Topic: Next Nintendo Direct?

I'm too dense to pick up on that, sorry. You got a lot right though, so nice job.

Or it means we have new hardware coming. It's pretty sus that they didn't have a single new 1st party game announced besides the Prime Remastered shadow drop. We have literally nothing confirmed past what, July? And is there even any confirmed game left in the pipeline besides Prime 4? Even when Directs focus on a particular window for the next few months, we usually see 1 or 2 games further out, they didn't announce anything to look forward to on the Switch later in the year or for 2024 which is what we'd see if they were holding Switch games until June/September Directs. That just screams "we have nothing in the further future to show because it's on next gen hardware". Feels like we're set to hear about the Switch's successor some time in the coming months (or like, at least a tease for a full announcement in 2024).

@Bolt_Strike I'd still say we won't see anything about the successor until late this year, or early next year. Tons of game series still have to wrap up their DLC and updates before Nintendo can announce the next console. TotK is probably not going to release on both the switch and the next gen console, since they would've held back until then to announce the next gen version today most likely.

@VoidofLight
Or, to go off like a broken record again, the new hardware interacts with the existing library in a way that makes releases across both Switch and the new hardware unnecessary. i.e. if it's compatible with Switch it runs on the new hardware, possibly with more performance whether that's via software patches or otherwise. If it's a game that pushes beyond the Switch it doesn't come out on Switch. TotK was always going to be a game that releases on Switch. Will that be the direction they go? Who knows. My point is more that it's a direction they COULD go that we can't really rule out.

With that said...... I'm personally not as keen as @Bolt_Strike is to read into the tealeaves of this Direct THAT much. New hardware is definitely coming, it's always coming. And the fact that we have a fair idea of what that hardware will be which suggests it's sooner rather than later. And we can certainly make guesses on how they'll handle this transition based on industry trends, precedents and the Switch's success. But the exact when and how of it is anyone's guess. Throw a dart at a calendar, it'll be about as accurate as anyone's theories will be

@VoidofLight TotK yes, DLC updates, I'm not as sure. The DLC isn't going to interfere much with the new console because it's mainly selling to people that already bought the game, neither should significantly limit sales of the other. And if the next gen console is backwards compatible, then it interferes with it even less. Because anyone that skipped the Switch and bought the next gen console can just play the DLC on the next gen console.

I think the timeframe looks more like this:
June-September: Nintendo confirms new hardware is in development, gives us the codename and no other details
September-November: Full reveal of the new hardware, with the name, design, features, price, and teases a few games (they could randomly drop a trailer like the Switch, they could do a presentation)
By the end of January: Launch lineup is confirmed in one way or another (the presentation could happen here if it didn't happen in 2023, they could do a Direct)
Sometime in Spring 2024 (possibly March again): Hardware launches

Like some other people on here, I was sceptical that we'd even hear about a new console this year, but honestly after that Direct I can see it happening. As people have already mentioned the fact that we know of nothing coming after July or thereabouts, it seems odd.

@Budda Guess I'll eat my hat, I can't believe Jeff Grubb was right.

I dunno, I can see a logic in not going too deep into 2023. The bit I found curious was there wasn't too much info on Kingdom Sad 😪 still like they are conscious it's a mega title that will eat attention away from others and it's doesn't need hype since the little info we have gotten has folk biting already. So there’s no point announcing say Donkey Kong or Metroid Prime 4 is coming out this winter as it's impact will be diluted in the shadow of Zelda so let everyone focus on Zelda for now and then once they are done announce the big winter game so it can have more attention to it as it wont be the second headline after new Zelda.

The DLC reveal for Fire Emblem Engage was super awesome and hype. Regarding emblems, if a Laguz (a race where characters turn into animals from Fire Emblem Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn, different to Beorc) character were to be an emblem, who would you choose?

Switch 2 will most likely be revealed this Summer at the Summer Direct maybe June or July, they need some Big Games if they plan on building Hype for next gen, i would love a Majora's Mask Remake or a MK Double Dash remaster !!!!

@Sir_Axeman does Nintendo really risk revealing the Switch sucessor now, considering it still selling well? we shall see if in the summer, Nintendo do a similar presentation they did with Switch to showcase it sucessor.

I'm sure there will be another new Pokemon games for this year.
Probably a remake of older games or spin off.

@Sir_Axeman I agree with @Giancarlothomaz, they have told investors they will sell 18m switch consoles next financial year (up to March 2024) - that doesn't happen if they announce the Switch 2 in the summer. Personally I think it gets announced and released in 2024.

@MarioBrickLayer The 18 million is for financial year ending March 2023. Pretty much that the Switch didn't sell as well as Nintendo expected over the holiday season so they reduced the financial year's forecast from 19 million to 18 million. We'll find out how many Switch consoles they expect to sell for April 2023 - March 2024 in May.

The big wishlist for the "Switch 2" is two rehashed games (which will surely be 90$ a piece this time). Sounds revolutionary.

Sounds... Super!

@Euler what rehashed game? Twilight Princess HD/Wind Waker HD for the Switch sucessor?

It sold 28mill in 2020, 23mill in 2021 and 19mill in 2022 (their forecast for 2022 was 21mill). 18mill isn't exactly a neon sign shouting "2023 will be a crazy good year" from the rooftops. It's more of a, we expect sales to continue to decline at around the pace they already have been

Would we expect new hardware to cause sales to fall off a cliff? I mean eventually, but I don't think it would happen overnight especially with the size of the Switch's success. It's a slow moving train, it'll take a while to stop unlike the Wii U. I don't think new hardware announced at the tail end of 2023 will mean sales for 2023 drop to like 10mill or less

Especially when you consider the type of person who's buying the Switch at this point. Is anyone on this forum going out and buying Switch hardware? I mean sure, maybe some people are upgrading from an OG Switch to an OLED or picking up a Switch Lite. And a new piece of hardware would probably delay some of those sales, push these people into the new hardware instead. But I would wager people like us are in the significant minority here, the bulk of Switch sales are for late adopters

Put yourself in the shoes of an average Switch buyer at this point. Someone who either doesn't have a Switch yet and just wants to play a particular title or it's little Jimmy's first console that his parents are buying him for his 8th Birthday. Do these consumers really care or even know about the new hardware coming out? .... I'd wager no. My brother brought my Niece an XBox 360 with Kinect in late 2012 as an upgrade from the Wii. The Wii U was only a few weeks off release, the PS4 and XBOne weren't announced but were open secrets at that point. My brother knew this but he (I'd argue rightly) didn't care

Buying the Switch now is like buying the GBA SP

I think it's fair to assume June's Direct will have fewer Nintendo games presented than what was shown in this last Direct. It'll be more like a third party partner's showcase without being labelled as such. Let the first party software crawl...commence. If you thought Nintendo went hard on ports and remasters before now?

Buckle up.

@Magician
I’m fine with ports and remasters. Just give me Wind Waker and Twilight Princess.