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Discussion Which game do you believe Nintendo's Next Hardware is going to launch alongside?

Which game will, day and date, launch alongside Nintendo's next hardware?


  • Total voters
    307

Derachi

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Revision, Half-Step, Successor, whatever the labeling ends up being is irrelevant to this discussion. There is new hardware coming, this is a guarantee.

However what's new hardware without a game to take advantage of it? There's bound to be a title, one stand-out piece of software that launches alongside the unit that shows off it's power. Which game do you think that'll be?

While you're free to simply answer the poll question and move on, I'd love to hear your reasonings for your choices in the thread. I think it'd make for an enlightening discussion.

Here's my stance: I believe the new unit will launch in March 2023 alongside Pikmin 4. Let me explain why.

It's no secret that supply chains right now are extremely constrained. Electronics manufacturers are struggling to make enough product to meet demand in almost every electronics and electronics-adjacent industry. Video game hardware is no exception.

As a result, it's safe to say that Nintendo will not meet demand with supply at launch for this unit. It is unavoidable.

I think the easy answer to this question is to say "it will launch with Zelda." I get it, there's precedence for this. The Switch launched with Breath of the Wild, the Wii launched with Twilight Princess. Following simple logic, the New Hardware will launch alongside Tears of the Kingdom.

However I don't think launching this unit alongside Zelda is the right move. Let's do some hypothesizing about the two main markets this new hardware will appeal to at launch. You've got The Nintendo Hardcore, who will buy any new Nintendo hardware at launch regardless of what games it launches with, and you've got the Mainstream Consumer, who will buy new hardware to play new games. The more casual buyers won't be factored in here, because they're probably still satisfied with their current existing Switch unit, and are not likely to purchase new hardware in its launch window.

If you launch this new unit alongside Zelda, Hardcore Nintendo fans are going to want this unit, as they would regardless of what it launches alongside. But you'll also have the mainstream consumer, who would like to play the new Zelda game, and will see it launch alongside new hardware and think, maybe uneducated as to it's ability to run on a current Switch, or maybe knowing the new hardware will give them a superior experience, also wanting this new unit. Supply is already going to be tight, and appealing to all markets at once is going to result in unhappy people who were unable to get a unit when they wanted one.

Pikmin, a game known for it's high on-screen character counts, is a series that doesn't have a whole lot of mainstream appeal, but Hardcore Nintendo fans adore. It's also a game that would immensely benefit from 4K resolutions, with even Shigeru Miyamoto himself admitting as much. Where the cell-shaded, artistically unique Zelda game Tears of the Kingdom would look notably better than Breath of the Wild on new hardware for those who know what to look for, the benefit for a highly-detailed game that blends incredibly life-like environments with dozens and dozens of on-screen characters like Pikmin would make itself almost immediately evident.

So, in short, here is what I believe to be the play:

The New Hardware launches in March 2023 alongside Pikmin 4. Pikmin 4 shows off the power of this new unit and the benefits of higher resolutions, and appeals directly to the Hardcore Nintendo fans. The Early Adopters eat it up alongside the long-anticipated follow-up to fan-favourite Pikmin 3, while the Mainstream audience becomes aware of this powerful new unit, but does not rush out to buy one immediately because Pikmin isn't really for them.

Nintendo then has 2 extra months to manufacture more units for Zelda's launch in May, while still selling what few consoles they have been able to make to their hardcore fanbase. Once Zelda lands in May, then the mainstream audience will really want the new unit, but the hardcore fanbase will have already gotten theirs. This will prevent the demand spiking at launch, and help smooth it out over a few months. This will hopefully ensure the story isn't "no one can buy the new Nintendo unit" like it has been for Sony's PS5 for almost two years, and is closer to "Nintendo's new hardware launch was very successful."

So this is why I personally think Pikmin 4 is the launch game. By launching alongside Pikmin 4, it'll better showcase the new hardware's capabilities, while spreading the first-year demand spike over a few months to prevent an enormous disparity between the unavoidably tight supply with the inevitable enormous Zelda-fueled demand.

But what do YOU think? Let me know below, I'm excited to read everyone else's thoughts on this topic.
 
me when the new switch comes out in march with pikmin 4

ogvhs-i-won.gif
 
It has to be Zelda. My confirmation bias tells me that the May launch date seems suspicious.

Also didn't Nate say that he still thinks that the Drake will launch in the first half of next year? (barring no changes of course)

It would make perfect sense in my BotW fanboy world. So let me dream please.
 
It has to be Zelda. My confirmation bias tells me that the May launch date seems suspicious.

Also didn't Nate say that he still thinks that the Drake will launch in the first half of next year? (barring no changes of course)

It would perfect sense in my BotW fanboy world. So let me dream
please.
I believe he has, yeah. And I believe him!

And of course, I will absolutely let you dream. I mean, like I said in my post, launching with Zelda has precedence! There is absolutely valid reason for believing that could happen.
 
I believe he has, yeah. And I believe him!

And of course, I will absolutely let you dream. I mean, like I said in my post, launching with Zelda has precedence! There is absolutely valid reason for believing that could happen.
I wouldn't complain either way but personally I don't think that Pikmin is ready for March. Even tho I have no evidence for that of course.

Pikmin 4 is more like a perfect fall game to me.
 
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I'm gonna err on the side of caution and say 3D/2D Mario which have been suspiciously absent for a long time - and in H2 2023, though things are certainly looking positive for H1 2023 so maybe Zelda or a Bluepoint-esque (given Retro's links to Bluepoint) eye popping Metroid Prime Remakester
 
Pikmin 4 isn't coming out before August next year, let alone a likely delay into 2024.

I also believe that if we don't get an announcement of the hardware before the end of the fiscal year, Drake has simply been an elaborate ruse that duped all of us into believing.

It's gonna be Zelda.
 
New Mario.

Nintendo would never release it with Metroid (first hunt doesn't count and that was free anyway).
 
Pikmin 4 isn't coming out before August next year, let alone a likely delay into 2024.

I also believe that if we don't get an announcement of the hardware before the end of the fiscal year, Drake has simply been an elaborate ruse that duped all of us into believing.

It's gonna be Zelda.
I wanna get into a fistfight with this post
 
Pikmin 4 seems ideal for it, game should be a graphical showcase.

Obviously Zelda also fits but I agree with your take on it.

I'm not expecting March 2023 though. More like September 2023.
 
They're going to duplicate the Switch BotW launch, obviously


By launching with the BotW 4K patch in March as cross promotion for TotK
 
Look. Yoshiaki Koizumi is a General Producer of Nintendo Switch hardware. You know which game is absent for quite a long time? Yes, it's new 3D Mario. The game in which this guy will have quite an involvement. New hardware launches in October 2023 with a new 3D Mario game from EPD Tokyo.
 
I kinda wished that the ToTK would have launched in 2022 so that the "pattern", new console launches with Zelda will be dead on arrival. Still don't think it's with ToTK.
Aonuma reading this post:"And I took that personally"
 
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No I dont think they're launching their new high tech console with Pikmin - at least not alone: Pikmin could be A launch game, but if it is - it's not going to be THE launch game.

I could see it being a tandem of first party games launching, either with Zelda, 3D Mario or Metroid Prime 4
 
No I dont think they're launching their new high tech console with Pikmin - at least not alone: Pikmin could be A launch game, but if it is - it's not going to be THE launch game.

I could see it being a tandem of first party games launching, either with Zelda, 3D Mario or Metroid Prime 4
unironically nothing Nintendo makes is higher tech than Pikmin

it's literally why it exists at all
 
Emily said she heard whispers of Nintendo trying to wait out the chip shortage, so I think what happened is they set TotK and Drake to release Holiday this year, but the shortage refused to get better, so back in January they decided on delaying both to 2023. With things still not improving, I imagine they're targeting March just so hardware has a chance to proliferate, so I imagine the big launch title is something they want to reveal alongside Drake and that's why March is seeming barren. MP4 and Mario are too big for so early in the year, Pikmin 4 just getting a year and no footage makes me dubious it won't get delayed, and the entire existence of DK is dubious, so it's either MP1 remakester or something else
 
Metroid and Pikmin just aren't as big a deal as something like the upcoming hardware model is. Only a handful of things would be as big a deal as the BOTW sequel, and since none of them are widely expected to be launching early next year, Zelda remains the easy guess.
If we get a new Rob in 2023, he better be able to play smash bros with me
Just scan your ROB amiibo and fight with his FP.
 
The best thing about threads like this is that its really fun to come back in the future and look at all the wrong takes and posts because Nintendo will just do what Nintendo does best: the unexpected.

Nintendo Land 2
 
Zelda launched - and it was or had to be on par with Wii U version so no use of HD rumble etc.

Odyssey launched - full use of HD rumble, some motion control etc.

You see where am getting at? New hardware will utilize new 3D Mario game at maximum, meaning it will launch alongside it.
 
Style Savvy. It's taking so long because they're making all the clothes look fabulous in 4K.
 
Zelda launched - and it was or had to be on par with Wii U version so no use of HD rumble etc.

Odyssey launched - full use of HD rumble, some motion control etc.

You see where am getting at? New hardware will utilize new 3D Mario game at maximum, meaning it will launch alongside it.
Aonuma already said that he wants to fully use the Switch with TotK because they didn't get that opportunity with BotW and I don't think that the Drake will be that different from a mechanical feature point of view. Maybe improved rumble.
 
The safe option would be voting Zelda, but for some reason I feel like the console is releasing either in March or April with another game. Either Pikmin 4 or something unannounced.
 
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I actually got a real good laugh out of this, thank you đź’śđź’ś I needed that today more than I care to admit

Nobody wishes I'm wrong more than me; regardless of when Pikmin 4 releases I know it's gonna be a looker and I hope my first experience with the game is in 4K on native hardware.

dealing with pikmin delay talk this soon makes me wish I had been one of those "breath of the wild 2 is going to come out in Q2 2023" people last year
Funny enough being one of the Zelda 2022 people is what spurned me. I'm earnestly taking the Skyward Sword concept art reveal in 2009 to game release in 2011 and assuming it's gonna be the same here. I mean, at least we got three pieces of concept art for P4 so it's ahead of just one look at Fi
 
New Mario.

Nintendo would never release it with Metroid (first hunt doesn't count and that was free anyway).
Switch OLED launched with Dread. They’re clearly trying to raise the profile of the series.

Zelda is the obvious “most likely” answer, but it’s also the boring answer and I do think it’s possible, maybe even probable, that Nintendo would like to launch the Switch Pro before May. I think they’d love it if they could get some of the big spring third party games on the thing.

If the new Switch is launching in May with Zelda, why didn’t they announce their March end of fiscal year game in the most recent Direct? And if there isn’t an end of March game, why isn’t Kirby Return to Dream Land Deluxe in that slot?

Even if the system launches alongside Zelda it won’t be alone, they’ll have some sort of other weird game like 1-2-Switch or Excite Truck. So that’s what I voted for, “something else.” #weirdnintendoisbestnintendo
 
I agree with you. Pikmin 4 is the perfect launch title. It has a more realistic art style, the sort of thing that makes it more apparent how big of a graphic leap things are to the typical consumer, it's long anticipated by the core fans that are more likely to want the iteration day 1, and all the reasons you stated make sense.

That being said... I could just as easily see BotW2 there as well, or honestly nothing at all and just focus on showcasing older games at higher specs for the first while.
 
Something else. A mid-generation refresh just feels weird when we're probably under two years out from a successor, but next year feels too soon for a Switch 2 proper. I.e. I'm expecting some unannounced 2024 title, basically.
 


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