With many Nintendo fans wondering what their plans were for 2020, the fever pitch was at an all time high.  At Nintendo’s earnings report a few weeks ago there wasn’t much talk about 2020 with only Animal Crossing: New Horizons being the only major title with a firm release date. After that the only other two titles that are currently listed as 2020 are Xenoblade Chronicles: The Definitive Edition and Bravely Default 2. Nothing against those two games but those aren’t system sellers in the traditional sense. That kind of release line up isn’t going to do much to help with your stock price either. 

Just a few days before the report, near the end of January, the stock was trading at 49.73 and as of closing this week it is currently at 44.35. This is almost an eleven percent drop in just over a month which is troubling. There are most likely other factors involved but the two main issues appear to be virus concerns and the non existent 2020 release schedule.  

As I mentioned before, I fully expect Nintendo to have some huge first party titles this year. The most likely possibilities including a Metroid Prime Trilogy, Breath of the Wild sequel, mainline Mario game or even possibly the next Mario Kart.  I would love to see them bring back the double dash mechanic of having two racers on a kart. All of these games are major system sellers and with Sony and Microsoft both releasing new consoles this year, Nintendo needs to be competitive. 

Back to the matter at hand, Nintendo announced their first major Direct of the year with a focus on Animal Crossing: New Horizons.  This was an in depth look at the latest entry in the franchise that is due out in less than a month on March 20th. The same day that Doom Eternal is being released and I am looking forward to both. With the release date approaching fast, Nintendo did a very deep dive on all the features including in New Horizons. The Direct was almost half an hour and if you are a hardcore fan, you might want to enjoy every morsel but that’s a long time to listen to them list off the features. We actually dissected the video into under 4 minutes featuring the biggest takeaways from the Direct. If you missed it or didn’t want to spend half an hour then you can check out our video, the link will be in the description. 

To give a quick recap when you start the game you will select your island layout and the hemisphere you are in.  Both of these choices don’t have much weight but they do add a small amount of personal touch to your island. 

When you first get to the island you will be given shelter to set up along with a few basic items. After that you will need to make your way to resident services where you will the vendor area as well as the initial crafting area.  After that and obviously after earn enough currency you will be able to build a house, expand on it and decorate it as you like. 

There is an airport on the island, which will be how you invite friends either locally or online and it will also be the place where you can send items to friends. When you invite friends you don’t have to worry that they will destroy your island as only people who you deem as best friends are allowed to use tools.  The airport will also be the place where you fly to other deserted islands in search of unique items for selling or crafting. 

In terms of multiplayer, you can play up to eight people on the same island. Using one Switch and one game you can play four at a time and with another system and game you will be able to have all eight at once. Of course, you can all just come and go as you please. 

Depending on the season you will be doing different things such as in the winter you will be building snowmen and in the fall looks like you will be harvesting. In terms of seasons, it looks like there will always be plenty to do on the island with free updates based around dates like Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. This is kind of in the vein of a live service game with events to keep you engaged in the ecosystem. 

One of the big new additions is the Nook Phone, which will be your hub for almost everything. You can design on the phone, use the map on your phone, and use the phone to get rescued in case you get stuck or lost.  However, the most important item on the phone is the Nook Miles App which is basically your progression system where you can earn miles for completing tasks and activities.  These miles can then be redeemed towards items in the game or even use to pay down your debt.

Finally, to truly personalize your island you will have to get construction permits.  These permits will allow you to landscape by adding different types of paths and bridges around the island. There are also permits for waterscaping which are exactly what they sound like and allow you to alter the terrain to change the flow of the bodies of water around the island. 

There are plenty of new additions to New Horizons but those were the biggest takeaways from the Direct. While we now know a lot more about Animal Crossing, we are still very much in the dark about the rest of Nintendo’s plan for 2020. This leads me to believe that it most likely won’t be too long before we get another Direct featuring the first half of their plans for 2020. I don’t know that they would want to take attention away from Animal Crossing, so I would expect a new Direct shortly after the release of New Horizons.