The timing of this bizarre Everybody 1-2-Switch trailer has a lot of Nintendo fans theorizing about the company's faith in its new release.
Released last night, less than 24 hours before today's Nintendo Direct, the trailer brought 16 developers together to play the party game in Tokyo. It's a very 'hype for the camera' affair, filled with rehearsed crowd scenes and a lot of excessive whooping, but it also offers some new information about Everybody 1-2-Switch.
As well as gameplay from a couple of minigames, the trailer reveals that you'll be able to use your phone as a controller to play some games with up to 99 other players. If you're familiar with the Jackbox party games, I imagine it's a similar process to that phone-based controller scheme.
A bigger takeaway than that, however, is how weird this trailer is. After introducing a tuxedo-clad MC, the video swiftly replaces him with a guy in one of those horse masks that was barely funny 10 years ago. I've seen multiple people suggest that this is Nintendo revisiting its Wii U marketing era, and while that era was marked by its wonderfully strange puppet-driven E3 showcase, it's certainly cause for alarm for some people.
An even bigger talking point, however, is Nintendo's apparent lack of faith in this game. Announced in a tweet amid reports of development hell, it's now seemingly been pushed out of the Direct. There's little reason to release a late-night trailer the day before a larger showcase if that game's due to appear in said showcase, and the fact that Nintendo isn't prepared to give over Direct space to Everybody 1-2-Switch doesn't exactly bode well - something that players have already picked up on. With the game due out next week and almost no buzz around it, it's unlikely to be a particular sales success.
