Nintendo NX rumored to launch with Smash Bros. game

Nintendo NX will launch with some kind of Super Smash Bros., according to a well-known industry analyst. Dr. Serkan Toto, who frequently shares his views and predictions for the Japanese gaming industry on his Twitter account, dropped some new business forecasts that should be interesting for Nintendo fans:

Bandai Namco is currently developing several NX titles. Smash Bros is planned to be a launch title. I am not sure about the date - yet ;).January 28, 2016

To follow up on my last tweet: I haven't heard if it's a completely new (numbered) Smash Bros or not. Otherwise, source situation is solid.January 28, 2016

Any external analysis is potentially inaccurate, particularly the kind that's shared on Twitter rather than sold to market research firms. But Toto's prediction sounds realistic, assuming that the Smash Bros. game in question is an upgraded version of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U & 3DS (given that six years passed between the last two Smash games, it would probably not be an all-new title).

An upgraded version of the fourth Smash Bros. game could bundle in DLC characters like Bayonetta, and potentially even all-new challengers. If persistent rumors of NX incorporating both handheld and home console components are true, the game could bridge the gap between the Wii U and 3DS versions by featuring all the maps and modes in one package. That would help make NX extra appealing to lapsed Nintendo fans who sat out the last generation, and it would fit with Nintendo's history of sprucing up older games to fill out new platforms: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess launched on both Wii and Gamecube almost simultaneously, for example, and now Twilight Princess HD is set to hit Wii U on March 4.

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It's more difficult to speculate about those unspecified Bandai Namco NX titles. Bandai Namco led development on Super Smash Bros. for Wii U & 3DS, so Nintendo may keep leaning on the company to complement its limited internal development resources. In other words, I wouldn't be surprised to see an NX Mario or Zelda game with a prominent Bandai Namco credit (or maybe just more Pac-Man cameos).

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I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and was formerly a staff writer at GamesRadar+.