Switch Sports (More Sports?)

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Published on June 11, 2022 1:10:19 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTAcfyJrJQo

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Review

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Nintendo Switch Sports (Are More Sports Coming?)

In the past, I would say that that once a Nintendo game was released, it’s finished and it would never see updates. However, recently we have seen Nintendo change their stance to try to keep the sales momentum going on certain titles.

With Nintendo Switch Sports, we already know that golf is coming in a free update later in the fall, which is fantastic because the biggest problem with Nintendo Switch Sports is the lack of activities. It doesn’t help that two of the six sports are racquet based and soccer is weird without the leg strap because using your arms to kick is strange.

The big hope is that if more sports are added after golf, they are added free as well and not as an extra charge or put behind the Nintendo Switch Online paywall like some of their other updates including Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Packs, Animal Crossing DLC.

To be clear, I have no issue with charging for those other titles because those titles felt like full games upon release whereas Nintendo Switch Sports felt unfinished because it only had six sports. Wii Sports came with 5, but it was a free game that came with the Wii. Wii Sports Resort had 12 but was also packed in with a fairly essential accessory for the Wii with the Wii Motion Plus.

Wii Sports sold around 82 million but those sales are hard to compare with other games because it was packed in with the Wii for the majority of the system’s lifespan. Wii Sports Resort sold over 33 million and was the third best selling game on the Wii. Nintendo Switch Sports can join this club with the right pathing moving forward due to the install base of Nintendo Switch.

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The most obvious hint for new sports are the areas on the zoomed out map of Spocco Square beside the bowling and tennis areas that look like they would be perfect sections for two new sports. One of the areas is located right on the water and has plenty of open dock spaces available. Wii Sports Resort had a few water sports including wakeboarding and canoeing making this is a strong possibility. Nintendo still has one of the best water physics games to date with WaveRace64 and it would be great to see that level of physics powered on the Switch.

The other indication that more sports are coming after golf is at the bottom of Chambara, when you are knocked off the podium into the water below, there is a small boat with paddles resting on the edge of the pool. The chambara pool is too small for any type of boating, so why would they put it there, unless it’s a subtle hint.

Nintendo doesn’t have to reinvent the wheel with new sports as they have many sports to pick from the previous titles that aren’t included with the biggest fan requests outside of golf being baseball and boxing, especially with the lack of Punch Out on the Switch.

Nintendo Switch Sports has big shoes to fill in the sales department when it comes to its predecessors and we won’t find out just how well its selling until Nintendo’s next earnings report on August 3. However, early indications are very positive. On the April NPD report, Nintendo Switch Sports placed 5th on the chart which is pretty incredible for two reasons. Nintendo doesn’t divulge their digital sales and Nintendo Switch Sports was released on April 29th, meaning this only includes one day of sales. This bodes very well for the future sales of Nintendo Switch Sports because it doesn’t seem like a day one purchase for most.

The long term support of Switch Sports is easily tied to sales and if Nintendo see strong consistent sales, then the odds of adding more sports become drastically higher. According to the team, development started on Nintendo Switch Sports not long after the release of the Nintendo Switch. This means that this Switch Sports has been in development for around five years and likely more sports have already been prototyped and developed.

Our elevator review for Nintendo Switch Sports is that the foundation is good and it’s fun but there just isn’t enough variety at the moment. Adding in new sports every six months to a year would keep Nintendo Switch Sports in the conversation and could easily make it a must for new Switch buyers, especially the ones who have a fond memory of Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort.

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