as Legends Arceus and Sword and Sheild are some of the best-selling Pokemon games since the Gameboy. So better let the giant Pikachu in the room have its space so it does not smother lesser known IPs.

As far as Christmas goes, Splatoon 3, Xenoblade 3, Kirby, Mario Strikers, Switch Sports and Three Hopes will probably get a healthy bump in sales for those who missed them earlier in the year. That and Nintendo can still attract people with their evergreen titles of FE Three Houses, Breath of the Wild, Mario Kart 8 and Animal Crossing NH.

Metroid Prime still holds up brilliantly, played the Trilogy on Wii U download lately. I’m hoping the Prime 1 Remastered rumour is true and we get a short window from reveal to release.

In fact, I’d let Nintendo fleece me for all 3 in the run up to Metroid Prime 4.

@BTB20 As of March 31 2020, the Pokemon Mistery Dungeon remake sold 1.26 million copies. As of: December 31st 2020 the game sold 1,6;M units.

Explorers of Time+Darkness sold 4.88 million (Explorers of Sky 1.49 million).
I don't know where you found that information about Pokemon Mistery Dungeon Remake, I would be happy to know that I'm wrong tho so... Show me where, please.

WarioWare GiT sold 1.27 million copies worldwide (last official numbers). WarioWare Smooth Moves sold 1.82 million copies. In this case numbers are close and GiT could have surpassed Smooth Moves with the unreported numbers, I give you that.

@arabiansanchez I'm sure they will! Even if the rumoured Prime remake is a dud, I would not be surprised to see the Trilogy get a rerelease on Switch around 6 months to a year before Prime 4 hits shelves.

The way the title is worded I thought nintendo games were coming to pc. I got excited thinking about running a nintendo game at an acceptable frame rate for a second.

I'm just worried they didn't announce a new game at this earnings report since they never do that, anyway. 😢

@spottedleaf agreed. I really hope we get a direct like in September/October. I would say BOTW 2 releases in March 2023 (just my guess) so that would give nintendo a good 5-6 months of marketing to hype up the game. I seriously can't wait to play it

The only games I really have an interest in are Splatoon 3, Kirby's Dream Buffett and BOTW 2. But I need to see more of Splatoon 3 to see if I'll actually get it. I'm surprised we haven't seen more of the game considering it releases in almost a month. But I'm certain we'll probably get more info or maybe a game specific direct this month for the game

@jowe_gw I bought Codename STEAM and ARMS at release and I wholeheartedly agree with this statement. I wish people would stop saying Nintendo doesn't try new IPs. They do, constantly. It doesn't always work out for them financially, so they HAVE to focus on solid earners, but they still do it.

People go mad for Bayonetta but how many bought Astral Chain? So many people raving about Mario+Rabbids, but Codename STEAM was a very solid game with very similar gameplay, and it sold approximately three dozen units. And I don't blame people, I'm equally guilty of buying the safe options sometimes (full disclosure, I still haven't bought Astral Chain) but you need to understand that's why Nintendo have to focus on series that have proven themselves.

No company can afford to go out on a limb again and again to the detriment of its proven reliable sellers.

@Joeynator3000 I could see them announce the release date at the Kirby concert later this month.

@GrailUK Bayonetta 3 Collector's edition is available at Best Buy. I was able to pre-order mine and Bayonetta 1 as well 😁

Edit: oh, you're in the UK?
Sorry, I'm in the States. I don't know if Best Buy is available where you live...

Glad to see Advance Wars still on the list at least.

Nothing in August, let's hope that this month is the Advance Wars month, it's a bit much now to keep, keeping it delayed.

The initial reason, sure, and at the time and how it was developing I completely understand, but it has been long enough now.

I like how Breath of the Wild 2 still doesn't had an official title yet. At this point I had no faith in Metroid Prime 4, there is literally no evidence of that game ever coming to existence.

Sadly, the two games I'm looking forward to the most are sitting in that TBA category.

@DTfeartheBEARD Unfortunately not, but I appreciate the thought

@GrailUK No problem! Hopefully you will find a copy soon 😊

@jowe_gw Pokémon Mystery Dungeon is third if you combine the original Red and Blue Resue Team (outselling both 3DS games and the last DS game represents growth for the franchise) and WarioWare is also third, being only the fourth million seller WarioWare game. Both are among the best selling in their franchises.

@BTB20 Like I said, those games sales are fine. But those were not even the best selling games in their franchises.

With Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, it reverses the downward trend of sales since Explorers of Sky and with WarioWare GiT it sold arround the same the other games despite having a higher price point but neither of those games sold AMAZING, you know?
Nothing that says Nintendo that they HAVE TO do another game. Specially on a consistent basis. Hence why those games come very infrequent nowadays.
Believe me, I wish we got another Pokemon Mystery Dungeon. I really wish...

I'm pretty sure Breath of the Wild 2 is stuck in development hell now because if we think about it

It's already August and there's not even 6 months till the year is over

COVID is still a thing, so it may hinder development, especially if things are back to semi normal even though new variations are on the rise and cases

E3 is gone this year, so they haven't shown us even a title for the game so I believe they'll either present it as well as an official date when 'spring 2023' arrives or delay it a little further.

These past 4 years since the DLC of the first game is making me wonder if it really does take 7 years to develop/build upon a single game if they're just building upon the first game's world. It's probably already finished

@tameshiyaku Advance (not Advanced) Wars and its current situation is public knowledge. The game was 100% finished (and some even received their digital copies accidentally) but delayed publicly by Nintendo indefinitely. That's what they're lamenting. Luigi05 is talking about.

@moodycat Four HUGE titles in Fall/Winter plus the possible inclusion of Advance Wars at any point doesn't seem barren to me. If they added anything at this point, it would be gravy.

@Joeynator3000 technically though not usually in these terms summer is untl before 21st septemer

Plus don’t forget they are going to shadow drop Pikmin 4 this Autumn as well. What a busy autumn!

Splatoon 3 is gonna make a huge splash

Also release Advanced Wars already? It’s not gonna make the Ukraine conflict any better or worse by holding the release back for arbitrary reasons.

If Nintendo really wants to make a difference then split the profits to Ukraine relief like what other Videogames did

@JasmineDragon Astral Chain sold a lot

Am I the only one who read that as "Nintendo Confirms Windows Release" and interpreted it way wrong, and had to do a re-take? I don't think I could make a bigger misread/misinterpretation than that. I'm starting to wonder what else Nintendo has in store though, it's getting pretty late into the year.

@Arawn93 As near as I can tell, it's sold around 1.21 million units after 3 years on shelves. The Wikipedia list of top selling Switch games has it at #58, below titles like Labo and Big Brain Academy. This list isn't even complete as most companies don't release platform-specific sales info so the list is mostly first-party games.

That's not great.

Advance Wars 1+2RC will at least take a half year delay to get to the streets with respect to the war, so not before October. From there it will have to be refitted into the Nintendo release schedule.
I see some mentioning online of release date February 23rd 2023, but that is the day before the invasion started in 2022. I can’t believe this is a date communicated by Nintendo.

I only want Zelda and Metroid. I'm going to blow some significant dust off that switch when they eventually come out.

Oh lord, Advance Wars is listed after Metroid Prime 4

@Luigi05 Hopefully not like how long the original game was delayed for Japan.
Originally scheduled for September 12, 2001. The obvious reason for delaying it seems like a little tough logistically. But regardless, Japan ended up not getting it until over three years later and as a bundle with its sequel.

Jesus, enough of Kirby, Pokemon and etc of the same.
Give us Wave Race, 1080, Pillotwings, Star Fox, F-Zero, Diddy Kong Race or any other interesting dormant IP!!

I know Nintendo own it's IP, but I can't understand what happening with Advance Wars

At this point, I’m expecting Advance Wars to release via leak and nothing else. It’s happened before… to that very game, in fact!

@tourjeff Pikmin, plz.