Zelda, Metroid and Mario Prove the Switch Is Far From Dead

ign.com:

I was told there was supposed to be a software drought while we waited for Switch 2. I was told to expect a handful of ports, remakes, and remasters sprinkled throughout the rest of 2024. I was told the Switch was dying.

Well, apparently no one told Nintendo. And if they did, Nintendo certainly wasn’t listening, as today’s Nintendo Direct was one of my favorites in years, with surprise announcements that will make the wait for Nintendo’s next console incredibly easy. Don’t unplug the dock from your entertainment center just yet, because the Switch still has plenty of juice left.

If you were completely removed from the video game news cycle and you watched the June 2024 Nintendo Direct, you’d probably think it was a presentation dropped somewhere during the peak of the console’s life cycle. Nintendo really brought out the big guns with new entries in its classic trio of franchises: Mario, Zelda, and Metroid. We got our first look at Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, a brand new mainline The Legend of Zelda game starring the eponymous princess for the first time, and the long-awaited return of the Mario & Luigi series, continuing the fairytale-like resurgence of Mario RPGs over the last year. Add on Super Mario Party Jamboree and Donkey Kong Country Returns HD, and Nintendo revealed four brand-new first-party games and one remaster, three of which will be out later this year.

I really appreciate Nintendo’s focus on concrete release dates in its Directs. The Xbox showcase this year was awesome, but we were left with a lot of “TBA” or generic “2025” dates. I’m super excited for games like Fable and Perfect Dark, and can’t wait to eventually get them, but it’s a lot easier to be more excited about a new Zelda game I didn’t know existed when I woke up this morning that will be in my hands exactly 100 days from now.

And The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom really looks like my dream game. Everything we know so far points to Nintendo taking the explorative, creative spirit of Breath