Nintendo Won’t Be Fooled Twice on Slowdown of Title Releases
The Nintendo Switch has hit hard with the successful Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but can you name another really big Switch game? No? 1-2 Switch, the simulated milking game? Pass. Nintendo is no stranger to title releases stalling; the Wii saw less and and thus killing the system. But Nintendo won’t be fooled twice, according to an Asia Nikkei publication:
“Not a few analysts have the impression that Nintendo has learned from its mistakes with its previous console, the Wii U. The company has sought to make it easier to create games for the Switch by expanding the scope of development tools. It is also pushing developers to expand the Switch game lineup quickly. An executive at one software company said Nintendo asked it to introduce major releases ‘as early as possible.'”
The third party developer is still a mystery, but it’s likely a Japanese team, considering the source is from Asia Nikkei. This may also act as a bid to entice developers that have been soured by the Wii console to get back in the game with the Switch:
“Hideki Yasuda, an analyst at the Ace Research Institute, said overseas game developers that have released few games for Nintendo platforms may be more inclined to serve up titles for the Switch.”
The lineup for Switch releases look fun, but there’s a gap between now and September. One possible stop-gap (and rumor circulation) is the Mario & Rabbids crossover RPG. A new rumor from last week revealed that the game is indeed in development by Ubisoft and the release date is tentatively set in either August or September. It’s also quite possible that the Mario & Rabbids crossover will serve as a teaser game for Super Mario Odyssey scheduled to release for the Christmas season.
If anything, this third party developer may aim to fill the gaps in between the first-party releases already scheduled. Smart move on Nintendo’s part!