Topic: Next Nintendo Direct?

That announcement of Everybody 1-2-Switch may actually increase the chance of a Direct. They announced the game but absolutely nothing about it (not even screenshots) which is very unlike Nintendo. It gives the impression the announcement timing was only because of physical copies (there is a physical version).

Remember how Metroid Prime Remastered physical version wasn't a shadow drop, instead it launched 2 weeks later for US (the handling of physical was a disaster) and a month later for Europe (unlike the US it was handled well in Europe).

@Professor_Plumber
Last Nintendo Direct, when the last minute shown about upcoming zelda game, I immediately stopped watching the Direct and turned off my Switch since I watched the Direct from my Switch with YouTube as I didn't even need to know that game.
I don't care with blah blah blah AAA games, that zelda games, that xenoblade games.
Last Nintendo Direct was terrible for me because I was looking for the underrated kids games, not the over popular gargatuan AAA games. It was Blah for me.
I don't think I will get more excited from upcoming Nintendo Direct on this month (if that really happens) since I care more the underrated games.

Yeah, I'm not convinced Everybody's 1-2-3 who cares being announced like this kills any possible direct. The game is hardly a headliner.....

@skywake Yeah, it feels abit like when Game Builder Garage (or was it Labo?) that was announced around the time of a Direct just to get it out of the way possibly so real gamers wouldn't complain "junk" games are taking up time.

Watch Everybody 1-2 Switch go on to sell tens of millions of copies and outsell everything else

I think I'm currently with people that think this deconfirms a direct. I don't quite think it fits into the labo or game builder's garage box, because that felt like a new product of sorts. Plus they've also announced new colour joycon that could easily be slipped into a direct. That combined with the tweet about wave 5 of the booster pack makes me think our next direct is gonna be September

@BranJ0 Definitely think that’s the case. Can definitely see Nintendo doing more shadow drops of smaller games like Everybody 1-2 Switch until September. If it’s true Nintendo shelved that game a couple of years back because they didn’t like the quality, then I can totally see them just chucking it out there like this as a gap filler and to keep a flow of game’s coming to the system.

What Nintendo is doing right now - with the announcements of the Booster Pack Wave 5 "coming soon" and of Everybody 1-2-Switch without a trailer - sounds to me more like they want to create some hype for an upcoming Direct. Otherwise both would not make sense to me.

"We're proud to announce Everybody 1-2 Switch! Enjoy the rest of your Summer."

-Nintendo

A big fancy game in June would be nice but I'm still playing Zelda Kingdom Sad 😭 so I'm happy Ninty's June release is something I can ignore.

@jump same. Now I just hope if there IS a direct this month, nothing worthwhile gets shadow dropped. I don't see myself finishing zelda anytime soon.

I'm not so convinced. These are very low tier items to be using as your surprise reveals in a Direct. If they have stuff for the tail end of the year then there's plenty of space for a pre-August Direct

With that said, I'm not really expecting a massive E3 of past years tier June Direct. I do think that we're firmly in the tail end of the generation and this kind of stuff is pretty much what we can kinda expect. But I also don't think that any of this stuff "deconfirms" a Direct in June

My gut feeling is that late June we see a very mid-tier Direct outlining content for the tail end of this year. Heavily leaning on trailers for stuff we already know about and stuff for NSO. Nothing particularly forward looking, nothing game changing for Switch. Just stuff for existing Switch owners to go "oh, yeah, I guess that looks alright"

It all comes down to the way wave 5 is announced. If wave 5 announcement is just a standalone trailer then it's a safe assumption there's no general Direct until September.

I'm assuming Nintendo will just have a mini-direct/partner showcase in June like they did last year. We 'know' there will be some type of Mario announcement this year, but I could imagine them waiting to not distract from people continuing to buy Zelda.

This year has had big releases of the top two Nintendo franchises (I'm counting the movie) as well as some Kirby, Fire Emblem, Metroid, Bayonetta, continued Mario Kart, NSO stuff, etc. So it wouldn't shock me if the immediate future is light on exciting exclusives. Hence the shadow drop of a less exciting exclusive...

I personally think it's a September Direct but we'll get some communcation on Switch 12 and Pikmin 4. After Pikmin 4, I reckon (assuming they release a game a month) there will be a couple more low key titles /ports, one last big holiday game (where Zelda and Mario do most of the heavy lifting for shifting 15M units this year.) Then the start of next year, Metroid Prime 4 and Windwaker / Twighlight Princess - taking us nicely to Switch 2 reveal. A schedule like this would give Nintendo room to develop for the next system (otherwise, how do they find enough hours in the day??) Price drop* the og Switch and let that slowly glide towards beating the DS lifetime sales with a couple more titles while we wait for launch day (it's not like it's not still going to be on the market for a couple of years after the Switch 2 launch lol.).

Sorted (lol - like I know what I'm talking about!)

*that's the headache. It in no way shape or form needs one yet! Bonkers.

@GrailUK Price drop when though? Furukawa is on record during the last investor Q&A saying that there won't be a price drop this fiscal year (ending March 2024). So not this holiday season. Maybe September next year?

@Magician I'm sure only Nintendo have the figure for alarm bells. The sales graphs of hardware differ from most other consumerables because there is scope for different ways of prolonging a lifecycle besides a price drop. Case in point, this year, what with the Mario Movie and Zelda, the Switch is outselling the PS5 again. It's clear the Switch isn't in decline (not to be confused with simply lower sales) but possibly at the end of it's maturity. Switch 1-2 repositions the console again, potentially finding a new audience (and they are keeping their costs down promoting it - so if it swings and misses then it's no biggy.). They know what they are doing. I think the headache will be that they will want their next console priced around the ball park of when the Switch launched (adjusting for inflation and current climate) which would make more sense to hit if your older model is cheaper. I dunno, I'm glad I'm not the CEO. That fella will earn his money if they can keep the Switch brand this successful lol. Very easy to be a victim of your own success (like PS3 and XBox1)

(Very sorry for the wall of text.)

@Grumblevolcano The leaks about the game, which have proven to be accurate so far, said that it playtested horribly and that Nintendo wasn't sure what to do with it because they were concerned it would damage their reputation as a great software developer.

Them announcing it without a trailer or even screenshots suggests that it's true and they just want to release it and be done with it.

@Professor_Plumber Me too honestly. Wouldn't be the first time they've not released a finished game (Star Fox 2 anyone?), so not releasing a game that's apparently really bad wouldn't have been that surprising.

But I guess they're looking for ways to fill the release schedule, and putting that in June when there's heavy hitters releasing on other platforms and most Switch owners are still busy with Zelda is probably the best option.

@Professor_Plumber There was a 2nd day of Treehouse Live which covered a bunch of other stuff: