@Magician Probably years from now. medium sized third party games aren't dropping Switch 1 anytime soon. I imagine 2027 might have the final Nintendo published Switch 1 game though.
I think if Nintendo wanted to move away from relying on general Directs for 1st party news, they'd do what Sony does currently rather than kill off general Directs. For context, State of Play is generally a 30 - 60 minute presentation that on average has 2-3 1st party games present and the rest is 3rd party. For example September 2025 1st party presence was Saros, Wolverine and GT7 DLC.
Aspyr is on the list that's releasing 30th anniversary products this year. Seems like the most likely explanation is Rise of the Tomb Raider for Switch 2.
Yeaaah, I genuinely don't think they're phasing out directs- and I sort of hope they won't. Nintendo Today being where all the news comes would feel like torture. Especially when they can't consistently keep up with daily reveals. The app just moreso feels like a replacement for social media sites like Twitter- so that people can check the app for news on the next direct or something.
So it's now confirmed, Tomodachi Life Living the Dream launches April 16th. Turns out there's no Switch 2 Edition, it's a Switch 1 game playable via backwards compatibility similar to Galaxy 1+2.
This puts a new perspective on the general Direct vs. Partner Showcase for next week discussion.
Worth noting Koizumi's presence (at least I think) adds fuel to next week's Direct being a general one.
It would be a little weird to go to all the effort of filming essentially a 1 minute segment, which mind you requires camera, sound and lighting people.
Not to mention with one of Nintendo's most senior figures!
@Grumblevolcano Odyssey, Smash Ultimate, Wind Waker / Twilight Princess, 3D World / Bowser's Fury and Mario Maker 2. What do think is most likely to have an upgrade this year?
May seems too early for Fire Emblem, maybe Rhythm Heaven?
There are a few rumors are a Mario Maker 3 if new 3D Mario is not this year.
@RobLife1 Smash Ultimate seems like the best candidate for a S2E since Sakurai just finished Air Riders and Smash 6 is likely years off. When is the big question for that though, since we don't know how much they might need Sakurai and him turning that around in just 1 year might be optimistic.
As far as what other possibilities for S2Es, that might be kind of tricky for similar reasons, there's so much that got S2Es last year that it feels unrealistic to get something else this year (this is why I think no Mario Maker 3 this year, we're just getting Wonder S2E and IIRC the same team worked on both Wonder and Mario Maker). If I had to guess which ones are potentially viable for this year, I'd say the following (not all of these of course, the year is already pretty packed, but maybe one or two of these):
Switch Sports
Ring Fit Adventure
1-2 Switch
Pikmin 4
ARMS
I don't think we're getting upgraded re-releases of WW/TP. I think they're just going to put those on GC NSO.
Bowser's Fury is also questionable because I'm not sure they'll do S2Es of ports/remakes/remasters, but the Bowser's Fury mode is new so maybe I'd be wrong about that.
@RobLife1@Bolt_Strike I'd say Pikmin 4 or a Xenoblade game (probably XC2 or XC3 considering "Definitive Edition Nintendo Switch 2 Edition" sounds silly) is most likely for Switch 2 Editions. Not sure which order but with 2026/2027, I think 1 year will have new Monolith Soft game and the other be a Xenoblade remaster. 2027 for remaster would line up with XC2 10th anniversary but 2026 for remaster would fit more with what's already been announced for 2026.
@Grumblevolcano I considered XC2:S2E, but the thing is that they just released XCX:DE last year and it's been 4 years since XC3 so their next project is probably ready soon. I think their next big game (whether it's XC4 or something else, IIRC there's been rumors about them wanting to work on a new IP) is what's coming next for them and we'll get XC2:S2E after that.
I honestly don''t think there will be Switch 2 Editions for games that already got free S2 updates (like ARMS, Mario Odyssey, Echoes of Wisdom et al). Because why would you put multiple months between a resolution and framerate upgrade + GameShare support and actual new content? It makes more sense to launch the full package at once, like they did with DKCR (even though the actual new content is free and isn't exclusive to the Switch 2).
Apparently Nate the Hate heard that the rumored Direct next week is in fact a Partner Showcase, and not a full general Direct.
Not surprising honestly. Have the Partner Showcase in early February to detail 3rd party stuff for Q2 and into Summer, Pokemon Presents on Pokémon Day where Gen 10 gets revealed for November and Champions gets shadow dropped, then a MAR10 video announcing Yoshi's release date and either Luigi's Mansion 4 or 3D Mario for the holidays.
Likely means individual dedicated Directs for Splatoon Raiders and Fire Emblem Fortunes Weave too.
@IceClimbers Yeah I never entirely bought the rumor about a Nintendo Direct next week. As much as the Switch 2 desperately needs that next big game, Nate the Hate mentioning that he didn't know for sure what kind of Direct it would be, the number of currently announced games, and the amount of first party announcements already being cleared led me to believe it might be a Partner Showcase. I don't think they have many new games this year that we don't know about yet. We'll almost certainly get Gen 10 at the Pokemon Day Presents, I do think there may be one other big game like 3D Mario or LM4 announced for this year, and I also think we might get something Zelda for the anniversary (probably some type of remake/remaster), but I'm not feeling like they have enough for a full Direct right now. I suspect we're waiting until June at the earliest for the next full Direct, maybe even September, and we may have smaller announcements in between.
I will say if the 3D Mario/LM4 theories are correct though, they're probably not going to shadow drop that announcement on Nintendo Today on MAR10. If they're announcing that then, I think they may have a Mario Direct that day. Other than that yeah, this schedule seems fairly believable.
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Topic: Next Nintendo Direct?
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