Topic: Next Nintendo Direct?

This is now indeed strange...
Where's the new indie or third-party Switch 2 announcements or Switch 2 edition upgrades? Almost nothing has been announced outside those Switch 2 reveal trailers, No Man's Sky Switch 2 is almost the only exception this so far...

Something had to happen soon or not? Nintendo appears to changed their tactics now during the "Switch 2 era".
It's almost like if almost none of those third-parties devs actually got a SW2 dev kit until very recently, or still haven't received it yet.

I really hope that the history doesn't repeats again with that despicable "wait and see" approach like they did with Switch. It took 4 years until Atlus released their first game despite of releasing 3-5 games yearly on 3DS during its 5 or 6 first years. The memory of the epic Wii U catastrophe is probably still very fresh. So they'll probably wait until when Switch 2 has sold +50m before they're jumping onboards then with barebones and severely gimped ports a la Switch 1, sadly I'm pretty certain of that it's gonna happen again.

I don't think I want to watch Nintendo Direct anymore after the game key card situation for 3rd party games.
I don't want to feel excited for a while then suddenly turned into disappointment after realized the games got game key card treatment or code in box for even worse.

@VoidofLight @Don I think MKW counts as a big Mario game, at least to Nintendo. Mario Kart is the money maker, after all.

@Keman That's exactly what it is. Murmurings were happening about how tons of Nintendo partner studios haven't actually gotten dev kits yet. That's why there's been this major lack of announcements or Switch 2 editions revealed.

@CaleBoi25 Yeah, I didn't include that because it's almost certainly a 2026 game.

I don't think July general Direct makes much sense unless they're treating Drag x Drive like Everybody 1-2-Switch:

• Week 1 (June 30th - July 6th) - Too close to the Drag x Drive release date announcement, they'd have put it in the Direct instead if there was a Direct that week
• Week 2 (July 7th - 13th) - Summer Nights is that weekend, Nintendo usually stays out of the way of Splatoon events when it comes to general Direct timings
• Week 3 (July 14th - 20th) - Doing a general Direct that week would overshadow DK Bananza
• Week 4 (July 21st - 27th) - Pokemon Presents is that week
• Week 5 (July 28th - August 3rd) - At this point you may as well wait until September

@Grumblevolcano Drag X Drive is a super small game with barely any content. I don’t think Nintendo really cares about a direct being close to the release date announcement for it.

OK, I'm a little late for this as it happened while I was on vacation, but I wanted to share my thoughts on the Donkey Kong Bananza direct. While I'm still a bit sad that Mario's Switch 2 adventure hasn't been announced yet, I'm definitely quite a bit more excited for Bananza. This game looks like a really good time. The direct did a very good job getting me excited for the game, and when I do eventually get a Switch 2, I'll be sure to play through it to the end. I love a good platformer after all, including the DKC games. Heck, I have a soft spot for Donkey Kong 64 as well, even though I do know that game is a bit rough around the edges at points.

Yeah I didn't think we were gonna get a big showcase this month. Maybe a partner one at the very least.

Having one this month after 2-2½ months would've been a very short gap by Direct standards at least, even following a console launch and now that they have Nintendo Today!, they can spread news over a longer period of time.
September seems pretty locked in, then I think will return to having February, June and September ones next year.

How Mario's 40th anniversary weaves into this, I'm not so sure. Will it be a part of the general Direct or have it's own thing entirely, I know the latter happened in 2020 but I've always been curious as to what Plan A would've been for that year had the pandemic not occurred.

So... a Gamecube NSO announcement shadowdropped, how do you guys think this will affect any upcoming directs?

So if we’re getting DK Bananza previews next Tuesday, could we get something else on Wednesday? I think we’re due another Kirby Star-Crossed World trailer soon, so maybe that?

@VoidofLight
It would be a big missed opportunity if it turns out to be correct. I’m sure the next Mario title is at least in development, it would be very odd if we don’t get a new main Mario title within one year of the new console launch which I don’t think has ever happened before.

@Tayrailbridge
I think Mario Kart is still considered a spin off Mario title like Mario Golf, Tennis, Party, etc. We are very much overdue for a new 3D Mario game. I think this has been the longest gap between 3D Mario games (At least 8 years).

@Don Bowser's Fury?

i really hope the rumors abt a july direct are true, but it just seems so unlikely, as grumble volcano pointed out. i think they want to give the month to DK BANANZA. i wouldnt be surprised at a direct in september w a prime 4 shadow drop, release dates for Hyrule Warriors and Air Riders, something mario, and sneak peaks at 2026 titles such as animal crossing and pokemon gen 10. nintendo is getting very unpredictable nowdays tho!! hopefully we will at least get a another Jamboree DLC trailer and something else next week.

@Tayrailbridge Between original 3D Mario games. Bowser's Fury is a bonus mode to a Wii U port, not a full game.

By that standard, it absolutely is. The next longest was 6 years between 64 and Sunshine.

@Bolt_Strike By technicality, it's a spinoff from a remake, yes. To Nintendo, however, I think they would consider it a proper installment.

@Tayrailbridge Maybe. But we're in a new console generation so it hardly matters.

As far as Mario Kart, no it does not count as a big Mario game. Gameplay wise it's a completely different genre of game. When people say they want a "Mario" game they mean a platformer, and in this case they're specifically wanting a new, original 3D Mario platformer. There's nothing yet that satisfies that. Not Mario Kart which is a different genre. Not DK Bananza which is a different IP with a different gameplay style more focused around beating baddies and deforming the level terrain as opposed to Mario focusing on athletic platforming. Yes, Mario Kart is a high seller, but so is 3D Mario, so it should be here sooner rather than later. It's not the end of the world to not have it this year, but having to wait a few years in would definitely be harmful.

@Bolt_Strike You're acting like Nintendo not releasing a new 3D Mario for a few more years is going to kill them. They have a constant stream of Mario content. They're going to be fine. If anything, there's been waaaay too much Mario content in a short period of time imo. To the point where it feels like they're going to burn people out of the IP if they're not careful.

@Bolt_Strike It's not like Nintendo is obligated to release a new entry of every different type of Mario game every year. They sell games for money, so they'll focus on selling games that make money. MKW clearly has had a lot of effort put into it, and it has sold remarkably well, so I don't see why they would feel the need to quickly put out a 3D mainline game. Like I've said before, Nintendo would most likely view MKW as a mainline game anyway.