Bolt_Strike

@Euler Okay first of all, the games we have right now are not sufficient "E ticket" games. Pokemon games are nearly every year. Metroid Prime 4 has questionable sales potential. And DKCR HD is a port. That's really not much.

But there's much more to it than the lack of games this year. We've had numerous leaks of the console that shows that insiders have it. More importantly, Nintendo themselves have already confirmed it's being revealed in the next 3 months. And given that Nintendo likes to hold their cards close to their chest, they are probably not revealing it this soon if it's a 2026 release. The only thing that can stop this thing from being a 2025 release is a delay, and if there was a delay they wouldn't have reconfirmed a reveal this fiscal year. So near 100% certainty that this is in fact the year.

@Euler Um what? You're the one arguing that the Switch 2 isn't going to release this year because there's already big games. There's been bigger years than this and yes, there is time for more to be announced.

Also while I agree with the sentiment about the Switch 2 seemingly having nothing new, it's worth noting that we haven't had a full reveal yet that confirms exactly what it can or can't do. I would reserve judgment until we actually see the freaking thing (although it does seem unlikely that there's anything more than what we know based on the sheer quantity of leaks, but without a full reveal we don't know for sure).

@Euler Previous years have had more than this planned, much more. If this looks like a "packed" year so far then what do you call the likes of 2017, 2019, and 2022? They had much more than this. There is absolutely room for the Switch 2 in this lineup.

You know I really tend to forget that Prime 4 and Legends Z-A are launching this year, kind of hard to remember that when we still know little about them. Maybe time to show them? And you know... Switch 2.

@DripDropCop146 That is where the idea of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy came from in Spongebob, it's a parody of 60's Batman where they're retired, elderly superheroes.

@BANJO I mean it's definitely too soon to reserve final judgment when it hasn't even been officially revealed. But the leaks and rumors do not look promising. I do not think the concept the leaks and rumors are showing us is going to be much of a success. I'm more hoping that there's something the leaks and rumors got wrong or are missing, I'm not optimistic about what we're seeing.

@BANJO Ehh, unless there's some major software innovation that we can't see in the design, it doesn't look like they have truly learned their lesson with the Wii U. The design looks more like the Switch Pro we should've gotten in 2020/2021 rather than the Switch 2 we're getting now. Based on what we've seen so far, I don't think many Switch owners will be enthusiastic about upgrading. That's why I see a much larger decrease than just to 85 million.

@BANJO 85-95 seems wildly optimistic, especially if the Switch 2 is a disappointingly samey followup like the rumors seem to be indicating. There's growing competition from PC, mobile, and numerous companies wanting their own handheld/hybrid device similar to the Switch, those are going to chip away at Switch's niche. I can't see the rumored concept for the Switch cracking 50 million. Just too much going against it for more power and first party games to make it super successful.

Xbox and Playstation are not the Switch's biggest concerns. It's PC and mobile. Xbox and Playstation both look like they're dying, but PC and mobile are stiff competition that are never going away (except maybe to be replaced by a new form factor that is even more convenient). I'm not sure that many people will be interested in a Switch 2 when PC and mobile are attempting to move closer to being hybrid consoles and there are multiple direct competitors to the Switch popping up.

@Anti-Matter I mean you're free to make your own decisions and that's a valid reason to opt for console over PC, but the market as a whole seems to value convenience and versatility and doesn't care that much about the physical media. That's what's making consoles irrelevant, the market wants devices that are do-everything boxes instead of being forced to buy a specialized device that can only play video games. A console simply cannot compete with a PC or mobile device because it doesn't reach as wide an audience.

@VoidofLight Yes, but how many of those people are there? While that audience certainly isn't nothing it's not enough by itself to make the console a sales success. Usually when all a Nintendo console has going for it is first party games, it tends to underwhelm with sub-50 million sales figures. I could definitely see the Switch 2 doing about N64/GC numbers.

@KoopaTheGamer They're both hybrid consoles that do largely the same thing, of course they're competing. Straightforwardness doesn't seem to matter much when PC is just getting so many games. Now Nintendo might be in a better spot than say, Microsoft or Sony because of their first party lineup, but almost everything else worth playing is on PC.

See this is why the Switch 2 needs to be more than just a more powerful Switch. There's too many companies copying the Switch's form factor and competition is going to be a lot stiffer this gen, they need a unique hook to stand out.

And we'd all very much like to play it. DK is overdue for a new, original game. It's been 10 years Nintendo.

@edgedino Last time I checked those Mario clones don't have main characters that look a lot like Mario, just some vaguely similar elements. With Palworld you can find distinct elements of Pokemon designs in the monster designs. And the CEO has admitted to supporting and using A.I.

I don't just get why they don't sue for copyright infringement for the monster designs. That's where they have a real case I think, they legit look like they just fed Pokemon designs into an A.I. generator.

@rjejr Nah, some of these games are old enough that it feels like new entries are warranted. Mario Kart especially is just BEGGING for a new, original entry. Nintendo also typically likes to design 3D Marios around the new console's capabilities so I would expect an original 3D Mario as well. Smash may get the MK8D treatment but I think that might be the exception, not the rule.

@boxyguy This, plus Sakurai is close to retiring, so Smash is set to change dramatically. Usually when significant change like that is warranted, Nintendo takes extra time to think about it. I wouldn't be surprised if Smash takes a generation off and just coasts on an Ultimate port for Switch 2. Leave Ultimate as Sakurai's magnum opus and start Smash 6 with someone new at the helm and see what they can do to change up the series. Because yeah, in terms of roster quantity, Smash 6 has nowhere to go but down, so it kind of has to innovate to follow up Ultimate.

@Truegamer79 @MSaturn I wasn't really bothered by the constant switching. Or at least not at the time, although I might be more bothered now.

My larger issue with DK64 is the constant minigames. I don't want to be taken out of the sandbox platformer gameplay to basically play Warioware. I want to platform and explore, not do random quick fire junk challenges.

Obviously they're just prepping everything for the Switch 2 announcement and it's not ready until the new year. Why else would they be so silent?

As far as why they haven't announced the Switch 2 yet, the rumor is they're being held up by launch games. And considering that one of the rumored launch games is an open world 3D Mario, that makes a lot of sense and that game in particular is probably the biggest drag as open world games are notorious time sinks (think back to how many times BotW and TotK have been delayed). I suspect they gave the window of "announced during the fiscal year" because they weren't sure when the games would be ready and it's panned out into the worst case scenario at this point.

@Daimando A MLP crossover would've been straight fire 10 years ago when the brony fad was peak, but now it would be kinda lame. Especially with the terrible looking 3D G5 style.

@sanderev Do they? I seem to recall rocket launchers in Lego Indiana Jones and pistols in Lego Pirates of the Caribbean.

@Grimley141 My phone does not have the sticks and buttons necessary to play more intricate games. I'd rather have a Nintendo phone that does and can do all of the things the Switch can do but also do typical phone things, I'd ditch my iPhone in a heartbeat if they did that.

Also as far as gimmicks that actually sold that the Switch doesn't have, dual screens is the biggest omission. The DS has outsold the Switch so far and even the 3DS did decently, but the Switch cannot replicate those experiences well. We need a dual screen hybrid, that's the next natural evolution of the concept.

And not a single one of them is new. It's been 10 years Nintendo, we're overdue.

Dual screens that can be detached. That's the only direction for the Switch 2 that would feel like a proper evolution of the concept and allow them to truly include the DNA from all past consoles like they claimed with the Switch 1.

@Paraka Conversely, if you buy it Nintendo will think you like full priced remasters and want to give you more. It's difficult to vote with your wallet to say "I want another game in this series, but not like the one being offered", on some level that's a no-win situation. They could get the wrong message either way that you either want more remasters or you don't want the series at all.

Still, I would say not buying it is more likely to get the game you actually want. If they think you want more remasters they're not going to put in much effort so nothing will change. If it doesn't sell, they'll know something's wrong and go back to the drawing board and figure out what. There's a risk that the "what" is the series isn't profitable enough, but I don't think that's a concern for DK, so if they do the proper research and analysis I think they're more likely to find the complaints of "I want a new DK platformer".

@nessisonett Yeah, I would like to reason with them if possible but I don't have much hope. This country feels too far gone, there's a lot of deep-seated issues and we've reached the tipping point where I don't think they can be overcome. Again, anyone that can get out of the U.S., should.

@Dee123 There's a lot of people in the U.S. that didn't make that decision and are going to suffer even worse than the rest of the world. I live in the U.S. and wanted nothing to do with Trump's nonsense, I didn't vote for him in ANY of the elections he ran in but I'm still forced to put up with him because the rest of my country doesn't seem to know any better. I want out of this country so badly.

@Dr_Corndog We know exactly what those people are thinking. It doesn't exactly make them look any better. The ones that aren't downright evil are at the very least, misinformed to put it nicely. Nothing about Trump's platform is positive to anyone but the wealthy if you apply the slightest bit of logic and reason. What they think he's going to help them with he actually won't, the "good ideas" they think he has are just hypocritical bluster. The only thing that allows a platform like Trump's to succeed is ignorance, whether it be of the malicious variety or the naive variety, but neither one is good. Now maybe the naive variety is easier to reason with and find common ground with, but they will still need to move from this platform to actually get what they want.

@HeadPirate Yeah, Nintendo themselves will probably be fine. But if you're a gamer living in the U.S., there's not much consolation here. They're who are really going to suffer from this. Honestly at this point everyone who can afford to leave the U.S. should, I don't see any way that a regular old U.S. citizen is going to benefit from this administration and MULTIPLE ways that they're going to suffer. The U.S. ... just does not feel like it's going to be a good place to live anymore.

@Bigmanfan Trump wants to suspend the Constitution and the Supreme Court will come up with a BS excuse to let him. They've already made rulings that are not in line with any Constitutional philosophy like the executive immunity ruling, they'll pull something out of their behinds to justify what Trump is doing.

@Ultimapunch Exactly. The last 8 years of U.S. politics have shown that calm heads and common sense have LOST if anything.

@Bigmanfan Executive orders and a Supreme Court that twists logic to fit what they want rather than any kind of legal philosophy.

@Not_Soos I've seen the full clips. The context doesn't really make it much better. And there's really no context that would make them any more acceptable. Those kinds of statements are very dangerous and need to be taken seriously.

@Not_Soos Trump has said with his own words that he wants to be a dictator on Day 1, that he wants generals that are blindly obedient like Hitler's generals, and that you only had to vote in this election and you'll never have to vote again. There's no misinformation about it, we know who he is straight from the man himself. It's reasonable to be concerned about the future of U.S. democracy when you have that kind of rhetoric.

@Arcsol Honestly that isn't even the solution. The reason the average person in the U.S. is suffering is because of the massive power that the wealthy and large corporations have over U.S. life. They're minimizing worker pay and maximizing prices so that corporate executives and investors can keep as much of the profits for themselves, as well as controlling media and politics to keep the system rigged in their favor. It's all about unchecked greed leading to massive inequality. Better offers to corporations isn't even the solution, that's still playing into the problem. The solution is making the wealthy pay their fair share and enacting tougher regulations to keep them from exploiting the system for their own personal gain.

@Nancyboy Bold of you to assume the U.S. will even have elections anymore the way Trump's politics are. We can't take ANYTHING for granted about the U.S. anymore.

@batmanbud2 IDK about that, the AAA market sure seems to be but I think Nintendo and the indie market are hanging in there. But Trump's tariffs will only accelerate the decline. Tariffs won't encourage corporations to move their manufacturing, that's not how you get them to make higher quality products. What they're going to do is keep the manufacturing where it is and pass the extra costs of the tariffs onto U.S. consumers. So it's going to have the opposite effect of what you think it will. It won't make video games higher quality and more affordable. It's just going to make them more expensive for a market that's already struggling to afford basic necessities, let alone video games.

Without getting too deep into politics, if calm heads and common sense were going to prevail, Trump wouldn't have won in the first place. Trump's platform is pretty much the antithesis of calm heads and common sense. Furthermore, there have been multiple economists that have said Trump's tariff plan is going to be a disaster and may negatively affect both the U.S. and the entire world for decades. I wouldn't be surprised if this destroys the U.S. video game market (among other markets, but this is a video game site so let's focus on video games). The concerns seem VERY justified. I think Nintendo themselves will probably be okay but I do think a lot of U.S. gamers will be prices out of the industry and that market will see a MASSIVE decrease.

This is why the detchable screens patent is so genius, and why I've been gunning for that as the direction for Switch 2 even before that patent was made public. That's the best way to solve the dual screen issue. It gives you a DS/3DS style dual screen setup in handheld mode and then in docked mode you dock one screen and leave the Joy Cons attached to the other screen and then you have a Wii U style setup. That would be most similar to what those past handhelds and consoles actually did.

@SuntannedDuck2 The problem with the Fisher Price style design is that when you make it too big it's harder to hold in your hands/pocket. Aesthetically it also looks bad because it feels like they're wasting space. What people seem to want from the slimmer, Apple style design is hardware that looks and feels like an efficient use of space.

Not the GB game we need right now. Where is Pokemon Red/Blue?

Not just the prototype, the DS "Phat" was ugly too. It just reeked of Fisher-Price-esque design, too oversized and bulky and rounded. The DS Lite was the massive improvement, it made the design much sleeker and more natural.

Ah yes, those "classic" Pokemon games that don't include the ones people actually want to play. Can you get any more tone deaf? Feels like we AT LEAST should have Red and Blue by now, wake me up when that's actually reality. I don't want to hear "Pokemon on NSO" ANYTHING until they're ready to make that announcement.

Oh man, this would've been a dream come true. I've always wanted to play as a Space Pirate (and yes I know there's Weavel in Prime Hunters but that's not quite what I have in mind). Space Pirates have such cool abilities that would be unique and different from Samus' gameply that I would love using (like using energy scythes, EMP grenades, and those jetpacks that the Flying Pirates/Aerotroopers use. Clinging to walls like the 2D games would've been great too). I'd really like to see a spinoff along the lines of Half Life: Opposing Force starring a Space Pirate, a single player Metroidvania campaign where the upgrades are all Space Pirate abilities instead of Samus' usual upgrades, but I would've taken this. Too bad it never happened.

Hated pretty much everything about this initiative (I played Fire and Ice and it was... okay, but there are so many Sonic games that are far better). Glad it's gone.

@nhSnork The biggest threat the Switch 2 has is other companies wanting to jump on the hybrid trend. We've got the Steam Deck now, they might release a stronger one in a few years, and there's been rumors and speculation about Microsoft and Sony getting into the hybrid market too. A samey feeling Switch 2 is not going to weather that level of competition well since it's likely going to lose the power game and get less third party support. Switch 2 does need a gimmick, but the rumors don't look good in that regard. The rumors seem to be indicating that Nintendo is bucking the trend this gen and focusing on power, which would be a huge mistake. That would likely result in fewer 1st party games, about the same or less 3rd party games than Switch and less than other platforms, and ultimately probably a slump in sales (like, maybe about GC or N64 levels, about 20-30 million).

Either February or March, but I'm not entirely sure which. I'm leaning towards February, but March is a distinct possibility.

Very underrated Zelda game, probably one of my Top 5 (and definitely Top 5 of the top down Zeldas). The shrinking gimmick is used so creatively, the game is so intelligently designed, and there are some great dungeons and dungeon items here. Grezzo could stand to learn a thing or two from this game.

@Znake I can't speak to the quality of Zero's gameplay, but the main reason I'm interested in Starlink and not the "real" Star Fox games is because Starlink is more exploration focused. Because it's an actual open space exploration game rather than a linear rail shooter. If they can make a "better", "real" Star Fox game in the style of games like Starlink and No Man's Sky, where you have an actual open world to explore and the dogfights take place in the open world rather than scripted linear sequences, I'd be interested in that. But until then the only thing Star Fox I actually like is the "worse", not-technically-a-real-Star-Fox game in Starlink since that's the closest to the style of gameplay I have in mind.

Something more Starlink style might sell better too, which means a more consistent release schedule rather than the on again/off again schedule it's had for its entire life. Complain about open world all you want but... those games tend to sell. A lot of people clearly like the genre. Many of the best selling Switch games are open world, and even on past consoles you've seen games that have sprawling open areas tend to do well in sales (for example, Mario 64, OoT, and Banjo-Kazooie on the N64). An open space game with the usual incentives to explore and dogfights all over the map would help give Star Fox a solid niche with more mainstream appeal as opposed to the linear rail shooters which few seem to care about.

@nocdaes Nah, the biggest fail is Mario Kart having a port be its only game and then introducing a Tour port disguised as DLC 5 years later rather than make any kind of new game. DK is second and no Star Fox is third. But I'm not even that disappointed in Star Fox since they ended up putting Star Fox content in a third party game that's basically the direction I wanted Star Fox to go in anyway, so I pretty much got what I wanted out of Star Fox this gen anyway.