Topic: Nintendo Switch 2 Direct

April 2nd

Probably will be another hour-long affair to talk about specs, features, games, price, and release date. Personally, I'm glad the reveal trailer mentioned targeting complete backwards compatibility with OG Switch cartridges (although there's an asterisk mentioning it my not be 100% backwards compatibility).

The Direct will be epic but what I'm mostly looking forward to is the floodgates that will now be opened. Nintendo has announced the hardware, third parties can now talk about what they're developing for it. I also expect we'll hear more from Nintendo about it before April. Supposedly there's also a Switch general direct next month so perhaps we'll hear something there

Fun few months ahead

Looking forward to this presentation! The console looks really neat (although the leaks were way too accurate for this to look surprising), really hoping we get a lot of cool games (3D Mario please?) at the Direct.

Actually, I could maybe see this new Mario Kart and maybe 3D Mario at a potential Mar10 Day/Mario 40th anniversary presentation.

@skywake

Absolutely.

As a Switch fan who's here mostly for the third party ports, 2025 is shaping up to be electric.

Was this a rumor?

@PikminMarioKirby
IIRC the Nate bit went something like:
1. Jan 16th hardware teaser
2. February general Switch Direct
3. April Switch 2 event

So what does everyone think about a release date? April and May seem out now.

I assume early June.

Although E3 doesn't exist anymore, it's still recognized as a time when the video game industry congregates and lays out what they have for customers through the rest of the year.

So what kinds of games do you think we'll see revealed at the Direct? Obviously it's going to focus on the launch titles, but any specific ideas?

Besides obviously the Mario Kart title teased in the reveal trailer, I'm thinking:
-A new 3D Mario. Rumors are saying that this is going to be a fully open world game, and I can definitely see one in the vein of Bowser's Fury happening.
-Full blowout on Metroid Prime 4, with confirmation that this is a cross-gen game.
-The usual gimmicky party game we've been getting at launch. Probably something similar to Nintendo Land and 1-2 Switch, but it'll be a new IP and it'll focus on the Switch 2's mouse controls.
-Similar to E3 2017, Game Freak/TPC is going to tease a new Pokemon game for Switch 2, probably fully revealed on Pokemon Day 2026 to be the Gen 10 games for Holiday 2026.
-It seems like there's a lot of rumors swirling about a BotW port. Probably not the most exciting reveal, but I could see it happening since the next 3D Zelda is probably not anytime soon.
-Smash Ultimate Deluxe confirmed for Switch 2, which includes all of the DLC at launch and will get a 3rd (and maybe 4th) Fighters Pass later in the generation.
-A new Mario Tennis game, feels about time for this.
-Something Fire Emblem because Nintendo loves Fire Emblem for some reason.
-A teaser for a new Animal Crossing game releasing in 2026.
-Third party stuff. I don't follow third parties that well so I haven't the foggiest idea which ones are going to show up here, I'll leave that to someone else to predict.

I think games that use IR cameras (examples include WarioWare and Ring Fit, as well as more I am not aware of) won’t be compatible out of the box as the Switch 2 Joy-Cons won’t have IR cameras. Those games will work if you use the original Joy-Cons (although they can’t connect straight into the console, which also explains as to why they made that Joy-Con charging stand last year).

Labo, on the other hand, will definitely not be compatible as the Switch 2 has different dimensions over the original Switch.

I agree with both of these. Mario Kart seems inevitable to get a bigger trailer here. 3D Mario April announcement to October release sounds about right. This’ll likely be the huge Switch 2 holiday game.

-Full blowout on Metroid Prime 4, with confirmation that this is a cross-gen game.

I think we’re getting a release date in the February Direct. I personally don’t see this as a cross-gen game (besides through backwards compatibility), as Metroid likely won’t be the console seller Nintendo needs. However I could see this as a marketing point for backwards compatibility, maybe it’ll get a decent Switch 2 upgrade?

-The usual gimmicky party game we've been getting at launch. Probably something similar to Nintendo Land and 1-2 Switch, but it'll be a new IP and it'll focus on the Switch 2's mouse controls.

I mostly agree with this one. Nintendo almost always has a launch title that uses the console’s main gimmick (Nintendo Land, 1-2 Switch, Wii Sports, Super Mario 64), so if the mouse feature is the main gimmick we will likely be seeing a launch title specifically using it. Mario Kart is assumed to be the big launch title and is already a multiplayer game, so I don’t think this other game needs to be multiplayer (although it probably will be) (and I don’r think Mario Kart will be using much of the mouse).

-Similar to E3 2017, Game Freak/TPC is going to tease a new Pokemon game for Switch 2, probably fully revealed on Pokemon Day 2026 to be the Gen 10 games for Holiday 2026.

I think gen 10 will be revealed at Pokemon Day 2026 for the 30th anniversary of Pokemon. I agree with November 2026 time slot for this one. If we did get a tease this year I think it would be in a Direct later in the year.

-It seems like there's a lot of rumors swirling about a BotW port. Probably not the most exciting reveal, but I could see it happening since the next 3D Zelda is probably not anytime soon.

I believe that to just be a tech demo or Switch 2 patch. I’d be very disappointed if they do that, since they already have the game through backwards compatibility and Tears of the Kingdom also through backwards compatibility.

-Smash Ultimate Deluxe confirmed for Switch 2, which includes all of the DLC at launch and will get a 3rd (and maybe 4th) Fighters Pass later in the generation.

I think they can get away with essentially an Ultimate Deluxe, but it probably won’t be called that because of backwards compatibility. I think we could have a similar engine to Ultimate, just new characters, moveset/art changes, new story mode/other modes, etc.

-A new Mario Tennis game, feels about time for this.

Mario feels pretty hard to predict right now. I think it’s too early for a Mario Tennis game, but at the same time I think we’ll get a decent amount of Mario content with the 40th anniversary this year. I don’t see Tennis being a part of this, I think it’d be possible to instead get Mario Baseball/Sluggers on Switch 1.

-Something Fire Emblem because Nintendo loves Fire Emblem for some reason.

I think Switch 1 is probably gonna get a FE game this year, probably not a huge priority on Switch 2. Perhaps a remake at the February Direct?

-A teaser for a new Animal Crossing game releasing in 2026.

This one is hard because this is the same devs as Splatoon. Personally I think they should get this out ASAP in 2026, but I’m leaning towards 2027 which makes a reveal here less likely.

I think in addition to traditional games we could get the Playtest game (maybe as just an app), and maybe GameCube NSO at launch? I think the Switch 2 Direct will have some 1st party surprises that are unexpected.

Note this prediction is taking into account that I think there'll be a Switch 1 general Direct in February which covers the February - July Switch 1 1st party lineup.

I think for 1st party, the April Direct will feature Mario Paint (SNES NSO) to show off mouse functionality and NSO, a bunch of Switch 1 games to show off backwards compatibility, Mario Kart because presumably it's the launch title and a tease for 3D Mario.

Hardware and 3rd party being the big focus for the April Direct which allows the usual June slot to be more 1st party focused.

Metroid Dread did pretty decently, and Prime 4 has been far more anticipated having been in development hell for 8 years. I see it being enough. Plus, a Switch 2 version of Prime 4 would be perfect for the mouse controls. That's enough to justify a Switch 2 version I think.

Wii Sports, Nintendo Land, and 1-2 Switch are kind of in a different tier from Mario 64 and the new Mario Kart. The former three are casual focused party games that consist of a series of mini games that utilize the console gimmick, and they've been launch titles for the last three consoles. Easy to see them going for a 4th here.

Again, a full reveal seems to be almost guaranteed for Pokemon Day 2026, but I'm not sure that's the first we're going to hear about it. Again, look to what they did with E3 2017, Ishihara just came on and said "We're making a new Pokemon game for Nintendo Switch". No title, no release date, just a confirmation that a game is being developed for the Switch. I think we may get something similar here. They're not going to say it's Gen 10 or give us any concrete details, just say that they're making a Switch 2 game.

I could kind of see it. Zelda is in a tricky situation with the Switch 2 because they blew out their big games at the end of the Switch's lifespan, and now they have neither a new 3D or a new 2D Zelda ready for Switch 2. And no, they can't just rely on backwards compatibility for Zelda, it's one of their biggest IPs and most of the target audience for games like ToTK or EoW probably already bought and played it on Switch 1. What they really need is a Zelda game exclusive to Switch 2 to encourage Zelda fans on Switch 1 to upgrade, and they'll want it fairly early (like, within the first 2 years of the console). Most likely it's going to be some kind of port or remake.

I wouldn't be too enthusiastic about a BotW port either, but I could see them doing it. It's by far their most successful game in the series, of course they would want to squeeze even more sales out of it. Personally I would prefer a reimagining of OoT, but BotW port sounds more likely.

So there's a few reasons why Animal Crossing is more likely than Splatoon. For one, Animal Crossing has sold more than Splatoon, with ACNH selling more than all 3 Splatoons combined. Second, Splatoon got a game more recently than Animal Crossing, with Splatoon 3 getting a game 2 years more recently than ACNH. Third, Animal Crossing would add more variety to the lineup and appeal to a niche that the others wouldn't. As you pointed out there's already several multiple multiplayer games I'm predicting here, including 2 of Nintendo's Big Three with Mario Kart and Smash. Better to save Splatoon for another time where they need a big multiplayer game. Whereas there aren't any single player social life sims like Animal Crossing in the rest of my predictions. So Splatoon would more likely to cannibalize and be cannibalized by the other multiplayer games whereas Animal Crossing would appeal to a different segment of Nintendo's fanbase. Fourth, there's a growing fatigue from the Splatoon fanbase with how the games have felt too similar to each other. It feels like Splatoon needs a break to figure out what they could do to make 4 feel fresh instead of rushing it out. So yeah, Animal Crossing feels like the better choice here, I don't think we're seeing 4 anytime soon. If we get anything Splatoon early, I think it'll be a spinoff done by a different studio.

I don't think the Playtest game is coming anytime soon. It's just a test, any kind of game being sold to the public that comes of it is probably not going to come for another 3-5 years. I could see Gamecube NSO for Switch 2. It feels time for GC (really it's overdue, but Nintendo being slow).

@Bolt_Strike The gen 10 2026 thing depends on if Z-A is releasing in Summer or Fall. If it's Fall, then yeah- Gen 10 is next year. If it's Summer? Gen 10 is this year. I honestly think regardless of what people think, Gen 10 is this year. People thought Gen 9 wasn't going to be 2022 due to PLA releasing that year, but the pattern proved them wrong.

Even with Scarlet and Violet in the state that they were in, I highly doubt Gamefreak is going to let go of their longest running pattern for these games. Especially when they can just drop a DLC for the anniversary that adds content which celebrates the series.

Yeah they're not going to use DLC to fill out an anniversary year. Hell, they didn't even think a Z/XY2 or whatever was good enough for the 20th anniversary and skipped it for SM. They don't seem to think a followup to a recently released game is significant enough to be an anniversary release and often try to go for new generations when they can. If they're going to use DLC to pad out any kind of gaps, more likely that it'll be Z-A DLC for Holiday 2025 than Gen 10 DLC for the 30th anniversary. Similar to SM, they're probably dead set on Gen 10 being the 30th anniversary games.

@Bolt_Strike I wouldn't be surprised if Gen 10 releases this year. Especially considering how the TCG is lining up at the current.

I’m just gonna say it.

We need a new Wave Race and 1080 Snowboarding.

Nah, we'd have gotten Z-A marketing already if Gen 10 were releasing this year. If they were releasing Gen 10 this year they'd announce that at Pokemon Day 2025, and they're not going to market both the Z-A blowout and the Gen 10 announcement in the same Direct, they'd cannibalize each other. Game Freak and TPC are stupid and greedy, but not THAT stupid and greedy. Even with LA and SV in the same year, they didn't even go that far, they didn't announce SV until LA actually released. Announcing Gen 10 before Z-A even released would be shooting themselves in the foot to a degree that even they wouldn't be willing to do, it would directly hurt the sales of both games.

We do, but in the same year as a new Mario Kart? Yeah no, not happening.

@Bolt_Strike @VoidofLight ILCA did do Gen 4 remakes as part of the 15th anniversary of Diamond/Pearl (and the 25th anniversary of Pokemon) celebrations so Gen 5 remakes may fit in somewhere over the next few years (2025 is the 15th anniversary of Black/White, 2026 is the 30th anniversary of Pokemon and 2027 is the 15th anniversary of Black 2/White 2).

Ideally the situation would be:

• 2025 - Legends Z-A
• 2026 - Gen 5 remakes (ILCA)
• 2027 - Gen 10

Which would fit the 3DS to Switch transition for Pokemon while also letting generations last longer. There'd also be room for more 2024-like gaps.

@Grumblevolcano Nah, it's not the right time for Unova remakes. They care about the new generation timing first and foremost, and while they haven't always released every 3 years, they've never gone as long as 5. Plus 2026 is the 30th anniversary and they like having new generations on anniversary years when possible, so 2026 feels like the best time for Gen 10.

Additionally, they don't really care about replicating the 3DS to Switch transition, they like to surprise people and break patterns left and right and the circumstances behind the 3DS to Switch transition were different. At that time, Game Freak and TPC were leaning heavily into the casual/mobile market and had a monster success with Go, so they wanted to try and leverage that to get them interested in the main series. That's why LGPE existed. Now the main series has kind of gone away from that and they've firmly established a market on the Switch by appealing more to console gamers that like games like BotW. So they don't need an additional mid gen game to get people to cross over from mobile, they know that doesn't work well. And Gen 5 remakes aren't really going to move the needle in getting people to upgrade to Switch 2, especially if it's another ILCA game in a similar style to the original 5th gen games, it's not going to feel like much of an improvement over BDSP most likely and it'll probably feel like a regression from the other Switch games.

We may indeed see Unova remakes in the coming years, but it won't be 2026, that doesn't really make much business sense. The ideal 2026 game would need to be a Switch 2 game that's a major upgrade to celebrate the 30th anniversary. Gen 10 is by far the best candidate for that. So I think it looks more like:

2025- Z-A
2026- Gen 10
2027- Gen 10 DLC

If you're looking to Unova remakes, your best hope for that is 2028.