Topic: Next Nintendo Direct?

@IceClimbers I know, I was just adding to their list based on announcements given. I don’t think Nintendo themselves have marketed it in a show of their own if I’m not mistaken, so I could see it get another look then.

@Enriesto The full list of SoP Switch/Switch 2 games is:

• Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 2
• Legacy of Kain Defiance Remastered
• Castlevania Belmont's Curse
• Mina the Hollower
• 007 First Light
• Pragmata
• Resident Evil Requiem
• Darwin's Paradox
• Rayman 30th Anniversary Edition
• Brigandine Abyss
• Neva Prologue DLC

Well, we'll know this week if a certain leaker is worth their salt or not. They're really putting their reputation on the line with this prediction, and they're not just some random leaker who appeared on the scene recently - they have a pretty long history with some misses but a fair amount of hits, as well.

On one hand, it seems foolish to stake your reputation on this when most people don't think it's happening. On the other, it really could be one heck of a February for game announcements lol

If Nash Weedle ends up being right I’ll drop every game I’m playing to do a first-time playthrough of Balan Wonderworld. If he’s wrong he should be ostracized and join the ranks of Samus Hunter and Zippo and never be listened to ever again

Man, this will either be one crazy month of announcements or just an average February.....

Can't disagree, but ... the general consensus on the recent Partner Direct was that it wasn't much of a blockbuster. I'm not suggesting we should paint it as 'leftovers', but what was in there that would rightfully feel aggrieved if a Nintendo Direct followed soon after? Sure, they probably want to play nice with Microsoft, but that Bethesda finale didn't really deserve red carpet treatment.

Ending with Bethesda ports was lame but I would have been happier if they had DOOM The Dark Ages and/or at least NS2 upgrades for DOOM 2016 and Eternal

I would have preferred if they ported that DOOM + DOOM II with those expansion packs by NightDive Studios and Romero (Sigil and Sigil II), maybe even throw in some approved fan-made WADs and conversions.

Since Pokemon Gen 10 is probably the biggest Nintendo game I'll be interested in (if not the only), I'm sort of hoping we don't see a Direct until after Pokemon Day so that we can get a follow-up trailer for it, sort of like what we saw with Legends Z-A last year.

In any case, a General Direct at this time seems highly unlikely for various reasons others have mentiined, and the leakers claiming we'll be getting one don't seem to have the best track records. I think MAR10 Day is the earliest we could see a Direct and I honestly hope we don't see one before then.

@OmnitronVariant Oh... Well, I guess I didn't check... (I already had DOOM II when I had a Switch 1, and now have it for Switch 2.) Thanks for the heads up 👍
Though I highly doubt it has "mod support" as it says in the eShop description? 🤔

Nintendo released a new NSO overview video for Japan and it teased some games aren't currently on the service. The ones I noticed were the GBC Mario Tennis and Golf games at 1:07 in the video.

@Grumblevolcano GBC Mario Tennis was already on NSO; I played it a few weeks ago.

Yeah both of those are already on the service, does remind me that we're still waiting on the GBA games though.

@FishyS Oops, my bad.

@UpsideDownRowlet It's unlikely we would see a trailer for Gen 10 in a March/April Direct. Spring is usually a dead spot for main series Pokemon news, they tend not to reveal anything significant about the new game that time of the year and IIRC the last time they revealed ANYTHING was back in 2013 with XY, and that was just teasers of Sylveon and Mega Mewtwo Y (they did not reveal the mechanics behind them, just the designs and they didn't even name drop Mega Mewtwo Y until August, they just said it was a new form of Mewtwo). Usually after the initial reveal we get radio silence until the Summer and news reveals only ramp up after that second trailer. So depending on when that second trailer is (traditionally it's in June, but for SV we had to wait all the way until August), we won't see it in a March/April Direct if there is one and we may not even see it in a June Direct. Expect a lengthy news drought where we sit on little more than the starters, a few old Pokemon returning, and a few shots of the region for literal months before getting any concrete info on the game, that's typically how the news cycle works for new generations.

@UpsideDownRowlet I think the advantage Legends Z-A had with earlier than normal news was that it released in October rather than the usual November slot. If Gen 10 also releases in October so it can avoid GTA6, we could also see more news for Gen 10 in Spring.

@Grumblevolcano No, the advantage Z-A had was that it was announced a year in advance because 2024 was a break year but they still wanted to signal what the next game was. The release date doesn't seem to matter, because in all other cases, the major details didn't come until Summer (and we didn't really have a comparable news blowout for Z-A because there was nothing else to really reveal for it after the Pokemon Day 2025 trailer, mainly just sprinklings of new Megas here and there). And heck, SV released the same time as other November games and they stayed relatively silent for an extra 2 months as the typical news blowout trailer came in August rather than June as it usually is. We're getting nothing substantial in March or April, you can take that to the house. Probably nothing in May either. May could be a bit iffy because XY got a blowout in May and released in October, but that was also before the era of Pokemon Directs/Presents so they may not be interested in a May Presents.

@gcunit When I made the comment I was thinking more generally. There's been plenty of scenarios over gaming's history where 3rd parties have been treated poorly by platform holders and burned bridges, harming the platform in the process. That shouldn't be repeated with Switch 2.

Regarding the Partner Showcase itself, I think the perception would've been more positive if Rebirth and Bethesda swapped places. Rebirth being a highly anticipated 3rd party game that also seems to run well on Switch 2 would've been perfect as a closer.

@Bolt_Strike @Grumblevolcano My thoughts are that it seems that Nintendo has been incorporating mainline Pokemon into their general directs a lot more as of late. In the June 2023 General Direct, we got the gameplay reveal of Hidden Treasure of Area Zero. 2024 Directs didn't show Pokemon for the obvious reason that Z-A simply wasn't ready to be shown off. Then, in 2025, Legends: Z-A appeared in the March general Direct, the Switch 2 Direct in April, and the September Direct (so every General Direct that year). The trailer in the March General Direct focused on the Z-A Royale, which is a fairly integral part of the game as a whole. Clearly, Pokemon is having an increasing role in General Directs. Furthermore, since it seems that Gen 10 will be the "big hitter" title for this year, its inclusion in Directs would be great for drumming up hype.

This isn't to say we absolutely will see Pokemon in the next General Direct (tbh I'm not 100% convinced we'll get a General Direct before June at all), but I think it has at least a solid chance of appearing.

@UpsideDownRowlet While it's true that we've seen main series Pokemon make an appearance in General Directs, I'm not ready to declare that they're making major announcements there. Usually General Direct announcements tend to be smaller and just reveal something like a new Pokemon or form. Now could that be changing? Possibly. But I'm not confident that we'll see things like, a new main game announcement or the major blowout trailer in a General, I think TPC still wants to reserve those for dedicated Pokemon Presents. I could potentially see a Gen 10 reveal at the September Direct, but probably not June or earlier.