Board 8 > Nintendo series most ready to be a launch game, but hasn't before?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Personally? Xenoblade. let them cook.

But I voted Pokemon because I think it could be the most successful.

the real answer is Pokemon but that's not exactly up to Nintendo and I don't think Gamefreak / TPC intends to waver from their standard schedule to fit a console release timeline

Smash Bros > Animal Crossing > 2D Zelda > DKC

Smash not being a launch title is actually pretty strategic. It's a gigantic system-seller, so releasing it about 12-18 months after launch once the initial rush for the system has died down to retain/regain momentum isn't a bad idea.

Switch 2 will be out 5 years after the last Animal Crossing, so even if it's not out right at launch, I think there's a good chance of the next one being out in the first year (it was 7.5 years between prior releases, so admittedly that would be fast). Then if Nintendo is smart and learned from how they handled New Horizons, they'll keep staff working on it to continue support for years.

What's the most likely? I suspect Metroid Prime 4 might pull a BOTW and be a Switch 2 launch title in addition to coming out on Switch

Hbthebattle posted...

What's the most likely? I suspect Metroid Prime 4 might pull a BOTW and be a Switch 2 launch title in addition to coming out on Switch

I've been expecting this to be the case for like a year now.

No mention of Mario Kart?

Yeah, not sure why Smash is here but not Mario Kart. Melee came out closer to launch than any MK title.

Mario Kart

I goofed and thought Mario Kart 8 Deluxe launched with the Switch. Argh.

The Switch didn't even have a true original Mario Kart, so that makes the most sense to me.

My mind is playing tricks on me or something because I could have sworn Brawl was a Wii launch title but looking at it now it was months apart?

Edit: I guess if we're considering most likely I'd elevate Metroid some as well. Probably too soon for Pokemon? And definitely too soon for Xenoblade. But I interpreted the question as more akin to "most deserving" or something like that.

Thorn posted...

My mind is playing tricks on me or something because I could have sworn Brawl was a Wii launch title but looking at it now it was months apart?

Years, even! Wii came out it 2006, Brawl in 2008.

Kirby would fit for the poll too.

Thorn posted...

My mind is playing tricks on me or something because I could have sworn Brawl was a Wii launch title but looking at it now it was months apart?

Melee came out a couple weeks after the GameCube, so it was practically a launch title.

MZero posted...

Years, even! Wii came out it 2006, Brawl in 2008.

........so it was. i am now more confused with myself than ever lol

Brawl was announced at that famous E3 2006, so that might be what Thorn was thinking of, but we had a solid year plus of the Smash DOJO. What a time.

2D Zelda + Animal Crossing simultaneous release on a new console would destroy all records

Going purely off YouTube streams, a Clubhouse 51 sequel seems like it'd do well at launch.

If the Switch 2 launches with Mario Kart i'm there day 1

Launching with Pokmon would be a dumb idea, since Game Freak's incompetence is going to end up with a game that looks and runs like garbage, which will make the Switch 2 look bad right from the start.

I love metroid but it just doesn't sell well enough

shane15 posted...

If the Switch 2 launches with Mario Kart i'm there day 1

I bought a Wii and a Switch just for the mariokarts so yeah, they'd have me too...

GTM posted...

I love metroid but it just doesn't sell well enough

This. Metroid might be a launch game, but it won't be the big launch game.

I went with Metroid pretty much purely because I think Prime 4 would be a great launch title. You want to have a big prestige game for the base available at launch. Yes Metroid hasnt been a huge seller but being a launch title would boost it a lot. Look what happened with Breath of the Wild!

Though Mario Kart should be on the poll.

It could also be a scenario where Legends: Z-A, the only other Nintendo game other than Prime 4 we know about off in the distance, might also launch on both Switch and Switch 2.

Mario Kart 9 or 10 might be a good launch title though. Maybe also a 3D Mario, it's been a while since the last one?

GTM posted...

I love metroid but it just doesn't sell well enough

which of the 3DS's launch games would it sell worse than

I didn't say the 3ds launch games were ready either!

if the metroid launch game in question is prime 4 (and trilogy hd at the same time) then yeah it would be the big one, anything less and it's debatable

paper mario would not be unless it's literally a ttyd hd direct sequel lol

pokemon would be a good one if they were solely focusing on it rn and not busy making z-a lol

animal crossing would be if the switch 2 launch coincided with a new epide-too soon?

dkc is a solid shout but it'd need to be something on a level beyond anything the series has had before to be a STRONG launch title compared to what came before. i wouldn't rule that out though, they've had time to quietly plan something like that

if pikmin 4 had been a switch 2 launch title then it'd have been pretty good for one, but since it's not...

KI would be a bold launch title tbh, i think it'd only work if it's specifically an uprising hd release and the switch 2 is prioritising all the same things that the 3ds had, 3d included (and that's never happening)

star fox could've made for a good launch title but zero's reception killed any hope it'd have at being treated as a flagship now

mario sports games are not system sellers lol

smash and mk are the obvious answers

still i think it's a less than good sign when a followup to nintendo land feels like a better system seller than most of them (in all fairness i think that could comfortably rival the peaks of the wii series on a console with a far higher potential install base)

It'd be Pokemon, but The Pokemon Company plays by its own rules. Smash Bros would also make sense but who knows what Smash will be after Ultimate.

Animal Crossing is the best choice.

UF8 posted...

pokemon would be a good one if they were solely focusing on it rn and not busy making z-a lol

Pokemon Z-A itself seems like it might be coming out around the same time as the Switch 2.

Melee was so close to launch, I always considered it a launch title. It was *the* reason to get a GameCube.

Does Animal Crossing, Metroid, Pokemon, or Mario Kart have any releases within a month of their respective systems launching? Right now I think only Melee falls within that (and Pikmin too but it's pretty behind).

Thinking about remaking the poll with just the heavy hitters and removing Smash. Probably divide Metroid and Metroid Prime too.

MK8 Deluxe was only a month after the Switch.

UF8 posted...

dkc is a solid shout but it'd need to be something on a level beyond anything the series has had before to be a STRONG launch title compared to what came before. i wouldn't rule that out though, they've had time to quietly plan something like that

A good 3D Donkey Kong would actually go crazy.

What worries me about Mario Kart is if it's backwards compatible they'll get lazy again and just ride the storm of Deluxe for a few more years.

Pokmon did have games at launch, but only ever spinoffs. I dont think people really mean Pokemon Dash when they think of Pokemon

mnk posted...

MK8 Deluxe was only a month after the Switch.

March 3 -> April 28, so over a month by Harrich's standards.

Hbthebattle posted...

Pokmon did have games at launch, but only ever spinoffs. I dont think people really mean Pokemon Dash when they think of Pokemon

Dash is a weird one, since it launched with the 3DS in JP, but four months after in NA.

shane15 posted...

What worries me about Mario Kart is if it's backwards compatible they'll get lazy again and just ride the storm of Deluxe for a few more years.

No way they rely on BC for Mario Kart. At the very least, we'll get a "Mario Kart 8 Complete" that includes all the DLC for Switch 2.

mnk posted...

MK8 Deluxe was only a month after the Switch.

To get to more of the point I think we're discovering here, how close to a system's launch do you have to be to be considered a launch game? Two weeks, a month, three months...?

IMO:

If its out on day one, its a launch game.

If its out during the first full quarter after launch, that would be a launch window game.

So Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is a launch window game.

MacArrowny posted...

Pokemon Z-A itself seems like it might be coming out around the same time as the Switch 2.

to elaborate, while it wouldn't surprise me if z-a could be a launch title for switch 2, i think it'd only really be a key system seller if it was gen 10 (and also far less rushed than swsh/sv which is impossible given the circumstances)

That's nonsense. Legends Arceus sold 15 million copies, which is absolutely system seller level.

while that is not wrong, can you really imagine nintendo deciding to rely on a... sequel? prequel? to do the business for them on a new unproven console

i'm even doubting that mp4 would manage to leave enough of a dent if it doesn't at least also come with 1-3 hd

the possibility that switch 2 could be another wii u case isn't impossible

Mario Kart would make a good launch title, I think, as long as it's a new one. We haven't had an actual new MK game since MK8.

UF8 posted...

while that is not wrong, can you really imagine nintendo deciding to rely on a... sequel? prequel? to do the business for them on a new unproven console

What do you mean? Most big launch games are sequels. Breath of the Wild is the latest and it was huge.

And they'll have multiple games. 3D Mario will be the big launch game. I feel like Z-A would make a strong #2.

UF8 posted...

while that is not wrong, can you really imagine nintendo deciding to rely on a... sequel? prequel? to do the business for them on a new unproven console

Keep in mind the first Switch mainline Pokemon was the equally unproven Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee.

let's go was pretty much an anti-experiment, they were hedging their bets by maximising the casual appeal (from go players and anime fans) so that feels like a pretty bad example compared to "x and y sequel for legends arceus players"

anyway i was caught out, i was rewriting the narrative of the topic to suggest that the choice would be THE launch title, the flagship

MacArrowny posted...

Legends Arceus sold 15 million copies, which is absolutely system seller level.

Yeah but Mario and Zelda do like 30 million, we need to think BIGGER. (DK could do it)

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/80756836

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