Kinda crazy how bad ARMS' legs are.
It sold just over 2 million in its first year, then in the four and a half years that followed it managed less than 700k.
No longevity whatsoever.

It's suprising to me how Nintendo treats this game. It was heavily advertised for the lunch of Switch to show off the use of the Joy-Cons but after that it was never mentioned again, also no DLC Fighters/Stages. Even on Nintendo eShop where they have continuous themed promotions, this game is never mentioned, not even when the theme is fighing games. It's almost as if Nintendo wants people to forget about this game. It's a shame because I like this game because it is so different from all the other fighting games. Sure, the gameplay is not very deep but it's a great game to pick up and play, also with friends.

Why the hate for Metroid Prime 4 and Retro Studios? Yes, talents come and go, an issue any company faces. But successful companies keep being successful because they are well structured with a surrounding where knowledge and skills are maintained, teached to the younger generation of developers. On top of that, successful companies attract new talent all the time.

Shigeru Miyamoto isn't actively involved in the development of any Mario, Zelda or any game at all since a long time. Sure, he still has his saying but the overall development of Nintendo games are done without him (and his former peers). Yet, Mario, Zelda and other Nintendo franchises are still of high quality.

Same is true in team sports. Let's say a hockey team has the 3 best players and several other highly ranked players. They win 3 Stanley Cups in a row. Then, next season they lose those 3 best players and several others. It doesn't automatically mean that they will do bad from this season onwards. Probably, they will not win the Stanley Cup in the current season but as long as the finances are there, there's no panic that they can't catch up again, maybe as soon as the next season starts. New talents are always waiting to replace current superstars. Sure, outside of sports your active career is much longer but still, young talents are always there to learn quick and become even better than the current star developers.

In general, I think it's one of the most important skills a management needs to have: Fostering and maintaining talent and skills. It's not the sexiest thing to present to the shareholders as it is first and foremost a cost and has not an immediate effect on return of investment but in the long run, it's probably THE MOST IMPORTANT factor that guarantees a good return of investment.

Regarding the slow output of new games bye Retro Studios. Well, they just have the luxury to be slow as Nintendo gives them all the time they need to bring out high quality games. I think, Nintendo on purpose made them a "luxury brand" where the quality has to be beyond just "very good". The cost for that are cancelled projects and a low quantity of games coming out.

I don't hate Retro, but I do think they're a far less capable studio than their huggers give them credit for. At this point, it's ludicrous label worship, with some pretending they're still as good as they were in the Iguana or the Metroid Prime era. Over the course of seventeen years, we've only seen two throwback 2D DKC games, the latest of which was co-developed with Nintendo SPD and Monster Games, released over 9 years ago.

I agree with you on the success of Miyamoto franchises and NHL dynasties even after Miyamoto and older players hand over the reins. They have achieved massive success critically, commercially, and on the ice. But, why did Retro Studios fail to do the same?

No updates on Bayonetta 3?

All of these numbers in that white paper are as of December 31st 2022.

We already got that number for Bayonetta 3, what it sold up until the end of 2022, in February. 1.04mil. Then 1.07mil up until the end of March this year.

@mZuzek as you can see here, Metroid Dread topped 3mil last year already.

Yeah at this point I actually hope Prime 4 was moved over to next gen and if the next DK game is gonna be 3D then I hope that'd next gen too (but if 2D then go ahead and throw it out on Switch next year as one of the final Switch games and see what the Switch userbase can do for DK sales).

Zorg, I'd rather see MP4 as purely next gen than cross-gen, because cross-gen suggests to me that the next gen version won't be truly next gen but would probably just be at most a remastered Switch game or even just a Switch game with resolution and maybe framerate raised. Metroid Prime is a high fidelity art style so with next gen likely something like 14-16 months away I'd rather have a fully next gen Metroid Prime than a current gen Metroid Prime and a slightly modified current gen Metroid Prime on the next gen system. From a sales perspective it would make sense to do cross gen, and I'd be fine buying it on Switch if that's the case, but the Metroid fan in me and the gamer in me hopes at this point they are just gonna give us a real next gen Prime 4. While the ideal scenario is they built the game for both Switch and Switch 2 with two entirely different builds (at least graphically), cuz then it could get Switch sales but we'd still get Prime 4 as a legit next gen game, but I don't think there's any way Nintendo spent the time and money making two different versions of the game, so I'd prefer just having the next gen game over current gen.

Nintendo will almost definitely launch Switch 2 with 3D Mario. Mario Kart will probably be right behind that. Imagine if Prime 4 is a full next gen game also within months of next gen launch, and throw in a lush jungle world 3D DK in 2025 as well. Just those four games right there would be a huge first year for Switch 2 just like how Switch had a huge first year.

That's nice.

Made this the other day and thought it might be something cool to share.

Tier List of Nintendo's Best Franchises.

I based mine on a number of things.

Legacy/franchise length, sales, popularity, and frequency of releases just to name a few.

I did one similar a while back that looked a bit different. For example, I had Kirby in the B tier, but after Forgotten Land and Star Allies' performances, I had to promote the little guy.

I tried to make it as objective as possible based on the reasons I listed. If this were purely based on my personal preference, this tier list would look a lot different!