RolStoppable said:
There are plenty of reasons why Mario Kart 9 makes sense on Switch: 1. Switch has not received its own Mario Kart yet and a prolonged lifespan for the system is easier to accomplish when you put system sellers on it in the second half of the lifecycle. 2. A new Mario Kart will drive profits for years, especially with the inevitable DLC. 3. The game can be easily repurposed for the Switch successor as a Deluxe version that includes all previously released DLC and some extra goodies. Most people don't buy DLCs, so Nintendo can put together an attractive package (read: system seller) even if the Switch successor is backwards compatible. The reasoning that is usually put forward against Mario Kart 9 on Switch is pretty much the same as it is for a new 2D Mario game. "Oh, NSMBU Deluxe is selling so well, there's no need to make a new game for Switch." It would be foolish of Nintendo to make the second half of Switch's life all about new IPs. They need proven IPs as tentpole games each year too. They are making Breath of the Wild 2, there will definitely be another Pokémon gen, another new 3D Mario game is likely too. I don't see why some IPs should be getting multiple new games on Switch while Mario Kart and SMB don't even get one, especially because Mario Kart and SMB are bigger IPs than the aforementioned. There's no need to save up Mario Kart 9 for the Switch successor when the new console will receive new games anyway. Mario Kart 9 is bound to be a 30m+ seller on Switch and the hardware interest it creates will benefit all other software too. If Nintendo decided against Mario Kart 9 on Switch, then we'd have a span of 10+ years without a new installment in Nintendo's biggest IP. It's already bad enough that Nintendo did this very thing to SMB (their biggest IP at the time, no new game for 16 years; Super Mario World in 1990, New Super Mario Bros. in 2006) and is about to do it again (New Super Mario Bros. U in 2012), so adding Mario Kart to this very shameful treatment of popular IPs belongs on the list of the dumbest things Nintendo could do over the course of the next several years. |
1 and 2. I'm sure Nintendo would have released 9 on Switch it 8 deluxe had sold normally for a port, but that's not the case. The game still sells like crazy, why waste a game on a system that cuts the legs off of another? Not to mention having MK9 for Switch 2 launch will help that console sell like crazy, so why cut the legs off that console as well before it even stands?
3. Well sure, if they were going to release 9 I hope they follow your idea here and re release it in better form on Switch 2. The problem with this is many won't like the precedent they are following. We already hear an endless line of complaints from people annoyed by them porting Wii U games to Switch, so if they continue that trend of making Switch games port to Switch 2 those same triggered people will continue in their ways. Not really a problem for Nintendo as they will sell more games that way. If, however, 9 is exclusive to Switch and 10 doesn't come out many years into Switch 2's life because of that, then this is not a good idea.
Also, that 10 year gap would be for just this gen. These Wii U re-releases are happening because Wii U bombed and Nintendo is trying to salvage as much profit from good games that didn't sell to their potential in the previous system. Switch is a success, and so are it's games, so we won't have that problem with Switch 2 and should enjoy a healthy amount of original exclusives rather than Deluxe ports. I expect MK9 on their next device, MK10 on the one after that, and so on (unless they have a device bomb and then they may do the deluxe MK treatment again).
Lastly, there are a number of unexplored ips this gen that have done well before, some even recently, that they haven't tapped yet. Kid Icarus, Mother/Earthbound, Advanced Wars, Mario and Luigi, etc. I would rather they focus on making their lineup varied, appealing to a wide range of gamers, than just focus on sequels to already successful Switch games, but that's just my opinion.
