Initially, I was going to write an article on this subject shortly after E3 but then Zippo, the person who claimed that a new Donkey Kong was being made for Switch, revealed even more info including the DK theme park expansion (which is happening, it seems) along with other news that forced me to rewrite what I had. Since some of the article's narrative addressed the fact that we hadn't heard anything yet about a new Switch model, I thought I'd continue... and then... yeah. So I just said screw it.
Now with Zippo talking up a new Nintendo Direct for this month, there's certainly a chance that we could see something on this new 2D Donkey Kong title. But even if it's real and they do show it, would it release this year? Nintendo already has a strong holiday quarter planned (October in particular) not to mention Pokémon Legends Arceus in January, but December is very weak in comparison, with only Advance Wars (a remake) scheduled for the month. Furthermore, the only game releasing this entire holiday quarter that's made by an in-house Nintendo studio is Mario Party. Technically, EPD (the studio rumored to be making the new DK) helped on Dread (and they made Wario Ware too) but no magnum-opus since Super Mario Odyssey and supposedly this new DK has been worked on for three years now.
Also worth noting is that Tropical Freeze didn't sell well on Switch compared to other WiiU ports of Nintendo games. However, although this new game is rumored to be 2D, it is dropping the "Donkey Kong Country" moniker of the past installments all together - perhaps giving the series a fresh start and redefining two dimensional Donkey Kong. If true, that's a pretty big deal - especially considering that the "Country" series is widely regarded as very good.
While it's true that it may be wise to hold on to a game like this for a dry spell later next year, this is Donkey Kong's ruby jubilee and Nintendo should celebrate its very first character of nomenclature. Add to that the fact that last year's holiday quarter was severely lacking and we should all get a party for DK's 40th birthday this year. Keeping in mind that Paper Mario and 3D All Stars were announced just before they released last year, do you think that we will see something on this new DK title at the upcoming Direct, and if so, will we receive the game this year?
Bonus Question: Assuming that Nintendo does surprise us with the game this holiday, what would that mean for Switch sales for the quarter? Last year the Switch moved 11.57m for the quarter; would sales meet or even exceed that this holiday with a new DK?
Last edited by archbrix - on 02 September 2021