F_T_Wolf

@Low_ink
I'm 50/50 on that one.

On the one hand this would make sense as this is a time during which lots of people, not even those who are very into Nintendo, will be watching what they have to say. It's a good moment to announce it, publicity wise.

On the other, I can see Nintendo announce Zelda 35 Anniversary related (like BOTW2) after Skyward Sword HD comes out. Any big reveals could undercut that game and I don't see Nintendo taking that risk.

@Krull
I'd say that's a saf bet indeed. Unless Nintendo does Nintendo and decides to do something completely different this year, but I don't think that's very likely.

This game is one of those rare cases in which releasing a Demo hurt the game. If Square Enix hadn't done that, then lots of people would not have been turned of by it so early.
Sure, reviews would've still been bad but I don't think it would've had as big of a negative impact on the sales as the Demo has.

@AlexOlney
Now with two swords!

@GrailUK
Didn't catch that. My bad!

@GrailUK
A combination of the strong run on the game in the last few days on the market and leftover stock, no doubt.
Also: Monster Hunter Rise getting the top 4 position in its second week is very good position for game in comparison to other games in the series, if I'm not mistaken. It makes me wonder where the game will end up in the sales, wonder if it can become one of the best-selling entries in the franchise.

@jump
Add in the loss of its American AKA English localization studio as well as other franchises of Level-5 such as Yo-Kai Watch being in limbo (Western release announced but not a single sign it's actualy coming out) and the studio shutting down in the near future has become a somewhat likely scenario.

@NintendoByNature
Finished Risky's Revenge last year and had a lot of fun with it.
It's not a long game at all (finished it in just under 7 hours spread out during 6 days) but it's a great and fun experience throughout.

Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition. I have arrived at chapter 13, though I am not going to push forward with the story this weekend. Because I don't have as much time as I had with XC2 I've not done many side-quests but with the end nearing I want to get experience a bunch of them before the credits roll.
Also: New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe. I can cram quick sessions of that game in during lunch and such and I want to finish it up so I can review it on my blog. Only two world left on that one!

A rushed game is bad forever, a delayed game can be good.
I do have to say that I didn't expect a Lego game to be delayed. Twice. But then again, we are living in trying times and that'll propably be the reason why.

Going to keep myself from giving a very cynical answer as those are plentifull. Instead, I will focus on some positivity.
I'm glad that I was able to experience Mario with others as well play Super Mario 64 & Super Mario Sunshine for the very first time.
For that, I'm gratefull.

Sound about as expected. You'll be able to grow Pikmin who will then follow you around and can do activities with all of which requires walking.
What stickes out to me are the 'Decor Pikmin'. I can't help but think that's one (of the) way(s) that Niantic will monetize this game. Special events in which you can find a specific 'Decor Pikmin' for which you need to buy a 'ticket' to participate and/or other items that will help you get it.
We'll just have to wait and see how the monetization turns out (because you can be sure there will be monetization).

Can't say any franchise really springs to mind. If it were mid-2020 I would've answered Drawn to Life (they were always Nintendo exclusives) but that got a new, if not dissapointing, entry last year.
Kid Icarus is not a bad one though. I feel that it, if going further on the route Sakurai put it on with Uprising, could become a very succesfull and distinct series. A Zelda meets Shooter of sorts but with its own unique flavour.

@TryToBeHopeful
And other 3D Mario's and games of the same calibre in the same sales window.

@carlos82
That you got a refund is good to hear at least!

@BloodNinja
Any physical product is technically speaking a limited release. It'll stop being manufactured and sold in stores eventually, at which point you need to rely soley on 2nd hand market to get it. It's more the very short window, that it is not a niche product and indeed the digital sales restriction that bother me.

@carlos82
Yikes! Any kind of refunds or insurance policies that you can fall back on?
And yeah, the amount of copies is indeed a factor as well. Super Mario 3D All-Stars is a game with mass market appeal. It ain't niche. Would Nintendo really shoot itself in the foot by manufactring to few copies? No they wouldn't. They didn't and that's what you see now and what 'hurts' this limited release strategy of theirs.

@BloodNinja
With a little luck, the law of diminishing returns will come to pass with any future limited time release games such as this.
Lots of people, me & my friends included, bought the game early simply because we didn't want to miss out on it if we were to decided to buy it later.

However: Super Mario 3D All-Stars became readily availabe a few weeks after release and can be found rather easily at both stores and the 2nd hand market. This tells people that their fears were unfounded and that you can still wait and get the game later. This, alongside yet another wave of outcry over the strategy, can and hopefully will cause the sales of said game to be lower then we currently see thus making the strategy less profitable for Nintendo.

This by no means a certainty, but does lie in the realm of possibility.

@carlos82
I've seen similair things here in the Netherlands. It used to be a very hard game to get initially, but this quickly changed. You can now find them rather easily, both in stores as well as on the 2nd hand market. I've even got a little anecdote about it ready for you.
When Black Friday rolled around last year, I saw it pop-up in quite a few deals. One of them offered an assortement Switch games that, if you bought 2 of them, you could buy a third for free. Super Mario 3D All-Stars was the only 2020 Switch game included in this deal, all the others were mid-2019 releases at their youngest.
If that isn't telling, I don't know what is.

@TryToBeHopeful
It'll also be interesting to see what the games final sales number will be. How much has its limited-time availability benefited and/or hurt the game?

@KateGray
It is indeed. Admittedly it does cause an image of a someone narrowly esaping getting eaten by a shark. Why, I have no idea.

@MoonKnight7
Thank you for the information! I now know why Tom is so beloved by old(er) NL fans.
And also thank you for the welcome! I'm not yet completely done with setting up my NL profile but once I'm done I hope to become a much more active community member/contributor.
At the very least, I can finally share the games that I play every weekend. Always wanted to be part of those discussions!

With how many weeks Nintendo tops the Japanese sales charts, I'm starting to think it will be much easier for everyone to start counting the weeks that they are not at the top.
Much less data to keep track off!

@MoonKnight7
Alright, I'm a new NintendoLife reader (started late last year) so I don't really know why it is that people are so happy that Tom is back. Could you perhaps enlighten me why people seem to gravitate towards Tom so much?