Nintendo may be preparing new Switch 2 games for both Super Smash Bros. and Nintendogs, according to claims from a leaker whose recent track record has drawn attention. While Nintendo has already brought several of its biggest franchises to Switch 2, some of its most recognizable series still lack dedicated entries for the new console.
Neither franchise currently has a native Switch 2 game, and both have gone years without a new installment. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate launched on Switch in 2018 and remains playable on the newer console through backward compatibility, but Nintendo has not announced a Switch 2 Edition or successor just yet. Nintendogs never came to the Switch, with Nintendogs + Cats on Nintendo 3DS serving as the series’ last major release in 2011. That makes the rumor of another Smash Bros. relatively easy to imagine, while reviving Nintendogs after roughly 15 years would be considerably more surprising.
New Smash Bros. and Nintendogs Games Could Be Coming to Switch 2
The rumors come from a mysterious YouTube account called Malo932, whose comments appear to have since been deleted. According to screenshots and transcriptions published by VICE, a user asked whether Super Smash Bros. Ultimate could receive a Switch 2 version, prompting Malo932 to claim that Nintendo is instead working on an entirely new Smash Bros. game. However, no release window, developer, roster information, or details about Masahiro Sakurai’s potential involvement were provided. Malo932 separately teased the return of a forgotten Nintendo series with references to barking and dogs, which has been widely interpreted as Nintendogs by readers online. Nintendo has not announced either project, so both claims remain firmly in rumor territory.
Rearrange the covers into the correct US release order.
Rearrange the covers into the correct US release order.
Easy (5)Medium (7)Hard (10)
The potential Nintendogs revival has drawn plenty of attention. Malo932 never actually named the franchise, meaning the interpretation is still based entirely on the account’s unusually obvious dog-related hints. Fans discussing the possibility have already imagined how Switch 2 hardware could support the concept, particularly its microphone and mouse-style Joy-Con controls, although there is no evidence that Nintendo intends to use either feature for such a game. Reddit reaction has been especially enthusiastic about Nintendogs, while some commenters have described another Super Smash Bros. as the safer of Malo932’s two predictions.
Malo932 has drawn more attention recently because some earlier comments preceded genuine Nintendo announcements. Most notably, the account teased a “double appointment” for Zelda and Nintendo fans days before Nintendo confirmed a Zelda 40th Anniversary Direct for September 8 and a general Direct for September 9. Earlier in the year, Malo932 also mentioned an Ocarina of Time remake and new Star Fox projects before similar reports became more widely circulated. However, the account has made plenty of predictions that remain unverified, including a new Wario Land, a Super Metroid remake, and a new 3D Mario.
Of the two possibilities, a completely new Super Smash Bros. may ultimately raise the bigger design question. Ultimate built much of its identity around assembling an enormous roster of returning fighters, leaving Nintendo with the difficult task of following something deliberately presented as the culmination of the series. A new Nintendogs, meanwhile, would represent the more unexpected revival and give Switch 2 another type of game entirely. Both would make sense additions to Nintendo’s lineup for very different reasons, but until the company makes an announcement, Switch 2 owners should treat these rumored returns as possibilities rather than confirmed releases.
- Released
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December 7, 2018
- ESRB
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E for Everyone: Cartoon Violence, Comic Mischief, Suggestive Themes
- Publisher(s)
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Nintendo
