Let's Temper Our 2021 Nintendo Expectations

[Wman1996]

Nintendo is my favorite software publisher, and I greatly enjoy some of their consoles as well. But I see so many Nintendo fans saying that 2021 will be guaranteed to be a great to amazing year for Nintendo. Basically it will match or exceed 2017 and some of their other top years. Financially, 2021 is all but guaranteed to be massive for Nintendo. The worst I can see Switch hardware selling in 2021 is 18-20 million units. And of course, new titles and evergreen titles will sell like crazy.

But so many expect a steady stream of first-party games in 2021, and some other new features and adjustments. I'm keeping my expectations in check. Just because 2020 has been a disappointing year for software on the Switch, that does not guarantee 2021 will have to be a big upgrade to compensate. It's 10/21/2020, and all we have announced for 2021 is Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury. New Pokemon Snap and Breath of the Wild 2 will also likely hit in 2021, but we have almost no information on them.

Here are my relatively realistic expectations for 2021.

-Switch Mid-Gen Refresh (New, Pro, Plus, or whatever). It won't launch any earlier than March.

-Nintendo 64 Online Games

-At least one more Wii U port

-Mario spin-off. Possibly both Golf and Super Mario Party 2

-A remake of an older Nintendo game

-New Pokemon Snap

-The rest of the Second Smash Fighters Pass will be released

-Breath of the Wild 2

I doubt we'll get Mario Kart 9 next year, if it comes out at all on Switch. Nintendo Switch Online won't get any significant improvements, the eShop will still be a cluttered mess, Nintendo games and accessories will continue to be expensive.

We'll get some great stuff next year, but I'm not counting on being satisfied or having my expectations exceeded.