5 franchises we still want to see on the Nintendo Switch

By Gabe Gurwin May 8, 2017

1111754 autosave v1 4 nintendo switch lifestyle 7 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

With the Nintendo Switch, Nintendo has the opportunity to do what it does it best, reimagine its classic, genre-defining franchises for a new generation. The games in a number of franchises have already been announced, including The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and Splatoon 2. Still, there are many more fantastic series with no publicly announced Switch update in the works. We think these franchises have the potential to utilize the Switch’s unique control schemes and increased processing power.

Star Fox

Star Fox Zero – The Battle Begins

The Star Fox franchise is currently on thin ice. Nintendo has shown an uncanny ability to mismanage the interstellar flying series over the last decade, from the gloomy slog of a game that was Star Fox Command on Nintendo DS, to Star Fox Zero, which used of the Wii U’s GamePad in all the wrong ways.

However, the Switch’s capacity for a more traditional control scheme, particularly if players have the system in its “docked” configuration and use the included Joy-Con Grip, makes it a better fit for Fox and his friends than Nintendo’s last few platforms. If the game releases in the relatively near-future, the developers would also be able to create a true narrative sequel to previous games like Star Fox Adventures and Star Fox Assault instead of simply repeating the story we’ve effectively seen three times in Star Fox, Star Fox 64, and Star Fox Zero. Nintendo wouldn’t have to abandon Zero‘s asymmetric cooperative play, either, as an extra player using a single Joy-Con controller could serve as a second gunner inside the Arwing.

Advance Wars

Nintendo eShop - Advance Wars on the Wii U Virtual Console

We haven’t seen a new Advance Wars game since Days of Ruin came out on the DS back in 2008, but if there is ever a time to take chances and return to dormant franchises, it’s the launch of a new console. Much like Intelligent System’s better known strategy series, Fire Emblem, Advance Wars’ relatively simple control scheme make it a perfect choice for both portable and “docked” play.

But why limit the game to just turn-based strategy? Given the Switch’s many alternate control schemes, it could very easily factor mechanics from the series’ action-heavy spinoff, Battalion Wars. With one player using a Joy-Con to command troops while another uses the “Pro” controller to engage directly in combat, it could create one of the best asymmetric multiplayer games we’ve ever seen.

Metroid

Metroid Prime: Federation Force - Story Trailer

Aside from a multiplayer-focused 3DS exclusive released last year, Nintendo hasn’t given the Metroid franchise any love in a very long time. That’s a shame when you consider that the series has delivered excellent installments across multiple genres — from narrative-heavy first-person shooters to open-ended platformers — and they’d be right at home on the Switch.

Should Nintendo and Metroid Prime developer Retro Studios decide to return to the sub-series, the Switch’s touch screen and “HD Rumble” Joy-Con controllers could make for much more complex and intuitive puzzles, and its IR sensor could function much in the same way that the Wii Remote did in Metroid Prime 3. A game more in the vein of Super Metroid could even support cooperative play using two Joy-Cons, and in its portable configuration, the screen would make for easier item management. Even an action-heavy game like Metroid: Other M would work better on the Switch, with the system’s more traditional control scheme lending itself better to combat encounters.

Pokémon

While there have been rumors that Nintendo will release an enhanced version of Pokémon Sun and Moon on the Switch, there has been no official word on a Pokémon game for Nintendo’s new console. With much more processing power than the 3DS, a new Pokémon game for the Switch would be able to feature much more intricate animations, better environments, and more detailed character models, and the system’s portable design makes it a great choice for multiplayer matches when you’re out and about.

If Sun and Moon do come the Switch, we’re hoping it includes some level of interactivity with the 3DS version of the game so that its user-base can remain as large as possible. Being able to transfer any caught Pokémon from a previous version of the game to the Switch through Pokémon Bank would also make the transition far less frustrating.

Donkey Kong Country

Wii U - Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze Launch Trailer

Retro Studios knocked it out of the park with both Donkey Kong Country Returns and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, so we’re holding out hope that the developer is planning the next adventure for everyone’s favorite platforming ape. With the series’ signature tough-as-nails difficulty, it would be the perfect game to convince more “hardcore” Nintendo fans that the system is worthy of their time, while its intuitive, simple control scheme make it the perfect choice for local cooperative play.

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Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…

Gaming

Don’t expect Zelda’s $70 price to become the new Switch standard, says Nintendo

Link looks at his hand in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will be Nintendo's first Switch game to be priced at $70. News that Tears of the Kingdom, a sequel to one of the bestselling and most critically acclaimed titles on the system, will have an increased price compared to its predecessor came as a surprise over three-and-a-half years after its announcement. It also raised questions about what the future of pricing for Nintendo games will be, especially as Sony, Microsoft, and third-party publishers all upped the cost of their new games in recent years.
While Nintendo will release Tears of Kingdom at $70, a spokesperson for the company tells Digital Trends that this will not always be the case for its first-party games going forward.
"No," the spokesperson said when Digital Trends asked if this is a new standard. "We determine the suggested retail price for any Nintendo product on a case-by-case basis."
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – Official Trailer #2
To get more insight into the price shift, I spoke to Omdia Principal Analyst George Jijiashvili, who explains what has caused the price of games to go up in recent years and how Tears of the Kingdom demonstrates that Nintendo will "remain flexible about first-party title pricing." Ultimately, Nintendo fans are finally starting to feel the impact of inflation that's been sweeping across the game industry, even if it's only "on a case-by-case basis" for now.
The price is right
Nintendo claims that not every one of its significant first-party game will be $70, and we can actually already see that in action. Preorders just went live for Pikmin 4, which launches on July 21, after Tears of the Kingdom, and it only costs $60. Still, Zelda's price tag indicates that going forward, Nintendo will at least consider raising the price of its most anticipated games to $70. But why start with Tears of the Kingdom?
When asked why it chose Tears of the Kingdom as its first $70 Nintendo Switch game, a Nintendo spokesperson simply reiterated that the company will "determine the suggested retail price for any Nintendo product on a case-by-case basis." Still, it's a surprising choice for Nintendo to make that pricing change to just one exclusive game almost six years into the Switch's life span. Jijiashvili thinks the choice to do this with Tears of the Kingdom was a pretty apparent one for Nintendo, although it won't apply to everything going forward.
"If you are going to make a game $70, it's going to be the follow-up to one of your most critically acclaimed and bestselling games ever," Jijiashvili tells Digital Trends. "I don’t think that this means that $70 will become the standard price for all major Nintendo releases. It's worth noting that Metroid Prime Remastered is priced at $40. It's clear that Nintendo will remain flexible about first-party title pricing."

It makes basic financial sense for Nintendo to ask for a little bit more for a game it knows will be one of the biggest releases of 2023. But what factors in the game industry and world's economy at large caused Nintendo to make this decision?
Priced Out
For more than a decade, people got comfortable with AAA video games being priced at $60. Of course, there were occasional exceptions to this rule, but it was seen as an industry standard until the dawn of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Publisher 2K was one of the first to announce a price increase, and companies like EA, Sony, and Microsoft have all followed suit. Jijiashvili chalks this up to inflation-related pressure on game publishers.
"The games industry has already been experiencing a lot of inflationary pressure," he explains. "AAA games are much more expensive to make now than they used to be, but prices have actually been declining in inflation-adjusted terms -- if prices had risen with inflation since 1990, they would now be over $90. On top of that, we’ve had a big burst of general inflation, meaning that publishers are looking at big increases in everything from salaries to tools. It’s going to be really hard for most publishers to avoid passing on all those extra costs at some point."
Jijiashvili provided us with a graphic created by Omdia that "shows what the typical price points for each generation would look like if you adjusted for inflation." As you can see, the inflation-adjusted prices are only exponentially growing, and the big game pricing shifts the graph highlights were all technically not even enough to keep up with inflation when they happened.

Gaming

Nintendo Switch Online expands with Game Boy and Game Boy Advance Titles

nintendo switch online game boy advance gameboy games

During the February 2023 Nintendo Direct, Nintendo announced that it is adding Game Boy and Game Boy Advance Games to its Nintendo Switch Online service. Game Boy games will be available for basic subscribers, while the Game Boy Advance games are available for those who are subscribers of the premium Expansion Pack.

Nintendo Switch Online - Game Boy & Game Boy Advance Announcement - Nintendo Direct 2.8.23

Gaming

Metroid Prime Remastered just surprise launched on Nintendo Switch

Samus Aran stands tall in Metroid Prime Remastered.

A remastered edition of Metroid Prime was just surprise announced via February's Nintendo Direct. Even more shocking is the news that Metroid Prime Remastered is available to download via the Switch eShop today.

Nintendo Direct 2.8.2023 - Nintendo Switch