Switch 2 talk

 Nintendo has been very clever with the Switch and it's production pipeline. I don't know if youve noticed the pattern, but the cadence is very sleight of hand to make the release calendar seem more robust than it really is. They'll release one game per year that would be considered an actual bonafide "AAA" game (Tears of the Kingdom, Smash Bros, Pokemon, etc) and then they'll surround it with a lot of "3DS" level bullshit filler games, but still charge you AAA prices for them. Last year there really wasnt even a big AAA game. I guess Echoes of Wisdom was the closest thing, but in they surrounded it with a bunch of filler like Brothership, Princess Peach, Mario vs Donkey Kong, etc. This year is a little different since Nintendo is releasing a new console. So I expect a better year of big releases. I still maintain that the best single year for Switch exclusives was the launch year. No other year measured up after that. 

 

Sure, like all companies, Nintendo would be happy with making money anywhere it can be made. That being said, Nintendo is clearly skeptical and isn't dumping a ton of money into this live service play. Mario Kart and Smash have optional online play, which I'm fairly sure only makes up a small % of hours played in those games. Most players have probably not utilized online play even once for those games. I'd be shocked in the online features for the next MK or Smash have much if any additional features from the Switch games. Heck, Nintendo still clearly has no interest in an achievement system akin to Microsoft or Sony, which would probably lure more people to playing online.

If anything, I'd say Nintendo is even LESS prone to following hot market trends and experimentation than they have been in the past. The Switch 2 seems like the safest/least change/least loaded with new gimmicks console Nintendo will put out since the SNES. I suspect much of that is the current management (namely Furukawa) being more risk averse than past leaders at Nintendo, which I generally think is a good think.

My only minor quibble is that I'd like to see a bit more in the way of bringing back certain older Nintendo IP's or games long dormant, such as F-Zero, 3D Donkey Kong Country, Wave Race, Star Fox, etc. But I do get why most of those don't return. Mario Kart seems to cannibalize all other Nintendo racing games, seemingly every Star Fox games goes through development hell, and their one attempt at a pure 3D DKC continues to give Nintendo PTSD due to it's reception (a lot of which is unfair, it was an amazing game) even decades later. Apparently, there was a 3D DKC being farmed out to Blizzard Albany not too long ago, but Nintendo hated it and scrapped it. So I'm not exactly optimistic about anything other than a new 2D/2.5D DKC anytime soon.  

While I don't love the wait till April for the software, man am I glad they opted to reveal the games in a Nintendo Direct rather than another live presentation to a clearly very corporate audience, as they did with the Switch. Video game people in general don't do particularly well with live presentations (large share are very introverted and/or autistic, as am I... not trying to criticize), resulting in a LOT of cringe worthy presentations like the Switch software reveal and most E3 presentations. The original Switch software presentation was like that, but also with an audience that had ZERO excitement. Nintendo is better suited all around for taped Directs. Still miss Iwata's presence and wish he were still around to witness the huge Switch success. 

Nintendo already does this quite a bit actually, and the problem is you start to lose quality control. As good as the Switch has been, some of their IP's were not done proper justice and were not so loved by critics and fans. Titles like Mario Golf: Super Rush (Developed by Camelot Studios) has a metacritic score of 70 and a user score of 6/10. That's way below what you expect a game like that should be and I still think Everybody's Golf on PS4 is better! Mario Strikers: Battle League(Next Level Games) is another example. It has a 72 metacritic score with a user score of 4.5/10. Again, way below standards you'd expect for a title with Mario attached to it. Yoshi's Crafted World (Good-Feel) is a 79 on metacritic with a user score of 8/10. A LITTLE better but still, kind of pedestrian for a Yoshi licensed game IMO. Princess Peach Showtime (also Good-Feel) 74 on metacritic with a 6.2/10 user score. All these games that use Nintendo IP are extremely mid and all of them were farmed out by Nintendo for other studios to make. Why couldn't Nintendo make these in house? Nintendo used to have a very strict seal of quality standard for all of their 1st party properties. But if they're going to keep farming out their characters to lesser talented studios, this will continue to be the results.

 

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