Topic: Next Nintendo Direct?

@Tremblucay that a ridiculous reason to not cover the Xenoblade Chonicles 3 Direct, they are jornalist, they need to inform us about the game.

@Tremblucay The video states spoilers is just 1 of the reasons, they're also overwhelmed with content to cover. Makes sense given Sunbreak alone is probably like 50 hours for the main content and that's just 1 expansion which releases at the end of an extremely packed month of games.

@Grumblevolcano
Do you think they wouldn't cover a general Direct either because of "lack of time"?
Yeah... no, I don't buy that.

@Tremblucay Well, a general Direct is MUCH more major than a Direct for a single game. Besides, there will likely be several other sites covering the Direct.

I personally don't care about the decision at all since I'm not interested in Xenoblade. I understand not wanting to be spoiled on anything and having a ton of stuff to cover as well. Something like a general Direct is much more important to cover since it reaches a much wider audience.

@Tremblucay You're assuming that's an outcome that would happen though. Nintendo times general Directs such that games get their time in the spotlight, if the XC3 Direct was instead a general Direct the huge amount of stuff releasing over the next week would get buried by stuff like the next MK8 Deluxe DLC.

@Tremblucay a general Nintendo Direct is much more important to cover then a game specific Direct(unless is a Direct for Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild 2 or Metroid Prime 4).

I might have been a bit too harsh with my reaction on their decision to not cover the Xenoblade Direct.
I'm sorry if I hurt anyone's feelings, especially those of the crew.

@link3710 I'm not sure I agree with their holiday schedule being full. Splatoon 3 launches at the beginning of September and then Pokemon launches in mid-November. There's a pretty big gap between the two with nothing dated, and they could easily slot in anywhere from 1 to 3 releases. Gut feeling says it's just Bayonetta 3 and maybe Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope though.

@NintendoWife Splatoon 3 and Pokemon S/V are pretty major releases with widespread appeal that are coming in the near future. They have BotW2 and Metroid Prime 4 as their "outlook" titles, which for them is enough. Nintendo doesn't really like to reveal things far in advance for the most part, and instead will reveal games only a few months before launch.

We didn't know about Switch Sports, Mario Strikers, FE Warriors Three Hopes, Live a Live, or Xenoblade 3 before the February Direct for example.

Yeah, I think part of the problem this year is that they're relying on a lot of niche IPs to drive sales throughout the second half of the year (first half had some good ones like Legends Arceus and Kirby, but the second half feels barren of some of the bigger titles). Games like Xenoblade, Fire Emblem (and even regular old Fire Emblem is fairly niche, this is a spinoff), Bayonetta, and Mario + Rabbids aren't exactly crowd pleasers, none of those IPs have really sold more than 1-2 million (main series Fire Emblem cracked 3 million with Three Houses, but Three Hopes is probably not going to crack 2 million, maybe not even sell 1 million, based on how the first FEW game sold). So there's a large portion of the fanbase that just doesn't really care about the lineup. There is Splatoon 3 and Pokemon Scarlet/Violet for the more mainstream which is something, but Splatoon 3 has also been divisive because it seems like it's going to feel more like a 2.5 than a 3 (although it'll still probably sell at least 7 or 8 million). It feels like we could use at least one more game that's a little more mainstream, like a smaller Zelda title to tide us over until BotW2, that DK game that's been rumored for ages, hell even the Metroid Prime Trilogy/remake would probably outsell most of these games (Dread's sold close to 3 million and will probably have passed it by the next sales report, Prime could sell similar numbers). It just feels like the year could use one more big game, and maybe something else to get excited for for 2023.

Whenever (let's be real, IF) we get a Nintendo Direct, I'm hoping it includes a Tunic-coming-to-Switch announcement.

Yeah, that's... incredibly dumb.

I understand I'm ignorant of what goes on behind the scenes, but this is the biggest release on the system within the next 2 or so months. I know Sunbreak is coming soon (and Live A Live), but what else is going on around now that they think should take priority over coverage of a large scope first party release, the deluge of indie games announced for the system in the last couple weeks?

I don't think you'd ever see Push Square or Pure Xbox push aside coverage of a big first party game for anything else.

@Bolt_Strike
If you go with that argument for Splatoon 3, you should say it's Splatoon "2" instead. Splatoon 2 was considered a "1.5" by people already.
Just saying. ;P

@Budda Not really, if Splatoon 2 is Splatoon 1.5, then Splatoon 3 is more like 1.75. A 1.5 to 2 would still feel like a proper evolution and we haven't had one.

This is almost certainly not true of the majority of video game sequels tbh.

And even if it was true, there is a Splatoon 2, its called the Octo Expansion. A genuine improved, creative sequel, leagues better and more interesting than Splatoon 2's actual campaign.

Sooooooooooo tell me again why we're spending $60 on them if it's just the same experience all over again?

In terms of game structure maybe, in terms of gameplay and level design, not really. It's pretty much just been same old Splatoon the entire time with different levels and weapons.

@IceClimbers I was counting those two games as part of the holiday schedule, even if we don't know exact dates. That leaves (typically) two slots for release max: one November game (potentially, but double November releases are rare) and either an October title (could be anything) or a December title (usually something more blue ocean)

@link3710 Not quite, counting both of those would leave 1 slot as the slots not yet covered are early October, late October and early December. I think Bayonetta 3 will take the late October slot, Advance Wars takes the early December slot and Sparks of Hope gets delayed to early 2023 with the early October slot going to a remaster (leaning towards Zelda though Prime would fit if Prime 4 releases in 2023).

@Grumblevolcano As I said, there's also the potential for a double November slot. 2019 had both Mario and Sonic and Pokemon SwSh in November, and 2021 had SMT V (a major exclusive) and Pokemon BDSP. I don't think it's likely, but we can't discount a 2019 style schedule with double September, October, and November releases.

I on the other hand very much DO think that the current slowdown of releases suggests new hardware might not be too far off. I've long been someone who's thought "Switch Pro" was going to be part of a smooth transition. I'm starting to now think we'll get a harder transition with multiple releases out of the gate not compatible with Switch. The lack of a clear medium term software lineup is a large part of me changing my view slightly on that, the continued extension of the life of the current Switch is the other half

Because Nintendo's goal IS to push Switch hardware/software sales as much as they can for the end of this year. If a hardware revision is on the cards soon but not this year? There's going to be not a lot to talk about right now. Because if they start talking "Switch 2" people are going to hold their cash and wait for that rather than buying into late-Switch this year. And if they don't work on content that pushes that new hardware they won't have as much to push its release

The only reasonable response to this is you should probably either avoid the majority of sequels or re-examine whether most of the entertainment you like are especially innovative by your own logic. The former is a completely reasonable decision, but if that's not it I'm begging you to do the latter.

I don't even think Splatoon 2 is an especially innovative or top tier sequel, I just found the expansion far more compelling a game than previous single player campaigns. I just think in general its a very normal sequels and people often like...reasonably safe sequels.