What’s New In Gaming

With 2023 off to a strong start in terms of major releases, the major studios have started moving towards talking about future plans for the rest of 2023 into early 2024. To this end, the PC gaming portal Steam is hosting another Steam Next Fest event and Nintendo hosted its first Nintendo Direct of 2023. What this gives players is a pretty clear picture of where things are going for the early parts of the year, at least until Summer Game Fest and E3 in the early summer.

For those who don’t know, Steam Next Fest is a large promotional event held to showcase a lot of independent games across many genres with demos available for players to download and try out. This skews mostly toward dungeon-crawlers, “metroidvanias” (basically a 2D side-scrolling open-world game where the player unlocks new abilities to open up more of the map like Metroid or Castlevania), and simulator games because those are games being actively made by indie developers. On the other hand, the Nintendo Direct is a digital event held a few times a year that allows Nintendo to directly bring players information regarding their upcoming releases.

The 2/8/2023 Nintendo Direct

This iteration lasted a little over 40 minutes and was designed to deliver information regarding games in the first half of the year. For the sake of breaking down what happened in this Direct, the analysis will be broken down into two parts: part one will be a summary of the announcements and part two will be a breakdown of where this leaves Nintendo going forward.

The direct opened with a lengthy trailer for Pikmin 4 which was previously announced in September. This game looks like another entry like Animal Crossing: New Horizon or The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild that is taking a franchise that players know well and bringing it up to the standards that one would expect from a game in the current year and with modern hardware capabilities. This game introduces a new ice variant of the titular Pikmin and a dog that has new abilities to progress the game. Of note the trailer announces a July 21st, 2023 release date keeping it in line with the previously announced release window.

February 24th will be the arrival of Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe on Nintendo Switch. While this trailer confirmed this release date would stay (it was very unlikely to be delayed on two weeks’ notice), it was confirmed that like other ports in recent history, there would be a new gameplay mode to expand the story. The gameplay seems interesting and has the player take control of a depowered Malagor as he tries to get back home to his dimension.

In terms of DLC, Nintendo has embraced this new business model and seems to be handling it the best out of the major studios. Of note, Fire Emblem Engage which came out last month is getting another expansion in the near future, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is going to be receiving its third major expansion, Splatoon 3 will be receiving a massive expansion pass this summer, and the fourth expansion for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe will include the return of Birdo from Mario Kart Double Dash and will have a totally new course based on Yoshi’s Island.

Continuing with the expansion of retro gaming with Switch Online, the Game Boy/Game Boy Color have now been added to the standard tier while the expansion pass tier that includes Nintendo 64 and Sega Genesis games will receive Game Boy Advance games. The games available at launch for the Game Boy are Tetris, Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX, Gargoyle’s Quest, Game and Watch Gallery 3, Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare, Metroid 2: Return of Samus, Wario Land 3, and Kirby’s Dream Land. Available at launch for the Game Boy Advance are Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, WarioWare Inc.: Mega Microgames, Kuru Kuru Kururin, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga, and The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap. Coming in the near future is The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages/Oracle of Seasons, Pokemon Trading Card Game, and Kirby Tilt ‘n’ Tumble for the Game Boy and Metroid Fusion, Kirby and the Amazing Mirror, Fire Emblem, F-Zero: Maximum Velocity, and Golden Sun for the Game Boy Advance.

In terms of smaller announcements, both Tron: Identity and Disney Illusion Island which were both announced at the D23 games showcase were given release windows. The former will be announced in April while the latter will be released on July 28th. The Sega Dreamcast classic (no, not those two) Samba de Amigo is receiving a new game in the form of Samba de Amigo: Party Central coming out this summer. A considerable amount of time was devoted to Fashion Dreamer which appears to be a fashion influencer roleplaying game that will also debut this year. A new DLC pack for Dead Cells based on Castlevania will be coming out on March 6th. Two major Nintendo DS games are being remastered for the Switch with Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective coming this summer and Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection coming on June 1st. A new Professor Layton game called Professor Layton and the New World of Steam was announced with no further details given. The GameCube RPG Baten Kaitos will be ported to the Switch with Baten Kaitos I&II HD Remaster this summer. Following the success of Katamari Damacy Reroll, it was announced that the sequel We Love Katamari would be getting a similar treatment coming on June 2nd. Following its delay last year due to “global events” (namely the Russian invasion of Ukraine), Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp will be released on April 21st. Finally, Harmony: The Fall of Reverie from the developer of Life is Strange will be coming this June.

The two final stories are some of the longest-running stories out of Nintendo Directs over the last few years. A few years back, Nintendo ended their E3 presentation with the announcement of Metroid Prime 4, a sequel to the iconic series that spanned the GameCube and Wii. That announcement was in 2017 and there has not been any movement whatsoever on the franchise since. Now, this Direct did not update that specific title, however, the franchise has been given some revitalization in the form of the original Metroid Prime being remastered and stealth released on the Switch today. The Direct was capped off with a trailer for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, a sequel to Breath of the Wild, which confirmed a very expensive collector’s edition and a $70 price tag.

Now for starters, the $70 for Tears of the Kingdom is a strange decision that will almost certainly stick for further future releases unless the game does not sell well. Other games that do carry a high price tag tend to be on next-gen consoles like the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X. Beyond this, making this change when the Switch is still in the middle of its hardware cycle and there is a clear line that players can draw between the $60 they paid for Breath of the Wild to Tears of the Kingdom is an interesting choice.

Outside that, viewers probably noticed a distinct lack of Pokémon related news on any front, which is weird considering they launched the Game Boy Advance expansion without any indication of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire (the top-selling GBA game), Pokémon Firered and Leafgreen (the second top-selling GBA game), Pokémon Emerald (the third top-selling GBA game) or Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team (the 12th top selling GBA game). At the same time, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet (which came out in November) have already hit the number four slot in the franchise behind just Red and Blue, Sword and Shield, and Gold and Silver. Considering the recent release cadence, it is likely that Scarlet and Violet will get DLC expansions as teased in the game. That said, Pokémon is managed by a separate company and tends to be made into an event when they make their announcements independent of these so they can command their own news cycle. If an announcement is coming, it will probably come on or around February 27th which is the anniversary of the release of the first games. That said, it also took years for the games that did make it to the 3DS to arrive because of online integration for Bank to transfer Pokémon out of Red and Blue into the modern games and for online multiplayer aspects.

In terms of the expansion of the games included in Switch Online and Switch Online Expansion Pass, it is obvious that Nintendo is trying to push the Expansion Pass because the launch line-up and release window titles are substantially stronger for titles in the Expansion Pass. Link’s Awakening has already made its way to Switch via a complete ground-up remake while Metroid 2 was recently ported to the 3DS before that console was phased out. There were people who were looking for the same treatment that Link’s Awakening got (the game is beautiful and plays very well if one hasn’t played it yet) for Oracle of Ages/Oracle of Seasons. While game preservation is important (and kudos to Nintendo for doing their part to keep games playable as they originally were), it is also important to keep the games palatable to new players who simply will not go back to older games just to play something for historic value unless they are really into the franchise.

In the same conversation of game preservation, it does not seem likely that GameCube games or DS games will make their way to the Switch Online Expansion Pass for a few reasons, despite the fact that DS games were included in the Wii U virtual console. Studios seem to rather port these games to the Switch with updated graphics and interfaces than bring them to an online subscription service. GameCube games could also be a stability issue since Switch games that are online dependent (like Hogwarts Legacy will be at launch) tend to not play well. There are some issues that go along with this as well where games like Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door are unlikely to get a port and just be stuck on the GameCube until further notice because Paper Mario is in the Online Expansion. The same goes for Super Mario Sunshine which was available in the anniversary box set but is now unavailable since that edition was limited time.

On a final note, the majority of Wii U games that were big have been ported to the Switch at this point, however notably this omits The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD which were top sellers on the console. As Metroid Prime starts to move over to Switch (considering all three games were also ported to the Wii U), it would be very surprising if these two games were not announced for the Switch by the end of the year.

Steam Next Fest

As with previous Next Fest events, this event is so wide-reaching in terms of genre and content being showcased that it is pretty difficult to isolate what the theme should be. There seems to be a trend in the indie space towards survival and crafting simulators akin to Minecraft as well as diplomacy and city-building simulators like Civilization or Age of Empires but each with their own twist. The video game industry is built on iteration and the more indie developers come together and iterate on what players already know, the better games turn out in the long run. Look at the impact that Stardew Valley or Five Nights at Freddy’s have had on the industry as a whole outside of the independent market.

Of note, The Last Case of Benedict Fox is worth a try before the game comes out in April. It feels like an old-school Metroidvania with beautiful dark horror aesthetics and complex puzzle systems. The combat feels innovative and is difficult yet forgiving, bringing in elements one would expect from a souls-like including a parry system. Tiny Life also looks interesting and could be a space worth watching akin to Stardew Valley or Coromon where it is taking an established formula (in this case, The Sims) and shaking it up to try and build on a genre that is somewhat monopolistic. The same goes for My Dream Setup depending on the price point at launch considering it’s a pretty fun isometric room-building simulator.

Fortunately, it appears that the obsession with farming simulators seems to have passed at this point which is leading to further innovation into other genres. That said, there is a new fascination that is kind of interesting with card-based gameplay like Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories or Hearthstone in the form of Cardboard Town, which blends city-building elements like Sim City or Cities XL with card-based gameplay, and Super Auto Battlemon which blends Pokémon with the genre.

The sports and racing genres seem to be lacking despite the greatest room for innovation being found within these genres. There are a bunch of racing games, however, very few of them seem to have their own unique styles. That said, Tape to Tape taking roguelike elements and merging them with a hockey simulator is a great idea and the idea of a disk golf simulator game (Disk Golf: Game On) has room for growth, depending on how well the actual gameplay and physics work. In fairness, nailing the physics is probably why there isn’t the expansion in these genres that one would expect, however, there could be an emerging market for stylized racers in the vein of Wipeout or RingRacer.

At the end of the day, these events provide a great insight into the wider state of the industry as players move into 2023. With Nintendo’s lack of commitment to first-party titles coming after July 2023, one has to wonder if the Switch is going to have a new console coming this holiday season, especially with The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom possibly being the canary in the coal mine when it comes to increasing the price for software. This June and July should be very interesting in terms of shaping the industry because, not only does Nintendo have to announce their slate for the back half of 2023, but Sony has to reveal its next slate of games now that all the titles they announced in advance of the PlayStation 5’s launch are now out (and Spider-Man 2 needs a concrete release date).