Release Date / Game Reveal Timing Speculation and Discussion

[Mokuren]

I really hope we will get something to see. I had already hope at last years E3 xD foolish me! Now I am saying to myself "don't get your hopes up!" but I have still so much hope left and I am excited as hell ;__;

 

[WeiMoote]

So... In the off-chance this game is delayed, what happens to this forum? Will it stay its own thing? Or will it be moved to a Sub-Forum?

 

[Burumun]

So... In the off-chance this game is delayed, what happens to this forum? Will it stay its own thing? Or will it be moved to a Sub-Forum?

It's been announced that the game will eventually come out, so even if it gets delayed, I doubt the sub-forum will change. This thread will probably get another new poll, though, lol.

Is there actually any reason though that everyone seems to think the game might be delayed? Besides them removing it from the Coming Soon section of the website for, like, a day.

 

[Pellie]

Is there actually any reason though that everyone seems to think the game might be delayed? Besides them removing it from the Coming Soon section of the website for, like, a day.

I can't speak for others, but I think people are just nervous because it's been 8 months without any
informations and Nintendo doesn't talk about it at all ever since it got announced. Besides this, ever
since Metroid Prime 4 got delayed, I think people are just worried that the same thing may could
happen to AC Switch too.

I for myself will not believe in any delay until Nintendo say it right into my face.

 

[Blue Cup]

It's just better to remain cautious considering how silent they have been regarding the game these past 9 months. That is not a normal amount of time for Nintendo to go silent on any internally developed title, so something might have gone wrong since September or they were just being prematurely optimistic with that announcement.

And as I have come to learn upon researching past investor meetings, Nintendo does not actually announce delays there. I know a lot of people, myself included, were looking at that slide from their meeting back in April listing Animal Crossing under the 2019 window and thinking that it is still a sure thing, but... Yeah, that doesn't confirm anything.

I can easily see the trailer ending with the presenter, likely Koizumi, apologizing to the audience and telling us that the game needs a little more time in development and has been delayed.

It's just best to remain cautious now after all this.

 

[WeiMoote]

How would the trailer play out if it is delayed?

 

[Blue Cup]

Same as any reveal trailer. Detailing a few new features, showing off the new graphics, etc. Then ending with the logo and probably like Spring 2020 beneath it.

But that's only if this game isn't getting some sort of huge chunk of time dedicated to it. If that's the case, then a delay likely isn't happening.

There are just sooooo many variables right now. Nintendo hasn't had such a stacked lineup in a very long time, so one can't even accurately predict the what is going to happen or which titles may or may not get delayed; be it out of necessity or just because of how cluttered the second half of this year is.

Personally speaking, I won't be too bummed if it does get delayed. As I mentioned, the tail end of this year is absolutely packed with must-play titles. Pok?mon alone is something that I will be putting hundreds of hours into. The Zelda game is a remake of my all-time favorite Zelda game and pretty much the game that kicked off my gaming hobby. Luigis Mansion 3 is, well it looks to be in the same vein as the first, and that's exciting.

Plus there is Rune Factory 4 Special, another absolutely colossal time sink.

 

[Pellie]

Ok, but announcing a delay of the game on that day where every AC fan hoped for tne best
would be the biggest "**** you"-moment for the fans ever.

Besides, let's say the game gets delayed, shouldn't they already know that a release this year
wouldn't work and why waiting then so long to tell it the fans? Direct or not, instead of letting
AC fans waiting, just say the truth and that's it. Waiting till E3 just to say this would be dumb,
like really dumb.

I don't know what you guys are doing, but I am optimistic here and say it comes out this year
and they will say something about on E3. Who knows why Nintendo didn't say anything about
the game for the past months. I mean, we are talking about Nintendo here, they do sometimes
things nobody seem to understand and where you just can think 'wtf Nintendo', so maybe they
have a good reason to keep the game a mystery for so long and we just don't understand the
logic behind it.

 

[Blue Cup]

Well yeah, that's exactly what I am talking about. The number of variables in play is staggering. But at the same time, Nintendo just doesn't come out and announce delays without first talking about the game again.

For example: Fire Emblem Three Houses was for the longest time a 2018 game, then when it was finally revealed at E3 last year they gave a Spring 2019 window. Then when it showed up again in March, it got pushed to July 2019.

There is a history here to look at, and if one doesn't follow Nintendo closely, you might miss it. Plus Animal Crossing itself is no stranger to delays.

I still remain in the 2019 camp, but I am keeping an open mind because, as I said, 9 months with no info of any kind isn't normal for Nintendo, particularly when it comes to internally developed games that aren't Zelda. They aren't Square-Enix.

 

[Pellie]

Sometimes, I do wonder if Nintendo even planned back then to announce AC Switch at September 2018
or if they only did it because of Isabelle and Smash, as they wanted to hype the whole thing even more.
Because if they would have announce it back at the February 19' Direct, everything would have look
different, from the waiting time and all. Idk, I just have that feeling sometimes that Nintendo had other
plans and because of changing up the plans (maybe because of Isabelle and Smash), we are now in that
current situation.

 

[Blue Cup]

I agree 100%. There were probably other factors involved with that announcement as well that extended beyond fan backlash. They announced Prime 4 when they did for that exact reason, and look what happened there.

It was probably a combination of wanting to impress investors and the hopes of driving console sales a bit more as they were trying to reach a rather lofty sales goal for the fiscal year.

Had it been announced in the previous Direct, I think the atmosphere and general feeling towards the release would skew to a more positive position. This whole thing has been so weird and aggravating, but thankfully we're a week and one hour away from some answers.

Bonus Positive Theory: They completed development on the game in mid 2018 and have just been sitting on it. Late 2019 has always been the intended release window and that the timing of the announcement never mattered to begin with.

 

[Stevey Queen]

Sometimes, I do wonder if Nintendo even planned back then to announce AC Switch at September 2018
or if they only did it because of Isabelle and Smash, as they wanted to hype the whole thing even more.
Because if they would have announce it back at the February 19' Direct, everything would have look
different, from the waiting time and all. Idk, I just have that feeling sometimes that Nintendo had other
plans and because of changing up the plans (maybe because of Isabelle and Smash), we are now in that
current situation.

Someone on here said the announcement may have been to pull investors back in because I remember last year after e3, nintendos stock dropped because they weren't impressed with their lineup.

I still think Nintendo needs to get better at announcing games. Dont announce something with a title logo, first of all. Don't announce anything either until its ready to be shown off and you have a release window. Like super Mario maker 2 announcement and release have all been quick and perfect. Idk why all games can't be like that. What do we really benefit waiting months on end with nothing but a title screen to go on?

 

[Blue Cup]

It's called the Square-Enix approach. It's no fun being a fan of their games when they gett announced 5 to 10 years before release.

 

[Ossiran]

Someone on here said the announcement may have been to pull investors back in because I remember last year after e3, nintendos stock dropped because they weren't impressed with their lineup.

I basically said that Nintendo may have never intended to release that teaser at all. However, as you said, investors weren't impressed by the fan backlash to Nintendo's lack of big titles at E3 that weren't Smash Bros. That Animal Crossing in particular missing had made it onto many websites, including major news outlets outside of the industry, was concerning. So my theory was that Nintendo released the teaser just to tell people that, yes, it's coming.

I also mentioned before that perhaps the reason they are being so mum about it is because it may or may not have given a major revision to the series. If, for example, the game winds up looking even remotely similar to the Mario Kart 8 track, showing even a single screenshot would ruin the big reveal. Remember how are inspiring the first BotW teaser was? Just a single simage that looked like it was a loading background, and then suddenly Link started moving and people realized that was the game. You only get to reveal something once. A single scene can say a lot.

 

[acornavenue]

7 MORE DAYS

 

[Burumun]

Thanks for all the info! Didn't realize there was so much to it.

I'm still hoping there won't be a delay, especially with that comment they gave after the one Direct - didn't they say something along the lines of "We'll make an announcement when we have something to announce!"? And then, right after that, we got the announcement.
As for comparing it to other releases, I'm not sure how much we can compare AC to other games' release schedules just because of the fact that AC isn't really that "deep" or big of a game, and they don't really need to explain how the game's going to work, since it's a mainline game. What other information do you really want, besides maybe how the town is built?
Then again, I was also very excited when I found out we would be able to wear pants and go swimming in NL, so I guess even small announcements like that would make me happy.

 

[Blue Cup]

I'd imagine that they have a whole new role for you to play, so they would have to explain all the new features that come with that. Plus new online interactions and whatnot.

The mayor aspect got a huge focus during its reveal naturally, so I expect it to be the same with this.

 

[Pellie]

Are there actually still trustworthy leakers or insiders out there, which maybe could tell anything about
what will be going to show on the E3? I know there was this one person named Emily Rogers (was that
her name?) and someone else, but they stopped telling anything, right?

I'm asking because I just saw a video a day ago on YouTube about some guy saying someone just leaked
the whole Pokedex for Pokemon Sword and Shield (probably 100% fake) as well as here and there some
people claiming having leaks about certain games and such.

 

[Blue Cup]

None that have the track record that King Zell or Emily Rogers had, but they have both since retired from the insider scene.

There is this one that goes by the name of Sabi on Twitter, and they said that they along with some others will be spoiling the entirety of the E3 Direct a day before it airs. They have a spotty history though so it's hard to say one way or another if they are legit or not.

One that you should avoid at all costs is Marcus Sellers, and to a lesser extent, Liam Robertson. They're both unsavory individuals with a history of lying, stealing info from other legit leakers and being nasty to people that disagree with them. The former of which has sent his group of toxic followers after me because I had contradicted one his "leaks" with evidence of my own. 'twas nuts.

 

[WeiMoote]

So, considering the game is playable on the show floor...

Imagine if every AC game over there was of a different town? Or if Treehouse plays the game, the layout is different every time.