Yet Another Gaming Blog

Mario Kart 9 will be confirmed as a launch title. 

This feels like a banker. We know it’s coming, The internet has poured over the 4 seconds of footage that Nintendo paired with their console unveil. Nintendo knows they need a big hitter on day one to entice the early adopters. You look at where Nintendo has succeeded, console wise, in the past. Switch had Breath of the Wild. Wii had WIi Sports and Twilight Princess. N64 had Super Mario 64, SNES had Super Mario World. The Wii U and Gamecube, good consoles don’t get me wrong; nothing really moved the needle culturally. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has sold nearly 70 million copies. Mario Kart is the biggest of the big. 

Not only is it there day one, it has a special bundle, too. The dock has a racing stripe or something

“New” UI

As much as I’d like them to overthrow everything and do something fun, I think the Switch 2 will be an evolution rather than a revolution. The Switch 2 is overtly a second Switch. Nintendo will feel they don’t need to do anything more to differentiate it to the original. The Switch 2 will look and feel like a Switch experience. Think about how you feel when you get a new phone after a few years. This is that. It’ll be shinier, though. 

New background colours, a pleasant theme tune. Nothing groundbreaking, but a little more personality than we have currently.

First Party Games

These are not games that will be available day one. These are games I think will be announced, that will be released within 12 months of the consoles launch. 

– New Donkey Kong platformer (they’ve added Donkey Kong land to Nintendo World, they made a big deal about Donkey Kong in the Mario movie, he’s getting a redesign in the next Mario Kart. It’s time for a new DK game.)

– Splatoon 4 (Splatoon is huge. It’s been a few years since Splatoon 3 came out. Getting that audience folding in early is key.)

– Breath of the Wild Remaster (I’m not sure if this will be as an update of Breath of the Wild, or a full re-release. But I’m convinced Zelda’s most successful release is used to show off the increased power of the new machine. As a secondary prediction, I think a new title in the works is referenced. Maybe a piece of art to go with it.) 

– A Mario sports title (Switch had Tennis, Golf, and Football, to varying degrees of success. Would love them to give Smash Football another crack, but I’m not sure it did so well. Mario Tennis in the first year is a safe sell. Especially if they have it coincide with Wimbledon at the end of June.) 

– Fire Emblem (They’ll spend loads of time on this, as well.) 

– Pokemon Legends Z-A (Similar to Breath of the Wild, this will be used to communicate whether they’ll do upgrades or separate releases for games releasing on both the Switch and Switch 2.)

– New IP (Possibly related to that playtest thing they did last year, possibly something entirely different. But Nintendo’s last big IP was, what, Splatoon? Time for a new face for whenever they do a new Smash Bros. game.)

Third Party Games

Again, these aren’t games that will be available at launch, but in launch window: 

– EA will have a sizzle reel, showing off Madden (first Madden on a Nintendo system since Madden 13), EA FC, F1, Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order (launch day) & Star Wars: Jedi Survivor (holiday)- basically every major EA franchise and release of the past decade will be on Switch 2.

–  Hogwarts Legacy sold gangbusters on Switch, and Warner Bros. have absolutely nothing else going for them right now. A version of that is happening. Probably loads of Lego games, too.

– Square Enix will be present. There’s an ever present rumour of a Final Fantasy IX remake which would be nice to launch with. Sora being in Smash Bros. could finally see actually releases of the KIngdom Hearts games. I’l put my neck out and say an exclusive Final Fantasy of some kind (Tactics remake) will be announced.

– Bunching these together, but Metal Gear Solid 3 Delta, Death Stranding, Civilisation 7 (with mouse controls!), Assassin’s Creed of some kind (Ubisoft will go hard on Switch 2), and SEGA announces a Sonic title.

– Microsoft will get a segment to show off a bunch of Xbox titles coming over for the first time. This will be where the Halo Master Chief Collection will be confirmed as a launch title, and the much rumoured Oblivion remake will have the curtain pulled back. Skyrim probably gets a mention, too, because it’s been twenty minutes since that got a re-release.

– Capcom comes out swinging with a brand new, not a port of Wild, Monster Hunter title launching later this year. Mentions Resident Evil.

Indies mentioned in passing

Nintendo Switch became something of a hit maker for indie games in its first year, and I think Nintendo will be keen to garnish its launch window with notable titles. Which is why I think they’ll give that scene a bit of a nod, but commit to a “Nindies Showcase” in May, a month before the console releases. Just to whet our appetites, however, we’re going to learn that Hades II will release on Switch 2 later this year.

Nintendo Switch Online

Time to put my neck out; if Nintendo choose to enhance Switch games through an update, you will only be able to access those updates if you have a Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack subscription. Sucks, I know. But they’ve got to sell those subscriptions somehow.

NSO will also see the Nintendo Music app made available to Switch 2, Nintendo Today! will have a tab on the home page, and, excitingly, Streetpass will return, with a phone app interacting with your console to replace actually taking your console about with you.

Peripherals

New Pro Controller. A special mouse mat. A way for Ring Fit Adventure to work with the new IR sensor-less Joy Cons. The big reveal, however, will be an attachable screen that plugs into the top USB-C port, to open up adding DS games to Nintendo Switch Online. It will cost £100, be out later in the year, and have next to no other functionality.

Date and Price

Friday June 20th. £370 base, £420 for the Mario Kart bundle.

One Last Thing

Eight years between titles in a major franchise is an extremely long time, but that’s how long it’ll be when the next 3D Super Mario title is slated for a Christmas release. We’ll get a full 3 minute trailer, and, if I had to guess, I’d say it’s going to be a direct sequel to Super Mario Odyssey.

Featured Image Credit: Nintendo