Topic: Next Nintendo Direct?

I'm not worried. I hear Pikmin 4 is nearly complete and should be released soon...

A Nintendo direct needs to happen soon. The 2020 year is so bare with only 2 or 3 major releases announced yet, and Nintendo should announce some things soon. Even though I hope with all my being that there will be an announcement today, I am pretty sure that that will not happen.

Where did you hear this from? Or is it just a suspicion?

Past 3:00 pm UK time... (3:20 right now...)

@Dezzy Probably HD development, Nintendo had trouble in the Wii U era because of the jump from standard definition (Wii) to HD (Wii U). Now this is happening with the 3DS side as 3DS is a standard definition console meanwhile Switch is HD.

Heard it from Miyamoto himself

Wonderful 101 Remastered launches May 19th in NA and May 22nd in Europe.

@Grumblevolcano I would understand that jump to HD being an issue as that’s what caused no end of problems and headaches during the Wii U period. However at least those teams now know how to develop games in HD, and the Switch architecture isn’t so archaic as that of the Wii U so it should be helping speed up development times. With the 3DS teams, they have had 3 years to get to know the hardware and how to create HD games. Maybe Nintendo could do with scaling up their studios with either another one or two acquisitions or just opening more if that’s what is needed.

@Dezzy @Grumblevolcano

Decided to test that theory by looking at the number of titles Nintendo published (not devloped) per year:

2013 - 31 games
2014 - 29 games
2015 - 30 games
2016 - 32 games
2017 - 33 games
2018 - 28 games
2019 - 19 games
2020 - 5 games (as of Today)

Early 2017 - Wii U releases had already ended, Switch begins
Late 2018 - 3DS Development Canned after Luigi's Mansion and Mario & Luigi flops

I'm thinking the 3DS was exactly the issue. My guess is that they planned on making budget titles like remakes for 3DS all through 2019 and possibly into 2020, and suddenly had to scrap or retrofit all those plans, leading to their significant drop in output.

EDIT: Not to mention the loss of several 3DS teams from the last generation that couldn't make the leap to HD, with both Skip Ltd and AlphaDream gone off the top of my head.

Looks like not this week

@link3710 Yeah, I'd imagine 3DS for 2019/2020 would've been something like:

• Fire Emblem Genealogy of the Holy War or Fire Emblem The Binding Blade (remake using Echoes engine)
• Link's Awakening (remake using ALBW engine, moved to Switch with different engine)
• Super Metroid or Metroid Fusion (remake using Samus Returns engine)
• Mario & Luigi Partners in Time (remake with extra side mode like the other 2 Mario & Luigi remakes using same engine)
• Super Mario 3D World (port)
• Paper Mario N64 or TTYD (remake using Sticker Star engine)
• Pokemon Mystery Dungeon (remake using Super Mystery Dungeon engine, moved to Switch with different engine)
• Kirby Return to Dreamland (port)

Came up with the list just by looking at existing 3DS games as it's likely that for example the GC Luigi's Mansion came to 3DS because Dark Moon was already on 3DS so same engine could be used.

I'm not one to usually care about how long it's been since the last direct, but I am looking at the 2020 release schedule and DO want to know what Nintendo has up their sleeves for us this year. Animal Crossing is fun and all, but I would like to know what else I can expect from the EAD teams

Of course I'd like to know what's coming too, but I'm old enough to remember waiting (im)patiently for the July issue of Nintendo Power every year to find out what was announced at E3 the month prior. It was a different world back then.

@Grumblevolcano That list seems pretty accurate. We heard quite a few rumors about scrapped 3DS titles after all, and I'm wondering if more were real than we realized. Link's Awakening having been planned as 3DS seems most likely true since it was leaked in... 2017 I want to say as that, and the rumors of another FE remake were strong. PMD starting on a console with a remake is odd, so I'll agree that was likely 3DS originally as well.

What's more interesting is that Nintendo so far has been getting the feedback that 3DS style games still sell on Switch, at least from Link's Awakening. If Mystery Dungeon sells well too, we might see them bring more of the small scale experiences that have become homeless out alongside their big titles.

So the leakers could be wrong. I don't think we are getting a direct this month. They may go without a direct until E3. Too late for an announcement now.

They probably decided to stop doing Directs to stick it to the leakers

@DannyBoi It surprises me that there hasn't been an announcement yet. I was banking on an announcement either today or yesterday. The prospect of complete radio silence until E3 concerns me.

You're assuming Nintendo even ends up going to E3. There's a chance they don't thanks to coronavirus.

That being said I'm sure the plan was always for a March Direct

@DannyBoi @WaffleKnight

I'll say that's almost certainly untrue. Given the ratings, Xenoblade Chronicles DE will likely be out before E3, which I can't imagine won't come up in a direct. Additionally, any games for June and probably July need to be announced before E3 as well. Plus we have a number of ratings leaks suggesting stuff like Bioshock collection is launching pre-E3.

I'm still on April 1st for the direct, still saying them having one in February makes no sense. March is a maybe, but we'll definitely have one before June. There is currently a grand total of 4 games with release dates post-March between all third party and first party. Do you really believe that a system that's averaging dozens of games a month at the moment is going to have nothing to announce til E3?

I'd have thought they'd want it as far away from the Animal Crossing launch as possible though. That's why I really thought it'd be Feb. That way they have 3 weeks to just focus on Animal Crossing promotion.

It's surely got to be before Animal Crossing launch though. If they leave it any later than March, they might as well just start putting PS4 adverts for Resident Evil 3 and Final Fantasy 7 up on the Nintendo channel.