Topic: Next Nintendo Direct?

I don't want start beef with anyone, but I feel that some people use far too many words instead of stating the simple thing at the core of it all:

The Switch 2 is too expensive for most people.
It doesn't matter if there are perfectly logical reasons why it's priced liked that, or how good of a deal it is now or in the future. It's still too expensive for most people.

@BrazillianCara
And in previous generations at this point Switch support would be slowing to a crawl. The fact that there are cross-gen games, Switch 2 editions and just straight up Switch releases is a good thing

I know Doug Bowser copped a lot of crap for saying that if people can't afford the Switch 2 that Nintendo sells a more budget platform, the Switch. But he wasn't wrong

@skywake Well for one gamers want to see bigger and better games too. But more importantly, the launch of a next gen console signals the beginning of the end for the previous gen and creates a sense of insecurity. Will the previous console still get games? How many? Will I miss out on new games by waiting? Will the old console still get games until I think the new console has enough games to be worth buying? So "are there enough exclusives" doesn't just matter to Nintendo for sales projections. It matters to individual gamers because it affects whether or not they want to buy and consequently, what they can play and when.

@Bolt_Strike
It's as simple as this. If you don't feel the Switch 2 has enough yet to get it you don't have to buy it. Wait it out until there are enough games you want, they're not going anywhere. And if you're in this position the fact that Switch is still getting support is a positive thing

But if you do think the Switch 2 had enough to get it already? Whether that was the exclusives, the improved performance, the Switch 2 editions and upgrades or even if you're new to it or otherwise just wanted a less worn out Switch. The fact that these games also exist on Switch, in whatever form they do exist, is completely irrelevant

There is only really one reason what you're saying here about "exclusives" matters. Because you want to see higher hardware sales. Either because you're concerned about the platform being dropped or because you are a shareholder and want to see number go up. And for obvious reasons I don't think these concerns are well founded

I thought the Direct was pretty solid overall. We got FOUR new 1st party Switch 2 games, which is more than most Directs where we usually get 2, maybe 3. RE Requiem coming day and date is huge, the stuff that needed dates got dates (minus Elden Ring...), and DQ and Fatal Frame were awesome surprises.

I can see why some had issues with it though, as there was a lack of super heavy hitters shown off, and it seems their entire 1st party lineup for the first half of 2026 is very casual focused (Mario Tennis, Yoshi, Tomodachi Life, the Wonder DLC, and presumably Pokemon Pokopia and Rhythm Heaven), as Splatoon Raiders and Fire Emblem are almost assuredly Summer releases. So if this holiday's lineup doesn't do it for you, you'll likely be waiting until Holiday 2026 for any of the biggest hitters.

Also the Pokemon stuff seems to have left a bad taste in a lot of people's mouths. Pokopia seems to be a cute and fine game on it's own, but a game that's basically Animal Crossing x DQ Builders: Pokemon Edition is kind of a bad look considering all of the Pokemon related patent stuff.

One thing I haven't seen many talk about is Mario Tennis. I kinda get it, it has been a long time since Mario Tennis was worth paying attention to. And as someone who's favourite game on the GBC was Mario Tennis the very paint-by-numbers super safe, super paired back releases have been disappointing

But this one looked pretty good I thought. Early days I guess, will have to see how it tracks when people start getting their hands on it. But the fever mechanic looked interesting, the character variety sounded pretty solid and the variety of modes seemed pretty deep. And they brought back the RPG mode!

Honestly, outside of Prime 4 probably the game from Nintendo I'm looking forward to the most

I really think the Direct was super solid, but the pacing ruined it. They would rush through 3 Mario games and then take 6.8 business days to finish telling you about The Roguelike: Ultime Deluxe Thingamabob. If it had been better paced, and the Mario section's fluff (marathon news, really?) had been pared down, I think most ppl would see it as a 9/10. Due to those issues I bumped it down to a 7.

@skywake Honestly, I think it's great Tennis has a real story mode. I hope more games like that have it. I'm not sold on the 9 million combinations of characters and racket types, but I would need to see more. It's the type of game I wouldn't buy without trying a demo first, so I hope they have a demo.

@skywake That was honestly the only disappointing announcement of the new 1st party ones. It would've been nice to continue the trend of delving into sports that don't appear on every console like if they chose Baseball or Basketball instead. Also repeating the cycle of new Mario Tennis and Mario Golf means they delay the release of best tennis and golf games (Power Tennis (GCN/GBA), Toadstool Tour (GCN) and Advance Tour (GBA)).

I think a Prime 4 Direct is plausible now, probably more similar to the MK World Direct where a lot of it will be stuff already shown, though.

Here's my predictions for Directs the rest of the year:

• Kirby Air Riders Direct 2nd Presentation
• The Super Mario Galaxy Movie Direct 1st Trailer
• Metroid Prime 4 Beyond Direct
• Kirby Air Riders 3rd Presentation
• The Super Mario Galaxy Movie Direct 2nd Trailer

While you're most likely correct about Switch 1 games not going anywhere for the time being, the thing is how do you know that for certain? Especially if you're not aware of Nintendo's release patterns? We know that Switch 1 is getting games until at least Spring 2026 because Nintendo's confirmed that, but after that point? We have to wait for further announcements to see. Those kinds of assurances only work for so long.

Yeah, I'm definitely suspecting a Prime 4 Direct in October or November. The trailer showed a pretty radical departure from past Prime games with the motorcycle and open world, and they really need to show just how the gameplay loop works. Is this still a Metroidvania? How open is the game world? How will the game progression work in the open world? They need to answer these questions before they're ready to put Prime 4 out into the wild.

Yeah, I've seen several influencers express concern over Tennis Fever (and there's probably a lot more fans that I haven't seen). Some of them wanted to see another sport since you can already play Tennis Aces and Golf Super Rush through BC (and they could've chosen to make S2Es for those games instead to save time) but they fear that this announcement signals that Camelot is just going to trade off Tennis, Golf, Tennis, Golf ad infinitum without experimenting with another sport or revisiting an RPG like Golden Sun. I myself don't really enjoy any of these IPs so I have no skin in the game here, but I can understand the concern that Camelot's releases are starting to get too predictable and that would be kind of a bad precedent for those that do enjoy them.

How many Kirby Air Riders directs do you think there will be before it releases?
I'm going with 7.
Closest gets a Kirby medallion.

@Uncle_Franklin pfft, at least 70 - that gives them one day off between now and launch.

@Uncle_Franklin, I'm thinking just two, counting the first one that has already happened and the recently announced second one.

@ShieldHero
Now you're just being silly.

The impression I'm getting for the rest of Directs this year is:

• Week beginning October 13th - Kirby Air Riders Direct (lines up approximately with the distance the 2nd Smash Ultimate Direct was before launch)
• Week beginning October 20th - Partner Showcase (3rd party support seemed oddly limited in the general Direct and Elden Ring is missing)
• Week beginning October 27th - Metroid Prime 4 Direct (the Prime 4 trailer said the road to launch begins with the Prime 1-3 book on October 28th, also it's a decent amount of time after Legends Z-A launches)
• Week beginning December 15th - Indie World (before 2024 there was a period of time when November/December Indie World was common)

Not sure about whether they'd do movie Directs like in 2022/2023, the news this week seems like a hybrid of the initial September 2021 Direct news and the first movie Direct so maybe they save next movie news for the Game Awards?

I did get a few predictions correct, a Switch 2 edition of Super Mario Bros. Wonder and a Metroid Prime 4 release, but to be honest I kinda though the Switch 2 edition of Mario Wonder was gonna be a new campaign with extra levels, but since the base game itself feels like it’s missing additional Co-op and VS. modes, I guess it works

@MrCarlos46 Actually there is going to be a new campaign, it was just a blink-and-you'll-miss segment at the end and they only gave us 10 seconds of teasers. They seem to be adding a new world with remixed levels where you collect Bellabel Flowers in place of Wonder Seeds and the Koopalings make an appearance and seem to use Wonder Effects.

See 2:10-2:20.

Yeah, I didn't really like the marketing for Wonder S2E spending so much time promoting the multiplayer modes and tossing in a short teaser for the actual levels at the end, but from what little we see of it it seems like the extra content is about Star Crossed Worlds tier which is acceptable IMO. They've got 4-6 months until release, plenty of time for them to show us another trailer later that gives us more details about how the new campaign actually works.

Considering the title of the DLC says 'meetup', I think it's fair to assume it will be highly multiplayer focused even if there is some single player stuff also. Personally I was hoping for a lot more single player challenge levels and new modes and mix-ups, more like what new super mario bros U Deluxe has. In particular, the badges are very under-utilized and could have both cool challenges and special modes to use them more. I'll be disappointed if all the DLC is is multiplayer stuff and a few extra levels.

Edit: Although I would pay $10 for a DLC which added literally nothing except additional save files. This DLC better add that.

Let me get this straight then. This was a very bad Direct because Nintendo has yet to do enough to get you over the line on Switch 2. There's just too much stuff coming out that's still coming to Switch and you want Nintendo to force you to migrate to the new platform. But also, simultaneously, the fact that Switch is still being supported means nothing because outside of Prime 4 most of the big upcoming games seem to be Switch 2 only and they've given no assurances of continued support after Rhythm Heaven

......... so which is it? Is it bad that Nintendo hasn't forced you into buying a Switch 2 due to the continued support of Switch? Or is it bad that potentially at any point they could stop releasing games for Switch and force you into buying Switch 2? It can't be both