What’s Nintendo doing in 2022? We take a guess

We’re back again, we’ve done this now the last two years in a row and it’s proved to be a hit. Even if we’ve mostly got it wrong – but there are parts we’ve got right too!

If you want to check those out, here’s the 2021 article, and the 2020 article.

There’s only one thing we can be sure of in 2022 and that’s the planet will continue to rotate around the sun, predicting Nintendo is nearly impossible so let’s take a stab at it anyway.

This article is just a bit of fun, we probably won’t get anything right but if we do remember where you heard it first. Not from that person on Twitter.

A new 3D Mario Title

The safest prediction of them all has to be a new 3D Mario game. It’s been four years since Super Mario Odyssey. We got a taste of what we think the next Mario game will be like with Bowser’s Fury – it’s time.

There’s also another thing happening this year with Mario, and there’s the animated Super Mario movie coming in November. Now would Nintendo make a game based on the film? No, probably not, but a brand new Mario game on the shelves that comes out around the same time is wise.

Just remember that anyone who says they know a Mario game is coming this year is taking the safest bets and probably full of it.

Why it will happen: Because I want it
Why it won’t happen: Chris Pratt

Nintendo continues to ignore Donkey Kong

Last year was the 40th anniversary of Donkey Kong, the game that made them a household name outside of Japan. Nintendo will do a half-decade anniversary for every other franchise, but the king turns 40, and we get absolutely nothing?

Aside from the port of Tropical Freeze on the Switch in 2018, the last original Donkey Kong game released was Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars on the Wii U and 3DS – even then, that’s not really a Donkey Kong game.

We’d love to see another 2D platformer, or since we’re in the peak age of early 2000s nostalgia – let’s see Donkey Kong 64 again, just maybe tightened up a bit.

Why they will still ignore DK: Retro is busy to be fair
Why they won’t ignore DK: We haven’t got a Mario vs DK in a long time, and we love them right?

New Xenoblade Game

If there’s one thing that sells more consistently than Xenoblade games, it’s got to be something like cheese. The Xenoblade franchise isn’t the best selling franchise globally, but every game has consistently sold just enough to keep it alive.

Combine that with a very dedicated and loving fanbase, and you have something worth putting out a new instalment or port every couple of years. It’s been four years since we got Xenoblade 2, and the port of Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition, although only coming out last year, sold almost as much as the sequel. The power of the Switch!

Why it will happen: They sell consistently
Why it won’t happen: Monolith is too busy on the five other games they’re helping on

No more Wii U ports, except…

The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker and Twilight Princess. You know they’re just sitting somewhere at Nintendo HQ just waiting to be released pending something to be delayed and for them to slot into that spot.

If that sounds familiar, it’s because in January 2013, during a Nintendo Direct, Eiji Aonuma came out to talk about what eventually would be known as Breath of the Wild and instead, because the game was still a while away, offered us what would be known as Wind Waker HD.

We’re going to get Wind Waker HD when something else gets delayed again.

Why it will happen: Breath of the Wild sequel will be delayed
Why it won’t happen: God please don’t delay it

No Wii U ports, instead Wii Sports

Because in our little prediction world, we’ve got no more Wii U ports on the way, instead Nintendo is going to port Wii Sports. Yeah, we got a port of this one in HD on the Wii U, and technically that busts the point above as it’ll more likely be based on that. But the world is ready for another Wii Sports game.

Ring Fit Adventure is the new hotness, of course, and selling exceptionally well, but we’re 15 years since the original Wii Sports and the Wii dropped, time to cash that nostalgia in.

Why it will happen: Just do it Nintendo
Why it won’t happen: We’ll get a 1-2 Switch sequel instead

Just the one Pokemon Game

Pokémon: Legends Arceus is just a couple of weeks away, and Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearly are just a couple of months old at this point. There’s no way there’s any capacity for anyone to bring another “big” Pokémon game this year. Sure we’ll get Pokémon Sleep or some other small spin-offs, there will be more holo-wears than you can imagine in Pokémon Unite, but a brand new generation of Pokémon games? That feels way off at this point.

Why it will happen: Pokémon Let’s Go Johto
Why it won’t happen: Game Freak are still working on Arceus

We’ll see Prime 4, but we’ll get Metroid Prime Trilogy

After the enormous success of Metroid Dread, Nintendo is going to be super keen to keep the Metroid morph ball rolling. There’s no way Metroid Prime 4 comes out this year, but like, come on – Metroid Prime Trilogy has to be a lock at this point. If it’s not this year, we’re never going to see it.

Why we’ll see Metroid Prime Trilogy: Come on already
Why we won’t see Metroid Prime Trilogy: To prove the leakers wrong.

Xbox Game Pass Streaming on Switch

We’ve started to see more and more streaming options come to the Nintendo Switch, even if not all of them make it to Australia. So why not bet big and bet that Xbox Game Pass Streaming is coming to the Switch?

Maybe it’ll come but it’ll be missing games already available offline to buy on the Switch, but it could happen right?

Least then we’d get bloody Perfect Dark back on a Nintendo console.

Why it will happen: Capitalism
Why it won’t happen: It just feels icky

So there you go, just a few silly ideas about what Nintendo might be up to in 2022, maybe some of them are less silly than the others. There’s one thing we can be sure of, whatever happens, it’ll probably be what we least expect, but it’s also pretty safe.

Bring on the rest of the year. What do you think or hope to see from Nintendo in 2022. Let us know in the comments.