Official Newcomer/DLC Speculation Discussion

[Professor Pumpkaboo]

I just expected Falcon to be the one on top

....Please don't make me even more curious to see this

 

[Rie Sonomura]

Yeah, every year the Switch alternates between amazing and meh. This was already looking to be a pretty weak year even before COVID hit, so next year's gonna be great.

That is, assuming we have a vaccine by like this December

 

[Thermithral]

Direct Mini thoughts.
- Cadence of Hyrule DLC, Did not expect, looked cool but I cant play that game well so we will see if it is enjoyable.
- Gun game, whatever.
- Wrestling game, whatever.
- SMT. Awesome. I wanted an excuse to try one of these, now I have an excuse to try two.

All and all, it started and ended strong and as with most third party things, the middle nearly put me to sleep.

I wonder if we will be getting more minis like this overtiem instead of a larger Direct for the rest of the year? Seems like the best way for Nintendo to minimize leakers ruining their secrets and reveals is to compartmentalize and have only the people who need to have certain info to get access. Seems to be working for Smash Bros thus far.

 

[Perkilator]

Lol, I just realized the last movie I saw in theatres (and will likely see for a long time) was Sonic.

Think that’s rough?

Endgame’s theatrical rerelease in July was the last movie theater experience I had.

 

[3BitSaurus]

And 2020 continues to be the never ending maelstrom of suck that it is.

Now, you see, I have several things to say about that in the context of the fake F-Zero twitter, but absolutely none of them are for good boys and girls.

So... just pretend I followed this post up with a joke or something.

 

[zferolie]

On the bright side, y;know that Sakuna game that was part of the Japan direct?
Well, the eShop page says it's November 10th. Guess we won't have to wait long after all (Unless the guy who updated it was wrong).

Oh yes. I'm excited for that game. It has had my eye for awhile now and happy that its just a few months away.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

I got one pleasant surprise out of the whole thing, so I'm in a good mood at least.

Still won't deny it wasn't a great direct.

 

[volbound1700]

You must have read my post wrong.

I think fans absolutely have the right to be frustrated. This drought of information, in one of the most stressful times in history, especially with younger people (Source: I worked with kids and saw that some of them struggled with their mental health) could be something that is actually a powerful force for something to look forward to.

Unfortunately, it's not happening. I hope that it will change, and I'm optimistic that it will! But I also am not sure what to make of it.

Yeah, looking at it a second time, I only focused on your first statement. You were right to call me out.

My concern with Nintendo is based on their past actions, I think they see the United States, Europe, Latin America, etc. as secondary markets. They really don't care about growth in these markets. They do just enough to keep a presence and get sales but their focus tends to always rely on the Japanese market. Even this direct shows this fact. The Japanese Direct was generally better than the one we received. It had more content and was better performed.

This is something that Sega and Sony never have done. Both have always tried to balance the Japanese and America market. The Sonic team even had members from both Japan and US working on their games to try to appeal to both audiences (at least in the heyday). Sony is very similar. Sony adopts Western IP a lot better than Nintendo.

If we have a complete about Nintendo, it is their Japanese-centric focus versus their competitors. I don't mind Nintendo catering more to Japan because that is their core and loyal base but I think it is too extreme, especially lately (it goes in cycles. I think Nintendo did a great job with the US audiences in the N64 and Wii era for example. The Switch era started out very well but over the last couple of years, I have seen a negative trend. Iwata was likely a greater advocate for US audience versus the new leadership).

 

[Rie Sonomura]

Now, you see, I have several things to say about that in the context of the fake F-Zero twitter, but absolutely none of them are for good boys and girls.

So... just pretend I followed this post up with a joke or something.

...Falcon’s [NOT FOR GOOD BOYS AND GIRLS] on main?

(I’ll stop, I just can’t resist the jokes)

 

[StrangeKitten]

People are right to be frustrated. Yes, COVID is going on... but other gaming companies are chugging along, and Nintendo said it wasn't hurting their productivity much. We just want news. We would all understand if Nintendo gave us, say, a more in-depth trailer of BotW2 but said they weren't sure when release would be due to COVID. They already say as much in their opening screen about the virus. So it's like, what gives? I also see no reason the next Smash character shouldn't be ready for reveal. You just have to show the model, not even any moves. Release can still be a couple months or so away.

That said, I'm really sad people bullied Kelios over it. I was looking forward to their continued info, since they got so much right about this Direct. It's fair to be frustrated, but taking it out on anyone isn't justified. It is only games, after all

Lol, I just realized the last movie I saw in theatres (and will likely see for a long time) was Sonic.

Same

 

[Koopaul]

I'm just more curious as to why this is happening. As mentioned before, there's nothing stopping Nintendo from throwing together a Direct like this and showing off some trailers. It makes you wonder, "what happened"? Everyone says COVID is making things difficult and that's true but that isn't stopping Sony or anyone else. You can clearly do this remotely.

So I think, something worse has happened. Possibly some deaths within the company. Yeah I'm just speculating in the dark but that's all I got. Why else is this happening? That or they are extremely bad at handling situations like this and are running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Or... They just don't care.

 

[Professor Pumpkaboo]

update, I looked at the f-zero twitter, it was beautiful

 

[Mushroomguy12]

Welp, all is forgiven.

Seriously though, why couldn't this or Ryza be in the NA Direct?

You’ll now be able to pet dogs in #Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin!

🐶✋✅ https://t.co/CpNON9x6YR pic.twitter.com/B9koXgUlWj

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) July 20, 2020

 

[Scoliosis Jones]

Yeah, looking at it a second time, I only focused on your first statement. You were right to call me out.

My concern with Nintendo is based on their past actions, I think they see the United States, Europe, Latin America, etc. as secondary markets. They really don't care about growth in these markets. They do just enough to keep a presence and get sales but their focus tends to always rely on the Japanese market. Even this direct shows this fact. The Japanese Direct was generally better than the one we received. It had more content and was better performed.

This is something that Sega and Sony never have done. Both have always tried to balance the Japanese and America market. The Sonic team even had members from both Japan and US working on their games to try to appeal to both audiences (at least in the heyday). Sony is very similar. Sony adopts Western IP a lot better than Nintendo.

If we have a complete about Nintendo, it is their Japanese-centric focus versus their competitors. I don't mind Nintendo catering more to Japan because that is their core and loyal base but I think it is too extreme, especially lately (it goes in cycles. I think Nintendo did a great job with the US audiences in the N64 and Wii era for example. The Switch era started out very well but over the last couple of years, I have seen a negative trend. Iwata was likely a greater advocate for US audience versus the new leadership).

To be fair, I wasn't calling you out lol. You're all good. I just wanted to clarify is all.

I'm not even sure if it's their difference in approach between regions, or if it's just a marketing incompetence overall. But if nothing else, they needed to adapt to a "distance work" set up, and they have absolutely, clearly struggled.

If they haven't struggled, and are just sitting on content to show, then that's...bizarre.

 

[Animegamingnerd]

I have to live with Godzilla vs Kong constantly being delayed because everything keeps getting shoved back it it's release date, giving it no breathing room whatsoever.

Anyways, the lack of games in the near future at least gives me more time to get through Xenoblade.

So many ****ing films I was excited for like Evangelion 3.0+1.0, Tenet, Wonder Women 1984, Black Widow, Quiet Place 2, Soul, and No Time To Die all got delayed and I have no idea if I will be able to see them this year. Hell I had tickets to see No Time To Die on my birthday for crying out loud.

Lol, I just realized the last movie I saw in theatres (and will likely see for a long time) was Sonic.

Last film I saw My Hero Academia Heroes Rising back in March just two days before my theater closed, I had plans to see before Onward and Sonic before that happened, but no this ****ing virus decided otherwise. Looking like this year I will have only seen 5 films in a theater (1917, Weathering With You, The Invisible Man, Birds of Prey, and My Hero Academia Heroes Rising)

 

[andree123]

So, is it safe to say we wait until the next week comes?

 

[Swamp Sensei]

Now, you see, I have several things to say about that in the context of the fake F-Zero twitter, but absolutely none of them are for good boys and girls.

We now know why Falcon's voice actor was called back for slurping sounds.

 

[Cutie Gwen]

For real though it's cool that the meme game finally stopped being a meme and that fans are revitalized, everything else we saw was trash but the remake and SMTV? Goddamn, I'm not even an SMT fan and I'm struggling to accept it actually ****ing exists

 

[Swamp Sensei]

For real though it's cool that the meme game finally stopped being a meme and that fans are revitalized, everything else we saw was trash but the remake and SMTV? Goddamn, I'm not even an SMT fan and I'm struggling to accept it actually ****ing exists

Cadence of Hyrule was not trash.

> : (

 

[Digital Hazard]

My concern with Nintendo is based on their past actions, I think they see the United States, Europe, Latin America, etc. as secondary markets.

That's implying they see us Latin Americans as having some viability as a market.

It's a miracle BotW and WarioWare Gold got Latin American dubs at all.

 

[AceAttorney9000]

So I think, something worse has happened. Possibly some deaths within the company. Yeah I'm just speculating in the dark but that's all I got. Why else is this happening? That or they are extremely bad at handling situations like this and are running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Or... They just don't care.

Deaths in the company I feel is extreme and likely not the case... but yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if, behind the scenes, something really bad happened (like having a bunch of footage ready for a huge Direct, then losing most of it in an accident or something) and this "multi-part Direct series" thing is just them winging it so they can show us something while trying to fix things.

 

[volbound1700]

To be fair, I wasn't calling you out lol. You're all good. I just wanted to clarify is all.

I'm not even sure if it's their difference in approach between regions, or if it's just a marketing incompetence overall. But if nothing else, they needed to adapt to a "distance work" set up, and they have absolutely, clearly struggled.

If they haven't struggled, and are just sitting on content to show, then that's...bizarre.

Well, I thought there 2019 reveals since E3 haven't been that good. It seemed like it started in 2019 and just carried over to 2020. As I have stated, there reveals have also been very Japanese centric. There isn't much that the mainstream Western Audience would be excited about in their directs. Now, I can see how Japanese audiences (and US audiences that like Japanese RPG style games) would be excited.

BTW - I don't think you were trying to be mean or nasty in calling me out at all. You were just trying to defend your post. I appreciated it and your response.

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

Cadence of Hyrule was not trash.

> : (

Indeed. While I can't get into the game personally(I suck at rhythm games), it's pretty damn cool and has some neat characters, music, and options. It's a cool take on the Zelda formula in itself.

I'm glad Nintendo agreed to have their IP used like that. It's kind of like how they did with Mario + Rabbids, though the focus was on OC's in the former case, while the latter was a fusion of Rabbids, Super Mario, and a bit of Donkey Kong Country. And a Yoshi.

 

[Sabrewulf238]

I feel like the Nocturne HD reveal was more exciting than the SMTV trailer.

Because really we didn't see any gameplay for SMTV and the trailer didn't really tell us much about the game other than that it was getting a worldwide release next year.

I vaguely remember seeing Nocturne for the PS2 in a charity shop years ago and not buying it for goodness knows what silly reason.....

 

[zeldasmash]

We now know why Falcon's voice actor was called back for slurping sounds.

I immediately regret posting what I did...

 

[Animegamingnerd]

Yeah, looking at it a second time, I only focused on your first statement. You were right to call me out.

My concern with Nintendo is based on their past actions, I think they see the United States, Europe, Latin America, etc. as secondary markets. They really don't care about growth in these markets. They do just enough to keep a presence and get sales but their focus tends to always rely on the Japanese market. Even this direct shows this fact. The Japanese Direct was generally better than the one we received. It had more content and was better performed.

This is something that Sega and Sony never have done. Both have always tried to balance the Japanese and America market. The Sonic team even had members from both Japan and US working on their games to try to appeal to both audiences (at least in the heyday). Sony is very similar. Sony adopts Western IP a lot better than Nintendo.

If we have a complete about Nintendo, it is their Japanese-centric focus versus their competitors. I don't mind Nintendo catering more to Japan because that is their core and loyal base but I think it is too extreme, especially lately (it goes in cycles. I think Nintendo did a great job with the US audiences in the N64 and Wii era for example. The Switch era started out very well but over the last couple of years, I have seen a negative trend. Iwata was likely a greater advocate for US audience versus the new leadership).

When it comes to Nintendo focusing on more Japanese, you are missing something important is that the bulk of the major third support on Switch is from Japanese publishers. Western publishers treat the system as an after thought or just ignore it, we are barely getting any EA games, Activision has zero upcoming Switch games due to both Crash 4 and the Tony Hawks remakes skipping the system and I would be shock if we somehow got Call of Duty 2020. Ubisoft and 2K are only really doing casual games and last gen ports, Rockstar hasn't ported GTAV, EA barely gave us anything to begin with, Doom Eternal has a solid chance of being the last major port from Bethesda.

 

[SKX31]

I think it was to appeal to the American audience...

Things like wrestling and shooters.

...yeah I don't get it either.

On Rogue Company... Yeah, can see it.

Problem is though - besides the genre being cramped - the Battle Royale genre has begun to place more and more importance on games having its own identity. Fortnite looks different from PUBG, which looks different from Apex Legends or Hyper Scape in turn. (And even then the BR genre runs the risk of being seen as "same-y" because it's the thing to bandwagon at the moment.)

Seriously, I thought Rogue Company was going to be Neon Abyss (current gen Binding of Isaac - that would've probably garnered more interest) because the trailer showed a guy who looked almost exactly like Neon Abyss' cover guy at first. RC also looks... derivative. No offense meant towards Hi-Rez, but it could've spent more time in the oven IMHO.

That's implying they see us Latin Americans as having some viability as a market.

It's a miracle BotW and WarioWare Gold! got Latin American dubs at all.

Hey, Nintendo's official data now uses "Americas" and Nintendo did establish LatAm and Brazil instagram accounts IIRC (so now LatAm's kinda a major region I guess?)...

Progress I suppose? They could certainly do a much better job of course in LatAm (alongside other regions that are not considered "major"), not going to argue there.

(Whoops, misquote here, sorry Rie Sonomura .)

To be fair, I wasn't calling you out lol. You're all good. I just wanted to clarify is all.

I'm not even sure if it's their difference in approach between regions, or if it's just a marketing incompetence overall. But if nothing else, they needed to adapt to a "distance work" set up, and they have absolutely, clearly struggled.

If they haven't struggled, and are just sitting on content to show, then that's...bizarre.

Isn't a part of the problem Nintendo's preference for secrecy?

This is going into speculative territory, but given how Nintendo's development teams are concentrated mostly in Kyoto (as opposed to most other video game companies that have the teams more spread out) and teleworking being a tad more difficult to do in Japan* as opposed to elsewhere, I wouldn't be entirely surprised if the pandemic actually caught Nintendo's marketing department off guard and they've been scrambling since.

*(I'd personally argue that the generally more cramped living spaces and a legacy of fax machines contribute to that)

 

[Swamp Sensei]

I immediately regret posting what I did...

What can I say? I'm a smart ass.

Sorry.

 

[PLANTMAN]

Hmmmm starting to wonder if SMT could be a potential dark horse pick from vol 2

And before you say "BuT PeRsOnA iS SMT", not really, it's more of a subseries. Think of it a bit like Kingdom Hearts in relation to Final Fantasy

Joker was fairly light on the SMT side of things all things considered, not even a Jack Frost appearance like was speculated. So there's definitely some stuff to work with there

That depends when it’s gonna release next year

 

[Thermithral]

I'm just more curious as to why this is happening. As mentioned before, there's nothing stopping Nintendo from throwing together a Direct like this and showing off some trailers. It makes you wonder, "what happened"? Everyone says COVID is making things difficult and that's true but that isn't stopping Sony or anyone else. You can clearly do this remotely.

So I think, something worse has happened. Possibly some deaths within the company. Yeah I'm just speculating in the dark but that's all I got. Why else is this happening?

People are right to be frustrated. Yes, COVID is going on... but other gaming companies are chugging along, and Nintendo said it wasn't hurting their productivity much. We just want news.

I have a few thoughts and guesses on this.

1) They don't want to do what they did with Metroid Prime 4, revealing the existance of something just for hype and giving news for the sake of news. They revealed a game before they even had anything to show, and then it got delayed, meanwhile, every direct since then has been "Where is Metroid Prime 4?!" They mostlikely want to reveal things when they know it is close to being done, or at the very least its development appeals to be going stable given the times we live in.

2) Remote development on paper seems easy, but ultimately there are factors which could make it more difficult on a case by case basis. Possibly the equipment at home is not up to pair with their work spaces in office, perhaps the internet is not fast enough to upload their stuff one week, technical issues become harder if the person working is not able to get the IT department to help. And that is not including all the secrecy needed at home. Can't have little Timmy revealing on his Minecraft live stream that Dad was working on the next Smash character.

Im not disappointed by the year thus far, we are still getting games. They appear to be acting as I would expect during a pandemic, having to quickly adapt to an entirely different form of development, and I asume compartmentalizing, as at any point on of their devs can be, for lack of a better phrase, removed from the picture at any time.

 

[volbound1700]

When it comes to Nintendo focusing on more Japanese, you are missing something important is that the bulk of the major third support on Switch is from Japanese publishers. Western publishers treat the system as an after thought or just ignore it, we are barely getting any EA games, Activision has zero upcoming Switch games due to both Crash 4 and the Tony Hawks remakes skipping the system and I would be shock if we somehow got Call of Duty 2020. Ubisoft and 2K are only really doing casual games and last gen ports, Rockstar hasn't ported GTAV, EA barely gave us anything to begin with, Doom Eternal has a solid chance of being the last major port from Bethesda.

Yes but who's fault is that? It is Nintendo. Sony is a Japanese company and they have no issues with Western IP. Sega use to not have any issues as well when they were in the console market. The reason is that they actually work and support other regions of the Globe and look at their companies as a Global entity and not just a Japanese company.

This is where the problems with Nintendo stem. Nintendo has always treated non-Japanese entities as second tier. This is why they live in the shadow of Sony to some degree outside of Japan.

 

[PK-remling Fire]

I'd be hyped for a proper SMT rep for vol 2. One that actually incorporates demon summoning into their moveset.

 

[StrangeKitten]

Welp, all is forgiven.

Seriously though, why couldn't this or Ryza be in the NA Direct?

You’ll now be able to pet dogs in #Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin!

🐶✋✅ https://t.co/CpNON9x6YR pic.twitter.com/B9koXgUlWj

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) July 20, 2020

They thought Americans liked guns and wrestling, but not IN-DEPTH PETTING OF DOGS? Way more people in this country enjoy petting dogs than guns and wrestling. On the very low chance anyone from Nintendo sees this, take notes!

 

[Cosmic77]

Seems like the Geno thread has had an even harder time dealing with the Direct than this thread and the social thread.

Haven't decided yet whether or not I was fully expecting that.

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

The sad thing about the WWE game reveal is that there is a fantastic counterpart title called FIre Pro Wrestling World on PC and PS4 by Spike Chunsoft. which would have completely changed my thoughts on the direct if it had been revealed for Switch.

 

[Hydreigonfan01]

Seems like the Geno thread has had an even harder time dealing with the Direct than this thread and the social thread.

Haven't decided yet whether or not I was fully expecting that.

Honestly I wasn't, they're a thread of a JRPG character. I'd like to think getting more info on a JRPG coming to Switch would've pleased them more than this and the social thread, even if the JRPG wasn't to do with Mario.

 

[SirBillyBob]

Smh my head, can't believe all this SLANDER against WWE 2K Battlegrounds releasing on Nintendo Switch on September 18, 2020. /s

 

[Ramen Tengoku]

That depends when it’s gonna release next year

Not really... This is a series with deep Nintendo history that spans nearly 3 decades. I can definitely see it happen on it's own merits without any synergy needed.

As for whom however, yes I do think it depends on timing. If SMTV is somehow out by the first half of 2021, I could see the new protagonist. Otherwise, it's very likely gonna be Demifiend, even if you take the Nocturne remaster out if the equation.

 

[Animegamingnerd]

Yes but who's fault is that? It is Nintendo. Sony is a Japanese company and they have no issues with Western IP. Sega use to not have any issues as well when they were in the console market. The reason is that they actually work and support other regions of the Globe and look at their companies as a Global entity and not just a Japanese company.

This is where the problems with Nintendo stem. Nintendo has always treated non-Japanese entities as second tier. This is why they live in the shadow of Sony to some degree outside of Japan.

You are right to some degree that its Nintendo's fault since the hardware isn't really that powerful, but that is the price for having a hybrid system since when the Switch launched its about as powerful as a handheld can be at that price and battery life. So would you rather have them sacrifice the thing that is making the Switch successful just to have more western third party support? Because I certainly won't, the Switch is my go to console for myself and many others due to its hybrid nature.

 

[volbound1700]

They thought Americans liked guns and wrestling, but not IN-DEPTH PETTING OF DOGS? Way more people in this country enjoy petting dogs than guns and wrestling. On the very low chance anyone from Nintendo sees this, take notes!

While I agree with your sentiment, I would say most of the video game audience in the US would think those types of games are "not cool." However, most of the audience that buys the Switch probably would like those type of games. Nintendo grabs, for the most part, a niche audience that general tend to like those type of games because that is what Nintendo produces and sales.