Two Major Nintendo Franchises May Be Coming For The Switch

News has been flying like crazy involving the Nintendo Switch, including what games it may or may not see added to its library in the future. In a recent interview, one Nintendo exec offered a bit of hope for diehard fans that two beloved IP's might one day make a triumphant return.

Speaking with the team at GameSpot, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime said that fans of Nintendo games need to know that they have been perusing the message boards and forums, and are very much aware of what gamers are asking for on Nintendo platforms, such as the Switch. He specifically name-dropped Mother 3, and the Metroid series before stating that the developer takes fan input to heart when deciding what to work on next.

This could, of course, just be a polite brushoff. Fans have been vocal about wanting Mother 3 in the US and a "proper" new Metroid game, but maybe Nintendo's numbers look different that what we're seeing. We assume they've got to have good reason to keep putting these projects off.

As for fans, those particular titles can't come soon enough. Mother 3, for starters, is the third entry in the series known as Earthbound here in the States. The game launched in Japan back in 2006, but never got an official translation for other regions. Nintendo even brought the original Earthbound to Virtual Console this past year, finally giving folks an opportunity to put their money where their mouth is and pick up a digital version of the lighthearted JRPG. If Nintendo hasn't been gung-ho to bring Mother 3 to the west, we can't help but wonder if maybe it didn't sell as well as expected on the Wii U marketplace. We also can't help but wonder if those number would change if Nintendo brought Earthbound, and literally any other SNES game, to the 3DS.

And then there's Metroid, a series that fans want to see an official entry in, and apparently not a spinoff. Fans are still clamoring for a new Metroid game, as the poorly received Other M on Wii and Federation Force on 3DS apparently just weren't cutting it. We understand folks not buying into the lackluster Other M, but we think they might be surprised if they just gave Federation Force a shot. But the message here is clear from the consumers: They want Samus in a new Metroid Prime game, period.

Reggie says those messages have been heard loud and clear, so we suppose you can check back in about a year and see what he has to say on the matter.