Today on M3: My Morning Musings: Nintendo Switch Production Ramping Up, Go West Young Dragon Quest, Kingdom Hearts 3 & Final Fantasy 7 Remake Delayed, Nintendo’s E3 2017 Plans, Monster Hunter XX Switch Trailer, & Far Cry 5 Co-op & Map Editor.

Nintendo Switch Production Ramping Up   
Nintendo seems to be in the dark when their products sell well and nobody can find them. What should they do? If rumors are to be believed, Nintendo is working to dramatically increase production to 18 million units by its first anniversary in March of 2018—with a heavy influx of consoles arriving to worldwide retailers right before the launch of Super Mario Odyssey.

Looking back at the history of Nintendo consoles, there always seems to be a big shortage to create a lot of buzz and demand. While this can be true of any piece of consumer electronics, nobody seems to know how to create buzz with shortages outside of Nintendo except maybe Apple. 

I, for one, really believe this rumor that production will ramp up as we enter the holiday sale period because I consider the March 2017 to be a new “soft launch” console release strategy from Nintendo to create buzz, cater to mainly the hardcore gamer, and wait to get the bulk of causal gamers as the console enters its first holiday selling period. Having a brand new Super Mario game will continue to fuel demand as the Switch will be the must-have device this holiday season.

Go West Young Dragon Quest
In an age where niche RPGs like Persona 5 are breaking all sorts of sales records, Square-Enix has decided to, at this point, not announce a Western release for Dragon Quest X, formerly a Wii U and PC title, or the upcoming Dragon Quest XI. DQX is getting a port over to Playstation 4 and Nintendo Switch later this year. 

DQXI, on the other hand, is getting a PlayStation 4 and 3DS release in Japan. The company isn’t able to discuss the Nintendo Switch version of the title because of “circumstances of adults.” If you figure out what that means, maybe you can convince the company that one or both of these Dragon Quest games would be treasured by Western audiences because the company doesn’t seem to care about the fans of the franchise this side of Japan.

Dragon Quest XI PS4 Gameplay:

Dragon Quest XI 3DS Gameplay:

The obsession of Dragon Quest Games in Japan:

Kingdom Hearts 3 & Final Fantasy 7 Remake Delayed
When Square-Enix didn’t invite me to their booth to view any big theater experiences, I knew something was up. Now rumors are suggesting that Kingdom Hearts 3, the long awaited continuation of the main story, is being pushed back to an unknown date in the future. This might mean we get some Star Wars, Marvel, and Pixar levels but how much longer will we have to wait?

Final Fantasy 7 is also hitting some development issues and the new new remake will be made up of multiple games. The original Final Fantasy 7 was on 3 disks so maybe they will break up the game into 3 parts?

CEO and President of Square Enix, Yosuke Matsuda, stated that both Kingdom Hearts 3 and Final Fantasy 7 Remake will be released within 3 years. However, we aren’t sure if that means all episodes of FF7 will be included in that timetable. Don’t expect to see either of these two games discussed at E3 2017.

Nintendo’s E3 2017 Plans
Nintendo plans on having its Nintendo Direct the morning E3 2017 begins. Rumors suggest that we will have a 45 to 60 minute presentation that will heavily feature Nintendo Switch content. In fact, the entire focus of Nintendo will be on the Switch with the only official coverage of 3DS coming in the form of their Treehouse steams. This should give a little buzz for the aging handheld platform as Nintendo transitions their business fully into a hybrid console and handheld future.

It is a risky move for Nintendo to not promote 3DS for what could be its last major year in retail. However, I have seen the writing on the wall for months now and the upcoming New Nintendo 2DS XL is just further proof Nintendo is creating the “Game Boy micro” of this handheld generation. For the record, I was so in love with the GBA that I purchased 3 different versions of Game Boy micro and a multitude of faceplates for that system. It truly was an amazing handheld experience at the time. 

This time around, Nintendo has a new handheld system that they are trying to only market as a home console. I would just rather take the Switch with me than any iteration of the 3DS or 2DS. Only a few more weeks to see if these Nintendo E3 rumors are true though!

Monster Hunter XX Switch Trailer
Last week we talked about Capcom announcing Monster Hunter XX on the Nintendo Switch. Today, we give you the trailer they revealed over the weekend. We also learned that 3DS and Nintendo Switch will get cross-save and cross-play support with up to four players. 

Monster Hunter X did not sell well globally on the 3DS platform. While the newer XX version on the 3DS is off to a good start, in Japan, rumors suggest that Capcom might move the franchise back to Sony if sales don’t pick up on 3DS and Switch.

We hope to learn more when we might get a Western release on both 3DS and Switch during the Nintendo Direct at the start of E3 2017. 

You can view the trailer below:

Far Cry 5 Co-op & Map Editor
Some of my favorite gaming moments come from playing through a game completely with one or more friends. Ubisoft is looking to satisfy gamers like me as they revealed plans to bring online co-op to Far Cry 5.

In addition, players will be able to use a full map editor, on all available platforms, to create as much content as they would like. All of this content should be playable in a cooperative setting as well. 

Far Cry 5 will release on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One platforms on February 27, 2018. A Season Pass will also be available at launch that will include additional content to be revealed later.

The recently released Gameplay Trailer for Far Cry 5 can be seen below: