Topic: Next Nintendo Direct?

Even if I don't want a Partner Showcase, you always have to look for the excitement in that kind of possible announcement. For example, Capcom is a 3rd party (obviously) and what's a Capcom series that was well-known for being exclusive to Nintendo handhelds up until very recently, making it a possibility to appear in a 3rd Party focused Direct? ACE ATTORNEY BABY, 2ND TRILOGY'S COMING I CAN FEEL IT IN MY BONES.

(if you predict one thing for every event, it's got to come true at some point, right?)

@Fizza I hope for a Muppet game and it never happens... I STILL TO GOT HOPE FOR THE NEXT TIME BABY!!!!!!

This is one of your witty jests, @HotGoomba - right? I think a proper, mainline P5 or Persona Direct would be a real crowd-pleaser... don't you agree? I mean, that game might be more emblematic of the Quest for Ports than Mother 3.

I really hope this thing ain't a Partner Showcase. But not because I hate Partner Showcases. The last one or two from 2020 were actually good. My problem is that I feel like Nintendo should have something, ANYTHING, to announce for the latter half of 2022 and 2023.

You make an interesting point for me. I find that the pace of Nintendo's output has been excellent of late, whatever one may think of the games themselves (if you disagree, please tell me how many first-party games Sony and MS have been releasing). At the same, NCL has been consistent about keeping people looking to the next thing - a lesson I believe they learned during the Wii U period. It would be striking, therefore, to see the marketing of their output change suddenly this way; people seem quite sensitive to that (myself included).

I am beginning to think that they simply don't have enough in the pipeline to present right now, although I am still sure (perhaps inconsistently so) that they will publish a Direct in September. I found their paid advertising during Keighley's anti-E3 show to be very telling. As one who is not at all convinced that we will see a Direct this week, I am still willing to chalk all of this up to the long-term effects of the pandemic, but it could be that there is something more to this as well.

@CANOEberry I feel like it's not that he's not excited for the prospect of Persona coming to Switch, it's moreso the fact that if that were to be the only massive announcement (an announcement that has been heavily rumoured for a long while mind you), it wouldn't be as exciting as something completely out of left field. Don't get me wrong: Persona on Switch would still be absolutely massive. It's just something that appeals to a specific group of fans rather than something that everyone enjoys (turn based RPG's have that effect on people: you either love them or you hate them).

Fair enough - and that would be consistent with the particular buzz that comes with Directs. You know - "when the train comes in, everybody rides!" and all that. Variety and diversity sells, or at least keeps people engaged more. I mean, even a relatively sober old furball like me can momentarily nurse that forlorn F-Zero/Wave Race/GameCube flame, even if briefly.

In our good goomba's case, though, I wasn't sure if those feelings around Persona had anything to do with possibly telling people to Play A Real Shin Megami Tensei Game and such...

Don't get me wrong, Persona 5 on Switch would be amazing, and I would love for it to be announced in the next Direct, or when Nintendo feels like it.

But I do hope that's not it, since
A. Persona has already been announced for other consoles, and we've been waiting for a port for half a decade, so the announcement alone will be less impactful.
2. I do feel like Nintendo has something else up their sleeves for this holiday, because just a Pokemon game and Splatoon 2.5 would be kinda weird. It'll still make money though.

• It's not Persona Q 😡

What I'm saying is, I hate Atlus just Persona and a couple of other big third-party or indie titles would have Nintendo fans crying on Twitter. Not that a normal Nintendo Direct wouldn't prevent that, but eh. Also none of them are Persona Q or Q2.

@Slowdive Back in 2020 there were hints of the future of Partner Showcases:

• July - "More videos in this series will be released this year"
• August - "More videos in this series will be released this year"
• September - "More videos in this series will be released this year"
• October - "Welcome to our last Nintendo Direct Mini Partner Showcase of the year"

So we'll get a good idea of what to expect in the coming months when it airs. Outside Partner Showcases, Splatoon 3 and Indie World seems pretty much guarantees but I feel the next general Direct will come when Nintendo are ready to talk about new hardware.

I think that new hardware would be dropped out of nowhere, like how the Switch was (albeit it was teased as the NX) and the Lite and OLED were announced similarly.

I'll eat crow if the next Nintendo Direct is a Partner Showcase.

If the Direct isn't a General Direct, then I could see it being a Mini. The last Direct Mini was in March 2020 (right after Covid pandemic lockdowns started) and it lasted 25 min with both 1st and 3rd party announcements.

@westman98 Yeah, I do enjoy minis since they're literally just normal Directs, but instead of Metroid Dread, we get Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics.

@HotGoomba I was thinking about how the New 3DS was a Direct announcement meanwhile the 3DS XL, 2DS and New 2DS XL were standalone announcements.

Only a few days now until we know if Alanah Pearce was correct or not.

@NintendoByNature

-June 29th rolls around

-Nintendo announces nothing

-Every single “leaker” in existence goes back on their claim

-The rumors start up again with a new date

@StarPoint 💯 lol. It is pretty funny how much back and forth goes into this. I've been stockpiling eshop credit for tons of wii u and 3ds games I want to get before the eshop closures, but im waiting for the direct to see if anything makes its way to switch.

@StarPoint 'OK but have you considered the 7th of July?'

@Fizza OR December 25th

this sucks

@Kermit1 OR never.

@StarPoint leakers/Insiders will keep guessing when Nintendo will do the next Nintendo Direct, until it happen, Nintendo just anounce a Nintendo Direct, i need to know Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild 2 name/release date.

Just a reminder, Direct Minis and Partner Showcases most of the time aren't announced in advance. Instead they're mostly shadow dropped videos at 3pm UK time.