Kai_Mao said:
It's weird comparing 2017 and 2018. On one hand, 2017 had not a lot of third party support (more often, games were considered "tests"), but the first party offerings were phenomenal.
- ARMS
- Splatoon 2
- Breath of the Wild
- Snipperclips (yes, developed by SFB Games)
- Super Mario Odyssey
- Xenoblade Chronicles 2
- Fire Emblem Warriors
And when you include the ports like Pokken DX and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, that's a pretty damn good lineup for a first year. Hard to compete against a first party lineup like that. Skyrim was Skyrim, DOOM 2016 was a surprise, Rocket League was Rocket League, and then you got pretty solid indies like Overcooked, Golf Story, Stardew Valley, SteamWorld Dig 2, Thimbleweed Park, and Blossom Tales.
2018 was more about ports, but some are pretty impressive: including Wolfenstein II, Crash n' Sane Trilogy, Ys 8, Shining Resonance, South Park, Dragon Ball FighterZ, Valkyria Chronicles 1 and 4, and pretty popular f2p games like Warframe, Arena of Valor, Paladins, and Fortnite.
Then you had first party outings that did better than we initially thought they would do: Mario Tennis Aces, Kirby Star Allies, and Super Mario Party.
Pokemon Let's Go PikaVee was not the Pokemon game hardcore fans were looking for, but it's a nice gateway for newcomers and casual players who are not really into some of the more complicated stuff in Pokemon mainline games.
Then you had Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, a celebration of video games like no other. Sure, a lot of the stuff were from past games, but the way they implemented them in new elements and modes (i.e., World of Light, Squad Strike, Smashdown, Stage Morph, etc.), that gives them new life. And as we learned from the sales reports about Smash Bros. Ultimate, it more than lives up to being THE holiday title for Nintendo in 2018. This is akin to Avengers: Infinity War or Justice League (the 2001-04 TV Series).
Either way, 2017 and 2018 were able to shape what the Switch is now at this point. Amazing or not, 2017 set the ground work for Nintendo Switch to sell the way it did when some expected another Wii U. Then, 2018 continued momentum despite not having as many blockbuster first party games and more ports.
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