Breath of the Wild 2: Sequel to the GOAT

Tomous wrote:

Robbo-92 wrote:

jawa_ wrote:Off the cuff... the delay is disappointing and I'm not a fan of the idea of the game being cross-gen with the game also launching on a potential new Nintendo system.

Breath of the Wild was, of course, great on both the U and the Switch so it's hard to gripe - bit it was a tad frustrating that the game had been designed for the GamePad and we ended up with a blank screen on the GamePad for the U version, as the Sheikah Slate interaction had probably been taken out of the game due to the simultaneous release of the Switch version.

At least it won’t be on your games bought for 2022 this way Jawa

I’m still hoping that whatever comes next from Nintendo (hardware wise) that it’ll just be a continuation of the Switch, so it being a cross gen game won’t be much of an issue, that’s IF it releases alongside some new hardware too, it’s anyones guess if it will or not

There is no way Nintendo are releasing new hardware that isn't a continuation of Switch anytime soon.

It’d be very Nintendo to accept the immense success of the Switch and then go back to a home/handheld set up again

Captain Kinopio wrote:Hire more developers Nintendo ffs.

I suppose it was to be expected but it still sucks. 6 years between Zelda releases I think will make it officially the longest gap ever. The fact that it's built ofg the same engine as well makes me think something must have gone wrong somewhere. Though I guess COVID probably accounts for at least a years delay. Problem is now I really wouldn't be surprised if the slips again to Q4 2023 and they just pull the old bait and switch by slapping it on a new console.

We'll probably have had 2 GoW games in the wait for a BotW sequel. I kind of assumed Nintendo had gotten on top of HD development cycles but their still woefully behind the rest of the industry.

The video makes it sound like they are adding a lot of extra features and areas to this game over the original so it’s possibly a case of them thinking up new ideas throughout development and implementing them thus knocking the release date back. I’d sooner they make the game they want at their own pace than rush something out.

Of course they should make the game they want but a sequel to a 20m+ selling game within 5 years is not an unreasonable expectation and Nintendo should devote more resource to these tent pole releases to make that happen.

To be honest I wouldn't be surprised if they were holding the release back because of how well BotW is still selling.

To be fair, it probably would be within 5 years without covid.

They definitely need more resource but they announced last year that they'll be investing $900m in expanding their internal studio in Japan so that's something.

Also, I think BOTW sales have pretty much levelled out now but it wouldn't be surprise if this delay is strategic rather than development motivated, either because of hardware or because of the release schedule. They have Pokemon this Novemeber and a new big Mario release really makes more sense with the film. They might think Spring 2023 is a better fit for BOTW2.

Captain Kinopio wrote:To be honest I wouldn't be surprised if they were holding the release back because of the new Switch coming out.

Fixed

Remember when we thought that re-using BOTW assets would speed up development?

Add in the fact that BoTW was probably ready a bit before March 2017 as they actually took features out to make sure the Wii U and Switch versions were identical at launch so you could say the wait between games is even longer than a likely 6 years.

Christopher wrote:Remember when we thought that re-using BOTW assets would speed up development?

Even worse, they're Wii U level assets and it's not helping

Robbo-92 wrote:

Tomous wrote:There is no way Nintendo are releasing new hardware that isn't a continuation of Switch anytime soon.

It’d be very Nintendo to accept the immense success of the Switch and then go back to a home/handheld set up again

Absolutely! Nintendo will probably announce that their new console is Quality of Life. It's finally ready .

I hope the BotW sequel isn't cross-gen. It would be great to have one Zelda game optimized for the current Switch's hardware, then have another game a few years down the line optimized for the Switch 2's hardware.

Barnsy! wrote:I hope the BotW sequel isn't cross-gen. It would be great to have one Zelda game optimized for the current Switch's hardware, then have another game a few years down the line optimized for the Switch 2's hardware.

This is very much my thinking, too.

Captain Kinopio wrote:Of course they should make the game they want but a sequel to a 20m+ selling game within 5 years is not an unreasonable expectation and Nintendo should devote more resource to these tent pole releases to make that happen.

I'm happy for them to bake the game until it's crispy perfect - all ideas and mechanics explored at least as well as what you could imagine. If they're going for an all-timer I think it's worth the time to be honest. Nearly-Amazing is about 500 times less good than Amazing-Without-Caveats.

Or maybe they just played Elden Ring, I dunno.

Anyway I re-listened to the last trailer music a lot in the gym today and my Bike and Row were because of it - that brass-intro-drop so hype

One of the last things I want is for Nintendo to start taking inspiration from FromSoft games.

On the contrary, if only they could be so grossly incandescent.

Its understandable but sad that Nintendo's share price has fallen due to Zelda being delayed. As far as I'm aware, Nintendo doesn't have an awful reputation with toxic work conditions and crunch times. Its a shame, the systems basically penalises a company for not running their employees ragged and destroying their mental health. I take some solace, that Nintendo was ultimately rewarded for not adhering to crunch culture with Animal Crossing - the delay meant it was released at just the right time and probably wouldn't have sold as well were it not for lockdown.

Whilst covid would have contributed to Zelda's delay, I'd like to think the main reason is because the scope is continually increasing; perhaps it went from a DLC to sequel using re-used assets akin to MM (which it still is) to a game that may even be better than BotW.

Barnsy! wrote:Its understandable but sad that Nintendo's share price has fallen due to Zelda being delayed. As far as I'm aware, Nintendo doesn't have an awful reputation with toxic work conditions and crunch times. Its a shame, the systems basically penalises a company for not running their employees ragged and destroying their mental health. I take some solace, that Nintendo was ultimately rewarded for not adhering to crunch culture with Animal Crossing - the delay meant it was released at just the right time and probably wouldn't have sold as well were it not for lockdown.

Whilst covid would have contributed to Zelda's delay, I'd like to think the main reason is because the scope is continually increasing; perhaps it went from a DLC to sequel using re-used assets akin to MM (which it still is) to a game that may even be better than BotW.

Nintendo's share price falling really isn't something to be sad about.

It's sad if it encourages the company to rush out games rather than taking the time to polish them resulting in a worse game for us players, or if it encourages unhealthy work practices like crunch - I think that's what Barnsy is getting at.

Don't these share prices fluctuate all the time anyway and overall, long-term trends are more relevant? Like, won't the share price rise again when BotW 2 comes out and is rapturously received or Switch Pro is announced or Mario Movie is incoming or whatever.

Is a dip even avoidable with these kind of announcements?

P.S. I know nothing about finances and also nothing about anything in general

Pretty much. Share prices in the short term are only relevant to those who want to trade them in the short term. Always annoys me a bit when big swings in a volatile instrument get column space.

The whole thing is a load of bollocks