Nintendo Direct Reaction
My first hot take at the conclusions of that Direct: Nintendo may exceed that 15 million unit forecast.
Overall grade for the Direct = B:
Good 3rd Party representation with Metal Gear Solid Collection Vol. 1 and Batman: Arkham Collection and notable DLC/expansions for Pokemon Scarlet/Violet, Splatoon 3, Mario + Rabbids.
Nintendo is all in on Mario, as they should be, after the success of the film. And as I mentioned previously, Nintendo would really be dropping the ball if it didn’t have any Mario related games for the rest of the year.
Not only is Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon getting an HD remaster for release in 2024 but Princess Peach will also appear in her own title as well.
Peach’s new game - hopefully Jack Black’s “Peaches” megahit finds its way in!
Star Ocean: The Second Story looks fantastic and will be a day one purchase. I’ll be glad to finally hear this Sakuraba score in full context. I’ve enjoyed the OST for a long time without ever having played the game. Now I’m happy to have the opportunity! It’s a game I really hope the community supports. I played and finished Star Ocean First Departure R back in Fall 2022 and I thought it was a solid game! I hear this sequel is even better! Day ONE!
The sprite work over 3D backgrounds, just like the original, looks gorgeous!
With that said, the stars of theshow were definitely Super Mario RPG remake and Super Mario Wonder.
Super Mario RPG is a phenomenal game. I played it myself several years after it released and loved it. This remake looks one-for-one; it doesn’t seem to deviate from the source material much based on the trailer. I’m fine with that but I do expect some new bells and whistles when all is said and done.
And, Yoko Shimomura is back and very excited to make new arrangements of her original score!
The headliner:
Mario goes all in on substances with this one and it is hilarious. It’s so trippy and I love it! Nintendo really needed to release a proper Mario game to capitalize on the success of the billion dollar grossing film - keep the momentum going!
The game looks great too! The art looks amazing and there are several cool animations for Mario in this one, giving it a lot more personality. And of course, the gameplay looks fantastic!
Super Mario Bros. Wonder is going to wreck everything on the sales charts during the holiday quarter. It’s late in Switch’s lifecycle so I don’t know if it will reach 30 million units but 20 million is the absolute floor. One thing I know for sure it that I’ll have it Day One!
What a great Direct! A solid B. I get to really put some dents in my backlog until these games come out in the last quarter of the year. The Switch really does have another year left in it!
