MK9 is likely going to be a Switch successor launch game as the won't be a BOTW this time at launch so the next best thing will be a MK game.

My problem with that strategy is then MK9 will be limited by Switch technology, which itself has games that look basically the same as Wii U games, graphically, except to the most nerdiest of gamers like Digital Foundry. So then for Switch 2, until it is in the second half of its life (so 2027-2028?), will have a Wii U-graphics-level game being it's official Mariokart. That would be fine if Switch 2 had basically no bump in power over Switch 1, but that isn't Nintendo's pattern. They do big graphic jumps every two generations and Switch 2 is due.

If MK9 comes out on Switch 1, I hope it stays there so we aren't stuck with it on Switch 2 for 3-4 years. But hopefully it comes out on Switch 2 and takes full advantage of the huge leap forward in power.

Botw 2 started out as dlc. It uses the same map/engine. I think and hope the reason it is taking so long is because Nintendo has a smaller team doing it, since they can reuse assets and whatnot, and they have another team doing the preliminary work on the next AAA Zelda (all new engine, graphics, art style, taking advantage of new hardware).

They could have 50-100 people working on Botw 2 and 200-250 working on Zelda 2witch, not including another team altogether doing a 2-d game and one doing remasters.

Why else would it take them this long to make Botw 2, with a full Zelda team, when so much from Botw1 is useable?

A very realistic reason why it's taken long is simply because the is a lot of new content built ground up for the new platform regardless of how the game started as the are many games that start out as ideas or DLC and instead go on to become huge stand alone games, reusable assets doesn't mean quick development if the is still a lot of new content that needs to be developed.

BotW 2 started as DLC is your guess or was that confirmed?

It's not false but not accurate either, Aonuma has said the sequel happened as the team came up with too many ideas for DLC when they sat down to decide what to bring next after they released BOTW's DLC.

It is accurate. I said it started out as dlc, not that it was dlc 99% of its existence. Even if just for one day in a meeting, if it was going to be dlc at that point, then it started as dlc.

It's not accurate in how the context of what you suggested though as you indicated that it being DLC would help development be faster in your post which would only be the case if it was further along as DLC than what Aonuma has indicated, one day in the office at a meeting doesn't make it DLC as being planned as DLC and actually being DLC aren't the same.

The day one thing was an exaggeration to prove a point. Obviously, I believe it was considered dlc for many months after it initialized.

We got a release date and it's a bit sooner than I expected. Game looks pretty good too!