A reader predicts six games they think will be released within the Switch 2’s first 12 months, including a new Animal Crossing and Splatoon.
Hearing that something from Nintendo has been delayed is always a mixture of disappointment and relief. On the one hand you always want something to come out as soon as possible, but on the other hand it’s proof that they’re giving it their all and not just rushing things out in time for a deadline.
So, while I’m upset I apparently won’t be getting a Switch 2 for Christmas I’m okay with that and hopefully it’ll give Nintendo the time needed to make their launch games top notch.
It’s also an excuse for me to come up with a list of games I think they will, and should, have out within the first 12 months. I also assume they’ll have brand new IP as well, but since I’m not clairvoyant I can’t talk about that – so don’t assume I only want sequels, these are just the only things I can predict.
1. Animal Crossing 6
This one didn’t actually occur to me until GC was talking about it the other day, but it does make total sense when you think about how odd it was that Nintendo stopped releasing content when it was still really popular. I mean, Nintendo do odd things all the time but with New Horizons pushing the game into the big leagues it wouldn’t make any sense to only have the next one come out halfway through the Switch 2’s life. They’re going to want this one out ASAP.
2. Mario Kart 9
There hasn’t been a new Mario Kart for the Switch and considering how well the current Wii U port did I think it’s guaranteed that a new one will come out very early on. Especially as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe came out early as well and has been consistently selling ever since. What the theme will be I couldn’t say but I would expect it to have lots of non-Mario character in it. Perhaps even some third party ones, like Smash Bros. but for racing.
3. Splatoon 4
There’s no way they’re going to leave this one for long because the franchise is huge in Japan and with the release of the final bit of DLC the last one is ‘finished’ now. I can already imagine many people are going to complain when it’s given priority over other games, but Nintendo is always driven by what’s popular in Japan more than anything else and the series deserves to be bigger than it is in the West – so a new console is a good excuse to give it another push.
4. Super Mario Odyssey 2
This is the most obvious one. I doubt it will literally be Super Mario Odyssey 2 but whatever the next big 3D Mario is from Nintendo’s A-team. Rumour says it’ll be a Donkey Kong game and I think it’d be cool if this meant a riff on the very first game, where Mario and DK were adversaries. That could also explain why they just remade Mario Vs. Donkey Kong, which otherwise seemed a bit random. I’ve no idea what else to expect from a new 3D Mario, other than I imagine it will be amazing and show off the capabilities of the Switch 2 perfectly.
5. The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild remaster
There’s already rumours of this existing as a tech demo and I imagine it’ll be just too tempting for Nintendo not to release it as an actual game, although what that will imply about upgrading other games I don’t know. Depending on how much work they do, selling it as a remaster double-pack with Tears Of The Kingdom could also be an option, although that is a heck of a lot of Zelda to get all at once.
6. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DX
I think the talk about never doing another Smash Bros. has softened a bit recently but either way there’s no way they’re going to be able to release a new one any time soon, so some kind of deluxe version of Ultimate seems ideal to me. Do up the graphics, add in all the DLC, and put in a few new characters and this could be the Switch 2 equivalent of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
I do realise predicting Nintendo is a mug’s game, but these aren’t necessarily literal predictions, more a list of priorities. But obviously Nintendo logic works on a very different wavelength to everyone else’s.
One thing that is particularly hard to predict is how they’ll handle backwards compatibility and if that will mean automatic upgrades for games. If, for example, Metroid Prime 4 comes out on the Switch 1 this Christmas does that mean it’ll just be cross-gen or will there be some sort of major upgrade for the Switch 2? And will that be some update you pay for or will Nintendo sell it as a separate game?
It’s hard to predict because I know they’d prefer to sell it to you again, but I think even they are beginning to realise that sort of thing isn’t on anymore.
By reader Ashton Marley
The reader’s features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.
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