2750

Now I know what my next review request is going to be.

2751

Yeah, Zelda is very much doing its own thing, and I loved the thing it was doing.

2752

Kotaku reports that according to Reggie, the Gamecube controller support was a side effect of enabling 3rd party peripheral functionality, and not specific to that one device:

“In our latest system software update, it enables third-party peripherals to work on Nintendo Switch,” Fils-Aime explained. “As a result, the peripheral for Wii U that allows it to attach GameCube controllers also works.”

A sign of Super Smash Bros. Melee support incoming? “Of course, there’s nothing to announce on this,” he said. “I think it’s fair to say, Stephen, that that peripheral working was as much a surprise to us as it was to consumers.”

2753

The Switch is on track to clear the Wii U’s lifetime sales in less than a year from its March debut.

As part of its latest financial results, Nintendo has updated its listings of million sellers across various platforms. Below are the Switch numbers:

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – 4.70 million pcs
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – 4.42 million pcs
Splatoon 2 – 3.61 million pcs
1-2-Switch – 1.37 million pcs
ARMS – 1.35 million pcs

2754

I was as wrong about the Switch’s potential success as I was about Trump’s chances during the primaries->election.

As a great mind once said, “Sometimes down is up.”

2755

Yeah, looks like Switch is a hit, so I was also wrong. I don’t think it’s solely the hardware; the software seems better, though, like Nintendo got its groove back or something. The last few big marquee games have been universally well reviewed too.

It is great that Nvidia finally found success with the very very good Shield hardware which to this fucking day is still some of the fastest Android hardware out there, like 2-3 years later!

p.s. fuck qualcomm

2756

While it narrowly lost the U.K. top spot to Assassin’s Creed: Origins, Odyssey is now the biggest Switch launch of the year.

2757

Well that’s because they’re counting both Xbox and PS4 sales of AC:O. Taken against individual platforms, Mario was number 1. ;)

Makes sense, there’s a lot more Switchs out there now than there were back when Zelda launched.

Will be interesting to see digital sales, and performance in Japan.

2758

I think Wii U caused them to re-evaluate things internally and they definitely took that last year or so before the Switch launch to put teams onto Switch games to the exclusion of all else. I think they have a nice backlog of really well-developed software that will be arriving over the next couple years plus they seem to have some really great internal tools now via the Zelda and Odyssey development to create more “open world” type games.

Metroid Prime 4 is probably a lot farther along than people think.

2759

The best-selling and second-best-selling Switch games are ports of Wii U games.

2760

Aye, and Splatoon was born on the Wii U too. The sequel is a solid iteration.

2761

I think they deserve a lot of credit for looking at where the Wii U went wrong and transforming it into something amazing.

2762

I agree. I think they’ve continued courting some 3rd parties and made it possible for them to succeed alongside Nintendo games, but they also put tons of resources into their own stuff while also embracing the independent developers as equals to all the other games released. The way the store is designed right now, you can be an indie and be right at the top of the list for sales and be noticed, plus each week’s releases are easy to find and highlighted.

I’m sure the shop will evolve over time, but right now one of the reasons indies can do so well is because their games are up front and center. Great ones will be seen.

I don’t want to be too hard on Wii U because I think it has some of Nintendo’s best output on it, too. Mario Kart 8 is a hit twice because it was so good to start with and obviously Breath of the Wild would’ve been brilliant on Wii U same as Switch because it’s just that good. That the system way underperformed only made Nintendo hungrier, though. It’s clear they used that time to come back better than ever.

2763

I’m loving the shit out of Mario right now. If Metroid turns out anywhere near as great as Zelda and Mario have it’s going to be incredible.

2764

I would argue that but for the benefit of portability, the Wii U exclusive version that took advantage of the tablet would have been the best version of BOTW. It’s so obvious that they were planning on using it more but they removed the features to prop up the switch version.

I mean they basically give you the Wii U game pad in 5 seconds of giving you control of link.

2765

In the next couple of years, expect to see more new IP from Nintendo.

Famitsu: Nintendo Switch users may be worried about next year’s lineup, with both staple titles such as Mario and Zelda, as well as new hit titles such as Splatoon having already come out for the system.

Yoshiaki Koizumi, producer of Super Mario Odyssey: Nintendo still have many IPs which have not come out for the system, and also more than just existing IPs in store as well. We are planning and preparing games that people probably haven’t even thought about, which will be released steadily over the next two years. We hope to make games which resonate with players using this process, so please patiently look forward to it.

2766

Well, Koizumi-san, I can assure you that I probably haven’t even thought about new F-Zero or Wave Race games. So I guess get crackin’.

2767

I’d go for another 1080º.

2768

I’d go for another SSX tricky.

2769

LOL, I really want a new F-Zero, too! I wonder what Retro’s been working on? They wrapped up Tropical Freeze in late 2013, and in a Gamespot interview from Feb 2014, they confirmed the studio was already working on their next game. I hope we hear some details soon.

Also in our interview, veteran Nintendo producer Kensuke Tanabe confirmed that Retro Studios is working on a new game, but he would not say anything more than that. This game has been in development for a few months now, as Retro wrapped work on Tropical Freeze in November and hasn’t been sitting by idly, Kelbaugh assured us.