Amiibo Intro Skit:
Winter Isabelle: We wants it. We needs it. Must have the Animal Crossing, they stole it from us. Sneaky little Nintendos!
Isabelle: Noo… not Nintendo, they’re my friends.
Winter Isabelle: Nintendo isn’t your friend! They don’t want Animal Crossing!
Isabelle: I’m not listening! Nintendo does want Animal Crossing. It’s coming, I know it!
Winter Isabelle: They’re liars. They’re not making a new Animal Crossing.
Isabelle: Yes they are! Move out of my town and never come back!
What Would Keep Nintendo from Announcing Animal Crossing?
Is Nintendo ready to announce Animal Crossing? Throughout this series, I have been providing a lot of reasons why I think Nintendo could announce Animal Crossing. While I personally think Animal Crossing is going to be a 2019 game, I do think there are reasons Nintendo wouldn’t announce Animal Crossing at E3 this year.
Please don’t hate me! I want a new Animal Crossing game more than any other video game period. I’m just really hyped right now and think it would be good to look at why Nintendo wouldn’t announce Animal Crossing Switch. Without further ado, let’s see the possible reasons Nintendo would break our hearts.
Nintendo’s 2018 E3 Announcement
Nintendo has announced its plans for E3 2018, but they mentioned the presentation would be focused on 2018 games. While they have said this in the past, they haven’t really followed through. Last E3, we got the same type of announcement and Nintendo said they’d be focused on games coming in 2017. However, there were plenty 2018 or later games announced. These announcements included Kirby Star Allies, Yoshi, Metroid Prime 4, and Pokemon.
While I don’t think it’s likely that Nintendo would really stick to announcements for games coming in 2018, it is a possibility. Nintendo is known for being ambiguous with their press releases. Just look at the Nintendo Switch Online Service. While we have gotten a general idea of what the service will provide, they haven’t been the best at answering our questions.
I think Nintendo is always playing it safe with their initial announcements for events just to give us some surprises during the actual show. It could be a possibility that Nintendo keep to its announcement and stick to 2018 games, but I doubt we won’t see any big surprises.
The Nintendo Release Schedule is Full
Back in January of 2017, one of the first Switch games that was announced was Fire Emblem Switch. It was planned for 2018. At E3 2017, Nintendo announced a lot of 2018 or later games. Of the games they announced for 2018 or later we have yet to get more information on Yoshi, Super Smash Bros., and Metroid Prime 4. Nintendo has just confirmed that Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu and Let’s Go Eevee would come out this November.
Fire Emblem, Yoshi, and Super Smash Bros still need to get the same confirmation Pokemon just did. Overall, there could be 4 games coming out between August and December. Assuming Nintendo releases one first party game per month, that only leaves one space for another game. But Nintendo has had skipped months in the past.
If Nintendo is really tied to only talking about 2018 games and Animal Crossing isn’t part of that list, I could see them skipping the news for Animal Crossing. But like I said, I still think Nintendo loves surprising us. I’m sure we’re going to see some trailers for 2019 games. Especially with announcements for Pokemon and Smash already out of the way.
Nintendo Shortening the Time Between Announcement and Release
One big reason I could see Nintendo skipping the announcement is that they want to avoid a 3 year wait like the one we had for New Leaf. The Video Game industry is notorious for keeping us waiting. I’m looking at you Kingdom Hearts 3. It has been the norm for games to be announced way before they were complete and fans are left waiting for years before the game finally has a release date.
With the Nintendo Switch, Nintendo has done one thing that is truly unbelievable. In 2017, they didn’t delay a single game. Even Xenoblade Chronicles 2 came out on time, and nobody expected it to! Nintendo announced games for the Switch, and they came out within 12 months of their announcement.
We’re not used to seeing such a quick turnaround time for video games in the industry as a whole. And like I said, we waited 3 years for the last Animal Crossing to be released. It was first show at E3 2010 and finally released just before E3 2013. If Nintendo doesn’t think Animal Crossing will be ready for a 2019 release, I could see them skipping the announcement.
Could Nintendo Be Saving the Announcement for An Animal Crossing Direct?
Finally, the last reason I could see Nintendo skipping an announcement at E3 is because they are planning to have an Animal Crossing Direct. Like I said, Animal Crossing is a huge money maker for Nintendo and a dedicated direct is a great way to show off the game. Animal Crossing has gotten directs in the past and it would make sense to do so again.
I’ve heard many people express that it doesn’t make sense to show Animal Crossing at E3 because it doesn’t demo well. I feel this ignores that we’ve always seen Animal Crossing games announced at E3 and not every game announced needs to be demoed. Regardless, if Nintendo isn’t ready to show the game just yet, a Direct later on would make sense.
Unfortunately, Nintendo wasn’t ready to show us Animal Crossing Switch at the Animal Crossing Direct they had in October of last year. Maybe it was because the game wasn’t planned for 2018 and they wanted to give us a short wait time. I’m sure they have a huge calendar with their plans over the next 5 years of the Switch’s lifetime, and I don’t see Animal Crossing being left out.
It doesn’t make sense to me that they aren’t working on a new mainline game considering the last one we got was in 2012/2013. If the game were to come out in 2019, that would be a 6 or 7 year wait. That is a long time to wait for a new game, so I’m thinking an announcement could be imminent.
Get More Animal Crossing Switch News!
Thank you for watching this episode! I will put out a new episode of Is it Time for Animal Crossing Switch every Friday until E3, 2018! Next week is our final look at why I think it’s time for Animal Crossing Switch to get announced.
Want more content about Animal Crossing Switch? Listen to Haken: An Animal Crossing Podcast. My podcast about all things Animal Crossing. New episodes are out every Tuesday!
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