Did the Big N pump the brakes?
E3 2018 could have been huge showing for Nintendo, but plenty of gamers have been wondering what happened? In 2017 Nintendo pulled out all the stops with games like Zelda Breath of the Wild, Mario Kart, and Super Mario Odyessy. Heading into 2018 seemed to be full speed ahead but after this E3 they may have pumped the break a little, or did they?
The Plumber and the Adventurer
With the launch of the Switch, Nintendo was in an uphill battle within the home console market. The WiiU had sold a measly 13 million and this next console needed to show that Nintendo was still in this fight. Grabbing the biggest guns in their arsenal Zelda, Mario Kart and 3D Mario they took the market by storm giving their longtime customers an amazing first year of games, those who hadn’t purchased a Nintendo Console since the GameCube or N64 were taking notice as well. Mario Kart often leads the pack with units sold it was the second highest selling game on the Wii with over 30 million units, the top seller on WiiU and currently the 2nd top-selling game on the Switch. Mario Odyssey takes first followed by, you guessed it, The Legend of Zelda. Every console generation these titles are in the top ten highest selling games and guess what Smash Bros is also in that list with Melee being number one on GameCube.
On the Shoulders of Smash and Pokémon
Three of heaviest hitter lead the charge last year and Splatoon 2 is still gaining traction, but this year falls on Super Smash Bros Ultimate and Lets Go Pikachu and Lets Go Eevee. Smash will no doubt carry its weight but what about the other two? The Pokémon name sells there’s no question there, but the Lets Go games are building on the foundation of a mobile game, most of the time it’s the other way around. I see current Switch owners and hardcore Pokémon fans saying that they want a core Pokémon and I’m right there with them, but the Lets Go games will be appealing to some of the 800 million people that downloaded the app. Creating a game that works with the app and can be advertised from the app will move consoles and that’s Nintendo’s goal. Year one caters to the hardcore, year two reach the mobile market and continue launching our best selling brands. The shadow of year one lingers and set a bar that I’m not sure could have been reached again. As gamers, we are hungry for software, but investors want to see hardware sales and Nintendo needs to find the balance. Smash will appeal to many in the current fanbase as a party game and a competitive game, but those longing for more adventures won’t be seeing that this year from Nintendo, and I think it’s part of the reason this year felt somewhat underwhelming from last year. Smash looks like an amazing game and Lets Go Pikachu and Lets Go Eevee look interesting, to say the least with a very appealing accessory. 
Nintendo’s Not Done
Nintendo made it clear that Smash was the focus of this E3 they let everyone know ahead of time to help manage expectations. They delivered on that and we learned an awful lot about Smash with a few surprises sprinkled in. Splatoon 2 DLC launched as well as Fortnite and Donkey Kong Arcade Archive. Mario Tennis Aces launches later this week and consistent stream of first party ports, new games, and third-party titles continue to roll out over the summer. I’m anticipating news on Mario Odyssey DLC, a firm date on Yoshi, and more surprises in the form of Directs and from The Game Awards. Next year Nintendo may show us a 2D Mario either a port of the New Super Mario series or possibly a new game in that series. Mario Maker was also a top seller on WiiU so I’d expect to see it in some form. A new Pokémon core game is already promised and the Animal Crossing series is ripe for a new core game. Also, keep in mind we could start to sequels to Mario Kart, Splatoon, and ARMS. Don’t forget Metroid, Wolfenstein, Bayonetta 3, Dark Souls, and many more are still on the way. There are adventures to be had but they will come from third parties.
Allowing Third Parties to Shine
This is the time for third parties to step up, but are they ready? Some were afraid to pull the trigger on the Switch because of the missteps of the WiiU and you can’t really blame them. While some are still scrambling to catch up a few are on board. Ubisoft had an amazing E3 last showing off Mario Plus Rabbids, but this year feels more like Nintendo is saving them from a bad decision of making StarLink. The game may be really great but it doesn’t have the same curb appeal that Mario Plus Rabbids has. Konami steps up to plate again after a solid outing with Bomberman R to release Hyper Sports R, a remake of Track and Field. I’m not entirely sure who this game is for but after the reveal trailer it immediately gave off a Wii shovelware vibe I hope I’m wrong but I am left to wonder why not Metal Gear or Castlevania? Octopath Traveler is shaping up to a stellar title from. Square Enix. Capcom has had a steady stream of collection games hitting all the consoles and introduced cloud gaming to the Switch. They also have Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate coming in August. EA is bringing us FIFA, but where’s Madden or a Mass Effect Collection? Fortnite is a massive addition to the Switch and seems like a perfect fit on the console. 
A handful of third-party companies are all in while others continue to dip their toe in the water. Will next year bring more third party support and more triple-A titles? I’m not entirely sure but I would love to see more partnerships like Ubisoft and Nintendo where Nintendo loans out their first party characters and games are made specifically for the Switch. Had we seen more of that this year at E3 it would have helped keep the momentum up and taken some of the load off of Smash.
The Final Smash
Did Nintendo pump the brakes this E3? I don’t think so. E3 2017 casts such large shadow that there was little that could have been done to outperform the previous year. Nintendo continues to prove their commitment to third parties and indie developers, but when your customer base prefers first party games showing anything else will seem like Nintendo has pumped the breaks. I’m of the mind that it’s less about pumping the breaks and more about having a console that has a healthy selection of first party, third party and indie games. These are healthy growing pains as Nintendo fixes the mistakes of the WiiU generation while giving gamers more games to choose from than ever before.
What are your thoughts? Did Nintendo pump the brakes this year at E3? Let me know where you are at with all of this in the comments below.
