I disagree with the notion that at launch, an
exclusive title earmarked for 8 digit sales is necessary. I look at PS5 and say, Spider-Man was cross-gen. Where were the
launch exclusives? Returnal was just under half a year later. Ratchet & Clank was just over half a year later.
I think that if Drake were to be released in time for holidays this year, then it is viable for The Next 3D Mario to be Drake-exclusive and launch in holiday 2024. Until then, I think that with the Switch brand now established,
as far as exclusives go, you can survive off a steady stream of 7 digit sellers (both
known 7 digit locks and
attempts to raise dormant IPs to 7 digits) and 3rd party titles.
To continue on the 3rd party point, yes, the emergence of handheld PCs may have diluted the "AAA on the go" appeal to enthusiasts
in general. But it was also brought up earlier about how there is no small amount of people who buy a system just to play certain one/two/three franchises. If you can secure the likes of full featured FIFA/Madden/COD, you gain access to a not-insignificant crowd. I am guessing that "FIFA/Madden/COD in your hands/on the go!" will appeal to a large enough segment such that handheld PCs
flat out won't have the volume to satisfy for a while yet. There may even be a generation's worth of time to lock down the position of being the "$400 mobile FIFA/Madden/NBA 2K/MLB The Show/COD machine".
Of course, I'm not saying that being able to receive Elden Ring or <insert Capcom title> is useless. I'd dig them. You'd dig them. Even dimished, there's still enthusiasts/critics value to them. But just from a raw numbers perspective, enthusiast discussion may have a blind spot or two.
Alright, while your mouth is agape from my sheer audacity to suggest that a 8 digit launch exclusive isn't necessary, I can proceed to cram more down your throat. Maybe I'll eventually get wild enough to channel Michael Keaton's Batman encounter with Jack Nicholson's Joker ("You wanna get nuts!? Let's get nuts!"). (edit: my apologies to Mr. Keaton for misspelling his name the first time around)
It is now not unlikely for the September Direct to shadowdrop a GCN/Wii game. F-Zero is apparently the board favorite, due to having the most chatter. That can potentially set up for a Drake-exclusive F-Zero for the holidays. The plus side of this approach is that the F-Zero remaster can be the entry for the people only on base Switch, while the next F-Zero can utilize the opportunity exclusivity offers to
go balls to the wall.
And/or it could be Wave Race: Blue Storm that's the GCN shadowdrop, thus setting up a launch exclusive Wave Race showcasing
next level water physics.
...damnit, if only there was something to drop to setup a new Pilotwings.
Or hell, revive another IP, or even try to create a new one. The goal here is not to necessarily restrain yourself to preconceived notions of designing a broad appeal, 8 digit seller, but instead to test the limits of both hardware and your creativity. Push the bounds. Show the public the different sort of ideas and tricks that Nintendo can pull out with this new machine. Get us thinking, "Between Tears of the Kingdom and these, I, I, can't eve-, I can't even conceive of what the next big Zelda will be like."
In the meantime, why can't Super Mario Bros. Wonder be a cross-gen flagship title? Does a Drake-enhancement/bonus for a cross-gen
have to be something strictly within the domain of visuals? What about cute/silly little bonuses?
Here's one on my mind: Leave the core game untouched, but instead add a new multiplayer mode (or two). Not just regular multiplayer, but... large multiplayer.
"Oh, so you're thinking of Super Mario Bros. 35"
No!...but also, yes, why not. That could be another mode (hence the 'or two' above). But the 'No!' is because what I had in mind originally was, "Why not go beyond 4 players
within the same instance?" What about 8? 16? 32? Or 64 players all running around in the same instance of a level.
Granted, level design probably is not suited for that whatsoever, so new levels specifically for large number of players would have to be created. But ooh, the potential for levels to get
funky if expressly designed for a
lot of shenanigans to potentially happen simultaneously.
One last note:
I observe that Good-Feel has been busy recently with their upcoming Goemon spiritual successor. So if there's a Yoshi gaming coming out anytime soon, it's not by them. And it has been past 4 years since the last Yoshi title. Which means that there's still a timeline out there where we get a Yoshi's Island based god game/life simulator for Drake. I can still force us into that timeline through sheer willpower!
