Issue #83: Better Late Than Never! – May/June 2026

Oh hey — third-party companies really like Nintendo again!

Whenever you buy a Nintendo video game system, you can be assured that it will be supported by excellent first-party software. The Marios, the Zeldas, the Pokémons . . . all those brands that are owned (in full or in part) and published by Nintendo themselves are guaranteed to show up. Good times are sure to be had.

But third-party support is not always a given! In fact, big- name companies like Capcom and Konami and Square Enix and Ubisoft tossing only a few titles Nintendo’s way for each fresh platform has felt more like the norm in recent decades.

But now, the pendulum has swung back the other way. The big third-party companies have had their interest piqued in the last year by the Nintendo Switch 2, and now the system is being flooded by ports of games that those same companies first debuted on other platforms years ago.

They’re playing catch-up! Nintendo’s tech has caught up with PlayStation and Xbox to the point where such ports are even possible, so now they’re rolling in as those publishers hope to get a second round of sales for those existing titles from the Nintendo-loyal audience.

Several games falling into this category are just over the horizon. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth first launched in 2024 on PlayStation 5. Now, two years later, it’s coming to Nintendo Switch 2 this June. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle was an Xbox exclusive, also back in 2024. It’s hitting Switch 2 in May.

Digimon Story: Time Stranger. Blue Prince. Assassin’s Creed: Shadows. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown. 007 First Light. Elden Ring. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Poker Night at the Inventory. Shenmue III. Tales of Arise . . .

The list goes on and on! All of those are titles that fall into this same category and are covered within just this one issue. All of them had their Day 1 several months or years earlier on some system outside of Nintendo’s ecosystem, then showed up late for Big N fans. (Or will in upcoming months.)

There’s such a large number of these titles reflecting the reality of this claim that we’ve actually chosen to go with no Features section in this issue! (That’s usually the place where I really try to make my case and “sell” the theme of each issue!) But this time, the existence of the games themselves makes the argument. So we’ve got expanded Previews and Reviews sections instead, covering as many of these titles as we can.

And we’ll still be playing catch-up on previews and reviews next time! Such is the staggering size of this new flood. This “title wave,” as Nintendo Power once called the sudden arrival of an overwhelming number of new releases! We’ll do our best to help you ride the wave, and not get knocked over by it!