This week in Nintendo Switch Rumours – Pokémon Stars, Zelda delays and Rabbids?

We try to avoid posting rumours as much as possible on Vooks, it’s part of our news policy and has been for years. You all seem to love it. We’ve seen the Switch and what it can do but know almost nothing else about it and what games are coming to it, outside of the trailer at least. So instead of ignoring it, we’re going to collect them and analyse them.

When we knew the Switch as just the NX we ran a weekly round up for crazy and not so crazy rumours. Now even with the Switch revealed the rumours haven’t stopped and this week has been a doozy. We’re talking Pokemon, Zelda, Mario and even Rabbids? Let’s take a look at the week in Nintendo Switch rumours.

The Rumour: Pokémon Sun and Moon gets ‘third’ game coming to Switch, called Pokémon Star

Pokémon Sun & Moon hasn’t even been out 72 hours in Australia, it’s not even out in Europe and there’s rumours of a new version of the game coming to the Switch.

Eurogamer is reporting that a ‘third’ entry like we’ve seen in the past will be coming to the Switch, its name – Pokémon Stars. According to the report the version was in development at the same time as the 3DS version of the game but was paused when the 3DS game needed its final polish. Pokémon Stars is also set to be only released on the Switch.

Eurogamer also believes the following artwork of a high resolution Pikipek is destined for Pokémon Stars.

Picture: Eurogamer

Pokémon Stars is said to have improved graphics, but retain the same art style. You’ll also be able to transfer your Pokémon from Sun & Moon via Pokémon Box to the Switch version.

The game isn’t due for a while though as to not take away from the release of Pokémon Sun & Moon, it was being prepped for the middle of 2017 but as you’re about to learn – some things have been delayed lately.

The Verdict

Out of all the rumours this week, this one seems the most legitimate. Nintendo is going all out with the Switch and being the ‘next’ console despite what Nintendo say it’s going to need a Pokémon game eventually. Pokémon Sun & Moon are pushing the 3DS to the absolute extreme and with art its style, being rendered a higher resolution should be ‘good enough’.

Eurogamer were spot on with the their initial NX report, we see no reason not to believe this one.

Finally a home console Pokémon title – only took twenty years.

The Rumour: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild won’t make a  March 2017 release

Nintendo has spoken about The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild as coming in 2017, exactly that is has remained a mystery. So whenever it actually was meant to come out, looks like it won’t be March.

Emily Rogers, whose track record with Nintendo rumours is strong, has reported that the game is now due for release in the middle of 2017. The reason for the delay? Nintendo grossly underestimated just how long it would take to localise the game and has fallen behind, there’s not enough time to translate then test the game before March.

The Verdict 

A hard one to comment on because it’s never really been clear from Nintendo when in 2017 Zelda was meant to come out. They’ve mentioned both March 2017 and just plain old 2017. Whatever the case it looks like there will be enough to play on the Switch at launch even if Zelda isn’t there – but it would have made a great impact if it was right?

Funnier though is the thought of a release on the Wii U in the middle of 2017, if Nintendo stick to their current schedule that will mean since Paper Mario: Color Splash‘s release and the middle of next year, around nine months will have passed without a release from Nintendo on the console. Wow.

The Rumour: Ubisoft is working on a Super Mario and Rabbid crossover RPG

Ubisoft has said they’re working on other Switch games than the Just Dance series and they also have a surprise game in the works. So surprise! According to LetsPlayVideoGames, Ubisoft is working on a game under the current working title of Mario RPG: Invasion of the Rabbids in collaboration with Nintendo.

“The title will focus on the Mario universe being invaded by Ubisoft’s Rabbids characters, some friend and some foe, and will feature a new Bowser form based around the design of the Rabbids as a recurring boss enemy. While there will be numerous cameo appearances from the Mario series’ best known characters, the core party will feature numerous, more minor characters. There is a particular focus on Yoshi as a primary party member, alongside a playable Rabbid.” – Read more

The game is said to playable at the press Switch event in January and offer an interesting save system to switch (ha) between TV and portable play.

The Verdict

There’s no way whether to know this is true of course, but why not – Nintendo’s working with everyone lately in cross promotion why not Ubisoft. Rabbids though?

The Rumour: Super Mario, Skyrim, and Splatoon to be available at launch

Another rumour from LetsPlayVideoGames again this week pertains to just what games will be out at launch and even one that might be packed in. According to the site both the new Super Mario game and Skyrim will be there day one. There’s also some details about what Mario will be like.

The title will apparently feature a 3D open world hub from which different worlds can be selected, with multiple objectives to complete in each, much like Mario 64 or Mario Galaxy. This may seem obvious, but we share this information to specify that this will not be a Super Mario 3D World-style game where the action is in 3D, but each stage is a linear path designed to be completed a single time.

The another big part of the report is that Splatoon will be there as a pack-in, however only in a a more expensive SKU of the Switch.

A big part of the push for this will be a 1 vs 1 mode where two players on separate Switches can fight over a map, switching their weapon of choice at will mid-game. Nintendo expects the short match nature of Splatoon to translate well to handheld multiplayer, in that players need only commit a few minutes to a full multiplayer match.

There are also plans to add additional single player content to the game, and for the Switch version of the game to have a similar free content output schedule to the one the Wii U version of the game enjoyed.

There’s also a rumour this week of pricing of the Switch in Europe (again from LetsPlayVideoGames), we have no idea how the UK market is so we’re not going to even try and cover that one.

The Verdict

Like a broken record here, all of the above sounds nice but again we’re unable to confirm the rumours. LetsPlayVideoGames’s have been accurate so far, but they’re just one source.

So then, what’s your verdict on this week’s rumours?