Topic: Next Nintendo Direct?

Prime trailer just dropped on the today app.

Nintendo currently has a Direct almost every month this year and the streak of consecutive months is at 6 months (June, July, August, September, October, November):

• February - Pokemon Presents
• March - General Direct
• April - Switch 2 Direct, MK World Direct
• June - DK Bananza Direct
• July - Pokemon Presents, Partner Showcase
• August - Indie World, Kirby Air Riders Direct
• September - General Direct
• October - Kirby Air Riders Direct
• November - Mario Galaxy movie Direct

An Indie World in the normal December slot could continue the streak.

@Grumblevolcano Are you expecting anything at Game Awards next week? Or do we next hear from Nintendo/Pokemon in Feb (non-Indie)?

@RobLife1 I think if they do something at the Game Awards, it'll be centred around the Galaxy movie. Like for example revealing Yoshi as a character including who is playing him and then revealing a release date for Yoshi and the Mysterious Book or SMB Wonder Switch 2 Edition for late March. They have waited until early January to announce March release dates before though.

If nothing else, I could definitely see Duskbloods showing up at TGA in order to get Fromsoft Fans interested in it, and by extension, Switch 2.

Edit: Far less likely, but I could also see Splatoon Raiders getting a trailer at TGA.

I don't think we get any first party gaming news until next year. I'd have to guess the next big presentation would be the Pokemon Day Presents and then a mainline Direct in March.

@Grumblevolcano Game Awards does not feel like the right audience for Yoshi. But I do agree about Galaxy movie since they need to hit a lot of different marketing for it.

I'm pretty sure that we can expect the usual early February Direct, since there are quite a few upcoming things labeled with a "Spring 2026" release date right now.

Or maybe I'm completely wrong 😛.

@Nep-Nep-Freak I am somewhat skeptical about February for a direct, since it's already a packed month between Mario Tennis Fever, NSO Virtual Boy, and the all but confirmed Pokemon Presents. I'm not saying it's impossible---technically speaking there is still a free week in February---but I find March more plausible. Maybe in the same way the September direct sort of coincided with the anniversary of Super Mario Bros., the March direct could come around MAR10 Day. Release date updates can also come about without a Direct, and rather just a Nintendo Today drop.

@UpsideDownRowlet @Bolt_Strike I think it all comes down to 3rd party support, while Nintendo could get away with waiting until March to do a Direct when looking at the 1st party side of things I don't think they'd want to give the impression that 3rd party support is already drying up less than a year after launch. January - March has some games (e.g. FFVII Remake, DQ7 Reimagined, RE7-9, Yakuza Kiwami 3, MH Stories 3, 007 First Light) but beyond that at the moment is pretty much almost complete silence.

So I think the Direct timing strategy for early 2026 (outside of the inevitable February Pokemon Presents) will depend on how much Switch 2 is present at the Game Awards, particularly from a 3rd party perspective.

@Grumblevolcano I was about to make a post questioning a few of those release dates, but after doing some research, I found out some fun news lol

On a different note, I do like the idea of a direct around MAR10. That would be fun. Although I could see them saving that day for the Switch 2 version of Mario Wonder. And hopefully some sales (PLEASE put Mario Party Superstars and/or Super Mario Party Jamboree on sale this time!)

One thing I noticed from the Game Awards is that the FFVII Remake demo that's scheduled for release in 2025 is still missing in action. As Square Enix loves to shadow drop demos in events (e.g. Elliot in July Partner Showcase, Octopath 0 in November State of Play), I thought the Game Awards would be a lock but its absence may increase the chance of something like a Partner Showcase next week.

The final piece of the 2025 puzzle is here, Square Enix shadow dropped the FFVII Remake demo today so in the end I think that and yesterday's Silksong DLC news rules out Partner Showcase. Indie World is still possible for this week but it may be that Nintendo has their next event be something like a January Mini mirroring 2018 considering all that talk on Push Square about the Prince of Persia and AC4 remakes.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say we're either not getting a direct until early February- or after the Pokemon Presents.

@VoidofLight makes sense, they usually have one early-mid Feb

That Spring Direct can't come soon enough, there's been nothing big on the console since Bananza. We desperately need a big new game announced like a 3D Mario (preferably a Bowser's Fury style game) or Luigi's Mansion 4.

@Bolt_Strike At least we'll be getting a Gen 10 announcement in February, with the game being exclusive to Switch 2. Even if it doesn't end up being the best looking in the end, it'll still be a big system seller.

Personally for me, I'm hoping Xenoblade 4 gets announced- although it probably won't move systems as much.

@VoidofLight After Arceus, Violet and recently Z-A, I've got so much faith in GF, because despite technical hiccups what they've gotten so much better at is gameplay. These games are so varied and fun and different from one another. So I'm really looking forward to a Switch 2 exclusive Gen 10 as well.

@OmnitronVariant I'm in the same boat. If they can just bump up the graphical aspect and keep the quality of the core gameplay experience consistent, Gen 10 could be a really really great experience.

@VoidofLight They need more than just Gen 10. The Switch 2 is sorely lacking in big, original games, it needs more broadly appealing system sellers. Right now it's primarily relying on MKW and Bananza with most of everything else being a S2E or a niche IP that only sells a few million copies. That's not going to be enough to justify a new generation yet. They need like, 2 or 3 more games on the caliber of MKW/Bananza.