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Fun Club What’s your favorite second-party Nintendo game?

Mr_No_U

Mr_No_U

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Mine is F-Zero GX

😉

Edit: for the purpose of this discussion, I thought I'd leave it up to each person's interpretation of the term. With that said, here's one (common, but of course not authoritative) definition of the term just for context:

"Second-party developer is a colloquial term often used by gaming enthusiasts and media to describe game studios who take development contracts from platform holders and develop games exclusive to that platform, i.e. a non-owned developer making games for a first-party company."
 
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I’ll guess second party means ‘company / game typically associated with but not owned by Nintendo’.

I’d say Astral Chain but I haven’t completed it yet. Goldeneye I guess? Although I’d hate to play it now without several QoL improvements.
 
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bellydrum said:
Define second party and I'll answer to your criteria
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It's just an informal term for games that Nintendo published and owns (or co-owns) but not actually made by their internal subsidaries.

So stuff like Smash Bros., Pokemon, Fire Emblem and Kirby. Rare's games like Banjo and Killer Instinct applied to this before they were bought by Microsoft in 2002.
 
I think second party is already a nonsense term, but my general understanding of it is that it's a Nintendo (in this case) IP developed by a non-Nintendo entity. So Fire Emblem, Metroid Dread, Hyrule Warriors, Pokemon, etc. But again, it's a nonsense term anyway.

Mario + Rabbids makes the distinction especially arbitrary, as that's usually considered a third party game.
 
Mr_No_U said:
I thought I’d leave it up to your interpetation. I think that’s part of the fun of these discussions, that we can’t seem to agree what a second party game is, and that some people detest the term :p
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In that case, keep in mind that you're responsible if the thread devolves into pointless semantic argument : P

As for your question:

Xenoblade Chronicles 2!
 
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chocolate_supra said:
Xenoblade.

.... Maybe Xenoblade X. >.>
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See, given my above definition, Monolithsoft is a subsidiary of Nintendo, so any output would just be first party, unless we're restricting first party to just EPD developed games, which would throw out Metroid Prime, Tropical Freeze, and all the Xenoblades.
 
WestEgg said:
See, given my above definition, Monolithsoft is a subsidiary of Nintendo, so any output would just be first party, unless we're restricting first party to just EPD developed games, which would throw out Metroid Prime, Tropical Freeze, and all the Xenoblades.
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For what it's worth, Monolith does seem to have a bit more autonomy than other subsidiaries. They're always credited along with Nintendo for the Xenoblade games in copyrights.

eae0a20300749ca678f84db11d410c01.png


Meanwhile you don't see Retro Studios being credited in the copyrights for Metroid Prime or DKC Returns/Tropical Freeze.
 
WestEgg said:
See, given my above definition, Monolithsoft is a subsidiary of Nintendo, so any output would just be first party, unless we're restricting first party to just EPD developed games, which would throw out Metroid Prime, Tropical Freeze, and all the Xenoblades.
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I thought "second-party" meant "development companies that are owned by a first-party developer." 🤔

But I guess we're just proving @Mr_No_U's point. 😂
 
Banjo-Kazooie. It's close to a perfect game to me. DKC2 would be next. Then probably Diddy Kong Racing. Man I miss Rare :(
 
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WestEgg said:
I think second party is already a nonsense term, but my general understanding of it is that it's a Nintendo (in this case) IP developed by a non-Nintendo entity. So Fire Emblem, Metroid Dread, Hyrule Warriors, Pokemon, etc. But again, it's a nonsense term anyway.

Mario + Rabbids makes the distinction especially arbitrary, as that's usually considered a third party game.
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Yeah. While I’m not a huge fan of the term itself and wish we could find a better one, I do find that distinction (i.e. Nintendo-owned games that were developed by a third party) worthwhile enough to discuss and thus have a unique identifier for it (because typing out “Nintendo-owned game developed by a third party” every time gets tiring).
 
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Dinoman96 said:
For what it's worth, Monolith does seem to have a bit more autonomy than other subsidiaries. They're always credited along with Nintendo for the Xenoblade games in copyrights.

eae0a20300749ca678f84db11d410c01.png


Meanwhile you don't see Retro Studios being credited in the copyrights for Metroid Prime or DKC Returns/Tropical Freeze.
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I think that's because Xenoblade started development when Monolith was still under Namco. Disaster Day of Crisis began development after the acquisition and is fully owned.
 
evilmonkey said:
I think that's because Xenoblade started development when Monolith was still under Namco.
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Oh snap, I didn't know that. I always assumed Nintendo greenlighted the series after acquiring them (I just started playing the series recently).
 
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Banjo-Kazooie, easy. Still my third favorite game ever after all these years. Can't wait until it comes to NSO!
 
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When someone says second party, it's how I know they're a long time Nintendo fan.

I guess for me that would be Luigi's Mansion 3? Feels wrong to call it second party.
 
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Kirby's Epic Yarn I'd the first one that comes to mind. I hope we see Good Feel's next games soon, including the side project.
 
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With that definition the newest Metroid isn't a first-party game.

Let's rename this thread to "favourite first-party game not internally developed by Nintendo".

Then my answer would be either Super Smash Bros. Ultimate or Fire Emblem: Three Houses or Pokémon Silver.
 
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"Second party" doesn't exist.

If we're talking about a first party title by a third party developer... it'll be between F-Zero GX, Fire Emblem Three Houses, or the Famicom Detective Club remakes.
 
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That would be Banjo-Kazooie for me, but Yoshi's Woolly World from the magnificient Good-Feel (already mentioned by @Nabbit ) and F-Zero GX are amazing second party games as well.
 
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