Bring Big, Innovative IPs
It was one heck of a first year for the Switch with a wide variety of first-party titles coming to the system, including two strong GOTY candidates. Breath of the Wild, ARMS, Splatoon 2, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Mario+Rabbids, Pokken Tournament DX, Super Mario Odyssey, and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 all hit the system in its first year, among others. They themselves set the bar very high, but Nintendo really needs to try and have just as diverse and impressive of a second year.
So far diversity has been the name of the game on Switch, with everything from the minigame collection of 1-2 Switch to the epic open world adventure Breath of the Wild. There’s truly been something for everyone, and at the moment it looks like first-party for 2018 might have a little trouble meeting that same standard. Kirby: Star Allies and Yoshi, while looking great, are both platformers. However, the recent Nintendo Direct gives us a little more hope. We saw Mario Tennis Aces, Hyrule Warriors, and Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze all announced for the system, creating more of an assortment for varied tastes.
There are a few big titles to keep an eye on, of course, like Pokemon Switch, Fire Emblem, and Metorid Prime 4. All three of these are unique series that have seen success in recent years. If Nintendo can manage to get any of these three titles out this year it can serve as the big tent pole title of the Fall and Holiday, from which they can expand around with the rest of their software.
There’s also a chance, however, that we could see some surprise announcements for the big Nintendo entries of the year. We could realistically see the announcement of a new Super Smash Bros., Pikmin, or Animal Crossing at E3 or another event. A few of the biggest Nintendo series are still sitting unused on the Switch, and you know we’re going to see them at some point. 2018 has the makings of another fantastic year for Switch hardware, Nintendo just needs to follow through with it.
