Topic: Next Nintendo Direct?

Well they should at least have a Pokemon game for the holiday season, which should be announced in 8 days. Beyond that though, yeah, if they don't have anything to announce first party is looking awfully dry from March to November.

Nintendo not having anything of substance to show is the entire problem. After Princess Peach Showtime in March, what do they have for this year that we know about? 2 remakes/remasters. That's it. As I said, we'll probably get a Pokemon game announced at a Pokemon Presents in 8 days, but beyond that what's coming this year? Do they really just have those 3 games for the last 9 months? That's a pretty dry release schedule.

The rumours about Switch 2 delay already made Nintendo's stock prices go down.

But clearly they don't have nothing more this year... this wouldn't be the first year we worry about a sparse release schedule early in the year and then get a ton dropped on us later in the year.

@Bolt_Strike I still think there are a few first party things that are coming this year that we don't know about yet. I'm guessing we'll get Metroid Prime Remasters 2/3 on Switch before the end of October, probably a couple smaller releases later in the year "could be the rumoured Zelda Oracle Remakes" alongside Pokemon Let's Go Gen 2 or Pokemon Gen 5 Remakes "One or the other, NOT both." in November, and Metroid Prime 4 as a cross-gen release across Switch and its successor.

@FishyS Well I wouldn't say that much. Often times when we come out of the Spring with little to no news, it means there's little to nothing the whole year. They don't usually save big, AAA blockbusters releasing in the holiday for a Summer or Fall Direct, especially not in the post E3 era (but then with the Switch 2 rumors I think few of us expect those kinds of games until the console is actually announced). I think they could have a few more surprises up their sleeves, but it might be small surprises they reveal through a social media drop or something, like more remakes/remaster or a smaller title for a lesser IP that probably isn't going to sell super well. I do think we're going without a mainline Direct for a while, possibly until Fall, maybe even until next Spring, when hopefully they're actually ready to tell us about the Switch 2.

@Bolt_Strike Honestly I was thinking of last June when everyone was saying 'Tears of the Kingdom is the last real game Switch is getting' and then the direct dumped a ton on us including 900 Mario games. I'm not necessarily expecting that to happen again, but Nintendo is good at surprising us.

If the Endless Ocean rumour is true, I will be so happy - I LOVE those games. Hope it's a new one not a remake, but I'll probably be down either way.

@Sigran102 They had a Partner Showcase in June 2022, despite clearly having more to show. All it means is they're not ready to show off those games. They like to hold their cards close to their chest after all.

@Bolt_Strike They've had Nintendo published titles in Partner Showcases before, so I wouldn't rule out a reveal of something in this one. I suspect most of what they have this year is remakes and remasters though, so a 2020 like approach to their reveals wouldn't surprise me.

@rallydefault
Yeah, but there are multiple angles here. If Switch 2 was a full library reset to the same degree Switch was there are all sorts of downsides. And sure, for people like us who still own a Switch and will almost surely buy Switch 2? It's mostly just the inconvenience of no having two consoles

But if for example something like a Rhythm Heaven drops as Switch 2 only why should the casuals be forced to buy a Switch 2 for that? Seems a bit anti-consumer. Surely that could exist on both. And if it exists on both and they later get a Switch 2.... should they have to buy it again? In the old console model they would but again I see no compelling reason why they should

And some might say Nintendo would never do this because selling all these games again and again is a way to extract money. And maybe that's the case. But it's not a good thing. And, IMO, having the Switch eShop right there untouched with cross-buy and games still landing on Switch with its huge install base? There are benefits here for Nintendo also

There's also the case of the new Switch 2 owner who skipped Switch. They should be able to download BotW, or the HD remake of Pikmin, or Jackbox Party Pack 2. Without having to wait for a "port". It should be just there, downloadable and it should run as if it was built for the hardware

/derailing the hype train

I have a pretty strong feeling Metroid Prime 4 is this year's big title for the holidays.

You were bang-on the money; TPC just announced a Presents for Pokemon Day!

Presumably we will be getting a new pokémon game for later this year, wonder what that will be? Haven't heard much rumours around a Black/White remake.

Not really interested in Pokemon unless they drop Pokemon onto NSO. I guess if they revived Pokemon Pinball I'd be pretty hyped also. But yeah, I hope that they mostly use this year to sort themselves out. Hopefully Palworld was a bit of a wakeup call

For the Nintendo Direct and Nintendo's year more generally? I think we can expect to see a lot of remakes, remasters and easy wins. Probably not many huge titles because the ones that have been in the oven for a bit will be held back for Switch 2 and titles just ramping up would have been started with Switch 2 in mind. So we're in no-mans land there a bit

Also I'm still fairly confident, even with rumours of Switch 2 being early 2025, that we'll hear about it sooner rather than later. I don't think they'll be silent until October or anything like that. I think we'll probably hear something in the next couple of months

@skywake I kinda hope Palworld leads to the next Pokemon game being a less than stellar selling game. Only then will they wake up. Palworld selling well won’t do much if they still sell 10+ million Pokemon games without much problems.

All I want is a remaster of Eternal Darkness in the vein of Metroid Prime Remastered. Is that too much to ask? Now would be the perfect time with the 140 million user base.

I did not play Pokémon since Lets go...
A follow up to that would be great! =)

And its most likely something gen 2 related, given the presents song seems to be a weird version of the Gen 2 gym theme with a similar soundfont.

@skywake I think they'll follow same strategy as the year leading up to Switch:

• "Switch 2 releases in March 2025" type announcement at the fiscal year shareholders meeting (was late April for the "NX releases in March 2017" announcement back then, will be early May this time)
• Teaser trailer in October
• Big event in January
• Launch in March

The big difference being no crossgen release like BotW that gets all the focus during Summer, instead the focus being on a current Switch game (Prime 4).

I'm hoping for another Legends game, it still wasn't the Pokemon game I wanted but it was lot better than the mainline games.

25 minute Partner Direct. I wouldn't say that's meager, but it feels that way. The doldrums, the quiet time between console generations. I would like to see some questionable release windows locked in. Suikoden I & II Remaster, Fantasy Life i, The Kingdom Come, etc.

@skywake
I get your point, I truly truly do, and most people feel the way you do. So I get that I’m defending the equivalent of a rusty nail, but I just think if people want to play old games they should boot up their old console the game was on. Or, yes, buy the old console to play the old game. To me, that’s where the charm comes from. Just a weird human feeling of “I don’t want whatever I want. Nobody does” kind of thing (quote from Neil Gaiman).

I do agree on less-demanding NEW titles being available on Switch and Switch 2, though. That’s a happening-right-now sort of thing. I just hate the whole going back to the past and wanting everything to be playable on everything.

/Back to the hype train

Everyone still fully believing the latest doomer rumors I see.