When a new gaming console is set to debut, there are a set of key questions that need to be answered to help determine its immediate success. The first is the “general specs,” which are both in terms of what kind of things the console can do and the overall nature of the system. If you present your system in the wrong way right from the start, you can get some serious backlash from fans. That’s something that Nintendo knows very well and is trying to avoid with its next console. The big question for many fans of the Nintendo Switch 2 is, “What games can we play at launch?”
On the one hand, we know via an official statement from Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa that the new system will be backward compatible with the OG Switch, meaning that all games, both physical and digital, can be played on the upcoming console. However, regarding new titles that will be available right at launch or close to launch…we have many questions.
There have been plenty of rumors about what the Nintendo Switch 2 launch titles will or won’t be, and on Twitter, insider Stealth cited one of them and then asked gamers what they thought the “killer app” of the next Nintendo console should be.
The question about whether Mario Kart 9 will be the launch title was debated heavily in the comments. Some argued that it was “way overdue” and would bring many people to the Switch 2 immediately. It’s fair to say that because the “Deluxe Version” of the 8th entry was on the original Switch within two months of launch and became its best-selling title ever. Thus, The Big N will likely want to replicate that, especially if it surpasses the quality of that game.
Others feel that just a new Mario game in general would be enough, especially if it’s a 3D platformer. Curiously, we only got one of those in the Switch era, and it also became one of the best-selling Switch titles ever. Many feel that Nintendo has been working meticulously on said Mario 3D platformer so that it’ll blow people’s socks off when they debut it at the presumed upcoming Switch 2 launch reveal.
Other names thrown out include The Legend of Zelda, Super Smash Bros, Fire Emblem, Metroid Prime 4 and so on.
The irony here is that, unlike Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo has plenty of options for its “killer app” at launch and then can pad the rest of the year with other titles to keep the sales rolling.