Topic: Next Nintendo Direct?

Hit us with that sweet Mini Direct, Nintendo.

Persona 3 Reload needs confirmation.

Oh...wait, it already happened. Thanks Atlus.

They don't really stay quiet on future games to keep attention on a big game out now, that's not a thing that they do. Pretty much the entire generation they've had at least one farther off game revealed (even if we don't have a lot of details on such games, we at least know that they exist), regardless of whatever big games they may or may not be releasing soon. The only exception has been in 2020, during the brunt of the pandemic. Other than that, they've been pretty transparent about some of the major projects planned for further in the future.

But now? Pikmin 4 was the last farther off project they revealed, and that was back in September. February gave us pretty much nothing new except a Metroid Prime Remastered shadow drop. Big red flag there that they have little in the near future, if they did have something, it would've probably been revealed then instead of now. The only other game besides Pikmin 4 that we know about is Metroid Prime 4, which we haven't heard about since the restart in 2019 and we might not even know about that now if it weren't for the restart. If they had plans to continue the Switch for another 2 or 3 years or so, we'd probably have a bit more to go on at this point, we wouldn't need a June Direct to provide clarity on what else might be releasing in the Fall.

And if you look back at how TotK's predecessor BotW was handled, did they stay quiet about anything else coming until BotW released? Nope. They did give it a lot of focus in 2016, but once they revealed the Switch, they started talking about its other launch year titles. They didn't care that BotW was also coming soon and the last few months before it released they were perfectly fine revealing other Switch titles, even ones that were far off from the Switch's launch like Mario Odyssey. If they had other things planned this fall they probably wouldn't stay quiet about those things until June either.

So yeah, Nintendo's MO this generation implies that TotK has nothing to do with why we don't have much announced, and the reasons why we have little right now is either something went VERY wrong in the development of most of their major games, or more likely, they're transitioning to next gen and most if not all of their future projects are planned for the new console. Aside from an emergency like the pandemic, next gen is the only other precedent for a dry schedule like this.

I hate getting myself hyped up for something that hasn't been confirmed but there are a lot of signs pointing towards one (or at least a mini)

-Nintendo has yet to reveal a trailer for Everybody 1-2 Switch

-P3R has been confirmed for switch unofically

-While Pikmin 4 got a new trailer and some gameplay snippets, there is still a lot more they could show and it comes out in a month

-Pokemon S/V DLC still needs to be shown off

@daffyduck772 Pokemon isn't a sign as after the March 2020 Direct Mini, Pokemon has been confined to Pokemon Presents presentations. A Pokemon Presents at some point this summer does seem likely given they need to reveal more about Pokemon Sleep which is releasing during the summer.

I think this headline perfectly encapsulates the fever pitch Nintendo fans have reached when it comes to these Direct rumours.

Ugh, if it's another Camelot-developed sports game, no thank you.

@Bolt_Strike I think Metroid Prime 4 fills the void of being a game further down the line. Again though, folk are getting jittery about it lol.

@Grumblevolcano We'd normally have a Presents by now, they usually pick up their marketing around June, but there's a couple of factors that leave me unsurprised we still have nothing on the DLC at this point:

-SV had its info blowout later than usual, we didn't know much about the game until August whereas most games before we got the big blowout May/June.
-SV has been notoriously buggy, which might be delaying work on the DLC
-The DLC packs are announced for Fall and Winter, so there's no rush to spill the beans in the Summer.

I wouldn't be surprised if we're waiting until August, even September, for any concrete details on the DLC.

@GrailUK We still know nothing about Prime 4 and don't even have a release window or anything other than a logo. Again, I think if it hadn't been revealed way back in 2017, we might not even know about it now. Usually the farther away games have a bit more to go on than just a logo and "it's coming sometime LOL". We'd at least know what year it's releasing. We might even have some gameplay. Not the case with Prime 4, we know it's in development and nothing else. I don't think you can really count it until it gets a re-reveal sort of trailer.

@Bolt_Strike Maybe the next Direct. But it is coming. But hey they have been riding Epona (and quite rightly so.) If the next Direct has no games, then I will agree with what you said.

All this new information seems to suggest Nintendo was waiting for the Metaphor: ReFantazio embargo to end. Much like Persona 3 Reload and Persona 5 Tactica, Microsoft created an embargo preventing the game from being announced for platforms outside PC/Xbox but unlike the other 2 games this one had a longer embargo. Atlus has a stream for the game at 2pm UK time on June 21st so that's probably when the embargo ends. A Direct on June 21st or June 22nd at the usual general Direct time would suggest Metaphor will appear.

@Bolt_Strike Yeah, I do think Pokemon Presents will be August because of wave 1 of the DLC being Fall 2023, August is also still summer so you could have Pokemon Sleep be an "available shortly after the presentation" type situation like they did with Pokemon Smile in June 2020's Pokemon Presents.

@GrailUK We've been saying "maybe next Direct" on Prime 4 for about a year or two, I'll believe it's coming soon when I see it. This is definitely an "expect nothing and be pleasantly surprised" sort of situation.

Another part of the equation I forgot to mention is timing. We're 6 years into the Switch and consoles don't usually last that much longer without a successor being announced (in fact the only ones that did were the Game Boy and Xbox 360). Additionally, some of the games that have been rumored lately were rumored way back in 2021 and are games that haven't had entries in a good 4+ years (not to mention the Booster Course pack for Mario which just screams "we're filling out 2022/2023 even though Mario Kart desperately needs a new entry" which they wouldn't do if next gen were coming in 2025 or later), so if they weren't saving them for next gen, they'd probably already been out now or at least announced. Those kinds of entries being saved for next gen is the only rational explanation for why we haven't seen games such as an Odyssey 2 or a new 2D Mario or Mario Kart 9 or a new DK game, and it's getting too late in the generation to release them when those kinds of IPs would do better as next gen launch titles. 2021/2022 was more the time to release those kinds of games and still make it for a potential next gen entry and those years passed us by without even a whisper on those sorts of games. Next gen launch is the next logical release window for those types of experiences now.

@Bolt_Strike '...they don't usually...' and Nintendo have said as much with their unchartered terrertory spiel. As always, I am usualy wrong lol, I just stay positive and let whatever will be, be

@Grumblevolcano That's a good point. I guess they will save that for the usual July/August Pokemon Presents. My bad.

Pfft, are you kidding? One guy on Reddit said this and the post was labeled “grain of salt”. The stadium the Mario render from 2007 appeared in mind you, is that Seattle baseball team or something that Nintendo has shares/invests in I believe it was. People would cry and whine about a new Mario baseball anyway. They completely hated Mario Strikers Battle League as if it were the devilspawn, so what makes Sluggers any different? They need to go outside.

@GrailUK
I think inflation has given them space to not require an official price drop. But it's worth noting that they did release the OLED SKU to keep interest up. And they also released the Lite before their peak. And, from what I've seen here at least, their hardware seems to be fairly regularly on sale

What in the criss-cross applesauce hell is going on these days? ANOTHER RUMOR. It just keeps going. I still am holding on to the fact none of these fools know what they are talking about and we are getting a partner direct until proven otherwise. Take this with a grain of salt (again.) people have been saying we are getting a new 2D Mario for 7 years. Why would that happen now of all times when the switch is on its last legs (supposedly, I think it has a solid two years left)

@TheBigBlue
I would like to see Mario in actual Baseball outfits for next Mario Baseball game.
He will looks awesome.
His plumber outfits is really clashed with any sports he played.

Well. I just checked the gaming leaks and rumors subreddit. We’ve got another report coming in that Zippo (hahahahaha, that guy is such an idiot, he said we’d get a new Mario baseball in February so I don’t care about him) says the SNES remake in question is actually chrono trigger. Which is nuts. Is he just guessing? Does he actually know? I’m so confused, these reports are coming in too fast to ignore.

@Anti-Matter he was in football/soccer outfits for Mario strikers battle league, so I think he will have proper baseball uniforms next game, if it’s real.