@WiltonRoots Started out with my 3DS, but Wii U helped me take the deep dive back into gaming (Pikmin 3, baby!), and really get into Nintendo stuff. The console had problems, but I will defend the best games on that console to the bitter end-especially Splatoon!
Big standouts on the list to me are : Pokemon Mystery Dungeon DX, Astral Chan, Ring Fit Adventure, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, and Luigi's Mansion. All games I was kind of concerned would sell well, and in Luigi's case, I didn't think it would sell half ass well as it did. Good job!
Also, quite a few of these titles are pretty old, especially BotW and Mario Kart. Animal Crossing and Pokemon are probably going to have decent momentum after their insane launches too.
@Whispy I'm leaning towards the lockdowns causing Nintendo's scheduling to go awry, and not just on the development side. Nintendo's been saving quite a few hard hitters for the later half of the year recently, and they tend to reveal a lot of those around E3, which got cancelled. Probably a mix of development being slowed to an extent, and the best time to advertise new games getting cancelled.
Nintendo's been good about having at least one blockbuster near the end of each year. Mario Odyssey, Smash, Pokemon, even when things were lacking, the holidays always had a big title for people to look forward to. There's guaranteed to be at last one bigger title later on.
@Old_Man_Nintendo That's fair. I know it's not just shoving a PC title into Switch, but I assume there are more difficulties porting some titles compared to others. Older titles and more stylized games are less graphically intensive compared to something like Fallen Order. There's also a risk vs reward consideration, which is why I brought up game bundles and stylized titles that Nintendo gamers would like.
Regarding Frostbite, EA should really consider just splurging on a new engine that they own so they don't have to pay royalties to 3rd party engines. An engine change could probably make it a lot easier on everyone working on their titles.
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dead Space ports, Unravel 1, the Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare games-plenty of options that would work fine on Switch in several ways, wouldn't be pricey to port, and could nets some decent profits. Old classics and cartoony games are sure to get core gamers attention while Plants vs Zombies and the sports titles grabs more casual audiences.
Not really expecting much from EA. I don't even avoid their games much, a lot of their stuff just doesn't appeal to me, and they seem insistent on making their game output as small as possible anyway. I said it before, there could be something new to grab people's attention, but EA seems fine coasting by on their sports titles.
Unravel 1, Dead Space ports, the original Mass Effect Trilogy were the first things off of the top of my head, since they probably wouldn't be pricey, and could be easy sells. One game EA NEEDS to bring to Switch is Plants vs. Zombies. That series is such a missed opportunity, and of course some ports of their sports games. They've published a few smaller titles here and there, so they could either bring old or new ones out.
EA's kind of due for some sort of new blockbuster (the Star Wars game did great, but that was launched a while ago) but I never expect much from hem-I'm just waiting until they get too big and the shareholders gut the last golden goose before leaving.
@Kalmaro I know people don't like the Switch's online service as a whole, but I think most people gladly play for the retro game service on there. My ideal would be them charging nothing for online (worse than the competitors, but doesn't cost anything) and them offering a robust game selection up from for a bunch of old titles, from NES-Gamecube, including some handheld consoles.
I mean, as much as I hope this lack of news could push smaller titles like Deadly Premonition 2 further into the spotlight, I really hope that there are more announcements planned. That being said, Summer's seeming like kind of a drought on all fronts for obvious reasons (this situation cannot end fast enough). There's Pokemon and Smash DLC planned for June already, so if either of those aren't shown off with any Direct's, it's probably going to be July when things happen.
Writing the following under the assumption that this is true (It's ultimately a rumor until June passes):
The year was looking pretty bottom heavy in terms of releases, like other years recently, but Nintendo delaying things kind of throws me off. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, Animal Crossing and Xenoblade Chronicles are by no means small titles, and there are other games like Deadly Premonition 2 and Ninjala that should at least carve out their niche's, but it feels like AC was the big blockbuster of the first half of the year. I expected some sort of announcement to come for E3, but with that and businesses thrown off by the virus and the economy's state, it's understandable that some preparations were delayed. They should have announcements planned for E3 that they could recycle, but I imagine they planned them for worldwide announcements, rather than just Nintendo Directs (they're big in their own way, E3 is just the best time to get the casual crowd's attention).
Personally, I think there's still a chance, mainly because Nintendo's got two VERY big releases in June: the Pokemon DLC, and the Smash DLC. Those will very easily grab a lot of attention, and they've both gotten release dates. I know they're easier to sell than new games, but the hype they have would help bring eyes to a Direct that showed off a ton of new releases.
Either way, hoping for the best. No one can blame them for being cagey with what's going on right now, I just hope they push some older titles for people who haven't played them yet-it is backlog season right now
@johnvboy Most of the Wii U's big games were ported to Switch or got a sequel of some sort. We've heard vague news about Pikmin 4 existing, but 3's a great entry that a lot of people didn't get to play. Heck, 1 and 2 could use ports, maybe something like the original Pikmin's Wii port that took advantage of Wii's motion controls.
Pretty much everything's been struggling recently, for obvious reason. I know it's meant to reassure people, but everyone understands why it's happening.
This is a good start, but there's more that can be done. 'In-game purchases' alone is too vague, it doesn't emphasize the fact that real world money can be used, and more importantly, infinitely funneled into these kinds of games for a chance at nice things. Gambling may not be the ideal word, but it fits, especially with how addictive this gets.
Game devs should be careful, they've already had one PR debacle, and some big publishers live their lives working towards infinite growth dependent on constantly leeching people's wallets dry with this stuff.
@Nintendo_Thumb XBox had at least one fitness based game for the Kinect that Rare made, and probably a few others. There's also Wii Fit and Wii Fit U, but those are more or less prequels to Ring Fit.
Sony and Microsoft haven't really done much with motion controls, and any games that use VR that have more movement wouldn't work for exercise because of the headset.
@graysoncharles Yeah, I understand that. Ideally, they need to get the penalty system to work right, I'm just saying that it's a decent stop gap until it's fixed.
As long as this only happens to people doing it repeatedly, this is fine while they hopefully find a fix to it. There's always a chance people could be falsely banned, but as long as their internet is decent, it shouldn't form a pattern.
@duffmmann Assist Trophies have pretty much been a consolation prize for characters who didn't make it in-in Spring Man's case, DLC was already decided before Sakurai knew about him We've had Assist trophies get promoted before, ala Little Mac and Isabelle, but it usually take a whole game for that to happen. DLC only recently added the possibility to change that on Wii U, and even then, Ultimate's really where they've gone nuts with character choices. (not to say Bayonetta wasn't a wild pick, but she was more off the wall than everyone else on Smash for Wii U, either returning or just... being Corrin, lol)
As for other assist trophies joining in... I'd be down with it, but I think Spring Man would be an exception if h happened because he's actually got a counterpart who could replace his trophy- Springtron. I'd love it if Waluigi, Isaac, Dillon, Bomber Man, and even the Excite Bike Racer got a chance to shine, but I can't see Sakurai just taking the easy way out and just disabling characters-he's part of Nintendo, and the easy road isn't the most favored for the Big N.
We'll see. The list of characters I don't want in Smash is exceedingly short, and I'm genuinely having trouble thinking of new characters. Shadow as Sonic's Echo, Ray Man from Ubisoft, Crash from Activision (please not Tracer) a new Pokemon like Rillaboom... and those aren't guaranteed picks. At the very least, I'm kept guessing, even with my favorite Switch title's chosen fighter.
Spring Man's actually a lot higher than I thought he'd be-3rd place, just like the original popularity poll for ARMS, lol. As for the Bouncer himself, the only concrete thing holding him back is the Assist Trophy argument, and that has a simple fix-replace the trophy with Springtron whenever Spring Man's fighting. Springtron's super shockwave would be difficult to bring into Smash anyway.
People have brought up the idea of having multiple characters as one unit, like with Bowser Jr., but I lean towards the opinion that the unique characteristics of ARMS fighters would be lost. The characters aren't super different, but the nuances are there, even with Spring Man and Springtron.
One idea I've considered for something similar is going nuts with Echo Fighters. My idea-Spring Man as the base, being focused on the ground, and Ribbon Girl being an air fighter, similar to the game. After that, bring in Max Brass as yet ANOTHER Echo Fighter, functioning with similar rules to Spring Man, and Dr.Coyle as another Echo Fighter meant to reflect Ribbon Girl as another air based ARMS fighter. It's a crazy idea, and I'm not expecting it, but it would be nice.
Anyway, fingers crossed for Spring Man with Ribbon Girl as an Echo, but I'll be happy with ARMS just getting some representation in Smash. I can count the number of game character I don't want on one hand, and I'm willing to take one I don't like with the ones that I do so far.
@Tonyo Mine's still working, but for some reason (I think I dropped it), the sound on it just isn't working any more. TBH, I mainly just used that as an excuse for the 2DS XL-the system is fine, but it's kind of a bummer to miss out on the sound effects and music for games.
May give it to a relative who doesn't mind since it still works, after looking into getting it fixed.
Best of wishes to everyone weathering the storm. Nintendo's probably one of the companies that's better equipped to handle this, but it's probably still rough for them and everyone else in Japan. Hopefully things go back to normal ASAP.
If Nintendo wants to branch out with genre's for the Switch, Fatal Frame's the best place to start, unless they want to do something with Eternal Darkness.
@MsJubilee If they focus on staged recordings, and something like Nintendo's Treehouse, it shouldn't be hard. Not like the Direct format is patented, it shouldn't be hard to mimic.
It was so confusing to hear about a fairly interesting Metroidvania title from Capcom of all developers. It's the kind of thing that would've gotten a lot of buzz, so I assumed that it was a brand new game until I learned it was on Apple Arcade. I'll grab it later on. For a phone title, it looks pretty detailed and unique.
April Fool's is fun when it's about silly jokes, and announcements out of left field. Joke's on actual products or events like this are why people hate the holiday-it's annoying and disappointing, and there's only so much you can get away with by saying 'it's just a prank bro'. Honestly, if this wasn't from the ACTUAL DEVELOPER of the game, this would just be another rumor people hyped themselves up for.
I kept hearing my friends talk about this when we'd chat, though it involved some complaining about the game, so it seems like the difficulty is a problem unless you're a borderline masochist. I can see the appeal, but I'm more familiar with regular Mega Man and Star Force than this kind of gameplay (though it is similar to the latter). I can't really see myself getting into it until maybe the difficulty patch drops. The one thing that really kills games for me is a lack of progress-if I can't get past a certain challenge, or can't find collectibles, I either look for a guide or give up. It just kills my enthusiasm.
@Anti-Matter The weapons look more like the transformation weapons Sora gets, like the hammer he gets from the Toy Story world, or the yo-yo from Monsters Inc. I'd say I didn't see KH in the character design, but crossing it with Splatoon, it kind of fit, especially when they were older.
As other people have said, this gives off the strongest Big Hero 6 vibe.
Wow, that was actually amazing. Hope Gung Ho manages to give this game the push it needs, it looks fun, and it seems like a decent amount of thought went into the world itself. As for the gameplay, so far, the only problem is that the hit stuns seem too long. Hopefully it feels good when playing, I've been one of the few people who even remember Ninjala existed before today-the game had so little marketing until recently.
@RadNitro89 Well, there was a comic written up for ARMS. It's been delayed indefinitely, but the writer (Ian Flynn, who works on the current Sonic comics) implied that there were a lot of details for the world of ARMS the devs had written up. There's also some lore in-game you can read up on in the art gallery. As for a full series, I think something centered around the Grand prix tournament, and spiraling out from that could work, but I can't say for sure since there's not too much known about the world.
@Tourtus I always saw it as a mix of Splatoon and ARMS inspired design (the UI is also similar to ARMS) but just in the art style. It's the closest comparison I can think of, everything else about the game is pretty unique.
@barneygumble Ideally, the game will allow people to grind for currency in a reasonable amount of time, and won't have items that are explicitly better than what's free.
This game was one of the highlights of the Direct Mini for me, and it certainly wasn't because of a lack of interesting announcements. I just imagined the kind of chaos that could be caused, along with the trial and error you could go through to find the best times. All I was waiting for was some sort of score and a few details about what the game is like, and it seems like it's just what I imagined. Glad to see these smaller, experimental titles come about, especially when big companies like Nintendo publish them (Good Job Guy for Smash!)
The big thing for me was the reveal ARMS would be in Smash, even if I kind of got spoiled online because I missed the Direct. Other than that, I'm getting the Pokemon DLC, Ninjala, and I'll keep and eye on Mr.Driller, Shinsekai Into the Depths, and Good Job.
Good Job in particular looked really fun and polished. Will probably grab it after seeing a few reviews, main concern is just the content level for $20.
@Octane Well, Nintendo publishing the game implies they had a good amount of oversight on development, since they invested in it. Not to take away from Paladin's work, but at the very least they convinced a very well-known company to publish their title, and just the name 'Nintendo' can catch people's eyes (I hope, it looks fun, and I like seeing Nintendo work with smaller devs on new things, or on smaller experimental titles in general)
@MasterJay They've done recaps for games in Directs before, it's nothing new, but a bit disappointing they didn't throw in much different for Pokemon. TBF, I don't think they had anything else they could have capped off the Direct with, there weren't a lot of new things from the bigger titles. Maybe Smash, but that would only have worked for a full announcement.
I've been slowly getting back into console gaming, and this pushed me over the edge. Time to get back to the game, get beaten down, get good, and maybe hit Rank 20 before the Switch's Online shuts down. At the very least, I get to have some fun and FINALLY grab all of the badges. ARMS UP!
@MH4 Second guy reporting in, finger crossed that Spring Man gets to be a fighter, but prepared to only be slightly salty for another fighters because ARMS is getting the spotlight. TBH, not having any ARMS music in Smash alone was baffling, but now I'm pretty much guaranteed to get everything else I wanted if the "Swapping Spring Man's assist trophy with Springtron" theory doesn't come up.
This came out of nowhere. ARMS is my most played game on Switch, and I kind of lost track of it and... geez, pretty much everything on Switch for a while. I'm out of practice, but this is just what I need to hop back into the game.
It's very odd that this is happening out of nowhere though. Makes me hopeful that there will b some sort of announcement about it. At minimum, we're due for the graphic novel to finally be released, though I'm hopeful there may be a Direct soon (and while I'd love ARMS content, I just want a Direct in general)
While I don't have Animal Crossing (wanted to pick up Mystery Dungeon) I appreciate the message. I've been busy helping around the house for what's been going on, among other things, so I haven't given much time to get work done, let alone game. Anything's better than being stressed, and because I haven't felt great anyway (sprained my foot running) some escapism is xactly what I need.
@GetShulked There has been speculation that Nintendo's been quiet specifically because of the virus. I still agree, but things wouldn't have gone south this badly on their own.
Is this stock situation mainly affecting Japan, or is it hitting other countries? I haven't heard about anything in the US, and problems like stock shortages usually become pretty well known.
Either way, I hope this situation blows over soon. Also, I hope Nintendo looks into other places to manufacture their systems, if only so that if one place has issues, they have some sort of backup.
I was really sad that the ARMS graphic novel kind of faded away, I love comics, but haven't been into too many for a ton of reasons. A straightforward graphic novel of my favorite Switch title, without any baggage and overseen by Nintendo, who's super careful about how their characters are presented? Sounds great, I just want it released so I can finally buy a copy to read-heck, maybe two to keep one preserved.
EDIT: I forgot to mention, while the game is light on story, there actually are a bunch of details about lore and some of the characters that were really intriguing. They were unavailable to most, initially being posted on the Japanese ARMS Twitter, but the release of the art gallery brought over translations with some cool details. Agh, now I'm getting nostalgic and excited! Really hope there's more for ARMS future. At the very least, I'd take Spring Man as a fighter in Smash (his assist trophy replaced by Springtron) or the more likely prospect of the ARMS music getting into the game.
@Grumblevolcano According to the writer, Ian Flynn (the current writer of the Sonic comics) the graphic novel was finished by the time he was done with it, him basically being commissioned work. I was wondering if the comic might have been delayed because of the game underperforming, but they already paid for the script and had a preview comic made-they have work done and ready.
I adore ARMS, and can see tons of ways the gameplay could be built on, so maybe the devs were considering a sequel, and Nintendo delayed it for when that launches, as a sort of 'catch-up' to ARMS 2? It makes the most sense.
@aaronsullivan Agreed. As much as I understand the tradeoffs of having a publisher (the funding traditionally gives them ownership and influence of the product) I see why Platinum's ready to be its own boss, exclusively with their own vision. As for crowdfunding... well, Platinum's earned the confidence of its audience, and like I said, they have good reason to seek external funding since they wanted to port W101 to other consoles, and it coincides with Project GG, Platinum trying to be more independent. It could be abused by others, but that's most likely not the case here.
Fingers crossed, I really do wish them the best for this and their other projects (definitely in no part because I backed the Kickstarter myself, lol). They're a great company, and deserve so much more recognition than they ever get.
@Kalmaro This is apparently Platinum's first time self-publishing a title, so if they did have stuff ready (Kamiya keeps implying that they've had W101 at the back of their minds for a while, and had ideas for a sequel) this is probably just to help with funding, and maybe the extras given out. The original goal was just shy of $50,000, so it seems like they were ready to have the bare minimum of support. It's funny in retrospect, but with Platinums game's usually being kind of niche, it's a reasonable idea to consider.
Physical or digital, it's not really a big deal since you technically own a copy either way. No company can pull a product out from your hands unless it's connected to some sort of streaming system, which feels like where a lot of the concerns with digital-only media comes from. As it stands, all digital is more convenient, but people like collecting things, and being able to hold them in case there are any problems with their system, even with cloud saves being more prevalent. As long as special-case creators like Super Rare and Limited Run exist, it'll all still remain, even if physical becomes more niche.
The biggest problem I face with all of this is the issue of a physical edition of a game coming out when I have the digital version. It's kind of annoying to have that happen since I don't want to use up the rest of the save space on my Switch, but the justification for wanting to ensure a game is a big seller, as well as a critical hit, makes perfect sense. Just as customers are best off waiting to see reviews after a game releases, a small game publisher would be in the same boat by default. Hopefully the head of the company sort of lives their childhood dream by making a physical edition of Wargroove.
Look, if there's some sort of deal Atlus has with Sony that they don't want to drop because of Persona's selling power, that's fine. I'm more than happy with consoles having their own exclusives to gain interest, I'm a Nintendo fan, it would be hypocritical to say otherwise. However, that doesn't seem to be the case, which makes Atlus' approach to this confusing.
First, If you really, REALLY want to keep Persona on Playstation, than why on Earth would you allow Joker to be part of the game??? I considered Jack Frost as a general SMT rep because he's the closest thing the series has to a mascot, and he's appeared in so many games-INCLUDING the SMT series which has been playable on Nintendo consoles for a while. If anyone at Atlus spends a split second online, they'd know how much buzz Smash generates for a character and the series they're from. The port begging should have been expected, and to an extent, it's justified, since the other character in Joker's shoes, Cloud, got their game release on Switch later on.
Second, if Atlus had any interest in releasing this game, they should have planned it just after Joker's release. That was when the iron was hot, and sales could be maximized because of the "OMG, he's in Smash" factor that's been part of Smash' existence as advertising. The ship has sailed, and if Atlus were to make a million sales on P5 for Switch, that'll probably still be less than what they could have earned if they launched the game months ago.
Seriously, Atlus should have picked someone else for Smash for a game they could have sold on Switch freely, and just shut down hopes for this years ago. Now they've got confused and angry fans bugging them constantly, and this was probably the worst thing that could be done to try and cool things off. Good job there Atlus.
@Woomy_NNYes The cover on the left seems to just be a copy of the promo art used for one of the posters in the NIS bundle. Agreed on it being the best, but LTH had at least one more piece of artwork to use that showed the MC off. Not sure why they chose the generic looking ones for the second and third option.
@MegaVel91 Maybe people could stop assuming every type of game that's inspired by Pokemon, or occupying a similar space, wants Pokemon dead and gone? It only makes things more hostile online, no one's going to benefit unless the competitors get Game Freak's attention, and that'll probably only happen after the new guys go through plenty of growth and overcoming their own issues.
"Pokemon Killer" is just a clickbait-ey term to describe monster collectors right now. Yokai-Watch and Digimon had way more going for them than the recent big names, proved themselves with longevity, and didn't get attention because of salt generated by Pokemon. So far, those deserve the term "Pokemon Killer" far more than games that are either brand new (Temtem) or still under development (Kindred Fates).
The name "influencer" does more to bother me than the focus on them does. Just call them content creators, the name just sounds so dang manipulative. Not like they can lie about being sponsored to advertise or play something, and they'll want to try to be sincere anyway to maintain trust with their audience.
I don't know anything about FNintendo, but I'll assume that there are some decent people working there that had nothing to do with this that are dealing with the collateral. Hope for the best for them, and I'm not particularly sad about the rotten apple that spoiled the bunch.
I'm more hoping that this kind of thing discourages leaking in the future. Beyond broken NDA's, it becomes obnoxious to sift through the internet while constantly dodging spoilers. I like to be surprised when I want a game, whether or not someone wants clicks. Nowadays, leaks are more just a dirge of information with the occasional correct guess, but it's still obnoxious.
@Cheesydonut I understand, and I respect the fact that it's necessary for the game. While it is for marketing purposes, having the most popular characters does help with the fact that Smash is a celebration of gaming, and I don't mind Sakurai focusing on recent characters for games. Fire Emblem, Dragon Quest, and Pokemon function as a series by constantly making new characters, so there's plenty of potential for both fighters, and marketing.
Like I said, there are hardly any characters I would actively dislike, and plenty that would make good business sense, without bringing up the question "why are they here?" from gamers. Crash was a big 90's icon, and was almost Sony's answer to Sonic and Mario. Rayman is Ubisoft's most recognizable character, with very good games, and even if he doesn't have an upcoming title, getting him in just helps Nintendo's relationship with Ubisoft. Spring Man, Rex and Pyra, and Ring Fit Trainer would be great picks to push recent big games made for Switch. A retro character could be picked both for their legacy, and just to be a unique pick, like with Pit, R.O.B. and Mr.Game and Watch.
Granted, this is a very optimistic view on the possibilities from someone who's easy to please, but I don't think any of it sounds unrealistic.
TBH, the biggest problem with Byleth was that he was used to cap off the 1st batch of DLC fighters. Banjo or Terry would have been better, one being a return of a retired icon, and the other being integral to fighting game history, including the creation of Smash. Even if that wasn't the case, the reveal was pretty lackluster in itself because there wasn't any buildup to the reveal, we see them at the start, then get a whole trailer that, frankly, could have been cut in half if Sakurai just made female Byleth a footnote in the announcements.
Otherwise, I like Byleth just fine. I understand there were marketing reasons, though I hope Sakurai enjoyed working on Byleth, because I really appreciate how he tried to differentiate them. Breaking the theme of counters (which I always suspected was connected to the combat system in FE, but never knew for sure) and including the weapons from Three Houses was cool.
Going to be grabbing the 2nd DLC pack, and with the current track record and lack of FE characters in the immediate future, I'll probably enjoy it. Even if I'm not hot on a character, there are only two who I don't really want, with the most likely one being Tracer from Overwatch-if Crash or Spyro get snubbed as an Activision representative, I'll be genuinely angry.
Comments 516
Re: The Top Ten Best-Selling Games For Wii U, 3DS, Wii And DS (As Of March 2020)
@WiltonRoots Started out with my 3DS, but Wii U helped me take the deep dive back into gaming (Pikmin 3, baby!), and really get into Nintendo stuff. The console had problems, but I will defend the best games on that console to the bitter end-especially Splatoon!
Re: 18 Nintendo-Published Switch Games Sold More Than A Million Copies This Financial Year
Big standouts on the list to me are : Pokemon Mystery Dungeon DX, Astral Chan, Ring Fit Adventure, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, and Luigi's Mansion. All games I was kind of concerned would sell well, and in Luigi's case, I didn't think it would sell half ass well as it did. Good job!
Also, quite a few of these titles are pretty old, especially BotW and Mario Kart. Animal Crossing and Pokemon are probably going to have decent momentum after their insane launches too.
Re: Nintendo Reconfirms Release Windows For Major Switch Games, And It's A Pretty Small List
@Whispy I'm leaning towards the lockdowns causing Nintendo's scheduling to go awry, and not just on the development side. Nintendo's been saving quite a few hard hitters for the later half of the year recently, and they tend to reveal a lot of those around E3, which got cancelled. Probably a mix of development being slowed to an extent, and the best time to advertise new games getting cancelled.
Nintendo's been good about having at least one blockbuster near the end of each year. Mario Odyssey, Smash, Pokemon, even when things were lacking, the holidays always had a big title for people to look forward to. There's guaranteed to be at last one bigger title later on.
Re: EA Set To Launch "Multiple" Titles On Nintendo Switch In 2020
@Old_Man_Nintendo That's fair. I know it's not just shoving a PC title into Switch, but I assume there are more difficulties porting some titles compared to others. Older titles and more stylized games are less graphically intensive compared to something like Fallen Order. There's also a risk vs reward consideration, which is why I brought up game bundles and stylized titles that Nintendo gamers would like.
Regarding Frostbite, EA should really consider just splurging on a new engine that they own so they don't have to pay royalties to 3rd party engines. An engine change could probably make it a lot easier on everyone working on their titles.
Re: EA Set To Launch "Multiple" Titles On Nintendo Switch In 2020
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dead Space ports, Unravel 1, the Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare games-plenty of options that would work fine on Switch in several ways, wouldn't be pricey to port, and could nets some decent profits. Old classics and cartoony games are sure to get core gamers attention while Plants vs Zombies and the sports titles grabs more casual audiences.
Not really expecting much from EA. I don't even avoid their games much, a lot of their stuff just doesn't appeal to me, and they seem insistent on making their game output as small as possible anyway. I said it before, there could be something new to grab people's attention, but EA seems fine coasting by on their sports titles.
Re: EA Play Live Goes Digital This June - Expect World Premieres, News And Much More
Unravel 1, Dead Space ports, the original Mass Effect Trilogy were the first things off of the top of my head, since they probably wouldn't be pricey, and could be easy sells. One game EA NEEDS to bring to Switch is Plants vs. Zombies. That series is such a missed opportunity, and of course some ports of their sports games. They've published a few smaller titles here and there, so they could either bring old or new ones out.
EA's kind of due for some sort of new blockbuster (the Star Wars game did great, but that was launched a while ago) but I never expect much from hem-I'm just waiting until they get too big and the shareholders gut the last golden goose before leaving.
Re: Talking Point: Should Nintendo Create An Apple Arcade-Style Service For Smartphones?
@Kalmaro I know people don't like the Switch's online service as a whole, but I think most people gladly play for the retro game service on there. My ideal would be them charging nothing for online (worse than the competitors, but doesn't cost anything) and them offering a robust game selection up from for a bunch of old titles, from NES-Gamecube, including some handheld consoles.
Re: A Nintendo Direct In June Is Beginning To Seem Less And Less Likely
I mean, as much as I hope this lack of news could push smaller titles like Deadly Premonition 2 further into the spotlight, I really hope that there are more announcements planned. That being said, Summer's seeming like kind of a drought on all fronts for obvious reasons (this situation cannot end fast enough). There's Pokemon and Smash DLC planned for June already, so if either of those aren't shown off with any Direct's, it's probably going to be July when things happen.
Re: We Won't Get A Nintendo Direct This June For E3, Says Report
Writing the following under the assumption that this is true (It's ultimately a rumor until June passes):
The year was looking pretty bottom heavy in terms of releases, like other years recently, but Nintendo delaying things kind of throws me off. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, Animal Crossing and Xenoblade Chronicles are by no means small titles, and there are other games like Deadly Premonition 2 and Ninjala that should at least carve out their niche's, but it feels like AC was the big blockbuster of the first half of the year. I expected some sort of announcement to come for E3, but with that and businesses thrown off by the virus and the economy's state, it's understandable that some preparations were delayed. They should have announcements planned for E3 that they could recycle, but I imagine they planned them for worldwide announcements, rather than just Nintendo Directs (they're big in their own way, E3 is just the best time to get the casual crowd's attention).
Personally, I think there's still a chance, mainly because Nintendo's got two VERY big releases in June: the Pokemon DLC, and the Smash DLC. Those will very easily grab a lot of attention, and they've both gotten release dates. I know they're easier to sell than new games, but the hype they have would help bring eyes to a Direct that showed off a ton of new releases.
Either way, hoping for the best. No one can blame them for being cagey with what's going on right now, I just hope they push some older titles for people who haven't played them yet-it is backlog season right now
Re: UK Charts: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Returns To Top Ten With 317% Weekly Sales Boost
@johnvboy Most of the Wii U's big games were ported to Switch or got a sequel of some sort. We've heard vague news about Pikmin 4 existing, but 3's a great entry that a lot of people didn't get to play. Heck, 1 and 2 could use ports, maybe something like the original Pikmin's Wii port that took advantage of Wii's motion controls.
Re: More Switch Consoles Are On The Way, Promises Nintendo
Pretty much everything's been struggling recently, for obvious reason. I know it's meant to reassure people, but everyone understands why it's happening.
Re: ESRB Ratings Will Now Warn Players About Loot Boxes And Other Random Items
This is a good start, but there's more that can be done. 'In-game purchases' alone is too vague, it doesn't emphasize the fact that real world money can be used, and more importantly, infinitely funneled into these kinds of games for a chance at nice things. Gambling may not be the ideal word, but it fits, especially with how addictive this gets.
Game devs should be careful, they've already had one PR debacle, and some big publishers live their lives working towards infinite growth dependent on constantly leeching people's wallets dry with this stuff.
Re: Demand For The Switch And Ring Fit Adventure In Japan Is Absolutely Crazy Right Now
@Nintendo_Thumb XBox had at least one fitness based game for the Kinect that Rare made, and probably a few others. There's also Wii Fit and Wii Fit U, but those are more or less prequels to Ring Fit.
Sony and Microsoft haven't really done much with motion controls, and any games that use VR that have more movement wouldn't work for exercise because of the headset.
Re: The Pokémon Company Threatens To "Permanently Ban" Players Who Deliberately Disconnect From Battles
@graysoncharles Yeah, I understand that. Ideally, they need to get the penalty system to work right, I'm just saying that it's a decent stop gap until it's fixed.
Re: The Pokémon Company Threatens To "Permanently Ban" Players Who Deliberately Disconnect From Battles
As long as this only happens to people doing it repeatedly, this is fine while they hopefully find a fix to it. There's always a chance people could be falsely banned, but as long as their internet is decent, it shouldn't form a pattern.
Re: Poll: Which ARMS Fighter Should Join Super Smash Bros. Ultimate?
@duffmmann Assist Trophies have pretty much been a consolation prize for characters who didn't make it in-in Spring Man's case, DLC was already decided before Sakurai knew about him We've had Assist trophies get promoted before, ala Little Mac and Isabelle, but it usually take a whole game for that to happen. DLC only recently added the possibility to change that on Wii U, and even then, Ultimate's really where they've gone nuts with character choices. (not to say Bayonetta wasn't a wild pick, but she was more off the wall than everyone else on Smash for Wii U, either returning or just... being Corrin, lol)
As for other assist trophies joining in... I'd be down with it, but I think Spring Man would be an exception if h happened because he's actually got a counterpart who could replace his trophy- Springtron. I'd love it if Waluigi, Isaac, Dillon, Bomber Man, and even the Excite Bike Racer got a chance to shine, but I can't see Sakurai just taking the easy way out and just disabling characters-he's part of Nintendo, and the easy road isn't the most favored for the Big N.
We'll see. The list of characters I don't want in Smash is exceedingly short, and I'm genuinely having trouble thinking of new characters. Shadow as Sonic's Echo, Ray Man from Ubisoft, Crash from Activision (please not Tracer) a new Pokemon like Rillaboom... and those aren't guaranteed picks. At the very least, I'm kept guessing, even with my favorite Switch title's chosen fighter.
Re: Poll: Which ARMS Fighter Should Join Super Smash Bros. Ultimate?
Spring Man's actually a lot higher than I thought he'd be-3rd place, just like the original popularity poll for ARMS, lol. As for the Bouncer himself, the only concrete thing holding him back is the Assist Trophy argument, and that has a simple fix-replace the trophy with Springtron whenever Spring Man's fighting. Springtron's super shockwave would be difficult to bring into Smash anyway.
People have brought up the idea of having multiple characters as one unit, like with Bowser Jr., but I lean towards the opinion that the unique characteristics of ARMS fighters would be lost. The characters aren't super different, but the nuances are there, even with Spring Man and Springtron.
One idea I've considered for something similar is going nuts with Echo Fighters. My idea-Spring Man as the base, being focused on the ground, and Ribbon Girl being an air fighter, similar to the game. After that, bring in Max Brass as yet ANOTHER Echo Fighter, functioning with similar rules to Spring Man, and Dr.Coyle as another Echo Fighter meant to reflect Ribbon Girl as another air based ARMS fighter. It's a crazy idea, and I'm not expecting it, but it would be nice.
Anyway, fingers crossed for Spring Man with Ribbon Girl as an Echo, but I'll be happy with ARMS just getting some representation in Smash. I can count the number of game character I don't want on one hand, and I'm willing to take one I don't like with the ones that I do so far.
Re: The Poor Old Nintendo 3DS Has Sold Just 620,000 Units In The Past Nine Months
@Tonyo Mine's still working, but for some reason (I think I dropped it), the sound on it just isn't working any more. TBH, I mainly just used that as an excuse for the 2DS XL-the system is fine, but it's kind of a bummer to miss out on the sound effects and music for games.
May give it to a relative who doesn't mind since it still works, after looking into getting it fixed.
Re: Nintendo Switch Stock Concerns Grow As Shipping Gets Temporarily Halted In Japan
Best of wishes to everyone weathering the storm. Nintendo's probably one of the companies that's better equipped to handle this, but it's probably still rough for them and everyone else in Japan. Hopefully things go back to normal ASAP.
Re: Fatal Frame's Return Is Up To Nintendo, Says Series Producer Keisuke Kikuchi
If Nintendo wants to branch out with genre's for the Switch, Fatal Frame's the best place to start, unless they want to do something with Eternal Darkness.
Re: IGN Announces Its New 'Summer Of Gaming' Digital Event, An E3 Replacement Starting This June
@MsJubilee If they focus on staged recordings, and something like Nintendo's Treehouse, it shouldn't be hard. Not like the Direct format is patented, it shouldn't be hard to mimic.
Re: Review: Shinsekai: Into The Depths - A Watery Twist On The Metroidvania Format
It was so confusing to hear about a fairly interesting Metroidvania title from Capcom of all developers. It's the kind of thing that would've gotten a lot of buzz, so I assumed that it was a brand new game until I learned it was on Apple Arcade. I'll grab it later on. For a phone title, it looks pretty detailed and unique.
Re: Flipnote April Fools' Prank Results In Immediate Backlash And Abuse Towards Its Creator
April Fool's is fun when it's about silly jokes, and announcements out of left field. Joke's on actual products or events like this are why people hate the holiday-it's annoying and disappointing, and there's only so much you can get away with by saying 'it's just a prank bro'. Honestly, if this wasn't from the ACTUAL DEVELOPER of the game, this would just be another rumor people hyped themselves up for.
Re: Review: One Step From Eden - A Mega Man Battle Network Spiritual Successor With Brutal Difficulty
I kept hearing my friends talk about this when we'd chat, though it involved some complaining about the game, so it seems like the difficulty is a problem unless you're a borderline masochist. I can see the appeal, but I'm more familiar with regular Mega Man and Star Force than this kind of gameplay (though it is similar to the latter). I can't really see myself getting into it until maybe the difficulty patch drops. The one thing that really kills games for me is a lack of progress-if I can't get past a certain challenge, or can't find collectibles, I either look for a guide or give up. It just kills my enthusiasm.
Re: Interested In The Splatoon-Like Ninjala? Check Out This 10-Minute Animated Film
@Anti-Matter The weapons look more like the transformation weapons Sora gets, like the hammer he gets from the Toy Story world, or the yo-yo from Monsters Inc. I'd say I didn't see KH in the character design, but crossing it with Splatoon, it kind of fit, especially when they were older.
As other people have said, this gives off the strongest Big Hero 6 vibe.
Re: Interested In The Splatoon-Like Ninjala? Check Out This 10-Minute Animated Film
Wow, that was actually amazing. Hope Gung Ho manages to give this game the push it needs, it looks fun, and it seems like a decent amount of thought went into the world itself. As for the gameplay, so far, the only problem is that the hit stuns seem too long. Hopefully it feels good when playing, I've been one of the few people who even remember Ninjala existed before today-the game had so little marketing until recently.
Re: Interested In The Splatoon-Like Ninjala? Check Out This 10-Minute Animated Film
@RadNitro89 Well, there was a comic written up for ARMS. It's been delayed indefinitely, but the writer (Ian Flynn, who works on the current Sonic comics) implied that there were a lot of details for the world of ARMS the devs had written up. There's also some lore in-game you can read up on in the art gallery. As for a full series, I think something centered around the Grand prix tournament, and spiraling out from that could work, but I can't say for sure since there's not too much known about the world.
@Tourtus I always saw it as a mix of Splatoon and ARMS inspired design (the UI is also similar to ARMS) but just in the art style. It's the closest comparison I can think of, everything else about the game is pretty unique.
@barneygumble Ideally, the game will allow people to grind for currency in a reasonable amount of time, and won't have items that are explicitly better than what's free.
Re: Review: Good Job! - This Laugh-Riot Feels Like 2020's Answer To Untitled Goose Game
This game was one of the highlights of the Direct Mini for me, and it certainly wasn't because of a lack of interesting announcements. I just imagined the kind of chaos that could be caused, along with the trial and error you could go through to find the best times. All I was waiting for was some sort of score and a few details about what the game is like, and it seems like it's just what I imagined. Glad to see these smaller, experimental titles come about, especially when big companies like Nintendo publish them (Good Job Guy for Smash!)
Re: Nintendo Shares Colourful New Graphic Of The Games Showcased In This Week's Mini Direct
The big thing for me was the reveal ARMS would be in Smash, even if I kind of got spoiled online because I missed the Direct. Other than that, I'm getting the Pokemon DLC, Ninjala, and I'll keep and eye on Mr.Driller, Shinsekai Into the Depths, and Good Job.
Good Job in particular looked really fun and polished. Will probably grab it after seeing a few reviews, main concern is just the content level for $20.
Re: Good Job! Is A Brand New Puzzler From Nintendo, And It's Out Now On Switch
@Octane Well, Nintendo publishing the game implies they had a good amount of oversight on development, since they invested in it. Not to take away from Paladin's work, but at the very least they convinced a very well-known company to publish their title, and just the name 'Nintendo' can catch people's eyes (I hope, it looks fun, and I like seeing Nintendo work with smaller devs on new things, or on smaller experimental titles in general)
Re: Fresh Pokémon Sword And Shield Expansion Pass Details Revealed In New Trailer
@MasterJay They've done recaps for games in Directs before, it's nothing new, but a bit disappointing they didn't throw in much different for Pokemon. TBF, I don't think they had anything else they could have capped off the Direct with, there weren't a lot of new things from the bigger titles. Maybe Smash, but that would only have worked for a full announcement.
Re: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's Sixth DLC Fighter Is From ARMS
I've been slowly getting back into console gaming, and this pushed me over the edge. Time to get back to the game, get beaten down, get good, and maybe hit Rank 20 before the Switch's Online shuts down. At the very least, I get to have some fun and FINALLY grab all of the badges. ARMS UP!
Re: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's Sixth DLC Fighter Is From ARMS
@MH4 Second guy reporting in, finger crossed that Spring Man gets to be a fighter, but prepared to only be slightly salty for another fighters because ARMS is getting the spotlight. TBH, not having any ARMS music in Smash alone was baffling, but now I'm pretty much guaranteed to get everything else I wanted if the "Swapping Spring Man's assist trophy with Springtron" theory doesn't come up.
Re: Nintendo Remembers ARMS Exists, Announces Official Online Tournament
This came out of nowhere. ARMS is my most played game on Switch, and I kind of lost track of it and... geez, pretty much everything on Switch for a while. I'm out of practice, but this is just what I need to hop back into the game.
It's very odd that this is happening out of nowhere though. Makes me hopeful that there will b some sort of announcement about it. At minimum, we're due for the graphic novel to finally be released, though I'm hopeful there may be a Direct soon (and while I'd love ARMS content, I just want a Direct in general)
Re: Animal Crossing Producer Hopes Fans Will Use New Horizons To "Escape" Reality Right Now
While I don't have Animal Crossing (wanted to pick up Mystery Dungeon) I appreciate the message. I've been busy helping around the house for what's been going on, among other things, so I haven't given much time to get work done, let alone game. Anything's better than being stressed, and because I haven't felt great anyway (sprained my foot running) some escapism is xactly what I need.
Re: Japanese Charts: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Debuts In First, Switch Sales Go From Bad To Worse
@GetShulked There has been speculation that Nintendo's been quiet specifically because of the virus. I still agree, but things wouldn't have gone south this badly on their own.
Re: Japanese Charts: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Debuts In First, Switch Sales Go From Bad To Worse
Is this stock situation mainly affecting Japan, or is it hitting other countries? I haven't heard about anything in the US, and problems like stock shortages usually become pretty well known.
Either way, I hope this situation blows over soon. Also, I hope Nintendo looks into other places to manufacture their systems, if only so that if one place has issues, they have some sort of backup.
Re: ARMS Graphic Novels Still Being Made, But With No Release Date Yet
I was really sad that the ARMS graphic novel kind of faded away, I love comics, but haven't been into too many for a ton of reasons. A straightforward graphic novel of my favorite Switch title, without any baggage and overseen by Nintendo, who's super careful about how their characters are presented? Sounds great, I just want it released so I can finally buy a copy to read-heck, maybe two to keep one preserved.
EDIT: I forgot to mention, while the game is light on story, there actually are a bunch of details about lore and some of the characters that were really intriguing. They were unavailable to most, initially being posted on the Japanese ARMS Twitter, but the release of the art gallery brought over translations with some cool details. Agh, now I'm getting nostalgic and excited! Really hope there's more for ARMS future. At the very least, I'd take Spring Man as a fighter in Smash (his assist trophy replaced by Springtron) or the more likely prospect of the ARMS music getting into the game.
Re: ARMS Graphic Novels Still Being Made, But With No Release Date Yet
@Grumblevolcano According to the writer, Ian Flynn (the current writer of the Sonic comics) the graphic novel was finished by the time he was done with it, him basically being commissioned work. I was wondering if the comic might have been delayed because of the game underperforming, but they already paid for the script and had a preview comic made-they have work done and ready.
I adore ARMS, and can see tons of ways the gameplay could be built on, so maybe the devs were considering a sequel, and Nintendo delayed it for when that launches, as a sort of 'catch-up' to ARMS 2? It makes the most sense.
Re: The Wonderful 101: Remastered Secures May Release On Nintendo Switch
@aaronsullivan Agreed. As much as I understand the tradeoffs of having a publisher (the funding traditionally gives them ownership and influence of the product) I see why Platinum's ready to be its own boss, exclusively with their own vision. As for crowdfunding... well, Platinum's earned the confidence of its audience, and like I said, they have good reason to seek external funding since they wanted to port W101 to other consoles, and it coincides with Project GG, Platinum trying to be more independent. It could be abused by others, but that's most likely not the case here.
Fingers crossed, I really do wish them the best for this and their other projects (definitely in no part because I backed the Kickstarter myself, lol). They're a great company, and deserve so much more recognition than they ever get.
Re: The Wonderful 101: Remastered Secures May Release On Nintendo Switch
@Kalmaro This is apparently Platinum's first time self-publishing a title, so if they did have stuff ready (Kamiya keeps implying that they've had W101 at the back of their minds for a while, and had ideas for a sequel) this is probably just to help with funding, and maybe the extras given out. The original goal was just shy of $50,000, so it seems like they were ready to have the bare minimum of support. It's funny in retrospect, but with Platinums game's usually being kind of niche, it's a reasonable idea to consider.
Re: Feature: Super Rare Games On 2 Years Of Switch Releases And The Future Of Physical Media
Physical or digital, it's not really a big deal since you technically own a copy either way. No company can pull a product out from your hands unless it's connected to some sort of streaming system, which feels like where a lot of the concerns with digital-only media comes from. As it stands, all digital is more convenient, but people like collecting things, and being able to hold them in case there are any problems with their system, even with cloud saves being more prevalent. As long as special-case creators like Super Rare and Limited Run exist, it'll all still remain, even if physical becomes more niche.
Re: Feature: Super Rare Games On 2 Years Of Switch Releases And The Future Of Physical Media
The biggest problem I face with all of this is the issue of a physical edition of a game coming out when I have the digital version. It's kind of annoying to have that happen since I don't want to use up the rest of the save space on my Switch, but the justification for wanting to ensure a game is a big seller, as well as a critical hit, makes perfect sense. Just as customers are best off waiting to see reviews after a game releases, a small game publisher would be in the same boat by default. Hopefully the head of the company sort of lives their childhood dream by making a physical edition of Wargroove.
Re: Atlus Understands The Desire For A Persona 5 Switch Port, Tells Fans To Remain Hopeful
Look, if there's some sort of deal Atlus has with Sony that they don't want to drop because of Persona's selling power, that's fine. I'm more than happy with consoles having their own exclusives to gain interest, I'm a Nintendo fan, it would be hypocritical to say otherwise. However, that doesn't seem to be the case, which makes Atlus' approach to this confusing.
First, If you really, REALLY want to keep Persona on Playstation, than why on Earth would you allow Joker to be part of the game??? I considered Jack Frost as a general SMT rep because he's the closest thing the series has to a mascot, and he's appeared in so many games-INCLUDING the SMT series which has been playable on Nintendo consoles for a while. If anyone at Atlus spends a split second online, they'd know how much buzz Smash generates for a character and the series they're from. The port begging should have been expected, and to an extent, it's justified, since the other character in Joker's shoes, Cloud, got their game release on Switch later on.
Second, if Atlus had any interest in releasing this game, they should have planned it just after Joker's release. That was when the iron was hot, and sales could be maximized because of the "OMG, he's in Smash" factor that's been part of Smash' existence as advertising. The ship has sailed, and if Atlus were to make a million sales on P5 for Switch, that'll probably still be less than what they could have earned if they launched the game months ago.
Seriously, Atlus should have picked someone else for Smash for a game they could have sold on Switch freely, and just shut down hopes for this years ago. Now they've got confused and angry fans bugging them constantly, and this was probably the worst thing that could be done to try and cool things off. Good job there Atlus.
Re: NIS America Is Running A Reverse Cover Contest For Little Town Hero, Voting Now Open
@Woomy_NNYes The cover on the left seems to just be a copy of the promo art used for one of the posters in the NIS bundle. Agreed on it being the best, but LTH had at least one more piece of artwork to use that showed the MC off. Not sure why they chose the generic looking ones for the second and third option.
Re: Monster-Battling "Love Letter" Kindred Fates Reaches Its Switch Stretch Goal On Kickstarter
@MegaVel91 Maybe people could stop assuming every type of game that's inspired by Pokemon, or occupying a similar space, wants Pokemon dead and gone? It only makes things more hostile online, no one's going to benefit unless the competitors get Game Freak's attention, and that'll probably only happen after the new guys go through plenty of growth and overcoming their own issues.
"Pokemon Killer" is just a clickbait-ey term to describe monster collectors right now. Yokai-Watch and Digimon had way more going for them than the recent big names, proved themselves with longevity, and didn't get attention because of salt generated by Pokemon. So far, those deserve the term "Pokemon Killer" far more than games that are either brand new (Temtem) or still under development (Kindred Fates).
Re: Nintendo, Xbox And Multiple Third-Party Publishers Commit To E3 2020
The name "influencer" does more to bother me than the focus on them does. Just call them content creators, the name just sounds so dang manipulative. Not like they can lie about being sponsored to advertise or play something, and they'll want to try to be sincere anyway to maintain trust with their audience.
Re: Nintendo And The Pokémon Company Release Joint Statement On Sword And Shield Leaker
I don't know anything about FNintendo, but I'll assume that there are some decent people working there that had nothing to do with this that are dealing with the collateral. Hope for the best for them, and I'm not particularly sad about the rotten apple that spoiled the bunch.
I'm more hoping that this kind of thing discourages leaking in the future. Beyond broken NDA's, it becomes obnoxious to sift through the internet while constantly dodging spoilers. I like to be surprised when I want a game, whether or not someone wants clicks. Nowadays, leaks are more just a dirge of information with the occasional correct guess, but it's still obnoxious.
Re: Sakurai Understands There Are Too Many Fire Emblem Reps In Smash, Says It's Time To "Move On"
@Cheesydonut I understand, and I respect the fact that it's necessary for the game. While it is for marketing purposes, having the most popular characters does help with the fact that Smash is a celebration of gaming, and I don't mind Sakurai focusing on recent characters for games. Fire Emblem, Dragon Quest, and Pokemon function as a series by constantly making new characters, so there's plenty of potential for both fighters, and marketing.
Like I said, there are hardly any characters I would actively dislike, and plenty that would make good business sense, without bringing up the question "why are they here?" from gamers. Crash was a big 90's icon, and was almost Sony's answer to Sonic and Mario. Rayman is Ubisoft's most recognizable character, with very good games, and even if he doesn't have an upcoming title, getting him in just helps Nintendo's relationship with Ubisoft. Spring Man, Rex and Pyra, and Ring Fit Trainer would be great picks to push recent big games made for Switch. A retro character could be picked both for their legacy, and just to be a unique pick, like with Pit, R.O.B. and Mr.Game and Watch.
Granted, this is a very optimistic view on the possibilities from someone who's easy to please, but I don't think any of it sounds unrealistic.
Re: Sakurai Understands There Are Too Many Fire Emblem Reps In Smash, Says It's Time To "Move On"
TBH, the biggest problem with Byleth was that he was used to cap off the 1st batch of DLC fighters. Banjo or Terry would have been better, one being a return of a retired icon, and the other being integral to fighting game history, including the creation of Smash. Even if that wasn't the case, the reveal was pretty lackluster in itself because there wasn't any buildup to the reveal, we see them at the start, then get a whole trailer that, frankly, could have been cut in half if Sakurai just made female Byleth a footnote in the announcements.
Otherwise, I like Byleth just fine. I understand there were marketing reasons, though I hope Sakurai enjoyed working on Byleth, because I really appreciate how he tried to differentiate them. Breaking the theme of counters (which I always suspected was connected to the combat system in FE, but never knew for sure) and including the weapons from Three Houses was cool.
Going to be grabbing the 2nd DLC pack, and with the current track record and lack of FE characters in the immediate future, I'll probably enjoy it. Even if I'm not hot on a character, there are only two who I don't really want, with the most likely one being Tracer from Overwatch-if Crash or Spyro get snubbed as an Activision representative, I'll be genuinely angry.