While I don't post there, I do keep an eye on Resetera (especially when Directs are rumoured) to see what kind of different 'leaks' are being circulated - and to see the often hysterical 'Nintend00med' responses to a lack of Direct news. There's been a thread running the last few weeks about Nintendo's first party releases in 2019, filled with Direct speculation, and Emily Rogers posted there this week with some interesting tidbits. This post in particular stood out to me.
Responding to people who are now claiming to be disappointed in 2019's potential line-up, Rogers posted the following comparison:
"Before claiming that 2019 is not the return of 2017's lineup, please take a minute to think about what you're saying.
2017's lineup:
- Five "brand new" first party releases: Zelda BOTW, ARMS, Splatoon 2, Mario Odyssey, and Xenoblade Chronicles 2
- Other Nintendo published exclusives: Fire Emblem Warriors.
- Two Wii U ports: In April, we got Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. In September, we got Pokken Tournament DX.
- The biggest game in May was...an enhanced port of Super Street Fighter 2?
- In November, we got two ports of Bethesda games: Doom + Skyrim.
- 1 Ubisoft exclusive: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle
- eShop exclusives: Snipperclips, Flip Wars
2019's lineup:
- Five first party releases: Luigi's Mansion 3, Fire Emblem, Animal Crossing, Pokemon, Yoshi's Crafted World.
- Other Nintendo published exclusives: Daemon X Machina, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3, Travis Strikes Again, Fitness Boxing.
- More unannounced Nintendo surprises: Does anyone truly believe that Nintendo would reveal their entire 2019 lineup before 2019 had even started? They still have a few more surprises up their sleeves.
- Wii U ports: New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe. And at least one or two more Wii U ports are coming.
- eShop exclusives: Yes.
- Third Party Support: 2018's third party support was significantly better than 2017's. Expect 2019's third party support to be even better than 2018's. There's still more third party stuff that hasn't been announced yet.
- Indie support: Way better than 2017's indie support. Just to name a few games: Wargroove, Untitled Goose Game, Toe Jam & Earl, Mineko's Night Market."