Last week we had a rather packed Nintendo Direct dropped on us. There were a lot of key announcements, many great games from both first and third party developers. Although there was a lot of excitement after the direct, there were also some rather notable omissions. Here are the three games I was expecting to see, and am surprised were absent.
Yoshi
At e3 last year, we got quite a few teases for 2018 and possibly beyond. One of those games was Yoshi. It was also the game that looked closest to being finished, as it was one of the few games from the 2018 slate that had actual gameplay footage. Nintendo don’t tend to show off gameplay with a titles first showing, usually going for a cinematic or cutscene heavy trailer before showing us some gameplay close to release. Since that e3 showing though, Yoshi hasn’t been seen again. So where is it? There has been rumour going around for a while now that that game is in trouble, and the fact we haven’t seen or heard from it since its first showing lends credence to those rumours.
Wolfenstein 2
Last year during the September Nintendo Direct, Wolfenstein 2 was announced for the Nintendo Switch. It had been floated about that there was a February release being targeted, but we have yet to hear anything from Bethesda regarding a firm date. The last piece of news we have gotten thus far is that Panic Button is handling the port. Considering they brought Doom to the Switch, the port is definitely in capable hands.
That said, Wolfenstein 2 is quickly becoming an old game. No longer part of the zeitgeist, is the Switch port even viable now? Will it sell considering its story driven nature? After you have seen the moments that game has to offer, the impact is gone. A second play through won’t hit you in the same way at all, so replaying it may be a lot to ask Switch owners. Yes I know not all Switch owners have a console or pc capable of running Wolfenstein 2, but there is a fair amount of cross over there, and that cross over audience is likely to pass on the likely full priced Switch port, especially if it comes out a year or so after the initial release on other consoles.
Pikmin 4
It has been 5 years since the last mainline Pikmin game. Captain Olimar’s journey has become quite a popular one, with each new entry garnering more critical acclaim than the last. Pikmin 3 is considered by far the best in the series. It seems like we are more than due for a new Pikmin game to release. Hey Pikmin may have been a nice diversion on the 3ds, but what us Pikmin fans crave is another full fledged, full featured Pikmin game. Having one on the Switch will be incredible, as being able to take Olimar’s journey with us on the go will be perfect.
Why this feels like an omission though is more than just the fact we haven’t had a numbered sequel since 2013. At e3, Miyamoto stated in an interview that a new Pikmin game was “actually very close to completion”. Nintendo confirmed that it was Pikmin 4, stating that “Pikmin 4 is in development but that is all we can confirm at present.” Seeing as this was around 9 months ago, it seems strange that we have not seen or heard anything more about it. This direct seemed like the place it would appear, but alas, we are left wondering when this game will see the light of day.
So those were the 3 games that stood out to me that were missing from this past Nintendo Direct. Were there any games you were expecting to see? Let us know in the comments below.
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