The long-rumored Nintendo Direct for February finally arrived last week and the newest reveal-packed stream brought with it plenty of major announcements from some of the Switch's biggest upcoming titles. Games like Kirby and the Forgotten Land and Splatoon 3 saw major new reveals confirming new gameplay elements and game modes while Nintendo revealed big-name franchises like Fire Emblem and Super Mario Strikers receiving new entries. Among the most surprising of these announcements was the reveal of a brand new motion-controlled sports game reminiscent of a Nintendo classic, Nintendo Switch Sports.The reveal of Nintendo Switch Sports was met with a mix of shock and excitement as the upcoming sports game, reminiscent of the popular Wii Sports, showed off a variety of sports for players to compete in. Fan favorites from the original Wii Sports like bowling and tennis were confirmed to be returning alongside several popular game modes from Wii Sports Resort like volleyball and chambara. Nintendo also confirmed an online play test coming soon for Nintendo Switch Online members with a recent reveal relating to the testing period leaving fans confused.A recent post from Nintendo details steps players will need to take in order to sign up for the testing period for Nintendo Switch Sports with registration being open to Nintendo Switch Online members through Nintendo's website. Among other details, the post makes note of Nintendo's stance towards sharing the game on social media. Players signing up for the online play test will be expressly prohibited from sharing screenshots or videos from the game on any public platform, specifically mentioning social media. However, the post did not detail any punishment for breaking this agreement.
While non-disclosure agreements like this are common for many games in closed alpha stages, the open nature of the play test for Nintendo Switch Sports being available to all Nintendo Switch Online members makes the decision a strange one. Many popular betas with similar registration restrictions use closed betas as a way to show off the game to excited players while also receiving feedback from a small, controlled sample set. Barring players from sharing the game on social media could lead to less proper feedback than the company may be looking to receive otherwise.
Nintendo's releases since the summer of last year, highlighted by the recent direct, have seen a renaissance for the company's first-party sports games. Last summer saw the highly-anticipated release of Mario Golf: Super Rush while the direct confirmed the return of Super Mario Strikers with Mario Strikers: Battle League alongside Nintendo Switch Sports. With Mario Golf: Super Rush released last year, Nintendo is building a solid collection of sports games on the Switch that will be bolstered when Nintendo Switch Sports releases in April.
Nintendo Switch Sports is scheduled to release on April 29 for the Switch.
Source: Nintendo
