Here’s what to expect from Nintendo in 2026
Here’s what we can expect from Nintendo in 2026: video games. And also spending a ton of money on them. So far, Nintendo’s first and second-party output includes Mario Tennis Fever, Pokemon Pokopia, Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, Rhythm Heaven Groove, Splatoon Raiders, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave, and Switch 2 Editions of Super Mario Bros. Wonder and Animal Crossing: New Horizons. We’re already getting these games, so I won’t talk about any of these titles at length. Instead, we’re talking about all-new content we can potentially look forward to this year.
Switch 2’s price is increased
Starting off with the bad news first, it’s extremely likely that Nintendo Switch 2 sees a price increase sometime in 2026. The announcement of United States tariffs already threatened to increase the console’s price in 2025, but fortunately Nintendo held fast to its $449.99 price tag. This time around, the price of memory chips is quickly increasing thanks to AI data centers. Computers, phones, tablets, and game consoles will all be affected by this pricing to an extent, even if Nintendo winds up striking a deal with a production company to get cheaper rates on memory chips. Unfortunately, not much can be done about this until the AI bubble eventually bursts. By the way, I’m probably the least qualified person to talk about economics and whatnot, so this is just a really simplified description of what’s going on.
If we were to make a completely uneducated guess, we could potentially expect a price bump of at least $50. Incidentally, that means if you’re even thinking about getting a Nintendo Switch 2 but don’t have one yet, you should probably pick one up before the inevitable price increase if at all possible. With all this in mind, the Mario Kart World bundle actually was a solid deal for $500 in June 2025, but production on it has now been discontinued. There are still units available in-store and online, though – for the time being. Many computer manufacturers have warned consumers of incoming price hikes, which in some cases could be up to an extra 20 percent. If you multiply Nintendo Switch 2’s price of $450 by 1.2x, you get $540. Let’s hope it doesn’t become that expensive. Back in the day, I used to be huge into amiibo training – I miss the days when the only AI I had to work around was training an amiibo in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, but that’s just me. Oh well!
Something for Zelda’s 40th anniversary
It’s way too early to expect a new 2D or 3D Zelda game at this point – we’d be absolutely shocked if either one turned out to be the case. Tears of the Kingdom released in 2023 while Echoes of Wisdom released in 2024. And Nintendo has already remade / remastered every 3D Zelda game up to and including Skyward Sword. For Zelda’s 40th anniversary, we could potentially see Twilight Princess HD and The Wind Waker HD on Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, but we’ve been saying this for like seven years at this point. It’s entirely possible that now we’re definitely getting them, but it makes you wonder why they didn’t already put these remakes on Nintendo Switch in years past. Plus, The Wind Waker is available on GameCube Nintendo Switch Online already, and Twilight Princess is likely following suit eventually.
What we’d really be interested in is a full remake of Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask – not just a port of the 3DS versions, but a completely new remake in HD. Ocarina of Time 3D was considered a great remake, but Majora’s Mask 3D missed the mark in many ways. We’d love to see a new take on these games for Zelda’s 40th anniversary – both in the same bundle, if possible. Knowing Nintendo these days, though, they’d be more than happy charging $70 for each remake. Let’s hope I didn’t just give them that idea.
The tenth generation of Pokemon
This is pretty much confirmed, thanks to numerous internal leaks from The Pokemon Company. I’m extremely cautiously optimistic for these games, and also a little bit concerned – mostly concerned, actually. As I’ve written about at length, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet launched in a shockingly poor state for a main series Pokemon game. Sure, Legends Arceus and Sword and Shield caught some criticism too, but Scarlet and Violet make those titles look super clean and polished. Pokemon’s ninth generation suffered from so many problems. It was ambitious, but the environments looked terrible, the game stuttered and lagged, and there were tons of visual glitches during regular gameplay. To be honest, there’d have to be an internal disaster within Pokemon to release a game in a worse state than Scarlet and Violet. Hopefully with Nintendo Switch 2’s newfound power, we can get a main series Pokemon game that looks great and runs great. Big ask, I know!
Pokemon Legends: Z-A looks fine, but that’s exactly it – it just looks fine. The flat buildings draw the most criticism, and while we’re on that subject, here’s a fun fact: the buildings weren’t always flat. According to leaked early builds of the game, the buildings were once 3D objects with 3D balconies and windows. We can only assume these were changed to flat objects when Game Freak realized all those 3D models slowed down the original Nintendo Switch, but again, that’s just an assumption and not at all fact. Regardless, I’ll give the tenth generation Pokemon games a shot and hope for the very best.
Mario Kart World DLC
In a sense, it makes sense as to why Mario Kart World doesn’t have true DLC yet – Nintendo probably wanted to give Kirby Air Riders a minute to breathe. That game isn’t getting any major content updates or DLC, though, which paves the way for Mario Kart World to receive content this year. A Donkey Kong-focused DLC pack would go a long way – we have no idea how they’re going to add new courses, but outfits for Pauline and DK alongside new characters like Diddy Kong, Dixie Kong, Cranky Kong, and Void Kong would be incredibly cool additions. There’s quite literally a treasure trove of Mario characters that could be added to this game as DLC. Any kind of new content is welcomed!
If there is DLC, hopefully it’s not too expansive. When I picked up my Nintendo Switch 2 from GameStop on launch day, they were all out of Mario Kart World bundles, so I had to get the game separately for $80. Of course, many players got it for $50, but plenty wound up going for the physical version instead. Paying $80 on top of another $35 is incredibly steep, especially if there somehow winds up being multiple paid DLCs. Don’t price it too high, Nintendo!
No Smash, Animal Crossing, or 3D Mario
We would absolutely love to be proven wrong here, but we’re purposefully lowering my expectations just to be on the safe side. For one, there’s no way we can get a brand new Super Smash Bros. game in 2026 if Masahiro Sakurai is going to be involved – he just finished Kirby Air Riders, so if he’s going to work on a new Smash next, we’re not seeing that for several years. The existence of Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ Switch 2 Edition also strongly implies that we’re not getting a new entry this year. 3D Mario is a bit tougher to determine – some say that the 3D Mario team split in two, and that one half developed Donkey Kong Bananza. We have no idea if this is actually true or not, and if there is a 3D Mario close to completion in development, you would think they’d have revealed it during the Nintendo Direct that went over the Super Mario anniversary celebrations – even if it was just a small 5-second logo or something.
And who’s to say what direction the new 3D Mario could take? We wouldn’t be terribly surprised if we got a third Super Mario Galaxy game, given how much Nintendo has been pushing it lately. I think my biggest want with the next 3D Mario is that it doesn’t pointlessly adopt an open-world formula just for the sake of doing it. I’m perfectly fine with another game on the scale of Super Mario Odyssey, with linear kingdoms that still allow a great deal of exploration. We’ll definitely get a 3D Mario sooner or later, I just don’t think it’ll be this year. But again, I’d love to be proven wrong!
Switch 2 Editions galore
Go ahead, Nintendo – make Switch 2 Editions of all four Xenoblade Chronicles games. You know you want to. Admittedly, this is just me hoping to see these rather than me actually thinking they’re going to happen. Still, this one seems like a no-brainer. But if Monolith Soft is already cooking up its next big RPG, then maybe they’re too busy to make Nintendo Switch 2 Editions right now. Personally, I want to see Switch 2 Editions of everything, and by that I mean simple graphics and performance patches. We don’t really need extra content for many Nintendo Switch 1 games in the way that Kirby and the Forgotten Land and Super Mario Bros. Wonder got them. We did get a wave of Nintendo Switch 2 updates at the console’s launch, and with Pikmin 3 Deluxe recently rated for Switch 2, it’s possible we could get another round of Switch 2 updates for select software. These patches would heavily benefit software that doesn’t run well on the original Nintendo Switch, like Kirby Star Allies, Mario & Luigi: Brothership, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, and the like.
Realistically, most Nintendo Switch games will never receive patches. We’ll most likely receive Nintendo Switch 2 updates for Tomodachi Life and Rhythm Heaven, and maybe some more expansions for Switch 1 games even if they don’t necessarily need them. At the end of the day, though, I think Nintendo Switch 1 games looking blurry in handheld mode is the Switch 2’s biggest flaw, and I hope something is done in 2026 to at least partially address this. Let’s start with the Xenoblade patches first up and then we can go from there, right?
Tons of third-party games
Third-party games aren’t from Nintendo, of course, but Switch 2 is in a good spot to get all sorts of popular third-party titles this year. Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition and Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade are some of its most impressive titles, and they’ve set a high bar for ports to follow. As a dedicated Nintendo fan, I pretty much only play Nintendo games, for the most part, and I think it’d be good for me to branch out a bit with some third-party games this year. I’m not really sure how possible any of these ports are, but games like Baldur’s Gate 3, Expedition 33, Monster Hunter Wilds, and the upcoming Persona 6 (not confirmed, but definitely exists) would all be great picks for Nintendo Switch 2, assuming they run well.
“Assuming they run well” is the big thing, then, because even if an awesome third-party game comes to the system, there’s no guarantee that it will run well. From what I can tell, the console has lots of power to offer, but only if developers are willing to put in the time and make a good port. If a port is rushed, it won’t run very well. Launch day Persona 3 Reload is an example as it first released at 30 frames per second with poor frame pacing. That’s since been fixed, at least.
The Nintendo Switch isn’t all done just yet
We’re getting Tomodachi Life and Rhythm Heaven on Nintendo Switch, and Tomodachi Life has real potential to sell over ten million copies. But Nintendo Switch 1’s install base is gigantic, and we wonder if Nintendo will want to appeal to that install base closer to the holiday season with some simple ports. There were rumblings of a Kirby: Planet Robobot port a while back, but it hasn’t happened or even been announced yet. Ports from 3DS, Wii, and Wii U are definitely still possible, so we’ll fire off a whole bunch that I think would be cool to see (even if we only get one or two of these at most): Super Paper Mario, Kirby’s Epic Yarn, Wario Land: Shake It, Punch-Out (the Wii one), A Link Between Worlds, Kirby: Triple Deluxe, Fire Emblem Awakening, Kid Icarus: Uprising, Yoshi’s Woolly World, or Paper Mario: Color Splash. That last one isn’t as bad as you think, by the way. It’s hard carried by the writing, though.
We’ll also see some more games on Nintendo Switch Online, which inevitably will make their way to the Switch as a result. I’ve been clamoring for Smash 64 for years now, and if recent leaks are any indication, it is indeed coming to NSO at some point. We’d rather not wait another two years, though! We’d also love to see the original GameCube Animal Crossing come to Switch 2’s NSO. Some more missing NSO games include Super Mario RPG, Donkey Kong 64, Diddy Kong Racing, Super Mario Bros. Deluxe, Mole Mania, Wario Land, Wario Land 2, Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, and the GBA Mario sports games.
What would you like to see from Nintendo in 2026, and how does that compare to what you think we’ll see from them? Let us know in the comments down below. January and February are always key “Nintendo speculation seasons” anyway, given that there’s usually a winter Nintendo Direct early in the year. Not this early, though – we’ll most likely have to wait until February.
