Since its release, Switch 2 has seen various first party releases, from Mario Kart World, Donkey Kong Bananza, and Kirby Air Riders last year to Pokemon Pokopia, Splatoon Raiders, Starfox, Ocarina, and Switch Sports Resort this year.

Nonetheless, there's been a persistent narrative in online circles that the system is lacking first party releases.

I feel like a part of this is that previous Nintendo systems kind of trained players to expect a mainline Mario early in the system's life, and that this combined with the very long wait since Odyssey has created a sense of withdrawal that no other release will satisfy.

Adding to this, there's a pervasive sense online that some people seem to only really care about a very limited number of key Nintendo franchises, your 3D Marios, your Smash Bros, your mainline Zelda, and that everything else, your Xenoblades, your Donkey Kongs, your Kirbys and your Splatoons somehow "don't count".

Add this all up and you get the current state of affairs, where despite a steady flow of first party content, there's still a narrative of "where are Nintendo's games?"

Essentially, "I didn't get the specific game I want and expect from Nintendo" gets mutated into "there are no games".

is this a fair assessment, or am I missing something?

No new mainline Zelda or Mario in sight after s year on the market is a crazy strategy from Nintendo. Switch had both in 2017.

I agree. The fact that we're still to get a new 3D Mario, 3D Zelda or Smash, make people create this crazy narrative of "no new games".

That said, this notion will probably change a lot in 2027 since we'll probably get Pokémon Winds/Waves + 3D Mario.

You’re spot on. Also a general lack of consistency between what counts as a big release between Switch & Switch 2.

I’ve seen people say updated ports of games like Animal Crossing or Mario Wonder don’t count as major releases despite the best selling Switch game being an updated port.

I’ve seen people say cross-gen titles like Pokemon Legends & Metroid Prime didn’t count as big holiday titles despite the big launch title for Switch being a cross-gen title.

I’ve seen people say games like Mario Tennis & Yoshi don’t count because they are B/C tier then turn around and count games like Fire Emblem & Xenoblade which sell similar numbers.

I’ve seen people say remakes of Star Fox & Ocarina of Time don’t count as big releases despite Pokemon Let’s Go, Pokemon D/P, Link’s Awakening, Mario RPG, etc selling on par with new releases.

There are games for sure for the system I just won't buy a new Nintendo console without at least one of the three game series mentioned and often at least two. Mainline Pokémon games is in the same sort of system seller park for me. If they release a Switch 2 lite with the new Pokémon games next year, it will be the first time I will consider buying the system.

Also, some years back we had games both for handheld systems and home consoles to look forward to. Now with only one system to focus on in combination with games taking longer to develop the general feel is that there is less to look forward to compared to 2-3 generations ago.

Your right in your assessment.

However I think people that view Nintendo consoles as something you get for a small handfull of exclusives (3D mario, Zelda, Xenoblade ect) can also be right in their thinking that to them, it is lacking games (that they want).

So its not a "there are no games",  its meaning is "there is nothing there yet, for me" when they say that.

and tbh, I'm one of those that don't care about Splatoon or Kirby games, Pokemon.
Even the new concept of Mario Kart seems flawed to me (the world aspect is not appealing).

If I buy a Nintendo console, I want a Mario platformer with it.... that seems totally reasonable to me.


That said, it has only been what? abit over a year....
Nintendo will get around to doing what they are supposed to do at some point (3D Mario and Zelda), and people will have more reason to get the hardware by then.

Even with the Switch, it took abit before I got one... I didn't get one day1.

Nintendo has a good line-up this year with a lot of games. It's just missing that one big 3D Mario / AC / Smash / BOTW, and even Pokémon is skipping this year.

It seems other than Mario Kart it's going to be 2+ years into the Switch 2 before we get another one of their highest tier titles. While Switch 1 got 3 in 6 months.

There's a ton to play on Switch 2, just not their biggest games. If you look at the top 10 Switch 1 titles MK is the only new entry we have in one of those series. And no I'm not counting Legends Z-A as a main Pokémon game, they don't sell the same. Nor will Ocarina sell like BOTW.

The Switch was an outlier in terms of releasing a mainline Zelda + Mario game in year 1. People tend to forget that:
- Zelda was practically a Wii U game, was in development for 7 years
- The Switch needed a big statement, coming from the previous gen which was a disaster commercially
- Games like Mario Kart 8 deluxe was a direct port, and Splatoon 2 was essentially a Splatoon 1 upgrade

That said, Nintendo systems tend to have a big Mario game by year 2 and other big franchises flow right after. Not seeing it is disappointing particularly because it will be 10+ years since we've seen Odyssey by the time the new Mario release.

However, this hasn't been a weak launch:
- First Mario Kart since 2014 and is a game that will get bigger over time
- First hyped Starfox game since I can remember
- First 3D donkey kong in over 25 years
- New Xenoblade, Fire Emblem announced
- Strongest 3rd party support since arguably the SNES, including day and date releases
- Ocarina of time is going to be the biggest remake of all time. That's not a spinoff / side game, and I think the way they've teased this was spot on because it's creating a lot of dialogue and all eyes will be on the next direct / info about the game.

Maybe it's not blockbuster like 2017, but 2017 is not necessarily a benchmark. Sales for the Switch 2 back Nintendo's decisions so far (like it or not).

Finally I also think the price increase in September in the West means they will want to show a lot more info then to justify the price. I won't be surprised to see their big pipeline finally show up: a big showcase for OoT, Zelda 40th, Mario 3D (a game I think they've had a lot of time to make it a blockbuster), the biggest Pokemon game to date, and more stuff.

I think there is momentum and that's important. It hasn't been special, and yes maybe a tad disappointing especially the first half of this year, but there's a lot of games flowing and I do get the feel that the sum of the parts is greater than the whole.

Yeah, I feel like this "Switch 2 has no gamez" just because it is missing new 3D Mario, new 3D Zelda and Smash is silly.

3D Mario cannot be expected for some time, as Donkey Kong replaced it. I think Nintendo wanted to grow the Donkey Kong franchise and also had a solid gameplay idea (with the destructable environment), which just didn't fit well with Mario. So Donkey Kong is their big 3D platformer, development on Mario started only after that, so don't expect it for some time. Zelda Tears of the Kingdom came out in 2023, if we assume the six-year dev cycle, which seems now common for this flagship franchise we should expect the new 3D Zelda in 2029. There is the possibility for a strong 2D entry though. And Sakurai just finished with Air Riders, so a new Smash is far out, if it is even in development. I feel like Ultimate might get the MK8 treatment with an enhanced port or Switch 2 version. It is a beefy game after all.

The idea that Switch 2 has a weak library because these franchises are missing is silly. It has Mario Kart, arguably the strongest Nintendo franchise at this point. It has gotten strong sellers already with Donkey Kong and Pokopia. With Switch Sports Resort another title underway we can assume from history might sell well. It has gotten supporting games in a broad range like Air Riders, Mario Tennis, Hyrule Warriors, Metroid and gets Xenoblade, Starfox, Splatoon Raiders, Fire Emblem and OoT. It also gets strong 3rd-party support. This is not a weak library.

As I pointed out above, the three franchises many expect might take some time more, but we can expect other stuff probably next year: Splatoon (at this point one of Nintendos strong IPs), Mario Maker and/or 2D Mario and 2D Zelda. As I said, probably next year, as with the direct they already filled this years calendar.

Different times. Coming off of the complete disaster of the Wii U and the commercially disappointing 3DS, Nintendo had to come out firing all guns in 2017. And one of those games you mentioned was a Wii U port in disguise. After its most successful console of all time and with the best third party support since the SNES, Nintendo can afford to take its time.