As a reminder, 1-2 Switches was the console’s awkward launch game intended to appeal to the general Wii public who had never made the jump to the Wii U. the capacities of the Joy-Con still exceeded 3.5 million copies sold, which for Nintendo justified starting a sequel. But if a game like Nintendo Switch Sports recently came to cover the ground of the family mini-game, the sequel to 1-2 Switches is in a more complicated situation.
For Everybody’s 1-2 Switch, the possible name chosen for this sequel, Nintendo EPD Group 4 would have been inspired by Jackbox Games productions to make a game based on a big show bringing together many online participants. Instead of being limited to the use of one Joy-Con per user, the idea was to involve up to 100 players through the use of smartphones. Problem, whether we are talking about musical chairs, the game of the bottle or using your phone to play bingo, the feedback from users during the tests seems unanimous on the nullity of the experience.
“The target audience Nintendo hoped to reach—families with children—found the games boring; many didn’t even want to play entire games. In the bingo example, a player used the Joy-Con to mimic searching for a number before reading it on the TV screen – a process that testers said was tedious. The game’s main mode, Team Battle mode, pitted two or more teams of players against each other in various mini-games. This mode featured Horse, a host character who made colorful commentary during games. During the localization process, sources started giving the game the nickname Horseshit“, can we read in the article.
These particularly negative feedbacks mean that Everybody’s 1-2 Switch is today in a very uncertain situation, Nintendo fearing that the release of the game will damage its reputation, especially by selling it at a high price. However, the article mentions a few possible outcomes, including turning the game into a bonus for Nintendo Switch Online + Additional Pack subscribers, which would be all the more relevant since the game needs many online players to fully function. An outright cancellation of the project cannot be ruled out either, but Nintendo would prefer at this point to insist and find the best solution to get it out.