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The story
In a Yahoo! News expert column, Narihiro Kawamura pointed out that “Nintendo’s decision not to release a mainline Mario game, a new Smash Bros., or a new Animal Crossing on the Switch 2 might be a deliberate move to extend the console’s lifespan.” “Mario Kart World” carried the Switch 2’s launch, and the next major title is expected to be a new Pokémon game slated for 2027, with titles like “Donkey Kong Bananza” filling the gap in between. This view sparked debate on 5ch’s console-wars board, with pushback arguing that big titles simply take years to develop, mixed with complaints that owners aren’t feeling motivated to upgrade from their original Switch.
Expert’s supplementary commentary
“Mario Kart World” drove the Switch 2’s launch, and in 2027 the latest entry in the “Pokémon” series, “Wind & Wave,” is scheduled for release. There’s a marquee title, but fans are probably thinking, “what else is there?” One reason people buy a Nintendo console in the first place is for Nintendo’s own blockbuster titles.
So far, titles like “Donkey Kong,” “Kirby,” and “Metroid” have been rolled out. These are all popular franchises, and there’s likely also an aim to grow them further into even bigger pillars for the platform.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
and now you want to flip that to 'not releasing games means they're extending the hardware's life'?
I don't want to drop 50,000 yen on a Switch 2 for FE alone
That's pretty soft coming from a console-wars board poster complaining about a first-party title
Then just sit back and watch enviously with your thumb in your mouth, I guess
A game console is something you reluctantly buy because there's a game you absolutely have to play — that's just how it works
Sales are high, but isn't Bananza a commercial-strategy failure?
If sales are high, isn't that a success?
This is a case where Nintendo's 'make the game first, decide the character later' approach didn't pan out
No matter how you slice it, Donkey Kong's just too weak a character to sell it as a Mario game
That's probably why they even benched Diddy to add Pauline, but Pauline hasn't caught on either
Do people even want 3D Mario that badly?
If you figure it would've sold twice as much under the Mario brand, isn't that a waste?
I don't think the Mario brand is really that strong, honestly
If you already own a Switch, the honest truth is you don't want to buy a Switch 2 for just one game
If they'd at least changed the name from 'Switch,' there might've been a shot
So then it's a success because you can still play Switch games on it?
What I'm saying is that for people who already own a Switch, their desire to buy a Switch 2 starts in the negative
Even though you carry over your Switch game library and it runs smoother?
True, it does seem like PS4 owners are skipping the PS5 and buying a Switch 2 instead
Mario movie, get here in 2026
Announce Pokémon Gen 10 in 2026
And yet the Nintendo-complex ranting just won't stop
Reality's gonna cut it down though
The Switch 2 is nothing more and nothing less than what it is, and its reason for existing is nothing more and nothing less either
A classic 'only read the thread title' Kaiji moment (Kaiji = manga/anime character used as slang for someone who reacts dramatically without actually understanding the situation)
You're not switching from Switch to Switch 2 just for that, though
This is a jab at the whole 'negative start' argument, you know
2012: WiiU launch + 2D Mario
2013: 3D Mario
2014: Mario Kart + Smash Bros
Psychologically speaking, it IS a negative start
You don't need to have studied psychology to feel that intuitively
If your Nintendo Account history carries over, it's a positive start
Psychologically speaking
What year are you even talking about?
True enough
Guess I'll go play Shadowverse then
But people who played it to death ALSO losing interest in buying a Switch 2 makes no sense
Ah, that might be it
Basically all I played on Switch was the Diamond/Pearl remakes, Rescue Team DX, Derby Stallion, and Monsters 3
They keep churning out new side-scrolling 2D Metroid games, so remake the side-scrolling 2D Zelda II: The Adventure of Link too
Honestly the first 3-4 years can just be wall-to-wall remakes of old classics, that's fine by me
The town names in Zelda II match character names from Ocarina of Time, so I'd love a remake that retroactively ties in some bonus story around that
I can tell you're bad at Shadowverse
I went on a 29-win streak → 1 loss → 30-win streak
and was single digits in the per-class win rankings
Huh, neat
As long as I'm having fun, that's good enough for me
A lot of people probably played P5 on Switch
Kawamura: 'Took a critical hit'
2027 movie
'Spider-Man: Brand New Day' trailer broke GTA 6's record in 12 hours, passed 500 million views
Background and points of debate
The Switch 2 launched in 2025, with “Mario Kart World” as its launch-tier title, followed by “Donkey Kong Bananza,” “Kirby,” and “Metroid.” There’s been no announcement yet of successors to Nintendo’s flagship franchises — a mainline 3D Mario, a new Smash Bros., or a new Animal Crossing — with the next major title expected to be a new Pokémon game in 2027. In past hardware transitions, the standard playbook was to lead with a steady stream of first-party blockbusters, but the Switch 2’s strength lies in backward compatibility that lets players carry over their Switch software library as-is, meaning there’s structurally less pressure than before to rush out a “must-upgrade” flagship title. Where the thread split was over whether to view this apparent holding-back as a deliberate life-extension strategy, or simply the natural result of blockbuster titles taking years to develop. Opinions were also divided on whether the success of Bananza and Mario Kart counts as a commercial win, or whether they fall short as substitutes for a mainline Mario game.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry (Console Wars)) thread “Narihiro Kawamura: ‘Nintendo isn’t releasing Mario, Smash, or Animal Crossing on the Switch 2 because they want to extend the hardware’s lifespan’“
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