Topic: Next Nintendo Direct?

@ShieldHero All right gotcha. I would imagine that it would start sometime next week or the week after, since the game will be coming out on November 20.

Yeah my guess is the 2nd Air Riders Direct either this week or next, and then whatever they're doing for Prime 4 will be the week after Age of Imprisonment's release.

Some Kirby Air Riders Direct predictions:

• costumes/accessories
• story mode
• rest of returning vehicles and some more new ones
• more character reveals
• Missions
• amiibo (meta knight/shadow star?)
• legendary air ride machine
• what the in game currency (currencies?) does
• post-launch content

@PikminMarioKirby I'd be interested to know how much post-launch content there will be, if any.

I can't help but think Nintendo will want him to get a move on with Smash although if that's the case, it would make you wonder why they asked him to do this in the first case.
I've seen some speculate that it was a way to 'sweeten' Sakurai and not burn him out on Smash Bros. production. Or perhaps Air Riders' development was a way to buy Nintendo some time to reevaluate where to take Smash after Ultimate. But even then, 3-4 years seems excessive.

@Nintoz
I could see Kirby Air Riders getting some small free content updates, but it'll be absolutely nothing compared to that of Smash Ultimate which received substantial paid DLC content support for 3 years. Nintendo will definitely want Sakurai to begin planning/pre-production on the next Smash Bros by early next year.

Although I think heel be involved, I really don't see Sakurai being the director of Smash 6 tbh. If he is, I won't be flabbergasted, but I just feel like they're gonna try to move him a little lower in the heirarchy as he moves towards retirement.

@Nintoz @westman98 Maybe it could be like the Switch era where Mario Kart and Smash have separate phases. Smash Ultimate fighter reveals was used as a big source of Direct hype but then once that ended, the MK8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass took its place. After the BCP ended, Smash Ultimate had the surprise bonus spirits.

Granted this idea applying to Switch 2 works on the principle that MK World gets post-launch support though.

@Grumblevolcano
Mario Kart and Smash have different development teams with mininal overlap. The reason why the Booster Course Pass happened after Fighter's Pass concluded was because it took a while for Nintendo to integrate Mario Kart Tour (a 2019 game) content into Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and it just to happened to occur right after Smash Bros Ultimate DLC ended (late 2021).

This time around, Nintendo won't make another Mario Kart mobile game, so if Mario Kart World gets DLC, it'll happen much sooner, not 5 years after launch. On the other hand, the next Smash Bros game probably won't release until 2029 at earliest. Given this, we could see a situation where most or all Mario Kart World DLC is released before the next Smash Bros even launches. This isn't some master plan by Nintendo, just development times lining up to produce this particular content rollout.

I just can't wait to finally hear about Mario Kart DLC. For me, I'm fine with paying to extend this game into something with a little bit more body. Yes, controls are great, the knockout tour is great, and so are the many racers and cars. But I think adding some amazing tracks and stuff to make the open world just more interesting could really help this game become as beloved as 8.

@westman98 What I had in mind was that a coincidence in the Switch 1 era becomes an intentional strategy in the Switch 2 era because it worked so well in the Switch 1 era. The situation regarding the BCP is a result of World's vision not being able to be achieved on Switch 1.

@westman98 I kinda think, and am hopeful that the Smash Bros for Switch 2 will be the continuation of Ultimate. Whatever they do after Ultimate would probably feel like a downgrade if it got rid of any of the fighters, so I really do hope they release a Switch 2 version with 4k, 120 fps, every stage from previous Smash games that wasn't in Ultimate, and like 5 extra fighters or something as a standalone release and upgrade path. Then to stop any rights disputes, they keep selling the first two fighter passes, but if you got them on Switch 1, they carry over. Then announce Fighter Pass 3 and 4 are coming to increase hype.
I think that is the smartest and best thing for Smash going forward, and it will also mean Sakurai can make more games like new Kid Icarus, etc.
EDIT: They could even chuck in a more Subspace Emissary-type little story expansion to Ultimate, exclusively on Switch 2. But maybe that's just me dreaming.

Honestly wouldn't mind a new Smash with a fraction of the roster. Ultimate suffers from too many fighters, so newcomers get overwhelmed and have no chance learning all the quirks and patterns while getting to grips with the game. I'd rather have quality over quantity next time around, not that Ultimate isn't quality, but a lot of fighters feel half-assed.

@AStupidID I hear chatter about an SSBU S2E quite often, and I really don't see - for the same reason I don't think Splatoon Raiders ever had a shot at being a Splatoon 3 S2E pack-in, actually. See, both games are very reaction-based, meaning that allowing players to play together on two different systems (one with exponentially higher refresh rates and all that jazz) would make the player base essentially have to either upgrade their console for the better one, or deal with having a handicap. It just doesn't make sense, even though I get where people are coming from when they suggest it.

@CaleBoi25 @AStupidID The biggest thing that makes me question a Switch 2 edition is licensing. Smash Ultimate has lots of 3rd party content and I doubt the licenses are forever so someday the game would get delisted from the eshop. Brawl had the luxury of being physical only meanwhile Smash 3DS/Wii U were only 8 years old when the 3DS/Wii U eshop was shutdown so we don't have an idea of how long the licenses for those were.

Oh my gosh... a scenario where Smash Ultimate (my second favorite game of all time, btw) gets delisted would not be fun for me, even though I'd probably be able to redownload the digital copy saved to my Nintendo Account forever, at least, simply because I just don't like the idea of one of my favorite games being digitally delisted. I never thought of that before until I read the post above mine 😨.

@ShieldHero Regardless of delisting, the servers will presumably be shutdown eventually for online play.

People are going to hate me (what's new for some) but personally I wouldn't mind if we don't get a Switch 2 Smash Bros. Just roll out a Switch 2 update that bumps up the resolution and call it a day

To be fair, I did also say this about Mario Kart before World was announced. I feel I was wrong about that, World did expand the idea of what Mario Kart could be. Some surely disagree with that. But for Smash Bros, is there really THAT much difference between Smash Bros for Wii U and Ultimate? What are we really expecting from a Switch 2 Smash that we don't already have? New fighters and stages? Do we not have enough?

Personally I'd rather see that development effort be put into something entirely different. Something new. Although given how well Smash always sells and given that even I will surely buy whatever has Smash on the box I expect we'll get another Smash Bros

My long-term hope for the future of Smash is a SSB MOBA, to do for the MOBA genre what SSB already has for the fighting game genre. That's just a crazy fever dream, though. I'm fine with Smash on S2 just being balance patches and spirit drops for Ultimate. I play the game semi-competitvely, and I feel like it just needs a few tweaks and it'll be completely fine for the current generation.

Relegating Smash Bros on Switch 2 to Smash Ultimate NS2E and calling it a day isn't going to happen, Super Smash Bros is an incredibly important IP to Nintendo and they will not go the entire Switch 2 generation without releasing a new entry.

Nintendo Switch 2 Editions of old games have not sold anywhere near as much as actual new games as we have seen with the NS2Es of Zelda BOTW/TOTK, Mario Party Jamboree, and Kirby Forgotten Land. All of those IPs are going to receive new entries on Switch 2, and so will Smash.

@skywake I totally agree there! A resolution boost and load time decrease would be great. I just don't think we'll see full S2E for it