This is another thing that makes me think this rumor is fallible. They would know by now when it's releasing. Not some "oh hey developers it MAY release March OR LATER now"
Possible reasonings against rumor:
1) They delayed it but didn't tell these developers when exactly?
2) They state no major games this year.. so they are going to let Switch fall off a cliff?
3) They will announce this thing a year prior (next month) even though the release date isn't set in stone for March 2025?!
4) They are announcing it a year prior when they don't have games for Switch? So they really want to drive Switch into the ground? This makes no sense.
It doesn't add up, people.
I think the March stuff was the plan when they were aiming for a holiday 2024 release. I don't see it happening before June now and a full reveal in September or October at the earliest.
Out of interest, how many of you only have a Switch as your gaming platform? I think, for me, the disappointment is minimal because I also have a Steam Deck for my third party releases.
Switch is my only console. I have a notebook but I only use that for college stuff. I can't say I'm not happy and not served. It's absolutely the most I've ever played, both in hours and in the quantity of games. My favorite games ever are its first party games and some third party exclusives and ports.
I wouldn't be able to get a Switch 2 this holiday, and just remembering how costly the gray market was charging for Switch near launch and how expensive the official Brazilian version was back then, I probably wouldn't be able to buy it early anyways. So it being 2025 and me having another year with Switch only stuff is definitely good news. 2023 was an stellar year and everyone was calling that a twilight year.
I'm having a hard time believing Nintendo said we need to delay 3-4 months for 3D Mario. A game in development for longer than any Zelda game in history. Just doesn't make sense.
I mean, it does make sense. Super Mario Odyssey was not an open world game and didn't go crazy on graphics like Luigi's Mansion 3, and it did take 4 years, the same amount of time that Breath of the Wild took. Tears of the Kingdom took like 6 years, and it was a game made for Switch.
The fact that they weren't in a rush for the next 3D Mario since it wouldn't come until the next console anyways could've made them go for a longer period of prototyping and pre-production(just like Wonder didn't have a deadline for that), the hiring calls started in 2019, it was definitely in development by then but not by the full force. They've been aiming for a next generation experience, so they'll go crazy with graphics, after Odyssey/Bowser's Fury it's pretty obvious they'll go for full open world next. It's also having an engine shift and probably is bigger in scope than ever, without the benefit of reusing assets or world map. It taking as long or longer than TotK is... Expected!
And that's not account the fact that at least since 2020 EPD Tokyo is also working on a 2D game, probably Donkey Kong, which is a hell of a complex development. And they do their work mostly in-house, while Zelda outsources heavily.
And even Nintendo probably expected that themselves, since TotK was aiming for 2022 and the next 3D Mario was likely never planned to come any earlier than early 2024 which is probably the earliest Switch 2 was ever planned for.
I also don‘t believe it. Maybe Mario Kart? Seems also unlikely, it was developed by a small team which ported mostly Tour tracks. Metroid Prime 4, if it‘s a launch window game, had more than enough time. I don‘t think Nintendo needs anything but a 3D Mario and Mario Kart, the rest can follow later. It could be the gimmick (if it has one) game? They typically aren’t high budget and are the most synced with console launch. I can‘t think of any game which shouldn‘t be ready myself, anyone else has an idea what game it could be?
I mean, did you watch the credits for Booster Course Pass?? It literally predates the number of people that worked on Mario Kart 8 itself. Tour is literally like 5 Mario Kart games worthy of content. The "it's made by a minor team/the majority has moved for MK9" theory should've been buried once we knew the scale of BCP. 2019 is the earliest possible year for the leads of MK to be moved for development of the next Mario Kart. That would've started with a small team. Full development/huge team working on the game being 2021 isn't strange by any means and would be the standard.
I feel Switch's third party lineup will turn out pretty great. Especially for a 7 year old console. I think we might see some big surprises, such as Persona 3 Reload late port now Switch successor is delayed and more interesting remastered stuff, like Viewtiful Joe or Megaman Legends...
Hell yeah!! I mean, we'll probably get Red Dead Redemption 2 after all these years. Xbox is going nuts and delivering Hi-Fi Rush that wasn't even on Xbox One and also 3 more first party games. I believe Persona 3 Reload will have a late port. I wouldn't be shocked to SMT IV/A remasters coming from Atlus as well.
The length of development that people attribute to the next Mario is also totally fanciful.
I mean, yes lol. People overestimate Zelda and underestimate Mario in the process. I think everyone should've learned after Super Mario Bros Wonder that development isn't like we all idealize it to be, where only open world games are allowed to take 5 years or more and everything else should be done in 3 years like in the Wii U days.
no one talks about how super mario bros wonder took 11 years of development
It was actually more like 5.5 years since it started development by the time New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe finished development in mid 2018, but yeah.
We also have to mention that the game was literally an all EPD effort with 350 EPD people working on it. Zelda relies heavily on outsourcing and thus have these gigantic dev teams, while Super Mario is mostly done in house. So them taking more time than Zelda to make a game of the same scope should be expected.
It should be ready anyways. Even if we cut a year or two off of the development since Odyssey. It's still likely longest development for Mario. It's possible it is longer development than Zelda. Difference to Mario Wonder is that a 3D Mario and 3D Zelda are always in development. Whereas Mario Wonder was a choice development. That's how I see it. They never stop making 3D Mario and 3D Zelda. They can't. Or they won't have their bread and butter for their systems.
If we take 2 years off since Odyssey it'd be 5.5 years of development, which would be expected for a game of a larger scope, for a new generation and with a pandemic in the middle.
And actually, 3D Zelda wasn't in development from late 2011 til January 2013 which is when BotW started. The earliest we can put Tears of the Kingdom is early 2018 when Monolith started hiring for it, but it was probably under pre-production ever since BotW wrapped up.
I mean if you can name one dev at the moment that is operating more efficiently and consistently than Nintendo making games for this gen than I'm all ears
Yeah lol. I mean, I'm sure as hell any other publisher trying to make a Tears of the Kingdom not only wouldn't be able to deliver it in 6 years but also would be in development hell for a long ass time in the middle. Stuff like Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and Splatoon 3 being made in less than 4 years is a miracle, not the norm.
I agree! Less powerful or "outdated" hardware is a blessing in disguise. As it was with all of Nintendo's handhelds and the Wii; it results in more games due to faster development times, and smaller budget games being able to achieve more success.
We are not getting any better games as a result from the power jump to the PS5/XSX. All it has resulted in are unsustainble budgets and frustratingly protected development times.
In my view, this has been the case since the 7th Gen HD consoles and it has only gotten worse. Games have gotten safer and more homogenized than ever.
I kinda agree with that. Early on the Switch gen we had only the absolutely biggest titles taking 4 years to make. Then later it became the norm and the biggest title would take 5 or even 6 years.
