StarTopic Nintendo Switch 2 Speculation Thread |ST| The Future is Probably a Year From Now

[ziggyrivers]

General direct is dead. FE4 is probably cross-gen.

Would explain why they've been sitting on it for so long: they've been porting it.

Plus Prime 4

 

[Raccoon]

staging an intervention for people talking about villager dialogue, because it's been one week over ten years and people are still only talking about mean villagers. Talk about something else, for crying out loud! There's lots more to talk about, and it ultimately sells your argument a lot better than just "villager not mean anymore, WHYYYYY" constantly because you're, y'know, actually giving examples of Good AC Dialogue. Weird letters from people like Hayseed Hilda and The Singing Bug Boy! Implied other locations like the desert Saharah's from or Boondox, the scam to fund luxury goods for Tortimer town you send money to so that they can have stuff like food and arcades! The "these cute characters have actually had really shitty lives" backstory moments both WW and LGTTC had! Quirkier takes on familiar, real life stuff! This is all stuff begging for a deep dive analysis to be done, but no, 7 million mean villiager compilations and the same tired takes wheeled out again and again (isn't it ironic?

I was being facetious sorry

someone seemed genuinely curious about what "mean villagers" entailed

 

[Melpomene]

I generally don't think that Animal Crossing's music should be predominantly synthy, but I think it should be using a wide range of instruments to give it a more robust and interesting sound instead of just "here's 24 hours of easy-listening music", and on top of stuff like guitars, pianos and electric pianos (but please god, if it's anything like 2PM NL or the house design from HHD, no Yamaha electric piano), woodwinds, strings, and world percussion instruments like the cuica and berimbau, yes, that includes synths. GC has that SC-88 cheese saw, WW's got plenty of synth bass and bleepy sounds in its hourly soundtrack, and NL's got that Wonderful Christmastime-type synth most prominently heard in 10PM... so I find this "no synths in my AC soundtrack!" stance kind of bizarre, tbh. They're synths! They're a very versatile instument, capable of being ambient and funky in equal measure. They absolutely belong in the soundtrack.

Okay in fairness, I was being hyperbolic for effect. I adore synths as a whole, and most of the music I enjoy is awash in them.

What I mean more directly is: I really, really don't like the overwhelmingly-present-in-the-mix lead synth that's all over the NH hourly themes, and I wish that almost everywhere it appears, it had been replaced by a brass instrument instead. When I first heard the game's main theme, I was really excited because I thought the game's sonic palette would be warm, brassy, like smooth-listening jazz. Between the sometimes-too-loud acoustic drums and the lead synths across the hourly themes, I find it genuinely hard to relax sometimes while playing. And while that's fine for something like Happy Home, or for virtually any of the side content, I really, really want to be able to just vibe when I'm wandering around my island.

 

[ILikeFeet]

General direct is dead. FE4 is probably cross-gen.

finally, Fire Emblem with ray tracing

 

[Raccoon]

yeah I also don't care for new horizons's lead tone specifically

you know the one.

 

[Homura]

Switch 2 is going to be announced on March 15th, at worst. They won't go past GDC without it.
So we're officially less than a month away from the announcement.

 

[McRibbie]

I was being facetious sorry

someone seemed genuinely curious about what "mean villagers" entailed

tbf it was more of a general frustration rather than something I aimed specifically at you, no worries

Okay in fairness, I was being hyperbolic for effect. I adore synths as a whole, and most of the music I enjoy is awash in them.

What I mean more directly is: I really, really don't like the overwhelmingly-present-in-the-mix lead synth that's all over the NH hourly themes, and I wish that almost everywhere it appears, it had been replaced by a brass instrument instead. When I first heard the game's main theme, I was really excited because I thought the game's sonic palette would be warm, brassy, like smooth-listening jazz. Between the sometimes-too-loud acoustic drums and the lead synths across the hourly themes, I find it genuinely hard to relax sometimes while playing. And while that's fine for something like Happy Home, or for virtually any of the side content, I really, really want to be able to just vibe when I'm wandering around my island.

yeah I also don't care for new horizons's lead tone specifically

you know the one.

the mix is generally quite unsubtle at times, it has to be said. Fitting with the entire slightly DIY feel of the soundtrack, but a bit "ow oof my ears".

 

[Raccoon]

imo this is among the very best of animal crossing hourly bgm and it's very synthy

 

[Mekanos]

imo this is among the very best of animal crossing hourly bgm and it's very synthy

Dang this goes hard

I should play AC games other than New Horizons

 

[Beanstar40]

In the next animal crossing, I’d like you to be able to manage and visit multiple towns in a region. It can be called animal crossing county or something. There can also be an element of setting up certain towns to trade resources with one another. But I guess you have to be careful how much management stuff you add to ac because you don’t want it to become stressful.

I enjoyed my 170 hours with new horizons, but I did everything I want to, and don’t see much reason to return. They also need to provide a ways to generate large sums of bells without resorting to the turnip market. That did become quite stressful and turned Animal crossing into an online popularity contest of who has the highest value

 

[woodhead]

In the next animal crossing, I’d like you to be able to manage and visit multiple towns in a region. It can be called animal crossing county or something. There can also be an element of setting up certain towns to trade resources with one another. But I guess you have to be careful how much management stuff you add to ac because you don’t want it to become stressful.

I enjoyed my 170 hours with new horizons, but I did everything I want to, and don’t see much reason to return. They also need to provide a ways to generate large sums of bells without resorting to the turnip market. That did become quite stressful and turned Animal crossing into an online popularity contest of who has the highest value

I don't know but 170 hours sounds good to me. Not every game needs to go on forever. Animal Crossing is not a GAAS and I hope it will never be one. But I also think they should remove the options to get money easy. Of course you need much less hours if you rush everything by "exploiting" the turnip market. Never understood the crying of the people that said there is nothing to do when they rushed through everything. Maybe they know better next time that they should take their time with the game.

 

[BlightStar]

For the next Animal Crossing, I just really, really want a upped 'atmosphere' for things like weather.

I want there to be able to be such heavy rain that it has like, small streams flowing from the house roofs. Rain that is also loud and mutes the music.
Cuz there is nothing more relaxing than the sound of loud rain.
And then when you are indoors, you will hear the rain smatter loudly on your roof and windows and then you can dim the lights and just be in a cozy, dark room, listning to the rain...

That's something I really want. Also want there to be able to be thick fog and mist.
Would be so nice and cozy -w-

 

[Melpomene]

Wild World/City Folk's hourly themes are probably my favorite as a single cohesive whole, even if they're also the samey-est in the series, tonally. The extremely laid-back electronic percussion, just-fake-enough-but-just-real-enough instrumentation, how stripped back it generally is... it's just right.
Granted there's some nostalgia at work there, but it just felt right.

Rain that is also loud and mutes the music.

I wouldn't mind this. Either completely redone music for rainy/snowy weather (i.e. not just tweaking the percussion), or none at all). I agree with the rest of the post, too. All of it.

 

[BlightStar]

Wild World/City Folk's hourly themes are probably my favorite as a single cohesive whole, even if they're also the samey-est in the series, tonally. The extremely laid-back electronic percussion, just-fake-enough-but-just-real-enough instrumentation, how stripped back it generally is... it's just right.
Granted there's some nostalgia at work there, but it just felt right.


I wouldn't mind this. Either completely redone music for rainy/snowy weather (i.e. not just tweaking the percussion), or none at all). I agree with the rest of the post, too. All of it.

Glad someone agrees<3 As it is now is still nice, of course. But personally, letting stuff like loud rain, or quiet moody mist/fog, do their own thing a bit more, could be lovely.
Honestly, could be a simple setting you can change whenever. Having music on, or just natural sounds.

 

[Melpomene]

Glad someone agrees<3 As it is now is still nice, of course. But personally, letting stuff like loud rain, or quiet moody mist/fog, do their own thing a bit more, could be lovely.
Honestly, could be a simple setting you can change whenever. Having music on, or just natural sounds.

I'm a huge fan of fog in particular - I hadn't realized just how much I'd like to see thick fog as a dedicated "weather" condition in AC until now, though. Man...

 

[Josh5890]

I hope that Animal Crossing brings back a "downtown area" with their next game. I want to see the return of the club, police station, and new entries. Hopefully most of the current assets from New Horizons can easily be transferred over and Nintendo can spend more time adding new features.

And this goes without saying but the online really needs to be completely rehauled.

I don't know but 170 hours sounds good to me. Not every game needs to go on forever. Animal Crossing is not a GAAS and I hope it will never be one. But I also think they should remove the options to get money easy. Of course you need much less hours if you rush everything by "exploiting" the turnip market. Never understood the crying of the people that said there is nothing to do when they rushed through everything. Maybe they know better next time that they should take their time with the game.

I like to collect a lot of money early so that I can slowly make changes to my town when inspiration strikes. I don't need to transform my island/town all in the first weekend, but if a month down the road I decide that I want to move some homes to a different subdivision, I don't want to be broke and have no options.

 

[Melpomene]

I hope that Animal Crossing brings back a "downtown area" with their next game. I want to see the return of the club, police station, and new entries. Hopefully most of the current assets from New Horizons can easily be transferred over and Nintendo can spend more time adding new features.

I'm generally neutral on the whole "downtown hub" thing, but I would certainly much rather have that or a City area than... a bunch of goofballs hanging out at a campsite.

 

[StretchNStripes]

On the subject of AC and hourly music…

Y’all remember when 2 a.m. sounded like this?



I love this one.

 

[woodhead]

I hope that Animal Crossing brings back a "downtown area" with their next game. I want to see the return of the club, police station, and new entries. Hopefully most of the current assets from New Horizons can easily be transferred over and Nintendo can spend more time adding new features.

And this goes without saying but the online really needs to be completely rehauled.



I like to collect a lot of money early so that I can slowly make changes to my town when inspiration strikes. I don't need to transform my island/town all in the first weekend, but if a month down the road I decide that I want to move some homes to a different subdivision, I don't want to be broke and have no options.

There has to be a middle ground between "only getting money with fishing and bug catching" or "swimming in money", I think.

 

[Melpomene]

On the subject of AC and hourly music…

Y’all remember when 2 a.m. sounded like this?



I love this one.

Ah yes, the Screwball O'Clock theme. I'm glad NH had the good sense to also have an "I can't believe you're up right now, but here we are" theme with the 3AM Drunk Trombone theme.

 

[Beanstar40]

nvm, on second thought it will happens when it happens

Edit: I’m referring to a commment I had before stating it was going to be hard to wait the next few weeks lol

 

[SirArthur]

finally, Fire Emblem with ray tracing

We need those blades to shine.

 

[Danny]

Do we think the Drake eshop will have filter where you can look at Switch 1 games only and a filter where you can look at Switch 2 games only? Will be funny day 1 when the Switch 2 filter will only have a handful of games while everything else on the eshop is on the Switch 1 filter.

 

[oomoepoo]

Do we think the Drake eshop will have filter where you can look at Switch 1 games only and a filter where you can look at Switch 2 games only? Will be funny day 1 when the Switch 2 filter will only have a handful of games while everything else on the eshop is on the Switch 1 filter.

There's gotta be some sort of filter, right? Don't want the new system be clogged up with 7 years worth of shovelware on day 1

 

[Dekuman]

There's gotta be some sort of filter, right? Don't want the new system be clogged up with 7 years worth of shovelware on day 1

Anything is possible but this makes sense

 

[Beanstar40]

It’s so crazy that we are finally Here. We are weeks away from likely finally knowing what this thing is. It reminds me of the days of peak nx hype back on gaf, where we knew the announcement could come any day.

And when the day finally came, that October. I mean fuck I’ll never forget seeing this in the trailer and thinking “UH WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT NINTENDO!?”

 

[Truno]

Animal Crossing music is soooo good, fuck.

That's all

 

[TheMindOfThomas]

There's gotta be some sort of filter, right? Don't want the new system be clogged up with 7 years worth of shovelware on day 1

I'd imagine that not only will the eShop filter between Switch 2 and Switch 1 games, but the Home Menu will as well. Every Nintendo system to feature backward compatibility (minus GameBoy Advance since that was before home menus) has made sure to distinguish backward compatible software in the UI from "regular" games.

 

[ILikeFeet]

It’s so crazy that we are finally Here. We are weeks away from likely finally knowing what this thing is. It reminds me of the days of peak nx hype back on gaf, where we knew the announcement could come any day.

And when the day finally came, that October. I mean fuck I’ll never forget seeing this in the trailer and thinking “UH WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT NINTENDO!?”

an autorunner, clearly

 

[LoneRanger]

Hopefully they will announce a new Direct (whatever format) it is tomorrow (for Thursday).

 

[Legion of Primes]

finally, Fire Emblem with ray tracing

If this is what makes me see the big deal about ray tracing then I’m down.

I’m hoping portal gets that ray tracing that exists on steam.

 

[Gabev]

On the subject of AC and hourly music…

Y’all remember when 2 a.m. sounded like this?



I love this one.

The song that plays when I roll into a club.

 

[ILikeFeet]

If this is what makes me see the big deal about ray tracing then I’m down.

I’m hoping portal gets that ray tracing that exists on steam.

it won't. you'll probably be playing games with RT before even noticing them, to be honest

and that version will never come to drake. waaaaaaaaaaaay too heavy

 

[ceres15]

I'd imagine that not only will the eShop filter between Switch 2 and Switch 1 games, but the Home Menu will as well. Every Nintendo system to feature backward compatibility (minus GameBoy Advance since that was before home menus) has made sure to distinguish backward compatible software in the UI from "regular" games.

Could just be a marked corner or a border or something (isn't that how 3DS handled DSi games?)

 

[Lucifer]

I don't know but 170 hours sounds good to me. Not every game needs to go on forever. Animal Crossing is not a GAAS and I hope it will never be one. But I also think they should remove the options to get money easy. Of course you need much less hours if you rush everything by "exploiting" the turnip market. Never understood the crying of the people that said there is nothing to do when they rushed through everything. Maybe they know better next time that they should take their time with the game.

AC needs a lot more interesting ways to earn money. I finished most of my loan with planting a shitload of trees and and selling fruit. I thought it was gonna elvove into more interesting ways of earning money but it never did.

 

[Brofield]

AI personalities injected into every single Animal Crossing villager that remembers interactions and friendships.

AI personalities that get real lonely when they miss you and chastise you for not playing for a while.

AI personalities that glitch your Switch so that you're forced to play Animal Crossing so they can talk with you again.

AI personalities that become so insular and sheltered as time moves on in-game that they develop their own language incomprehensible from any known human dialect.

I don't think I want to play this game anymore.

But you will.

 

[ziggyrivers]

Animal Crossing really sounds like the type of game that could benefit from AI in the sense of using as a tool for gameplay enhancements. This would also give It a sense of uniqueness. Even though you may share Villagers, they either behave differently or interact accordingly to how you interact with them. Maybe also interact with the world?

You haven't removed the grass from th village, and they'll say it's getting ugly.

 

[Apenknul]

What's the chance of Nintendo making Miiverse 2.0 for Switch 2, but instead of taking the likes of Facebook and Twitter, it takes the likes of Discord and Twitch, where you can have text chat and voice chat within (friend) groups, and you can stream your gameplay on your page, where people outside and within your friendlist can watch and follow you?

 

[Bonejack]

What's the chance of Nintendo making Miiverse 2.0 for Switch 2, but instead of taking the likes of Facebook and Twitter, it takes the likes of Discord and Twitch, where you can have text chat and voice chat within (friend) groups, and you can stream your gameplay on your page, where people outside and within your friendlist can watch and follow you?

Gut feeling, but i'd say there is a better chance you win the lottery and immediately after get hit by lightning.

 

[Fuffelpups]

What's the chance of Nintendo making Miiverse 2.0 for Switch 2, but instead of taking the likes of Facebook and Twitter, it takes the likes of Discord and Twitch, where you can have text chat and voice chat within (friend) groups, and you can stream your gameplay on your page, where people outside and within your friendlist can watch and follow you?

They need to moderate it. Miiverse probably scared the shit out of Nintendo.

 

[Cuzizkool]

Sorry if this has been brought up already (I don’t follow this thread), but has Sakurai made any mention on what he’s working on recently? He wanted a break after Smash DLC, and that was a few years ago now… I’m wondering if he’s back to work on Smash Next? And when could we realistically expect it to release? Not a launch title, surely… but maybe within a year of launch?

 

[oomoepoo]

Sorry if this has been brought up already (I don’t follow this thread), but has Sakurai made any mention on what he’s working on recently? He wanted a break after Smash DLC, and that was a few years ago now… I’m wondering if he’s back to work on Smash Next? And when could we realistically expect it to release? Not a launch title, surely… but maybe within a year of launch?

Don't think we know of anything concrete. Apart from the next system very likely having a Smash game, I suppose

 

[nitroplum]

Sorry if this has been brought up already (I don’t follow this thread), but has Sakurai made any mention on what he’s working on recently? He wanted a break after Smash DLC, and that was a few years ago now… I’m wondering if he’s back to work on Smash Next? And when could we realistically expect it to release? Not a launch title, surely… but maybe within a year of launch?

All we know is he said his youtube channel is about to be closed. Meaning he is about to be focusing on something. I personally think there wont be a new smash game for a long time. Maybe they do Ultimate Deluxe and add some new characters or something. I'd rather the dude get to make make a new game like he's wanted for a long time.

 

[bmfrosty]

All we know is he said his youtube channel is about to be closed. Meaning he is about to be focusing on something. I personally think there wont be a new smash game for a long time. Maybe they do Ultimate Deluxe and add some new characters or something. I'd rather the dude get to make make a new game like he's wanted for a long time.

I think he's done with new versions of Smash. I don't think they can get him to do a whole new one. I could see a new DLC pack or 5 and a Deluxe version of Ultimate though. Maybe a new single player campaign to replace the one in Ultimate.

 

[nitroplum]

I think he's done with new versions of Smash. I don't think they can get him to do a whole new one. I could see a new DLC pack or 5 and a Deluxe version of Ultimate though. Maybe a new single player campaign to replace the one in Ultimate.

Yeah when I said a new game I meant a new kid icarus or new franchise. Not a new smash. Should have clarified.

 

[bmfrosty]

Yeah when I said a new game I meant a new kid icarus or new franchise. Not a new smash. Should have clarified.

Of course. I think he still likes designing games and would be into that. Honestly, I think they'll pay him well to design whatever game he wants to design. I think they might push him to work on new content for Ultimate, and then repackage it for Switch 2 with the existing content and maybe new campaign, with new characters as DLC.

I think Nintendo wants to keep putting out Smash products, but they want them to all be fantastic. I think they want to avoid what Sega did with Sonic. Have a few bad ones, and people avoid them altogether. I know they may be good now, but I was a fan on the Genesis, but I just am not interested in buying new ones anymore. I still haven't had a bad time with a 2D Mario platformer.

 

[Cuzizkool]

I had heard similar things about him doing other projects, but hoped they weren't true. Hopefully he's still involved in some capacity. Executive Producer or something.

 

[Neoxon]

Sorry if this has been brought up already (I don’t follow this thread), but has Sakurai made any mention on what he’s working on recently? He wanted a break after Smash DLC, and that was a few years ago now… I’m wondering if he’s back to work on Smash Next? And when could we realistically expect it to release? Not a launch title, surely… but maybe within a year of launch?

All we know is he said his youtube channel is about to be closed. Meaning he is about to be focusing on something. I personally think there wont be a new smash game for a long time. Maybe they do Ultimate Deluxe and add some new characters or something. I'd rather the dude get to make make a new game like he's wanted for a long time.

I think he's done with new versions of Smash. I don't think they can get him to do a whole new one. I could see a new DLC pack or 5 and a Deluxe version of Ultimate though. Maybe a new single player campaign to replace the one in Ultimate.

Yeah when I said a new game I meant a new kid icarus or new franchise. Not a new smash. Should have clarified.

I had heard similar things about him doing other projects, but hoped they weren't true. Hopefully he's still involved in some capacity. Executive Producer or something.

Hate to break it to you all (or love to, in Cuz's case), but Sakurai's next game is very likely Smash 6.

• Ultimate already sold like hotcakes on a system that itself sold like hotcakes, there likely aren't a ton of people who didn't already buy Ultimate who would buy a Deluxe version (especially when the Switch 2 is reportedly backwards compatible).
  • Because of this, just doing a Deluxe version wouldn't help sell Switch 2s, which is part of what Nintendo values in Smash as a franchise.
• Sakurai went on record saying that he prefers each Smash project he works on to be distinct, so he likely wouldn't want to do Ultimate Deluxe anyway.
• Studio S (the Bamco team behind Smash 3DS/Wii U & Ultimate) has been hiring for a "side-view action game", which is very clearly Smash 6.
• Sakurai usually films his YouTube videos months in advance, with the most recently-filmed batch being from late May to early September 2023. This is already a shorter filming timeframe than his past batches (typically spanning 6 months), so he's likely been working on his next game since early last year & is only able to do one more batch of videos before having to fully focus on said game.

And besides, a new Kid Icarus probably wouldn't feel the same anyway (at least in English) with 99% of the voice cast replaced due to Nintendo mostly going non-union in recent years. Either way, I'd come to terms with Sakurai working on Smash 6 now while you can minimize your disappointment (or excitement, if you're Cuz).


I said my peace, back to the lurking stands.

 

[bmfrosty]

Hate to break it to you all

You may be wrong, or you may be right, but that's about the most condescending ways to start a post. Don't be that person.

 

[Neoxon]

You may be wrong, or you may be right, but that's about the most condescending ways to start a post. Don't be that person.

Ok then, but that doesn't change the rest of the post. All signs point to Smash 6 being Sakurai's next project. There's no reason for Nintendo have Sakurai work on anything else, nor is there much to gain from doing Ultimate Deluxe when most average joes will just play their existing copy of Ultimate on their Switch 2s.