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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Staring into the abyss of a world where Nintendo has no games scheduled for release. Edit: The Time of Darkness Has Arrived

curl-6 said:
SpokenTruth said:

1). The Feb rumor had 2 parts.  An Animal Crossing direct and a Spring/Summer retail direct.  We got the Animal Crossing direct.  So, yes, one did happen.

2). The new rumor also had 2 parts...an indie direct before Animal Crossing and a retail direct after Animal Crossing.   The Nindie Direct was spot on. 

What probably happened is the Feb retail direct got moved to March to either give Animal Crossing the limelight, add more titles or had to reschedule some Nintendo of America portions because of the virus.  Want another possible reason? Their fiscal year ends on March 31st.  What a great way to wrap up the fiscal year by holding a direct about all the games coming in the next fiscal year.

They are only starving you of a specific release date. You still know several of the games that are coming.  Do you honestly think they are waiting until 2022 to release them?  Of course you don't.  So ignore the pessimism and fantastical realities of a completely empty release schedule and consider more the whole picture.

But the AC direct in Feb didn't lead to a general one later, so the indie presentation this month similarly doesn't confirm a general one is coming next week.

I'd love to believe one is coming next week, but after months of constant disappointment, I can't bring myself to get my hopes up only to be crushed yet again.

And I actually would not be surprised if games like Metroid Prime 4, Bayonetta 3, or BOTW2 don't come out til 2022 at this point, the first two feel like basically vaporware at this point and BOTW1 was supposed to be a 2015 game.

To be fair, it’s been three months into the year. Yes there was a mini direct in January 2018 and a general in February 2019. But maybe things changed or Animal Crossing became their focus after Pokemon and the huge holiday season. Unless you were expecting a direct sometime earlier after September....

I get you want a general direct, like everyone here, but I think it’s an over exaggeration saying that Nintendo has been completely silent about future content for the Switch, first party or otherwise. Hopefully they will feel ready to show more info on upcoming games and hopefully the virus won’t get in the way of their release dates as analyst have warned.



SpokenTruth said:
I don't see much reason that BotW2 cannot release this year. This is a sequel, not a new game. The usual Zelda development span does not apply here.

No new game engine, no new combat engine, no new physics engine, no new A.I. engine. no new QA A.I. system, etc...

Very little new art assets, greatly enhanced code and system familiarity, QA A.I. script ready to go. And 3.5 years of dev time?

Seriously, what's a single, solid reason that prevents it from launching this Nov?

I think it's possible the coronavirus pandemic that's going on right now may prevent the Breath of the Wild sequel from arriving by this holiday season (if that's the planned release window for the game).



SpokenTruth said:
I don't see much reason that BotW2 cannot release this year. This is a sequel, not a new game. The usual Zelda development span does not apply here.

No new game engine, no new combat engine, no new physics engine, no new A.I. engine. no new QA A.I. system, etc...

Very little new art assets, greatly enhanced code and system familiarity, QA A.I. script ready to go. And 3.5 years of dev time?

Seriously, what's a single, solid reason that prevents it from launching this Nov?

The Zelda team never delivers on time with its 3D console entries, even Skyward Sword and Twilight Princess got delayed.

If BOTW2 releases this year I'll eat my hat.



SpokenTruth said:
curl-6 said:

The Zelda team never delivers on time with its 3D console entries, even Skyward Sword and Twilight Princess got delayed.

If BOTW2 releases this year I'll eat my hat.

I'd say any reuse of material due to it being a direct sequel would be counterbalanced by the added workload of HD tier vs Wii-tier development.

I simply can't see BOTW2 realistically arriving this year, not with the team's track record. I'd love to be wrong but I'm certain I won't be.



Don't worry, its only going to be much worse, when new consoles come, switch will have no more third party games, the power difference will be far too massive. Same as comparing a Gameboy against a ps2



victor83fernandes said:

Don't worry, its only going to be much worse, when new consoles come, switch will have no more third party games, the power difference will be far too massive. Same as comparing a Gameboy against a ps2

This has nothing to do with third party games being ported. It's about Nintendo starving its fans of information about their first party release schedule.



SpokenTruth said:
curl-6 said:

I'd say any reuse of material due to it being a direct sequel would be counterbalanced by the added workload of HD tier vs Wii-tier development.

I simply can't see BOTW2 realistically arriving this year, not with the team's track record. I'd love to be wrong but I'm certain I won't be.

That development group has made:

New Super Mario Bros. U
Nintendo Land
Pikmin 3
Mario Kart 8
Super Mario Maker
Splatoon
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD
Wii Fit U
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Arms
Splatoon 2
Super Mario Odyssey
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
Super Mario Maker 2
Animal Crossing: New Horizons

I hardly think they are new to HD assets.

I didn't say they weren't used to it, just that making a much more complex game naturally takes more work.

Anyway, we'll see; I'd saw off my right ear with a rusty knife to get BOTW2 this year, but I really can't see it happening. If I'm wrong, I'll gladly wear that in my sig for a month or something.



Heh, the Switch has no lack of games being released.  What Switch lacks is game announcements.  The crazy thing is that we have gotten to the point where the announcement seems more important than the games themselves.  I mean I can relate to wanting a Nintendo Direct.  I've been thinking about it for weeks just like everyone else.  I guess, unlike the OP, I am not filled with anger and/or despair over it yet.  I am still full of anticipation.

Sony's strategy for the past generation has mostly been to announce big games several years in advance, and that is also what AAA third parties do too.  So if they announce a game 3 times before releasing it, then it feels like 3 times as many games are being released.  Meanwhile Nintendo keeps their cards very close to the chest, and most of the Switch games they announce are released less than a year later.  They can both have an E3 presentation where they show off about the same number of games, but Switch actually has more significant releases per year.

Here's an example based on games about to be released.  Animal Crossing: New Horizons was first announced all the way back during E3, 2019.  It's been a long wait hasn't it?  When was Final Fantasy 7 Remake first announced?  All the way back during E3, 2015.  But Sony can keep teasing this game over and over again, so it seems like they have a lot of games coming, even if they are spread out over the course of 3-5 years.  The PS4 was less than 2 years old when FF7R was first announced.  The PS4 was younger when FF7R was first announced than the Switch was when Animal Crossing: New Horizons was first announced.  We actually have to wait a really, really long time to get the big games on the PS4, because Sony and AAA third parties announce them so far ahead of time.

Personally I prefer the way Nintendo does it.  I find long waits to be frustrating.  Yeah, we've all waited a long time for this next Direct, but waiting for a Direct is not nearly as bad as waiting for a game I really want.  I very much prefer all the announced games to come out a year or less after they are announced.  I feel like most of the game industry is trying to mess with me and make it seem like they have more than they really do.  Nintendo doesn't have to announce games 5 years ahead of time, because they have plenty of games coming out this year.

So, I don't know why Nintendo is waiting so long to release a Direct, whether it is due to COVID-19 or they just want to wait til after Animal Crossing is released or whatever other reason.  All I know is that I like how Nintendo announces things, and I don't want them to change their format.  I am confident they have games coming, because the alternative is purely contrary to everything they've done so far.  In fact what they've been doing for the last few months is give a mini direct whenever games are almost about to be released.  We are in no way lacking in games.  What we are really lacking is merely announcements.



The_Liquid_Laser said:

Here's an example based on games about to be released.  Animal Crossing: New Horizons was first announced all the way back during E3, 2019.  It's been a long wait hasn't it?  When was Final Fantasy 7 Remake first announced?  All the way back during E3, 2015.  But Sony can keep teasing this game over and over again, so it seems like they have a lot of games coming, even if they are spread out over the course of 3-5 years.  The PS4 was less than 2 years old when FF7R was first announced.  The PS4 was younger when FF7R was first announced than the Switch was when Animal Crossing: New Horizons was first announced.  We actually have to wait a really, really long time to get the big games on the PS4, because Sony and AAA third parties announce them so far ahead of time.

Personally I prefer the way Nintendo does it.  I find long waits to be frustrating.  Yeah, we've all waited a long time for this next Direct, but waiting for a Direct is not nearly as bad as waiting for a game I really want.  I very much prefer all the announced games to come out a year or less after they are announced.  I feel like most of the game industry is trying to mess with me and make it seem like they have more than they really do.  Nintendo doesn't have to announce games 5 years ahead of time, because they have plenty of games coming out this year.


For people who doesn't have much free money is good to know in advance the games that's gonna be released, so we can pick the ones we want and save enough money for them

I understand americans don't have that concern (because games are generally priced on dollar), but right now a Nintendo triple A game is around 30% of the minium wage in my country, that's a lot



Analysts clearly said some games past april might suffer from Covid-19.
It is probably happening next week anyway