Nintendo Direct Announced - Thursday March 25th 2pm

I'm surprised by that figure of 24 for Nintendo games released last year. From a Switch perspective, Nintendo's games were:

Dragon Quest Builders 2[B] Square Enix Omega Force December 20, 2018 July 12, 2019 July 12, 2019
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe Nintendo EPD January 11, 2019 January 11, 2019 January 11, 2019
Yoshi's Crafted World Good-Feel March 29, 2019 March 29, 2019 March 29, 2019 [137]
Nintendo Labo: Toy-Con 04 - VR Kit Nintendo EPD April 12, 2019 April 12, 2019 April 12, 2019
Super Mario Maker 2 Nintendo EPD June 28, 2019 June 28, 2019 June 28, 2019
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order Team Ninja July 19, 2019 July 19, 2019 July 19, 2019
Fire Emblem: Three Houses Intelligent Systems Koei Tecmo Games July 26, 2019 July 26, 2019 July 26, 2019 [137]
Tetris 99[C] Arika August 9, 2019 September 6, 2019 September 20, 2019
Astral Chain PlatinumGames August 30, 2019 August 30, 2019 August 30, 2019
Daemon X Machina[B] Marvelous First Studio September 13, 2019 September 13, 2019 September 13, 2019
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening Grezzo September 20, 2019 September 20, 2019 September 20, 2019
Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age Definitive Edition[B] Square Enix September 27, 2019 September 27, 2019 September 27, 2019
Ring Fit Adventure Nintendo EPD October 18, 2019 October 18, 2019 October 18, 2019
Luigi's Mansion 3 Next Level Games October 31, 2019 October 31, 2019 October 31, 2019
Pokémon Sword and Shield Game Freak November 15, 2019 November 15, 2019 November 15, 2019

Source: Wikipedia

That's fifteen titles; and even then some of the games were just published by Nintendo rather than coded (i.e. such as the two Dragon Quest games, Marvel Ultimate and Daemon X Machina). I guess that 3DS (Kirby's Extra Epic Yarn) and eShop / mobile stuff raise the number up to 24.

I'd kinda expected more big new titles (not ports) from Nintendo themselves; I hope we see some during this year.

Don’t forget the odd indie Nintendo had a hand in: see Stretchers.

I’m not saying it was a perfect year (it’s no 2017), but it wasn’t a dry year either (it’s no 2018). I’m saying that it was a good one: a healthy output of large and middle-sized releases, combined with a solid indie output where the games are best on Switch due to portability. Personally, my Switch top ten has 4 games released in 2019 on it. (Also 3 from 2017, 2 from 2018, and one from 2020 unless said game cocks up big time before the end.)

People just expect far too much - if you look at last year and think Nintendo didn't release enough games, you should probably come to terms with the fact you have specific tastes that most games, even if good, don't fall into. Who looks at this:

- Mainline Pokemon
- Mainline Fire Emblem
- Exclusive Platinum IP
- Exclusive Marvelous IP
- Zelda remake
- Mario Maker sequel
- Luigi's Mansion sequel

and thinks it was a nothing year for the Switch? That's discounting what many of us might see as more b-tier/filler in 2D Yoshi and a 2D Mario port, and the less traditional games in Labo and Ring Fit Adventure - all of which are still popular. Tetris 99 was also a surprise hit and very well received, despite being a free tetris game that has no right to be notable in 2019!

Good post, and I agree Orange.

I think part of it is the variety in software.

If you like Sony exclusives you're more than likely going to like the majority of their output, a lot of which is story driven, third person games. However, Mario Maker, Luigi's Mansion, Fire Emblem, Pokemon...all very different games, with different appeal.

For me, I find the Switch perfectly complements the PS4's output for my tastes.

Tomous wrote:If you like Sony exclusives you're more than likely going to like the majority of their output, a lot of which is story driven, third person games. However, Mario Maker, Luigi's Mansion, Fire Emblem, Pokemon...all very different games, with different appeal.

Yeah, this is a good point. The closest Nintendo has to a standard genre is the 2D platformer, and third person action games are underrepresented compared to the other consoles. Like you, for me this is complementary rather than a fault.

I think I’m just in this thread to play devil’s advocate now: my main thought upon seeing OR’s post was, ‘Yes but given that the Switch replaced two Nintendo machines effectively, is that enough?’ :slol:

Anyway, I can’t believe we got sidetracked into debating whether year 3 was a lousy one when year 4 looks the way it currently does. :dread:

Balladeer wrote:Anyway, I can’t believe we got sidetracked into debating whether year 3 was a lousy one when year 4 looks the way it currently does.

The Switch in general is absolutely fine - there are two games out today that I want to play :toot:

Exactly, people ignore most of what Nintendo put out as its not aimed at them and they think that Nintendo dont do anything. They do loads, its just not shooters, racers or murder sims so it doesnt get a lot of coverage and hype from most outlets.

OrangeRKN wrote:The Switch in general is absolutely fine - there are two games out today that I want to play

I think there’s currently a dearth of big releases on the horizon after the New Horizon myself, but then I do have a backlog several JRPGs long (and Murder by Numbers is delightful). What games, though?

A Street Cat's Tale - it looks pretty touching and reminds me a little of Tokyo Jungle which is enough to make me interested:

Hidden Through Time - I'd normally not give a hidden object game a second look but this one has a pretty robust looking level editor, and I love level editors:

There's no doubt Nintendo are relying on Animal Crossing to carry H1. Xenoblade DE (if it gets a Q2 date) will be a nice release, but not exactly a big one. Might get a port/eshop game, but it's all about AC really.

There's no reason Nintendo can't have some big stuff planned for the second half of the year though.

Last edited by Balladeer on Thu Mar 12, 2020 11:10 am, edited 1 time in total.

@OR: It’s telling, perhaps, that I’d heard of neither of those. :lol:

I don’t think that’s quite enough to disprove my general point about year 4, although the trailer for the first one made me go a little sniffly.

Tomous wrote:There's no doubt Nintendo are relying on Animal Crossing to carry H1. Xenoblade DE (if it gets a Q2 date) will be a nice release, but not exactly a big one. Might get a port/eshop game, but it's all about AC really.

There's no reason Nintendo can't have some big stuff planned for the second half of the year though.

Which... is a bit bleah, let’s be honest. ACNH won’t appeal to everyone (hello!) and one big game over two quarters isn’t great. I might not be complaining this time next year if they have a September like 2019’s, but a little bit of spreading out would be nice!

Balladeer wrote:
Tomous wrote:There's no doubt Nintendo are relying on Animal Crossing to carry H1. Xenoblade DE (if it gets a Q2 date) will be a nice release, but not exactly a big one. Might get a port/eshop game, but it's all about AC really.

There's no reason Nintendo can't have some big stuff planned for the second half of the year though.

Which... is a bit bleah, let’s be honest. ACNH won’t appeal to everyone (hello!) and one big game over two quarters isn’t great. I might not be complaining this time next year if they have a September like 2019’s, but a little bit of spreading out would be nice!

It would be for sure, but if things aren't ready, they're not ready I guess.

If they're still sitting on Prime Trilogy like some rumours suggest though :evil:

OrangeRKN wrote:...there are two games out today that I want to play

In addition, Neon City Riders launches in the eShop today and looks great!

OrangeRKN wrote:A Street Cat's Tale - it looks pretty touching and reminds me a little of Tokyo Jungle which is enough to make me interested:

Hidden Through Time - I'd normally not give a hidden object game a second look but this one has a pretty robust looking level editor, and I love level editors:

These both look great, the indie output on Switch since launch has been fantastic compared to previous systems.

jawa4 wrote:
OrangeRKN wrote:...there are two games out today that I want to play

In addition, Neon City Riders launches in the eShop today and looks great!

This as well

Agreed, with a lot of indies coming out on Switch at the same time as well! Unexpected riches for those of us who bought Nintendo (when available) through the Wii U generation. What’s more, because performance is often not such a constraining issue, the Switch frequently gets the best version purely on portability grounds! (Not always, mind - Hat in Time, Sexy Brutale, Bloodstained...)

The indies seem to have taken the place of handheld games this generation to a significant extent.

Dual wrote:Quiet in the office today so will watch this.

Damn I forgot all about it.

Anyone got a summary? I saw Metroid Prime 4 was at the end but what else?

For me Paper Mario and the Thousand-Year Door HD was the highlight. I loved how seamlessly they integrated the Sticker Star battle system and replaced all the characters with Toads.

Nintendo Direct Announced - Thursday March 25th 2pm

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