The blockbuster success of Nintendo’s island life simulator Animal Crossing: New Horizons has overshadowed an uncomfortable fact for Switch console fans – it lacks a strong pipeline of upcoming titles.
Nintendo on Thursday said Animal Crossing, which has become an escapist hit for players locked down by the coronavirus, is one of 27th Switch titles to shift more than a million copies, following games populated with characters such as Italian plumber Mario and sword-wielding fighter Link.
But the Japanese company’s current games slate is marked by an absence of blockbuster names, with Nintendo on Thursday pointing to updates and expansions to titles already on the market like Super Smash Bros.
Rival Sony Corp has already been forced to announce delays to major titles such as The Last Of Us Part II as the coronavirus impacts production… “The slate is completely empty,” said Serkan Toto, founder of game industry consultancy Kantan Games. “The COVID-19 situation just increases Nintendo’s conservative stance when it comes to announcing games.”
MacDailyNews Take: Apple Arcade is obviously a much better value than Nintendo Switch, but this is a weird article from Reuters as GamesRadar‘s Sam Loveridge and Heather Wald wrote at the end of last month, “The upcoming Switch games list is absolutely jammed with exciting titles for 2020 and beyond. With plenty of big games landing on Nintendo’s console, and even more interesting indies joining the line-up, you’ll have no shortage of great games to tuck into in the coming months. The most recent mini direct revealed we’ll be getting a big helping of gaming goodness from 2K, with BioShock: The Collection, Borderlands: Legendary Collection, and XCOM 2. We also have a lot of fantastic indie numbers to look forward to, like I Am Dead and Blue Fire, to Hello Games latest venture The Last Campfire. Read more here.
It is not “obviously” much better value. It depends on what you want.