On Thursday night Nintendo revealed Nintendo's Switch, including some of its games. Sadly, there was no mention of a new Metroid or Mother/Earthbound. However, it appears Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has given fans of those IPs a bit of hope.

When speaking to GameSpot, Fils-Aime had the following to say about the two franchises (and dormant franchises in general), after the media outlet eluded to the fact that Nintendo has many franchises that it seemingly has forgotten about:

"Oh, so earlier today I got asked about Mother 3; maybe you can ask me about Metroid," he said jovially. "Look, again, I am proud as an executive with Nintendo to say that we look at all of the boards and all of the comments and we really have a good understanding of what our consumers want. And believe me, we take that to heart as we work to create content.

He continues:

"So I have nothing to announce--here. But we are aware that there are some key IP that consumers just can't wait for the next true installment in that franchise's legacy. Suffice it to say, we're aware of it, and talk to me in a year and let's look back and see what's happened."

Now, it would be irresponsible on anyone's part to read too much into these comments, but at the very least it's a slightly reassuring sign to fans of these franchises, that Nintendo is well aware of the demand over them, and that potentially has something in the work that it will be ready to reveal in the near future.