QuickSilver88

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

@arsmolinarc

Amen to that brother...Konami might as well have fallen off the planet after HK left. I mean MGS is apparently dead as far as ever getting another main line release. Still MGS IV is the game they should remaster (for switch and the x86 gang). I am tired of hearing excuses on how the game was so made for PS3 cell processors it just couldn't be done on anything else....BS..they could build a new engine and then use updated assets. Give the game to PanicB to do the Switch port and I bet they could do a nice job....Konami owns two of the most iconic IPs in the industry in MGS and CastleV and they just can't seem to do anything to make something new....sad.

Others have said it but if you mod a WiiU it is about the best legacy machine you can get...it sickens me that N would never release GC on VC because the machine natively runs it and when modded you can run the entire library from SD card on the gamepad or on the TV and with GC controllers if you please with the usb to gc adapter. Plus you can run any Wii game that supports pro controller or even wiimote dpad on the gamepad. Those 480p Wii/GC games look super on the GP.

The author left a few others out that are mostly ports but should be mentioned. The EA launch ports are actually all solid and provided some decent GPAD or dual screen support. ME3 adds a real time map on gpad that is awesome for combat when all other versions lacked any type of on screen map. Dues EX HR is the best version and great to either play on GPad or use for dual screen.. Ubi didn’t just contribute ZombiiU. Rayman Legends was built for WiiU and Splinter Cell BL was a solid port with GP specific features, AC4 was solid as well with dual screen mapping. Oh yeah and SMTxFE was exclusive and Dual screen only. There are a few good Indies as well that use Gamepad or dual screen well.

Stop saying the gsmepad is cheaply constructed nor has bad build quality. It is actually very solid. I have decent sized hands so to me it doesn’t feel big. Its just not elegant but I have never thought it heavy and the weight is well balanced.

Sadly I think WiiU’s legacy was missed opportunities. Nintendo was trying to promote a concept and just couldn’t properly define it or promote it. It was like they were always ‘tinkering’ with WiiU game ideas but couldn’t get a home run hit. Then they failed to provide the easy stuff like GC games. There are some specific game types that would have been perfect for WiiiU that sadly where never made. N said WiiU could support dual gamepads, I always thought they should release a revised gpad slim to replace the original and be sold as an add on. In the end the failures of the WiiU led to Nintendo making a lot of positive changes that led to the Switch as well as modernizing their franchises.

I would say if you missed it all together or want the best Nintendo legacy machine get a WiiU. If you aren’t the type to care about previous gens then stick with the awesome Switch as its got most the WiiU’s best and so much more wether your at home or on the go.

@Bolt_Strike

What you say is so true in that N does ‘milk’ their hot selling franchises but occasionally they revive one and it takes off and gets rejuvenated. A good example is Fire Emblem which they were threatening the end of when releasing Awakenings on 3DS... it was a solid hit commercially which led to more fine games on 3ds and then the super awesome Switch 3 houses.

The other thing they have done particularly well on Switch is modernize some of those key franchises. MarioO, ZBotW, and FE all saw big overhauls that produced best in the series offerings. So I would love to see them do the same to other IPs...Imagine what they could do with FZero if became an open world online modern game with the great fast play and pretty grafx it has been known for. I have wanted another 3D DK since the last one and much lesser IPs like Excitebike and Wave Race would be welcomed back. We would all love to ‘run’ Nintendo but they have their own ‘ways’. Thankfully they have become more receptive to their consumers with Switch so lets hope it continues.

@TSR3

The max clocks on the original (pre mariko) models were 1852 CPU and 926 on the GPU. In docked mode this causes about a 5 degree increase in temps...which isn't much given that the thermal thresholds for the X1 are way higher than they run in Switch. The max bus in the Switch (docked) is 1600mhz so I usually one run level below max with CPU at 16xx and GPU at 8xx figuring you won't get much more performance at that top rate because of the bus max being 1600....plus at the 1600/1600/800 level the system only runs about 3 degrees hotter. As for benchmarks, there are some vids out there done by DF that demonstrate some of the improvements. I used it a lot to play Fire Emblem and it helped load times a fair amount cutting about 1/3 off load time (21 sec to boot became 14, ect). The big improvement I noticed was in the monastery portion which it freed up a lot as that can chug pretty bad when running around certain areas. Like I said games that use dynamic scaling like Doom, Wolf, MarioO get helped a lot because that little extra boost often keeps them from down shifting the resolution during heavy activity and its noticeable. In handheld mode the sweet spot is to up the bus to full speed 1600 and then 12xx on the CPU on 460 on the GPU. Again this helps a lot with dynamic res games as well as some of the other dense CPU utilization games. I wish Nintendo would offer a Turbo mode on the newer Switch's with Mariko because that chipset uses less power and generates less heat so it would have nothing but upside docked and decrease battery life a little when handheld. So with games the could use a little extra umph it does help and it is noticeable. That's why I wish we would get a pro because many current games would perform better even without patching just like the boost mode on PS4pro helped. So fingers crossed we get a mid-gen update this year.

@NEStalgia

What about PS4pro and XB1X....they were mid generation 'updates' that cost more? I guess your point holds if they discontinue the current model and then only offer the 'upgrade' at a higher price. Still....Remember when the $300 launch price on Switch was going to kill it and be too high and no one would pay that....well what almost 80m units later it looks like all the price whiners were wrong. Most people spend twice that on a new phone every year.....so I don't think in the realm of electronic budgets that $50 or $100 more means crap...it doesn't to me anyways as I already have my launch Switch (hacked), an AC Switch (purchased so the wife would stay off my Switch) and a Pokemon Switch Lite....I am just dying to spend $400 to get a Switch pro that will run my current large library of software better.

@SalvorHardin

Dude I feel your pain on MP Trilogy...I hated it on Wii because I just didn't care for motion controls...I never played 3 for that reason and played 1/2 all the way back in the GC days. I think a lot of stuff was pretty much done and was being held because of COVID screwing up the world for the last year. Most electronics brick and mortar retailing is totally screwed. The departments at the local big boxes look like soviet era grocery stores with lots of empty shelves. So my guess is its done and they are likely holding it and going to release it when they are ready to start pumping the hype on MP4....so hopefully in some soon to be seen direct we get some actual footage on MP4 and then they sneak trilogy in as a dropping soon treat to whet our appetites....lets hope or maybe it goes the way of NGC on WiiU and we never see it from Nintendo (that was so stupid as the WiiU could natively run NGC content). If anything Nintendo is a very Japanese company so their ways will always be a mystery to us in the west..LoL.

@TSR3

My guess is NVidia is going to be more than willing to cater to Nintendo. They wanted badly to get into the gaming console market (expressed when they made the Shield). Nintendo put them in the market with a great collaboration on the Switch that made it (and NVidia) the market leader. So while last time NVidia was able to pull the Tegra X1 from the catalog and offer it to Nintendo (not much risk), this time with their combined success NVid may be more willing to modify or evolve something specifically for Nintendo, or may have even already cooked up something we are just to yet privy to. Any way you slice it we will likely get something new and moderately (not wildly) more powerful. Honestly if you give the Switch just a tad more power (I have modded and overclocked my launch Switch) it runs a lot of games noticeable better (especially games that use dynamic scaling)....so it wouldn't take a lot to produce something that ran current games better and if it has the DLSS then demanding current games could be patched for better resolution and new games could be built for pseudo 4K. Its all speculation but whatever is coming I know I want it!

Ok so I am going to tacitly agree with some others here that think too many Indy games are over rated. Really since the beginning it seems that the rating scale for Indy titles has been skewed. Certainly they seem to have their own rating system and maybe the best bet would be to rate them separately. I have played a fair amount of these games either on Switch or another platform. My issue is some Indy games do stand up well to bigger developments and deserve to standing shoulder to shoulder but others, while they might be quant or have some clever gameplay elements they are not deep enough, don't have enough content and shouldn't really be scored with other more full offerings. Also many of them tend to be far more niche than mainstream titles (which is a great thing), it makes sense when you consider the cost of development, larger budget titles have to appeal to a wider audience to sell enough to be worth the development. We all know examples of A quality games that we love and cherish but missed the mark on main stream appeal so where seen as not successful, regardless of their critical acclaim. Another issue with modern systems is legacy games or prior generation ports. So you have 20+ yr old games from Sega Ages occupying this list, but the reality is for many younger players those games might as well be rated a Zero because gamers used to 'modern' games aren't even going to be interested even if its a great port of a once great game. So I guess my point is lists like this are somewhat convoluted as you are mixing new AAA, old AAA ports, old legacy games, new Indy games, and its like comparing apples to oranges. Ori is a modern game and really how do you compare that with 8/16bit legacy game in a rating system? Good news is its a great list and has something for everyone but I still would rather see multiple top 20 lists than one big list that just throws everything together and rates is equally. Ok enough ranting. Here are a few of my favorites that I think get less hype but deserve it. Operencia is one of the best crawlers ever made. It's weird name and little press are unfortunate because if you like dungeon crawlers its a top notch one. Super Mega Baseball 3 is awesome, its one of the best arcade baseball games ever. I personally liked the flavor of 2 (more cartoony where 3 went more real) either one, both great baseball games. As for major devs....Legend of Heroes III is a superb JRPG offering. It helps a lot if you played the prior games, but their is a lengthy prologue story covering the details of the earlier games so watch that if you want to jump into III and never touched the first ones. Overall it was a decent year (especially considering COVID). Nintendo and a lot of other devs held back or delayed games so I expect 2021 is going to be one of the Switch's best years for major releases.

Geez people......All that is being said is the Mario 3D bundle would be done after March......nowhere have they said we won’t be selling Mario64 or MarioSS on eshop. This is Nintendo people and they are still monetizing NES game for lords sakes they are going to keep these game purchasable in some way.

Also all physical games are essentially limited. Sure some games do sell for years and they stay around at retail but Nintendo or not that is a rarity. I think N does just fine and so do consumers of their games/products. I like that N doe some things limited. My 20th Anniversary GBA is going for 3 times what I bought it for. I wisely bought many plates for my N3DS and payed less than $20 for most of them and they go for $100, same with certain Amiibo. So I say keep it up N your collectables are my retirement plan.

@Heavyarms55

I guess N is so stingy because they believe that maintains the value of their IPs. Still they waste their IPs by letting them go stale too often. I have about the best option sans N releasing a Game and WatchnGBA which is a GBA micro with a late gen flash cart that holds about 20 games.

@Thwomp_Stomper

If they were going to do a pokemon game and watch then do yellow as that was the first gbc pokemon that could use the color screen.

Ok so on its own the WiiU is a 6/10. The OS was crap, everything is so slow in the system setting and things like transferring games across usb devices. The hardware is bus constrained and really is just an HD Wii. It had some great games and a few (too few) games made great use of the gamepad as a truly useful second screen. XenoX, DeusEX, Pikman3, SplinterBL, CODBOP2, And ME3 (just for the real time mapping for combat) all did meaningful things with the second screen. A huge disappointment was no mainline FE game or really any good SRPG which would have been perfectly suited to WiiU.

While I don’t think anything would have made the WiiU a sales success because it was just a clunky system. I have big hands and liked the gamepad as it looks clunky but feels good and is very sturdy. Yet it just wasn’t slick or modern. Thankfully N learned a lot and Switch is everything WiiU was not, an elegant hybrid design with a zippy OS.

Now if you want to make your WiiU an 8/10 then mod it. Nintendo could have easily enhanced the system by doing two things that hackers later gave us. First is GC games on the gamepad. They look and play great, the damned system natively runs GC thru the VWii engine. It would have taken a dev team days to give us VC GC and they wouldn’t do it. Stupid, but mod your wii, put your entire GC library on a SD card and boom the WiiU becomes the best GC player. Similarly N should have given us a VWii gamepad wrapper. This way you could run all your wii stuff that supported pro controller on your gamepad. Again hackers gave us that ability. So not only do I have my entire CG library but I can play Wii greats like XBC, RE4, DKC and FE:RD on the gamepad. So N could have easily given us all of that and charged us and made the platform better but didn’t. Modded WiiU gives you nearly every Nintendo game (ds but no 3ds)thru WiiU on the gamepad or TV and that is pretty impressive.

First congrats to.Nintendo. This has been a terrible year for all and even with stock disruptions and a messed up software release schedule the beat rolls on and they keep selling like hot cakes.

Ok so after working thru the long line of messages here I thought I would weigh in. First WTF people.....I am not sure anyone mentioned games or software as even POI regarding Switch 2021 sales in the face of the new x86 twins. Right out of the gate the new twins have almost nothing to play exclusive. Everyone will be playing all this years big releases on their pc/xb1x/ps4pro x86 boxes....Indeed you tell me how long until something you really must have will be out on the new twins? 2021,2022? I never even thought my ps4 was worth it until 3/15 when Witcher3 came out so other than being able to run ps4/xb1 games with performance boost whats really in it for none ‘core’ gamers? Meanwhile 2021 could be unreal year for software on Switch. More and more units piling up means more 3rd party. But even what we expect is on tap from N its going ti be the best yet. BOTW2 surely started before BOTW even launched and is using the same engine and assets, surely its coming during the anniversary year likely preceded by legacy ports/updates of other Zeldas. Bayo3, Prime4, long rumored MP trilogy remaster. Who knows what will happen but what we do know is N did not release games they were planning to this year so the cupboard is stocked. While the twins fight to keep stock demands and incur losses on hardware sales no must have exclusives N will be keeping great momentum with major software releases throughout the year.

I’m old in gamer years having seen it all since the arcades and 2600 so I know a little about the industry. N said on Switch launch we do not see ourselves as direct competitors. The robust sales of both PS4 and Switch since 17 would seem to indicate that and if M$ saw N as competitors no way they would be their properties on Switch. Indeed the Switch’s wild success is do to its unique form factor. I have owned just about all systems both portable and home (still do) since that 2600 in 1981. I habe always played both formats and for me the Switch is the dream hybrid I always wanted. It allows users the most accessibility to their games and the easiest way to share playing them with others. To many a home only console is ‘old fashioned’ as so many have much more mobile lifestyles now and just can’t put the kind of time in sitting at the TV gaming. No one else is in this space competing with Nintendo. No other gaming portable, no other gaming handheld (lite) and no other hybrid. No one is even gonna bother trying. So my assessment is incredible holiday sales coming up and 2021 will not slow down. I am well ready for Super Switch Pro 2.0 and if it comes next year I will absolutely buy that before I get PS5.

@Mambitos

I think your assessment is a bit harsh. I agree the 4 you mentioned are top notch, but there have been some other awesome releases. My personal favorite is FE3H....I love the series and this is easily the best in the series. I am going to count the platinum games as N fully funds them and publishes them so Xeno2 and Astral Chain are top quality. MRK is another example as even though Ubi made it, Nintendo made their flagship characters available and published it. LuigiM is awesome and Splat2 is hugely popular, and uhm seems like Pokemon still sells. Kirby, PaperM, Yoshi, Mario Tennis, and Arms all solid B side material. This is by far the best cycle of great games N has released since GC. I too want more, wish they would start a sports and racing game division and bring us a modern mario golf rpg (like gba) and imagine FZero as an open world racer with online racing leagues and true vehicle customization. Wave race and Excitebike could both use modern update as well. So I feel your pain as N has such great IPs that they could always do more, but in the end N is N and they do things their own way and in general its very effective. The Switch aint done yet and COVID has screwed everything up so lets just hope that the rumored Pro model for next Spring is true and that we get a slew of things held back now in 2021. Regardless of next year there is no way N won’t have a major release for Holiday 2020 as they do 1/2 their annual system sales in the 4 qtr.

Sorry Koji I am calling BS....first off this game was launched with a Kick Starter and from the get go raised big money of Switch version. I think what he meant to say is "We knew this port was so crappy and coming out a week later than others expected it to sell poorly'. The patching did help fix most the game breaking bugs, and improved the performance, particularly where fun killing response lag was concerned. Being a fan of all things CastV and this being the hyped successor of the timeless SOTN I was super primed to have this on a portable. They let fans down and don't kid yourself in that if it didn't sell great on Switch they would have never bothered patching it to the level they did which atleast made it passable.

Wow....that was just pitiful. A couple of crap Indy announcements and the SMT games are not even out until 2021. Apparently when Altus showed SMT V in the launch window they had pretty much ZERO done as the game is going to come out more than 4 years after launch? Surely the worlds number 1 selling console for almost 2yrs straight has more in development than this sad showing? The 'model' for the Switch has pretty much been the same since launch....something big in the first 1/2 of the year and then several big things for the holiday season. They can still save the day by giving us a full direct and announcing something big for Q4. This year has not been bad so far with Animal Crossings and Paper Mario and FE story DLC from Nintendo and then many great ports from 3rd party. I mean the Bioshock, Borderlands, and Metro releases really fleshed out the FPS genre and getting Burnout helped the racing niche. Nintendo is really playing it close the vest this year as since Paper Mario we have no idea of anything they are working on other than Z_BOTW2, Bayo3 and MP4. Maybe they will spring the next Zelda on us for this years big holiday release? I mean it likely started development in 2017 so 3yrs for a sequel that is using the same game engine is not out of the question. Still so many ports I would love to see. I mean why not bring GTA5 to Switch....it ran on last gen hardware so certainly one of the good port teams could get it running nicely on Switch and the game is still selling on other platforms to this day. Who knows what the mystery EA titles are but a Dragon Age and Mass Effect compilations would be awesome and many people would love to see Madden and SIMS as well. I have not lost faith in Nintendo or the 3rd party support for Switch but this mini-direct was just a total joke and just seemed like something they threw together because the natives are getting restless.

Lots of great additions here from commenters. I really fail to understand people that come to a Nintendo site to whine and b1tch about how Switch versions are downgraded and more expensive. Ummm just buy the game for less and play it on x86 if thats your choice, but for many portability and hybrid functionality matters which is why Switch is getting these games. I think Grid is top notch and really like the grafx tuning options. A few that were missing from the list....Ni No Kuni while only a straight PS3 port was well done and still looks and playe great. AC4 an is excellent port. Valk Chronicles 4 is superb on Switch and Tales of Vesperia is also well ported. Many Indy companies have done a great job bringing their games over some of my favorites like Zen Pinball, Mark of The Ninja and Invisible Inc. and the Steam World games all got top notch efforts on Switch. Last one is Super Mega Baseball....I like 2 better than 3 but both are excellent ports of top notch arcade baseball games.

@PcTV

Uhg your killing me that should be called the worst of TR compilation. Why not throw in the fairly awful TR Go while they are at it.

All I really want is TR 2013 which was the game that rebooted the series and the character and is a damned fine game that I considered GOTY worthy when playing oj the ps3 at the time. It would easily run on Switch. Lets keep hoping thats in the compilation or even released solo.

Well it looks like they did a quality port so that's plus. For those complaining about the price....just wait a short while. All 3rd party games on physical at retail get discounted quickly and steeply in the USA. Seriously I doubt I have ever paid full price for an EA or UBI or 2K game unless I bough it on launch day (which I rarely do as I have so many games in cue to play at any given time). I guarantee this cart will be on sale come black Friday for $20.

Well the ***** of the gaming world finally have enough paying customers on Switch to bless us with their IPs. I am looking forward to reviews of the Burnout game to see how well it was ported as that may give us some indication of the effort they will put into other ports. Also I wonder if some of these releases will be compilations like a ME123 or DA123 compilations would be swell. Madden would be nice as there are really no other AAA football games made any more and little else football on Switch. I worry they will give us non first line type games either glorified Indy projects they publish or stupid spinoffs like Madden Arcade or SIMS ultra lite. I guess we will have to wait and see, but its not a good sign that they didn't even give some teases in regards to these upcoming releases as everyone would go wild if they announced something meaningful like Mass Effect or Madden. Just remember their track record is disappointing more times than not and their track record with Nintendo platforms is even worse. Anyone who really knows EA's origins knows that they were once a very cool publishing conglomerate that worked with many different studios that they didn't own. That all started to change after Trip Hawkins left as head of the company to go start 3DO. Its pretty much been a mixed back since then with occasional great IPs like DA, ME, DS, SIMS and some great NFS games but other blunders like their micro transaction gambits and refusal to continue their top IPs with meaningful new entries (Um ME4 ick, NFS since MW weak, Wasting of SW license). I really wonder how some of these publishers (EA and Sega) stay in business when they make so many bone headed business decisions.

Sorry this just sounds stupid...…..in the case of $ony and M$ there is probably some savings to be had by removing the BRD drive from the console. The cartridge slot on the Switch is nothing more than a pin connector on the edge of a circuit board....meaning it costs like $2 for them to implement. So there would be no perceivable savings by removing. Additionally even though Nintendo's digital sales have increased greatly with Switch physical is still outselling Digital by quite a wide margin. People bitch about the large downloads on 3rd party titles but what about all the great games that come pretty much complete on the cartridge, including all Nintendo games and other large games like Skyrim and Witcher3. All the other known benefits of physical still hold and the Switch is the type of system that many people or families will own more than one so being able to share games is a big plus. Also as others have said Nintendo's digital model is still unevolved compared to other eShops. So forget about doing things to make Switch $5 cheaper and get busy on Super Switch Pro 2.0 as I would really much rather have a more powerful Switch that's backwards compatible than some feature gimped model.

Put me in the too pissed to care category.....LOL....Ok I am not that pissed, but really how they handled the Switch has been poor. First off to the best of my knowledge it has still sold best on Switch. So a game they hyped and targeted to Switch turns out to sell best on Switch but get the worst version. It was patch 1.04 that made the most performance improvements on Switch and brought it up to playability. For those wondering, before all the patching the game had some serious issues including crashing, bad input lag, and frame drops. Patching did fix most of that, but the game still looks pretty poor compared to other versions (particularly the water and other effects). Its worth playing on Switch, but honestly if you don't want it portable and have another platform it is much better played on anything else.

Well hopefully this is the first of a handful of EA ports that will come to Switch. I hope it turns out to be a quality port and sells well enough to get them interested in more ports. I would really like to see NFSMW more but in fairness to EA they did great ports to both the Vita and WiiU and they sold like poo. While FIFA on Switch is not horrible, the slap shot job they did and then pretty much went 'legacy' after the first effort is insulting to those that care about FIFA (not me). I would really like to see a quality Madden port and then I want the ME and DA trilogies like so many others. Time will tell but now that Switch is the current best selling games platform and has 60M installed base, you would think EA would want to be their typical whore selves and make some money off Switch the next two years as its reached its peak maturity.

Well...considering that P4G is considered by many to be the best of the series, its about time it got an HD remake and released on something other than the failed VITA. I myself played in on PSTV and it looked 'OK' upscaled to HD but surely could use a true modern remake.

As to the Switch....first off P4G would be brilliant on Switch and again considering VITA was a market failure (13M units sold) you would think a publisher would want to take a hot property and give it life on a new platform. As for PC....umm the PC market is probably like the XBOX market in Japan....minimal. I would really expect that if they went to the trouble to update it for PC then PS4 and Switch would be a no brainer if they want much better sales in Japan. As for P5...remember this game also came out for PS3 and ran acceptably.....given the quality current and last gen ports coming to Switch there is ZERO reason why P5 couldn't be well ported.

As for al this port begging discussion nonsense.....geez...someone has a hot property and people want it....Sega/Altus should just tell them to go suck a lemon and never port it? Switch has now outsold ps4/ps4pro in Japan and has close to 60mil units WW. Sega/Altus are about as stubborn as EA and Activision. I guess they would rather play coy and act like ***** then make money. Much bigger games like the recently released BioShock and Borderlands compilations as well as Switcher and Skyrim took less than 1yr to port...…..P4G and P5 could have been done and selling well on Switch but I guess farming this out to a quality port team and then making big money is just too much trouble.

To those 'commending' Sega on doing good business....umm no, Sega has traditionally been idiots business wise. Their best days were the all the way back in the Genesis days. They have biffed just about everything since and Altus wasn't too swift either as they were pretty much going under when Sega bought them. Sega had great IPs and pretty much has spent all the years since Dream Cast pissing them away. So please don't tell me Sega are smart businessmen because they refuse to bring Altus' hot properties to Switch....Crazy Taxi, Jet Grind, Shenmue, Phantasy Star, Daytona, GT, the list goes on and on of all the great properties they have just let rot on the vine. And they made two good 3D Sonics (on DC) and then have just butchered the hell out of everything else accept the 2D redo of a few years ago. I won't hold my breath waiting for a Switch release.....hell will we ever even get the SMT5 game that was shown at Switch launch....that has been over 3yrs ago now.

@koekiemonster

In all fairness it runs better than last gen. Remember most X360 games rendered at 540p and Switch version is doing between 800-900p in the high action areas...also doing it at more consistent 30fps. I agree Switch should be able to run these last gen titles well, but not all ports are created equal, thankfully this is a good one.

This looks good but really WTF is Konami doing these days? Since parting ways with the brilliant creator/director of MGS they really haven't done much to speak of. FIFA was a 1yrs effort by EA and then a massive rehash so the soccer market is wide open. A quality full featured version of PES would likely sell great in EU/UK and JP so why not port it? Several teams have proven excellent at ports on the Switch and tend to get them done in less than 1yr. MGS5 is one the best combat simulators ever IMO and ppl would love to see MGS5 or even the PS3 only MGS4 ported. And then CastleV….only one of the most beloved IPs in gaming history and Konami gives us nothing.....isn't it time for a total reboot of SOTN? I don't even know how Konami stays in business with their terrible practices and refusal to capitalize on their best IPs.....This game looks interesting, but is it really going to be better than Hollow Knight, Celeste, or SWDig2.....I doubt it. It looks like another Indy platform game (which I love) just being published by Konami. I will await reviews and my pick it up as I love old school but really its very little to be excited about considering what Konami should be bringing to the Switch.

When will people learn that 'down porting' has very little to do with hardware power and almost everything to do with platform viability. The Switch is a nice little miracle hybrid portable. I am already amazed at what they have been able to pull off.....it is obviously able to pull off some pretty decent ports of current and last gen games, but guess what....if it wasn't selling like mad the last 3 yrs (about 20mil units a year) then it would be about as viable for ports as WiiU…..well slightly more viable as it has much more modern and well supported API and dev tools....but still publishers wouldn't be bothering even trying if the platform was not the hottest in the industry. Nintendo has done a lot this generation to restore relationships and viability with 3rd parties and has also now become the preferred destination (right after pc) for all Indy developments. They will have another new piece of hardware and it would be stupid for it not to be a portable hybrid again as no one else really seems able or interested in competing in that niche. As long as the unit sales success continues then Nintendo will be a viable platform for publishers and the ports will keep coming. The one thing that surprises me a little is that so few publishers are willing to risk unique IP or even unique entries in their popular IP series....games like GTA China on DS or AC Chronicles on PSV...You really think on a system that will likely top 100M units that we would see more dedicated development and not just all ports of the back catalogue. Considering Switch is absolutely dominating Japan, I am really suprised Jap devs have not been more willing to take a risk on new properties.....I guess that's what we have N for. We are still going to be getting a lot of great ports and new N stuff the next two years, then I bet 2022 brings Switch Pro 2.0.....here is hoping.

I was quite pleased with this shadow dropped mini....hell been so busy with end of the world stuff I didn't even get to watch it until this morning. Agree with others that Nintendo's own offerings were sparse, but really this is how the Switch lineup has been rolling out since 18......first part of the year they release maybe one or two big games or in some cases ports. This holds this year as we got AC (big to a lot of people, me not so much, my wife uh yeah) and we got the Tokyo MS (WiiU port) and Xeno (Wii HD port). They will surely have a full Direct come cancelled E3 time and will announce the second half and holiday lineups. I am sure we are going to be seeing some of the things ticking along in production like Bayo3, MP4 (please), ZBOTW2 (pretty please) and lord knows what else....so chill people and use this Corona quarantine time to catch up the backlog and play AC.

Beyond that the 3rd party announcements were thrilling to me. The 2K games are the biggest favorite announcement. Once we get XCom2 series I think Switch will have every key SRPG I have been wanting. EA gets in the game (late as usual) with a Burnout port so hopefully if it does well we will see a Madden game someday.

@TheWingedAvenger

Yes to Jeanne D'Arc that is a top notch SRPG made by Level 5 that too few people ever saw. Another great one from PSP days that reminds of FF Tactics is Spectral Souls.....the game was mostly held down by tech issues when running from UMD....if you have a hacked PSP or Vita and clan play from memory card then it plays quite fine and its very good....I love the SRPG genre and am so happy that Switch has become the home for just about every good SRPG that isn't X-Com.....they did a decent X-Com port to Vita so would love to see any of those come to Switch. Another really great modern throwback game is Into the Breach. Only on PC prior to Switch release, but they did an excellent port to Switch and if you want 16bit looks with modern mechanics/game play then that is a good one as well. Of course FE3H has been eating up a lot of my time since last year....love that game...on my second play thru and doing the 4th house DLC....I so hope they use the current FE engine and put out another one on Switch in this generation.

Super Mega Baseball 2 is a fricking awesome arcade sports game. I love it and am not even that big of baseball or sports video games fan I feel the game has gotten too little hype on Switch. The clip of the 3rd entry looks great. Definitely improved graphics detail while maintaining the cartoony look. The animations in the current game are great, but it look like they added a bunch more in the new version. The pitch hit mechanics in the game are top notch so they won't change much there if they are smart. If this game had a MLB or Mario license it would probably get the attention it deserves, but the quality is good enough if it had Mario and crew as playable characters you would think Nintendo made it themselves. The current game has been on sale for under $20 a few times recently...well worth grabbing....I hope the new version gets a cartridge release as I would love to have this game to keep in my physical library.

@jarvismp

Probably GTA 5 as that game has been in the top ten since before the release of the current gen systems and continues to go strong. Now if they would just give us a Switch port it could keep going a few more years.

I just love this game as its the gift that keeps on giving. The DLC has been a fairly OK purchase so far but really looking forward to it now with the 4th house element. I am also on my second (Golden Deer) and 3rd (Black Eagle Crimson path) play thru. I am playing GD at home and BE on the go on my Switch light. I started GD as a new game plus and really like how you get your renown and statues from the last game and can purchase prior earned skills. It allows you to super develop your characters as you can purchase all their prior achievements and focus new studies on skills you skipped previously. My last wish would be for a few new classes. One I would like a Heavenly Savant master class that focuses on White Magic and Sword. We have no magic user fliers at all so something like a Pegasus Cleric or Wyvern Mage would be cool. I wouldn't even mind if some of the extra magic user classes restricted that they could only use black, white, or dark magic to keep them balanced. Lastly I think a Monk class would be cool that Focuses on hand 2 hand and magic. I so hope we get a follow up game on Switch as I wouldn't mind seeing some of the oldies ported and remastered, but I would rather get another game using the new engine. Maybe they could make the Monastery part sort of like old Suikoden where you built up and unlocked the keep while recruiting different players. So maybe move the focus a little off of the individual character building (keep it I loved it) and more to team/army building and management.

@neogyo

Dude.....please use one of these sales to pick up the S_World games. The look and vibe is part of what makes them so great....Dig1 and 2 are platform metrovania games....1 is soooo short (4-5hr) but it so cool it whet the apatite for more. SWD2 is straight up a masterpiece in the MVania genre. I bought each of those games on multiple platforms. Heist is just something soo different, keeps the same steampunk space western vibe, but the gameplay is quite different from almost anything ever made. It is a turn based SRPG but plays out in 2D platform maps. That was one of my favorite 3DS games and with the DLC (included with Switch version) you can get 30hrs+ out of a play thru. The newest game is a card RPG. Its a different sort of beast in that it reminds me a bit of Baten Katos where your not playing a card game (like magic) but you are using cards for the attacks/defenses/buffs in battle. It is still a solid game but as ratings suggest more a 80% game where Dig2 and Heist are 90% quality games.....so please take the dive as you will not be let down (unless you just hate the genres).

@poudigne

1000% agree but I am an FPS over resolution guy any day. I was wishing the same thing that we get an upgraded model and then get patches for games like Zelda that give us 1080p @ 60fps. Its hard to say what they have cooked up but my guess is slightly more power (which still would be useful), better bus speeds and likely more NAND space (like 64 or 128GB). I am an evil modder and can tell you even running Switch @ max clocks when docked helps performance in a good number of games, especially those that use dynamic resolution. So just a fully clocked up X1 in a pro would help for a lot of games when on the big screen.

@KingBowser86

Oh come on the core game has 4 routes and takes a few hundread hours to complete. They have added content with both free and paid DLC and the expansion pass will be a good value in the end. Pretty hard to complain about that. Actually Nintendo has done great (quality and amount of content) with most DLC on Switch and they are hardly the microT people that EA and 2K are.

@Dr_Corndog

I sure hope we get SM3DW at some point as I agree it would be another great fit for Switch’s portable/local co-op vibe.

So this ‘leaker’ says they consider one a 9 and one a 6. I guess Pikman3 could be considered a 9 and it to could work great as the original supported both touch and motion. It was too short so some new additional content as a DC edition would be great.

Unlike the OP no way I believe W101 is a 6. W101 deserves a reprint as it came out early in WiiU life and almost no one really played it.

You mention StarFox and that seems more like a game that was a 6. I played it and IMO the WiiU control scheme was almost awesome...but had flaws. I think its a solid game that if it got revamped good dual analogue support it would be worth releasing on the Switch.

Beyond Mario3D what I really want are Color Splash and XenoX. Also please N give us Prime trilogyHD with 3 having analogue control options.

I played it a little on WiiU back a few years ago and found it to be an enjoyable mash up. With that said its just a strange ar$e game. I mean if you like FF-X2 then you might like this. Its just JPOP madness although it is well done sporting nice anims, battle admins and a catchy soundtrack. Its just an odd game and its like a niche game like a lot of Altus games but its an even smaller niche because if you can't stand JPOP and Idol culture then take it won't matter that its sort of like Persona.

I am just too much of a FE purist and when this was announced very early in WiiU life I had such hopes for a FE 4x4 SRPG on WiiU so when this came out it really honked me off because it was nothing like SMT or FE. Sooooo…..if you like Altus JRPG and want FE fan service, and like JPOP then this is a well produced and fun game, if all that is too much then for god sakes just get FE3H (A straight up SRPG masterpiece) or one of the many JRPGs on Switch.....like Ni No Kuni, FF12, or Xeno2 which are all better games and don't require a dive into JPOP wonkism.

I think now that Lite is out the ports will keep coming. SWL is the most powerful true handheld with a $200 price point. Also 32gb carts more affordable now and SD cheaper than ever so bigger games can be ported.

Everyone acts like devs and pubs are going to walk away from lesser platforms once new gens launch. This could not be further from the truth. As long as Switch is expanding its base it will be a viable platform for ports.

Its going to continue to be case by case by case for what makes sense both cost (to port) wise and what works for the fanbase. Honestly most ports are low risk cost wise, I wonder if AAA pubs will invest in any unique properties or spin off creations of popular IPs.

@Wesker

Seems like N's strategy the last few years is to hold their cards close in the first part of the year and then with e3 they start building the hype for the second half and holiday seasons. The known slate seems a little thin which makes me believe we will get some early year surprises and unannounced wiiu/3ds ports and then the big guns will start showing up for later in the year. Hard to believe Bayo3 and MP4/ZBow2 are all they have in the pipeline.

@PiXeLSteF

I would say Feral has now 'raced' to being the second best (after Panic Button) Switch port team. Grid is awesome and they worked miracles with Alien Iso as well. Can't wait to see what they take on next but my vote is either for ME1-3 or FalloutNV.

Switch has now dominated almost 3 yrs of monthly sales in most regions. I think a 4th yr is coming as Switch will continue to be unchecked thru most of next year until we reach the holidays and the new x86 twins. I think the differentiation in features and price point mean next Xmas isn't going to tank just because newer, more powerful units are out.

To those thinking N will bring a home only console again....not really likely. I mean, unless they can design something with innovative differentiating features (like the Wii) then I don't think they will bother. What I would love to see next year is a Switch home micro console. They could bundle that with a pro controller and likely sell it @ $150......Giving players access to an incredible library at a bargain price. So next Xmas what would sell better.. New X86 systems @ $500 with likely no must have titles (that you won't have on every other x86) or a $150 Switch micro with great games like MarioO, ZeldaBoW, MP4, AC and all the other great things out or coming?

I think N's best path is a mid-gen (2022) refresh that uses new Tegra chips and maintains BW compatibility and the hybrid concept. A SwitchPro could sport a 1080p screen and more oomph and then N could turn it into a true VR unit.

Nintendo has a great market position in that who else is going to be able to make a better hybrid/portable at a lower price point? M$ has never dared to go portable and $ony really had good (not great) success with PSP and then followed it with a dog in Vita. The only company well positioned to take on N in the portable gaming arena is Apple and while I bet they could make some nice hardware and dump loads of money on 3rd parties to get AAA developments....it would still be second rate because it wouldn't have Nintendo's IPs on it.

I expect Nintendo to stay in this hybrid lane for quite a long time and I don't expect anyone else to really disrupt their dominance in said lane.

As for ports.....look that's all about sales and user base. Who of us really though Switch could run competent ports of current gen games like Witcher, NBA2k,Doom/Wolf and others yet to be seen? Everyone wants their favorite game portable so there are still plenty of last and current gen tittles that will likely come over.

@thanosrexxx

Being a major gamer since forever, a huge S/TRPG fan and also a modder who 'collects' everything ever made.....I am really surprised I had never seen Operation Darkness previously. It does look like a predecessor in the presentation and combat style to the previously mentioned ValkCron series. Man the game got harshly rated on Metacritic though pulling in less than 50%. Did much better on user rating at close to 70%. I might dig around for an .iso and give it a look as it looks better than a 50 and often times niche genre games like this often are unfairly scored because reviews just don't like the play style.

Just finished my first run on FE3h and got Hard West on an eshop sale for $2 (normally $20). It looks pretty good, standard turn based grid play with an Old West meets supernatural storyline. They ported the first Xcom to Vita, I wish they would just get busy and port 1/1a and 2 to the Switch.

Man its been RPG heaven on the Switch. I am still churning thru FE3 and then in just a few short months time we get Divinity 2, DQ11, Witcher3, NNKuni and awesome oldies like Baldur and Icewind. The second half of this year is just unreal. Other great stuff like Grid, AChain, DaemonX, they just keep rolling. Really all the Switch is lacking at this point is quality sports games. NBA2K is a solid port, but FIFA going legacy in year three, when it was already legacy to begin with is sad (but hey its EA so its expected). I wish we could get a quality (made for Switch like they did back with Wii or 3DS) Madden Football game and maybe PES Soccer. Its an arcade game, but I don't think Super Mega Baseball 2 is getting enough press. Its excellent in all phases, great cartoony graphics, excellent hit/pitch mechanics, just plain fun. I full recommend buying it to anyone who like Baseball but isn't looking for a true sim.

This port really honks me off because I wanted it to be a decent version. Those trying to defend it, come on, it looks, plays and performs better on every other platform. Switch users are used to multiplatform games being degraded when coming to Switch, but many teams have shown it can be done right. Meanwhile I just played it on PC and its great.

@Morrow

The reason they have so much egg on their faces is the Switch version did not sell poorly, it actually outsold the other platforms. So they hype a CastleV successor, that they know is going to be hot for Nintendo fans (because all the best 2D CV's after SOTN were on Nintendo GBA/DS) and then you deliver a steaming pile of poo. So I think that's why people are so upset. They wanted a great CV follow up, they were told it was going to be great, its pretty great on other platforms, and then a big let down. It felt like a cash grab to many people.

@Yosher Yeah 1-2 Switch would be a real head scratcher, but one must remember......There were only like a handful of games on launch day and 1-2 Switch was just the beneficiary of being there at the beginning with no real competition. I took a hard pass just going home with Zelda at midnight on that lovely March day. After getting home I purchased FR_Neo and I am (not) Setsuna. Like others I pretty much played Zelda non stop until MK8D and M+RK came out. Scary to think the system isn't even 3yrs old and it has a library rivaling any system ever made....count me as someone who thinks the best is yet to come but 17 and 19 will have to go down as banner years for Nintendo made/published games.

Well....Switch Lite has pretty much done what's expected and juiced sales for the entire platform. I mean the two units combined have sold 200K units each week since the release of the new models. I mean 200K a week.....that is unreal and compare that to the 25K the ps4/4pro are doing. So on a late 3rd QTR release Nintendo is moving close to 1mil units a month in Japan...Just wait until the holiday season. We will have 3 more N exclusives (Luigi, Town, Poke) by the holidays and then the bundles and special units (already got my pokemon lite on order for Nov) how many millions world wide will N push this season.....Nice. Maybe someone should tell EA that Switch is a highly successful platform. If I was a stock holder I would be pissed that its the only system providing massive growth and their leadership sees no reason to bother with porting/publishing for the platform. Some companies are just so thick. Switch is a great platform but there are still parts of its library that are under populated (sports/racing) which EA owns a lot of IPs in and could certainly be making games/money. Sorry for EA rant...I hate them, but they do have some games/franchises I wish we could get on the mighty hybrid.

@JaxonH

I really think a locked/steady Frame rate be in 30 or 60 is fine. Its when games regularly slog below or have two many peaks and lows that it really effects the play.

More than the visual aspect, I find 60 FPS to be soooooo much better for fast action games as far as the control response aspect. I was playing the new Grid port (super excellent BTW) and it looks nice and smooth in 30 or 60 (has the much appreciated performance switch). The visuals drop considerably in 60 but really you can hardly notice it unless you are sitting still. But the control responsiveness is like night and day with 30/60 and its so much better at 60 the game seems almost unplayable (its not) at 30. So for me FPS is always preferred for games that require twitch reflex but when playing an RPG or open world game 30 is fine as long as its steady.

@DDFawfulGuy

That is overblown. The text is fine in handheld mode. I wear glasses and struggle with quite a few games in handheld (here's looking at you darkest dungeon). There are a few places were the font color could be better chosen but overall there is nothing wrong with the text in this game unless you are straight up blind.

@JR150

Honestly the only area for complaint is the monastery as it is a little sluggish when under load.....still try to remember the Citidel in ME series and that chugged way worse than anything FE has done. Actually the SRPG 4x4 graphics are incredible. I mean what can you really do with grafx of that nature? They are detailed, the combat anims are good, the characters display changes based on class and weapon...I really like it and when you think on the 3DS the character were likely 5x5 pixel sprites this is a huge improvement. SRPGs have never been about grafx but this new FE definitely takes the series to new heights.

I have been playing a lot with overclocking in the last few weeks. I have an air temp gauge and have been monitoring the exhaust temps and then the back cover temps for docked mode. I have been running at one notch below full clock which is 1683/842 with a 1600mhz bus this seems like the settings the Switch would ideally run at. What my anecdotal results have shown is the Switch seems designed to safely run at the higher clocks. Air flow and temperature around the Switch dock had more effect on exhaust temps than upping the clocks. After moving my dock off my cable TV tuner the Switch ran -6F cooler, meanwhile running at the above higher clocks only produced no more than a +1.5F change. My guess is N kept it clocked down in dock mode for performance parity, and because most people shove consoles in tight spaces and they can't breath. As far as performance.....it noticeably helps in games that need the extra oomph....games that use dynamic resolution like Doom/Wolf show marked improvement and games that chug a little like FE smooth right out. I have been overclocking stuff since before the internet, generally if you keep the temps in a safe operating range there has been no downside as all my old overclocked gadgets are still humming along fine.

@OmegaDestroyer

Dude I have to fully agree.....first a gimped version, and regardless of what those that were 'fine' playing it on Switch have said, no the game is a technical mess on Switch. I have played it on PC (master race) and it is night and day. I mean the input lag, frame hiccups and other issues are certainly a hinderance when playing a timing centric platform game. Just look at the water effects on the opening level and they are the worst I have ever seen in years on the Switch and look like normal water effects on x86. They will never even fix those issues as they were 'compromises' made to get it on Switch.

I love Switch and Castle-V but I would recommend to play this on any other platform (as it is a nice modern castle-v) and not reward these clowns by paying them for a degraded experience on Switch

Look, we all say it over and over....EA are idiots and they have taken so many good studios, devs, IPs and franchises and just driven them into the ground. I mean Dragon Age (dead), Dead Space (dead..lol), ME (I guess we got 4 in current gen, but dead), it just goes on and on. Lets not even get started with Star Wars, which they have butchered and wasted the IP.

They try to point the finger at Switch and Switch owners when all they have really done is released a half a$$ port of one of their IPs. Now by year 3 its already 'legacy' meaning they are done putting in even 1/2 an effort.

Companies are proving that quality ports of last and current generation titles can be done on the Switch. 2K took the right approach bringing their entire current gen product (NBA2K) to the Switch in year one and then improving it and keeping parallel features in year two. Bethesda has shown that large and complex games like Skyrim can be ported and work properly, and what Panic button has now done with multiple Doom and Wolf games (and RocketL) is amazing. Other quality ports from current and last gen have come from the Japanese teams (Okami, FF games, Valk4).

So apparently everyone else can work with the Switch but EA.
Look folks, this has nothing to do with anything but EA having a failed and failing business model. The Switch will be over 50mil units by the end of this coming holiday season, and EA wants us to feel like we are the problem. If I was a shareholder (uh no) I would be questioning why, we as a company have no plan to sell to the hottest platform on the market. I mean the Switch is outselling ps4 and xb1 by multiple times each month and with the Light the Switch is going to continue to dominate monthly sales until late next year, yet EA no plans to capitalize. They are the losers in all this as I have to believe a quality Madden, FIFA, NFS, or Sims game would sell well on Switch.

So I say to EA what I said to my headcase girlfriend my freshman year of college. Sorry darling, its you, not me.