For a new fighting game IP, ARMS did alright. The question now is how Nintendo can get it to grow when they eventually do a sequel (be it near the end of the Switch's life or near the beginning of the successor's life). The devs did a solid job of addressing some of the complaints about the game at launch, with the only glaring issue left to address for the sequel is the Arcade Mode needing to be more robust (which we saw a taste of with Dr. Coyle's boss cutscenes).
I was talking about content density more then anything else. In general the ARMS team has done a great job supporting/updating the game. Slightly unrelated but does anyone else see Dr Coyle and think that she looks like the love child of Samus Aran and DK64's jack in a box kremlin boss? Anyway back on topic. As to where ARMS goes from here.
ARMS control scheme is very intuitive for people who dont play video games/kids. More casual mini game modes (like basketball/volleyball) that teach specific gameplay mechanics in a way that make them both fun party games as well as useful teaching tools ie Basketball,Volleyball and Skillshot seems like the logical next step.
As for the competitive/esports side. You'd need to ask someone who is at that level. An improved spectator mode and the ability to watch notable organized bouts via the game launcher would be welcome. Maybe have fights between professionals for a few hours as a way to kick off "party crash" events.
More story and more locations would also be a plus. Character numbers seem fine for now though some characters could also use some slight tweaks. IE Springman could use more of a Surfing motif added to his character. Kid Cobra as a skater feels redundant with Min Min being a skater and would benefit from a motorcross/BMX inspired tweak. Mechanica/Ribbongirl would benefit from a high school/college focused stage redesign. Especially with a motorcross kid cobra potentially needing a stage similar to mechanica's origional stage. More character skins in general would be great.
I'm not making any attempt to say that it's not an intellectual property. There was offense taken earlier that most people dismiss Labo; I say that's perfectly natural on a forum for video games.
I'll take you up on that bet. The higher the stakes the better. :P
Are we talking Wonder Woman or Black Panther levels of a global phenomena?
Not sure. Thats an extreme best case scenario. It really depends on how versatile the creative suit software is. A hugely positive thing Labo has going for it is that its perfect for 3 distinct niche's.
1. Edutainment. This is going to be a hit with the same kids and parents that would buy things like Lego and Mechano.
2. Women/People who instagram
Labo's asthetic is perfect for artist/creative people to make unique custom versions of the Labo items by painting them, colouring them with markers ect. The Labo cardboard products are going to photograph/mood board really well. The right marketing push could get Labo to move past the parents/kids/mummy blog audience and into the Art/design space as a bit of a fad. (If i were doing Marketing i would want the Chip and Jo from Fixerupper on Ellen playing with Labo as soon as possible.)
3. Hobbiests, especially those with 3D printers.
If the creative tools are robust enough people are going to start to make incredible Labo powered devices. These are going to youtube/insta really well and form a community similar to Mario Maker where skilled people are going to start pushing themselves to make the most impreasive labo powered creations possible.
Those 3 groups provide huge audiences by themselves. Combined. It could be really big.