So.. this new Nintendo thing of announcing games so close to release - what's your take?

[Bard]

Generally prefer it compared to years long hype cycles, however, as others have stated Nintendo isn't exempt from doing this as we saw with Metroid Prime 4 and Bayonetta 3 (Nintendo is probably the one that determines when Bayo 3 info is shown).

That said it doesn't have to be like two months only until release. Doing an announcement of things that should launch in at most a year is the best to me. Long enough that you can probably get info out in good waves of like every three months or so(teaser, gameplay trailer/presentation, launch trailer), but short enough that you don't spend like the entire console gen constantly asking about where the hell the project is.

 

[jdstorm]

Hate it.

Just get your game to a showable point and then start talking/giving consistent updates. 6-18 months is ideal for me depending on the size of the game.

this everything's a secret approach that the gaming industry takes is BS and I hate it. Knowing something exists doesn't mean it will be good or bad

 

[GiantEnemyCrab]

Considering I'm slowly turning hollow for the lack of Elden Ring news I say I vastly prefer the Nintendo approach.

 

[Antony]

It's much much much MUCH better!
Internet hype cycles are ridiculous.
All the speculation, rumours and concern (see Prime 4) is ridiculous.
The announcements for announcements and years of teasing is ridiculous.
Following a game for 5+ years that I ultimately play for 2 weeks is ridiculous.

I didn't miss E3 and no longer care much for Directs, just tell me about a game when it's (largely) done and tell me when I can buy it. All I need.

 

[pagrab]

Recent Nintendo games fail to interest me (except of Luigi's Mansion) but I would love it if every company did this. The current cycle of announcements for big games is very frustrating. It typically goes like this:

Teaser - you do not get anything except the information that the game exists.
6 months of waiting
Cinematic trailer - you get the general overview of the setting and nothing more.
6 months of waiting
"Gameplay trailer" which translates to an in-engine animation that shows what the developers aim to do.
6 months of waiting
Videos of snippets of the game played by journalists and influencers. People start to notice downgrades and discuss it endlessly on forums.
6 months of waiting
Public beta of the game which looks nothing like the gameplay trailers published a year ago. People go crazy, the developer explains that this was an early build.
3 months of waiting
Release - the game is broken and the developer promises to patch everything.
3 months of waiting
A patch is released. Additional patches adding better framerate/raytracing/what have you are announced
6 months of waiting
The game is ready to be played as intended (still far from the "gameplay trailer").

 

[BetterGraphics]

If they have a solid first party pipeline then it'd be awesome to be surprised every couple of months. Hopefully 2021 is stacked.

 

[Waffle]

I strongly prefer this over having to wait a long time after announcement.

 

[BlueManifest]

Sony announces too far away now nintendo is announcing too close, nintendo was doing it perfect before

 

[Boomchil]

I love it.

 

[Asbsand]

It makes all kind of sense for them to not do Nintendo Directs. They would need a studio and probably more people on-location than we think. Working from home and cutting trailers for games remotely and doing it piecemeal is great.

 

[Gradon]

It's the best. Along with Capcom's 6 month waits, I'm all for it.

 

[YukiroCTX]

I don't like the small out of nowhere announcements either about a game releasing in a week or month. I like the big events that show games maybe 3-4 months out. Feels like it gives me a bit more time to take in a plan around the purchase. What some companies are doing now aren't great either. I think shorter timeframe would be nicer.

 

[Thagirion]

Should be industry standard, Sony could at least not announce and keep string along for multiple years like last games on Ps4.
The bare minimum should be "next year release" tag

 

[J2C]

Pretty awesome. Hype with friends doesn't take that long to circulate, and their sales are great

 

[tyfon]

I like it.
I can't stand when they start advertising stuff that still won't be out for years. It's a waste of energy imho.

 

[Oreiller]

More of that please. Waiting 5 years for a game is awful (I'm looking at you Metroid Prime 4 and Bayonetta 3).

 

[Thera]

I think 3 months is too short and 6 months is the sweet spot.
But I take 3 months over 2-3 years, definitively.

 

[MaitreWakou]

They've been announcing some games 2 to 3 months prior to release for years now, you even quickly say it in your post.
Obviously not all their games, but it's not new at all.
We know Covid fucked their marketing department big time.
But really, it's nothing new for Nintendo fans. Remember Metroid Samus Returns announced at E3 2017 for a September release ? The first 2D Metroid in 15 years only announced 3 months ahead ?
Remember Ring Fit Adventure, one of their biggest 2019 game, announced 6 weeks ahead of release ?
Remember Smash Ultimate, even though Smash used to have super long time between reveal and release, multiple YEARS, was announced only 9 months ahead of release, and full reveal only 6 months prior to release ? For the biggest and most hype Smash game ever ?

I think it's great. I understand why some dislike it though, people make their video game budget, and all of a sudden appear a game you really want that release in 2 or 3 months, and you already planned to buy this instead.
But I prefer 1000 times over some announcing their games years in advance. It was frustrating when Nintendo was doing it with every Zelda and Smash. (They're still doing it for 3D Zelda though)

 

[slsk]

Seems pretty good to me:
1. Finish developing the game, including the localisations
2. Announce the game and the release date

 

[AzorAhai]

Too short. But 3+ years is too long.

6 months to 1year is good, enough time for the publisher to promote it and for the buyer to plan accordingly.

 

[Parker]

It's a different strategy for different times and it is clearly working, but it would be nice to know of the games far in advance to plan what games to play around release. Luckily the 3D Collection is in a good spot where there aren't many newer titles.

 

[Iron Eddie]

Games shown should be a year or less from release unless you are crowdfunding.

 

[Vidiot]

It's nice to not have to wait long for release but on the other hand I kinda like having games to look forward to instead of long stretches of nothing interesting.

 

[Chimpzy]

I don't mind. I don't usually get interested in a game without having a reasonable idea of what to expect come release, for example having seen gameplay, so close announcements suit me just fine. Also, fuck hype.

 

[zsidane]

« Gamers » tend to forget that a game can still be bought after it's release window. There is no shame in playing a game months or even years after it was released.
Nintendo has demonstrated long before that they persue (and it works for them) the evergreen strategy.
I personally like the short amount of time between announcements and availability.
Also, they can afford to do this because they are able to maintain prives for their game over time, and they do not tend to release yearly versions of their game. To illustrate what I'm saying, I freaking love COD Warzone and was discussing with my friends buying MW to play the multiplayer and they all went : « But BOCW will be released soon »...

 

[Madao]

after Metroid Prime 4's situation, i much prefer the current method.

it gets boring having to wait years for information. it doesn't matter if the game is revealed 2 months before release since you still have to wait anyway.

 

[Asklepios]

Well it's good for the developers to just focus on the game without trying to manage the hype and for the gamers to just play the games they own. What are you going to do knowing about a botw 2 other than speculate and hype yourself.

But then again we have the whole "leak" culture going on so it's probably gonna be leaked and then the company will have to step in to gain control over the information.

Some indie games or less popular ones like hyrule warriors may go "un-leaked" because no one cares all that much I suppose. But definitely better if it's announced closer to release date AND doesn't get leaked.

 

[toastyToast]

I like it

If I'm looking forward to playing the game wouldn't it follow that I want the game in my hands as opposed to trailers and media and other shit that definitely isn't me playing the game?

If it comes out too soon and I have other stuff on my plate I can just buy it later. There's no downside.

 

[Garegga]

Normally 6 months is the sweet spot. But at the launch of a new console it's ok to show what you have planned for the next 2 years.

 

[Nardy_19]

i don't like it. i don't really get swept up in hype--i usually play anticipated games blind--but it's nice to know what's coming on your platforms of choice

Click to shrink...

But 3 months is still enough time to "know what's coming".....

 

[Jakisthe]

Sure it's good when we've just had a game announced, but just a few weeks ago I recall a number of folks [rightly] wondering what Nintendo had for the rest of the year. Kinda shading perception to ask this right after a close-in announcement, after doing the same last week as well.

Can't say I'm a fan. 6 months is ideal in my eyes.

 

[MoogleWizard]

1000 x better than announcing games years in advance.

 

[Sydle]

I prefer it to the long, drawn out hype cycles. It seems to be working just fine for them so I hope they keep it up.

 

[KORNdog]

i like to know what games are there to look forward to months and years into the future. i guess they do that a little with the likes of metroid 4 and BotW 2, but i'd like a bit more than that. at least tell us when we're going to get a metroid prime trilogy instead of keeping silent until a month before release.

 

[m.i.s.]

i like to know what games are there to look forward to months and years into the future. i guess they do that a little with the likes of metroid 4 and BotW 2, but i'd like a bit more than that. at least tell us when we're going to get a metroid prime trilogy instead of keeping silent until a month before release.

Click to shrink...

I remember when Ocarina of Time was a thing on N64.

Used to have deep and meaningful interviews with Miyamoto in Edge magazine, months and years in advance on different facets of gameplay, graphics, development goals etc.

Now instead of reliable information from developers, we just get the most inane and pointless drivel on forums on mostly unsubstantiated junk.

When OoT eventually released, not once did "spoilers" hamper enjoyment of my game. Not once did I think when riding Epona through Hyrule for the first time, "you know what would be better, if I didn't hear about this in Edge".

Folks who don't want to hear about a certain game, can simply choose not to read or listen and let those who wish to know, know.

Another reason why NCL has become a corporate crapfest with no soul. Screw the gamers, as long as shareholders are happy.

 

[PsionBolt]

I'll go you one better: I hope the next Switch launches like the Sega Saturn. No fear! No hype! All in!

 

[Christo750]

I like the concept but maybe this was a bad year to test it, since so much got upended and the silence was often deafening. I'd be a bigger fan if releases were more common.

 

[ShinUltramanJ]

I'd rather what Nintendo did versus a short cinematic trailer that doesn't represent the actual game, and is years away.

 

[Weebos]

I prefer announcements closer to the release of a game. Waiting sucks.

 

[logash]

I like announcements close to release but I prefer them to bundle them up. Pikmin, Mario, and Zelda could have been in an August direct and it would be felt better to me.

 

[shoptroll]

This isn't really that new for Nintendo is it? I feel like this has been going on for a few years now at least, this year is just more pronounced because they had no E3 Direct.

That said, I like it but I think it's best when they have a mix of small and larger waits (either intentional or accidental). It's nice to have some stuff to look forward to and people clearly go full on doom-sayer when they feel like there is nothing on the horizon, as this forum proved over the last month. Also I feel like Nintendo knows what they're doing and know that certain franchises will spark hardware sales with just the promise of new game on the horizon while others don't have the same effect.

 

[zer0_X]

They usually take shorter announcement cycles for smaller games and that is basically what happened this year. It's pretty likely bigger titles will still have regular hype cycles and this Nintendo approach was basically because they knew hyping this year's games was probably going to backfire at them.
Just to be clear, I'm against this kind of shorter announcement cycle thing. Keeping your consumers blind is obviously anticonsumer

 

[Aostia82]

I don't like it.
It is totally understandable this year, with the pandemic jeopardizing plans and scheduling and so on.
It is totally welcome for a couple of surprises a year for "big retail releases" (like Mario Kart Live or Labo or even Hyrule Warriors 2 and so on)
It is GREAT for indie games to be shadowdropped on the eShop
I absolutely hate to not have a clear picture of what's coming in the next 6/12 months in terms of 50% of expected lineup

 

[TheAggroCraig]

It took FF7R about 5 years from announcement to release, with 3 of those years having nothing at all except disappointment. I'm totally fine with announcing things not too far off from their release (2 weeks is a bitttttttt too short notice though lol). Metroid Prime 4 is basically in this realm now with the potential of taking even longer (it has been 3 years since announcement and the only news we've had was that they scrapped it).

I really want to assume they're holding off on announcing some because they want to make sure they can hold the release date at this point, but who knows.

 

[m.i.s.]

I prefer announcements closer to the release of a game. Waiting sucks.

Click to shrink...

You have to wait one way or another... either with news from official sources or unsubstantiated rumour or silence.

 

[Lobster Roll]

I love it. It gives us a few weeks to decide whether or not we want to hop into the game, and then it's just there. Speaking strictly from an overall, large-picture, "gaming community" perspective, I would much rather prefer to have things release much closer to announcement than seeing people bellyache over and over about the fact that they haven't received an update on their pet game in 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, etc.

 

[Zelas]

It doesnt matter.

 

[Biske]

One thing I like about it is it removes the... focus testing kind of effect of releasing info about a game years in advance and getting fan backlash. So at that point game makers get to make the game they want without seeing fan reaction, panicking and changing things.

Imagine say... Dragon Quest.. if they could have put out the more action oriented battle system they were thinking of and didn't have to deal with fans going nuts over it. Was changing it good decision? Maybe, maybe action would have sucked, but I do wonder about the game we could have gotten.

Other than that I just don't need to drool over a game for years and years, tired of it.

 

[HOUSEJoseph]

I prefer being notified about a new game about 6 months before release. I do not like this 2 months (or apparently 2 weeks now) notice of new games.

 

[Nilaul]

It's fine honestly. I think it works for certain games. Mainline Zelda games are fine for the long hype cycles. BOTW 2 announcement was hype but I think Zelda fans are accustomed to delays lmfao. But like Hyrule Warriors doesn't need a large hype cycle. Paper Mario doesn't.

Click to shrink...

They don't really need to announce a new mainline Zelda game and Mario years in advance.. you know they're coming.

Although feedback is always useful from trailers and demos.