The Nintendo news and discussion thread

[Stanshall]

More fan service? Just a guess.

[ratsoalbion]

More “sexy” would be my guess.

[Sinclair Gregstrum]

Can't help but be a teeny bit disappointed given all the build-up to this one.

Lots of "might give that a go"s and no "I want it now!"s for me personally.

I do enjoy tennis games, so the new Mario Tennis with a story mode sounds fun. Donkey Kong always appealed on Wii U so might give that whirl. Never played a Dark Souls, and the fact that it's now portable isn't likely to change that. Hyrule Warriors......mmm.

Was just hoping for a bit more of a 'This is 2018 on Switch everyone! Fuck Yeah!', and instead it was more of a short term filler piece. Perhaps it's my own fault for getting caught up in the hype

[ratsoalbion]

Whereas I felt like it was a pretty incredible line-up, especially for a so-called ‘mini’!

I’ll be selling my Wii U copy of Tropical Freeze to get the Switch version. Excellent but really tough - I welcome the Funky mode with open arms!

[chase210]

It would be quite difficult to top 2017 so early in the year though! I'm quietly confident though, given that excellent Jan-May line up, that we'll get some pretty special stuff at E3 and from June to Nov odd.

[Stanshall]

Whereas I felt like it was a pretty incredible line-up, especially for a so-called ‘mini’!

I’ll be selling my Wii U copy of Tropical Freeze to get the Switch version. Excellent but really tough - I welcome the Funky mode with open arms!

Absolutely, well worth remembering that this was a 'mini' Direct! Sure, it was mostly ports but great first party ports, with others still rumoured (ALBW, Smash) but we already know there's more on the way with Bayo and Octopath and others. There must be a proper Direct in the next few months.

[Suits]

Nice, that was a decent little taste of what is to come in the first half of 2018.

There were some Wii U ports as people were expecting which is always welcome in my eyes, Hyrule Warriors was a slight surprise as Fire Emblem Warriors literally only came out a few months ago, DKTF (Sean will be happy ) this will be great, I was going to get my Wii U out a few months back to play this a bit more, so now I'll just wait for the Switch version Funky is a welcome addition . Still no mention of a Mario Maker version, Captain Toad or Yoshi - (hopefully and this is being really optimistic I know) but maybe that because sequels of sorts are in the works (Yoshi we know of). But it's cool, I don't want every game ported from the Wii U to Switch.

Mario Aces - Yes, looks really fun. I'm in.
Kirby - Yes, looks fun. I'm in.
Dark Souls - Why not. I'm in.

TWEWY - Never played this, so this a dead certain for me, really looking forward to seeing what all the fuss is about.

Rabbids new charter is cool, although it won't make me go back and play it again I don't think, although if he's available in the multiplayer I'll be more likely to see what he's all about there.

The other bits and bobs were nice, although I don't have anything really to say about any of them, just a smile on teh front of my head.

I'd not be surprised if there were a few unannounced things kept back as well, if there weren't, I can understand if some people would maybe feel a little disappointed.

It was never going to hit the silly expectations that were batted around social media over the last month or so, so for me, to come out of watching that and seeing whats coming, I'm pleased, honestly, it's what I sort of expected.

No Metroid, Fire Emblem or Pokemon. I'd expect these to be delivered by a full fat Direct I think, besides, none of these were ever referred to as being a 2018 releases.

No Yoshi makes me think that that will appear in the later half of the year, also coupled with the fact that footage shown was pretty early on would make sense.

Plenty of Nintendo to be excited by I think, certainly for me anyway .

[Joshihatsumitsu]

I'm currently playing through the DS version of The World Ends with You, and while I like it I'm a bit on the fence about getting it again (when it's on sale maybe?), I do agree it's good it's getting a re-release, to give others the opportunity to dive in.

That Japanese Diamond Dream edition of SNK Heroines with the Fatal Cutie Terry Bogard cap is a nice little bit of fan service. Picking up a Hori Arcade Pro Fightstick may go against the portable, uncluttered design philosophies of the Switch, but they keep releasing games that benefit from a proper controller! Both SNK Heroines and that Hori fightstick will be on a future wishlist.

It's good to see some Wii U ports get to see the current generation light of day.

[seansthomas]

I thought there was some good stuff there. Weirdly very excited about that Mario Tennis game!

Odyssey DLC looked amazing fun for the experts and I'm so glad a wider community will get to enjoy DKCTF. Interesting yet again that they've added s family friendly mode to help people clear it. Very much shaping up as the console for kids and parents alike, isn't it?

Fe looked intriguing too.

[Sinclair Gregstrum]

Well I'm genuinely pleased that everyone else is feeling pretty positive about it and looking forward to what was revealed - like I said my disappointment is personal and I'd much rather be in your camp of positivity than mine!

Sentiment across the web seems much more split than the consensus here so at least I don't feel completely bonkers with my relative apathy! You're right to say it's only a 'mini' Direct, but then we only found that out as it happened. It's certainly at least partially (even mostly) the community's fault for whipping itself up into a frenzy beforehand, but I do believe it was a reasonable assumption that from the first Direct of the year, going into Switch's second year after a stellar first, and with not much concrete known about the system's games line-up for 2018, we could expect/hope to see something much broader and bigger in scope than this. It really was mostly a churning out of ports and do-overs, some really good ones hopefully, but there was nothing much new for me to really get behind.

Overall I think I am a little fearful the Switch's software library will become predominantly populated with ports of Wii U games, lesser ports of third party games, and indies available everywhere, punctuated once or twice a year with a big marque Nintendo title. I understand that for those that have to/like to play portably, the pure on-the-go appeal of all that probably makes it enough, but for me who's likely going to be more 75/25 in favour of docked play it's perhaps not going to be.

Fingers crossed I'm proved completely wrong!

[Suits]

Nintendo fans are Nintendo fans predominantly because of Nintendo stuff.

You don’t buy a Nintendo console for it’s AAA support, well at least not for the last 10-15 years anyway.

This Direct had a decent, claggy, dollop of Nintendo stuff – In my opinion.

Most of the negativity I have read about seems to be coming from others who appear top be looking at the line up through a window from a different platform – from which I have no problem with at all. It’s all a good talking point. But I feel it’s with an overly critical eye.

Comparing the big first party games coming this year on the other platforms and what is a ‘better’ line-up is all opinion, a valid opinion but I think there is a clearer vision of what is coming on the Nintendo platform than we do the Sony and Microsoft platforms.

The Wii U port thing is true but asking the people that have played those ported games already on their Wii U and they seem pleased at most of the ports, having those games available to people who haven’t played them is a good thing – I’m 100% convinced of it.

For a platform that isn’t even 12 months old, I feel the library of games is substantially healthy with a positive future, for such a fledgling platform.

[KSubzero1000]

I realize I'm a bit odd in that regard, but my disappointment has to do with the fact that there are only a handful of Nintendo franchises I genuinely care about - namely Fire Emblem, Metroid, F-Zero and Golden Sun, all of which have received poor to non-existent support in the past 10 years. This latest Direct only reinforced my belief that Nintendo's current priorities and design philosophies have steered towards gimmicks and instant gratification instead of the deep and engaging experiences they used to create and that I cherish so much.

It's not that I want the Switch to be a portable PS4, far from it. I'm also fine with all the Yoshi's Woolly Worlds, Super Mario Makers and open world collectathons they put out. These don't interest me, but I have no issue with them finding their target audience. What I do have an issue with is that they seem to have all but entirely replaced their older and more demanding style of games. I don't see why they can't cater to their different types of fanbases at the same time like they used to.

I'm upset at Nintendo burying F-Zero and Golden Sun, and I'm growing more and more skeptical about Fire Emblem or Metroid ever reattaining their former glory as time goes by. That's all. Am I a difficult customer? Probably, but that doesn't diminish my frustration.

Overall I think I am a little fearful the Switch's software library will become predominantly populated with ports of Wii U games, lesser ports of third party games, and indies available everywhere, punctuated once or twice a year with a big marque Nintendo title. I understand that for those that have to/like to play portably, the pure on-the-go appeal of all that probably makes it enough, but for me who's likely going to be more 75/25 in favour of docked play it's perhaps not going to be.

As someone who hasn't bought a Switch yet and would not be interested in the portable play functionality of AAA titles whatsoever, I have to echo these concerns as well.

[ratsoalbion]

I'm not sure exactly what you mean - perhaps you're referring to gameplay with more of a different kind of 'depth', but in my experience of playing them, Super Mario Maker and Yoshi's Woolly World are both home to some of the most demanding platform challenges around (although I don't think that YWW ever reaches Tropical Freeze levels of difficulty).

Breath of the Wild has some of the most challenging Zelda gameplay since Zeldas 1 and 2, and some of the post-game stuff in Odyssey is also up there with the usual 'extra' stuff in earlier, 'classic' Marios.

I see that you're not into those IPs for whatever reasons and that's cool, but Nintendo is still very careful to put in content for the more experienced (or possibly masochistic) player.

For the record, as you probably know, I am also a fan of the other properties you mention and would like to see them given full attention with big new releases. I've yet to play Fire Emblem Fates though I own all three elements.

[Sinclair Gregstrum]

Nintendo fans are Nintendo fans predominantly because of Nintendo stuff.

You don’t buy a Nintendo console for it’s AAA support, well at least not for the last 10-15 years anyway.

This Direct had a decent, claggy, dollop of Nintendo stuff – In my opinion.

Wouldn't necessarily disagree with any of that!

Most of the negativity I have read about seems to be coming from others who appear top be looking at the line up through a window from a different platform – from which I have no problem with at all. It’s all a good talking point. But I feel it’s with an overly critical eye.

I think you're partially right here - sometimes I do think too much of a critical eye is cast on Nintendo, but equally they will often get a pass from fans for things that the other players in the market would be crucified for. Why should they be given additional leeway just because they're Nintendo? A lot of people for example are grumpy about the lack of Virtual Console news in the Direct, and I think that's fair enough. If Microsoft or Sony had pulled a similar move they would be mauled for it not being ready at launch, let alone absent a year+ later.

The Wii U port thing is true but asking the people that have played those ported games already on their Wii U and they seem pleased at most of the ports, having those games available to people who haven’t played them is a good thing – I’m 100% convinced of it.

Do you not think there's a little bit of preaching to the choir there though? I can't claim this next point as someone else made it on Twitter, but if lots of people really wanted to play those Wii U games, they'd have sold more Wii Us. Wii U owners are happy they're coming to Switch because they liked the games to start with, but a lot of other folks weren't fussed at the time and still aren't that fussed now, which is where the dissatisfaction comes from. Now that doesn't necessarily apply to me personally as I'd like to play some of the Wii U stuff I missed out on, but I can appreciate the point.

Swings and roundabouts!

[ratsoalbion]

As someone who still loves their Wii U - and who somewhat evangelised that machine throughout its life - I'm all in favour of Wii U to Switch ports.

There were some really superb games on that machine that I don't think enough people got to play because they didn't consider them worth the outlay (had they played them I feel a lot of these people would probably have found that they were in fact worth the entry fee, as a collection).

I'm quite happy to sell my Wii U copies and buy these wonderful games again to play them in higher resolution when docked, and portably when not.

[KSubzero1000]

First of all, I'll fully confess to not being as open-minded as I perhaps should be when it comes to some of Nintendo's recent output. Platformers aren't really my thing per se, but I do recognize the value of Tropical Freeze for example. It's one of the few games that give me hope for the future.

From what I've played of BotW, I think it suffers from the same issues as MGSV does. It's not that the gameplay isn't excellent and some of the moments and setpieces aren't great, it's that it's bogged down by too much empty space and time wasted doing nothing of value. Less is often more, in my opinion. Then again, pacing has always been my major issue with Zelda in general, so I'm probably not the best judge of that.

But really, difficulty isn't my only concern. It's not the masochistic player in me who is so fond of Metroid Prime 2. In fact, I think its difficulty spikes are easily the game biggest flaw. But it demands the player's attention and rewards long-term investment. It's mentally challenging as well as being mechanically challenging. It's not a pick-up-and-play type of experience. It's genuinely immersive instead of it being just a lazy marketing buzzword. I honestly think that the Souls games are the ones that have come the closest to replicating that same type of feeling. And those are in a completely different genre and developed by a different company.

I don't love these specific Nintendo games simply because they're hard. I love them because they provide very specific experiences and fill very specific niches. And they, quite frankly, don't have any acceptable substitutes at the moment.

I'm happy for anyone who's satisfied with modern-day Nintendo. Really, I am. But the specific experiences I'm looking for just aren't there.

[DomsBeard]

Happy to see tropical freeze coming to Switch

[Suits]

A lot of people for example are grumpy about the lack of Virtual Console news in the Direct, and I think that's fair enough. If Microsoft or Sony had pulled a similar move they would be mauled for it not being ready at launch, let alone absent a year+ later.

Wasn’t that literally the case though, both the most recent Sony and MS consoles launched without backwards compatibility/Virtual Console.

I wonder if the lack of any Virtual Console service at the moment is down to making the right decision, which in turn is linked to how Nintendo want to run their paid online service and all the implications of potentially paying for a service that doesn’t work (multiplayer chat etc..).

Imagine the uproar if VC was launched this month, then in August when the paid service begins you get all these games for free on the Nintendo/Netflix service.

Do you not think there's a little bit of preaching to the choir there though? I can't claim this next point as someone else made it on Twitter, but if lots of people really wanted to play those Wii U games, they'd have sold more Wii Us. Wii U owners are happy they're coming to Switch because they liked the games to start with, but a lot of other folks weren't fussed at the time and still aren't that fussed now, which is where the dissatisfaction comes from. Now that doesn't necessarily apply to me personally as I'd like to play some of the Wii U stuff I missed out on, but I can appreciate the point.

Hmmmm, I don’t agree with that no.

It takes a lot to buy a failing console for a few select, acclaimed titles but picking those acclaimed games up on a new, fresh, successful console with a bright future ahead of it seems a much more appealing option.

The install base of the Switch is very close to being larger already than what the Wii U ever was in its whole lifetime. Image someone buying a Xbox One for their first ever console experience, would you not like them to play some of the best titles that were available on the 360 ??

[Flabyo]

Here’s an interesting read that’s tangentially related to this discussion: 80, 20, 5

[KSubzero1000]

Here’s an interesting read that’s tangentially related to this discussion: 80, 20, 5

Who's writing this blog, btw? The tone is sometimes needlessly condescending.

In any case, I fully understand that Nintendo is running a business and not a charity. I fully understand that I belong to a very small minority of the overall player base. Statistically speaking, I'm irrelevant. I was aware of it the last time you presented this argument and I am aware of it now. But is that enough to invalidate my concerns and frustration?