This Nintendo rant goes slightly off topic, but it might help to understand console launches over the years and how they have changed. Some have said this is one of their weakest launches yet, but they might not have been around for the SNES and N64. I never buy systems at launch these days but they have always been bad. Typically launch titles are pretty weak with one or two standout titles and a bunch of mediocre ones. SNES had this at the US launch:
F-Zero
Gradius III
Pilotwings
SimCity
Super Mario World
Which is definitely ok, but that was not much. Only Super Mario World, F-Zero, and Simcity are the winners there. The other two are good at least with Gradius III probably being the lest memorable due to it being a third entry in a niche series. The original Playstation had a shitty launch that by today's standards is laughable with the bolded being especially forgettable:
Battle Arena Toshinden
ESPN Extreme Games
Kileak: The DNA Imperative
NBA Jam Tournament Edition
Power Serve 3D Tennis
The Raiden Project
Rayman
Ridge Racer
Street Fighter: The Movie
Total Eclipse Turbo
Aside from Ridge Racer, Rayman, and Battle Arena Toshinden, you have nothing there. Even those entries are forgettable with later sequels being better executions of the same concept. No one broke their back to buy the Playstation at launch. It wasn't until Final Fantasy VII and Resident Evil started coming out that people flipped.
What did Nintendo have to compete with during that timeframe with the N64? Well with the US launch they rocked a grand total of two games:
Pilotwings 64
Super Mario 64
Pilotwings was a pretty cool series, but people bought the system for Mario if they got it then. This is a common trend with Nintendo. Typically they will launch with Mario or Zelda. With the Gamecube they chose to go with Luigi's Mansion instead but that was the exception. I remember that game impressing the hell out of me in Toys R Us back in the day. The Gamecube really was a great system, but it just couldn't compete with the sheer amount of titles that the PS2 pumped out. The PS2 launch wasn't even that great, but as usual Nintendo launched their system after Sony, so they went up against a fully powered Sony juggernaut and the newly formed Xbox. The Wii started a fad with a unique gimmick which they tried to replicate with the Wii U, despite there being a number of good games for the console, they failed horribly.
Now the Switch will launch with one of the most anticipated Zelda entries in years and that is about it, but you can also get that on the Wii U which no one except me bought apparently. I actually feel like they have most of their people working on it or have at various points. They do have a couple of their main teams on secret projects, with the Mario Kart 8 lead being on one of those.
Probably Animal Crossing related. Come to think of it, that would take advantage of the mobile aspect of the console most likely...probably make you go out in the sun or some shit. There is that Quality of Life stuff they were going on about. /s
The Japanese launch gets a couple other good games with it, but that won't change the vast majorities opinion. Some have theorized that they are staggering out their releases to avoid what happened with the Wii U gaming drought, which I tend to agree with. They only need to beat the Xbox One, but they can't even do that because they lack competitive FPS titles. They are trying to change that with Splatoon, but they need at least one or two other original IP's to fill that hole. Selling a lot in Japan won't cut it. People keep clamoring for Metroid, but that won't sell systems either. People wanted Star Fox and they got it and moved on indifferent to what they got. Sometimes the loudest fans don't amount to sales. People always talked about that game and it sold like shit. It leads me to believe that some of it is nostalgia with no real intent on buying the product. That and the game was average.
This probably confused Nintendo not knowing that most people hated the motion control scheme on the Wii U, not necessarily the games. They weren't crazy for it like Miyamoto and his goofy fucking faces he makes while playing with the stuff. Seriously the Wii U is cool, but they failed to use the tablet beyond a couple of games. Forcing people to develop for it doesn't help either.
Right now Nintendo fans want Animal Crossing and Metroid for sure, which I am 99% sure are in the works, but for people like me that won't cut it. I want new IP's like Splatoon, but not that because I want something else. Buy something from someone else, like Konami's entire fucking library. Make some new characters that aren't related to Mario, Kong, Fox, Samus, or Zelda more often. The occasional Pikmin does not cut it.
Here is a list of some of their IP's currently:
Mario Party series
Mario & Luigi series
Mario RPG includes Paper Mario series
The Legend of Zelda series
Metroid series
Pokémon series
Yoshi series
Star Fox series
Animal Crossing series
Fire Emblem series
Kirby series
Nintendo Wars series
Advance Wars series
Pikmin series
Donkey Kong series
Super Smash Bros. series
StarTropics series
Earthbound (Mother) series
The Legendary Starfy series
F-Zero series
Kid Icarus series
Golden Sun series
Wario series
WarioWare series
Punch-Out series
Wii series
Custom Robo series
Chibi-Robo series
Sin and Punishment series
Joy Mech Fight series
Rhythm Heaven series
Wave Race series
Off the top of my head a Pokemon console RPG or MMORPG would be a no brainer. Problem is they need to get some servers that aren't shit to run a MMO. Charging for that is a start and those complaining are part of the reason Nintendo is so slow to change shit. They hate rocking the boat. They like a little change at a time.
It is interesting to see them do Arms instead of PunchOut. Gotta give them props for that. Does anyone think that Wario needs a console entry? It always seemed to me like a good opportunity for Nintendo to let you play the bad guy for real. Do a Bully inspired Wario game where you go around doing fucked up shit. Star Tropics could use a reboot actually. Put Golden Sun into the limelight and try to turn it into the next Final Fantasy. The one thing they always have lacked is a solid RPG franchise that is not tied to some mascot character.
Check this list of unreleased Nintendo games out:
http://www.acriticalhit.com/top-20-games-nintendo-wouldnt-release-in-the-us/
A list like this is an example of how you can bring new titles to the west while appeasing your core fanbase. Devil World for instance has been referenced in Super Smash Brothers but the game never came to the US, even though it is a really cool Pacman clone with dark imagery, which is part of why it never came over here. But why is it still not released over here? There is no dialog to translate.
The Mystery Of Murasame Castle is basically a pre-cursor to Zelda, but it never came over. It is actually really cool and referenced in Smash once again, but no release over here. Why not make a next gen version of this? Wouldn't it be cool to see a samurai game by Nintendo that plays like Zelda?
In that link you can see they thought there was no audience for turn-based games in the US so they never brought over NES Wars which later became Advance Wars. They could be leading the way in turn based RTS games on consoles with Switch, but I doubt they will explore that option. I saw they will release Puyo Puyo Tetris in Japan, but it is not releasing in the US, so that figures.
If they did somehow manage make a new Earthbound (Mother) game though...