Topic: Next Nintendo Direct?

I'm very curious if there will be enough of a new gimmick in Switch 2 to require a showcase game. Obviously Metroid Prime 4 could be a showcase for better graphics or whatever, but if there is a new gimmick with motion control or...(honestly I don't know what it would be), I wouldn't 100% rule out Peach game as a showcase game using some funny gimmick.

As for multiplayer games, clearly Arms 2 😝

@Stamina_Wheel @skywake Ah, yes. The Switch Pro was almost real but it (a major hardware project) got cancelled at the last minute. Just like Star Fox Grand Prix, Pokémon Stars, the Switch Smash 4 port, and the Retro Studios Mystery Project.
I divide things into "real" and "not real" categories. Only things that actually happen and get released in some form fall into the former category. The latter is everything else, even if the so-called experts and insiders are confident that it will come out. "Almost real but cancelled" is a convenient way for journalists to report things that don't happen and blame it on their anonymous sources when they're wrong.

No, the Switch Pro rumours promised 4K capability and exclusives all because ResetEra and "there's bigger chips now". It didn't happen, but the Switch 2 is going to because ResetEra and "there's bigger chips now". An anonymous leak about a Pokemon direct can easily contain both true and false information (thrown in there just to troll everyone). And a developer coping with his game selling only six copies by promising to sell more on the next console is, well, coping with his game selling only six copies (not providing any real information about if/when the next console actually comes out).

A series with a game that's sold more than 3 million copies, perhaps. 3D Mario, a new IP, Mario Kart 9, or Super Smash Bros (in decreasing order of probability). Or, just maybe, they don't release it next year if there isn't a solid launch title ready.

@Euler To be fair, a lot of people didn't believe the 4K part at the time. What people mostly thought would happen and what some 'reliable' leaks indicated was a mid-life refresh/improvement and we sort of got that in OLED. Would we have gotten a more improved 'Switch Pro' if covid hadn't massively disrupted both plans and the entire chip industry? Who knows, maybe Nintendo will release a history some day (or have another data leak).

I would say never believe every specific detail of supposed leaks, but if there are enough of them and they are independent and from semi reliable sources, the high-level fact-of tends to be true; people aren't perfect at keeping secrets even with nondisclosure agreements and something like the existence of new upcoming hardware touches so many parts of the game industry.

If people don't like speculation maybe they shouldn't be commenting in what is essentially a speculation thread. Especially if they intend to attack the concept of speculation rather than, you know, the merits of the argument

Nobody has really given a good reason why Metroid Prime 4 wouldn't be a decent addition to a launch lineup if new hardware does indeed launch late next year. The best anyone has is that it probably shouldn't be the only launch title or that the Switch Pro isn't a thing. Neither are really arguments against what I said

But only if you look at NA launches. I mean in Australia the 3DS' launch titles were:
Rayman 3D
Super Street Fighter IV
Super Monkey Ball 3D
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell 3D
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Shadow Wars

You guys are talking here as if there's some kind of hard and fast rule and using Steel Diver as an example of a multiplayer game for the 3DS. But there are no hard and fast rules with launch lineups. Hell, sometimes consoles have launch with one game. Sometimes Nintendo hasn't even had a first party game on day 1. Seriously, stop and think for just a second. Would the above list of 3DS launch titles in Australia have been improved if Metroid was on it? You're damn right it would have

Or what about the Japan launch lineup for 3DS:
Bust-A-Move
Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask
Ridge Racer 3D
Super Street Fighter IV

Also, undeniably yes. There's not even a question to be had here. Which is why this kind of arbitrary pattern recognition is pretty much always nonsense. We don't know what games will be ready for launch, we don't really know when launch will be. But what we do know is we haven't heard anything from Retro in a while and that there's enough smoke to suggest there may be new hardware within the year

So Metroid Prime 4 for launch? Seems like a reasonable guess to me given any other guess is based on literally nothing. At least we know for sure Metroid Prime 4 is a game that's in development, more than you can say for pretty much any other guess you could make. And generally bad console launches are because of a pure lack of content, not some arbitrary formula they failed to hit. Metroid Prime 4 I think we can agree is content. So if they can hit launch it's a viable option for launch

Are there better theoretical launch games than Metroid Prime 4? Definitely. But that's not the question. The question is are there better top shelf titles deep into development that will be ready for a late 2024 launch? I mean there might be. But we only know of one and realistically there's probably only 3, maybe 4

Please release the damn last MK8 booster pack and give us a new Mario kart.

It's been 84 years ffs. I didn't rebuy MK8 after having it on WiiU AND Switch before the announcement meh

Well the next MK will be on the next system. It's the best system seller they could possibly make. Get this: MK8 is the bestselling Nintendo game ever behind Wii Sports (which was a pack in demo). 64m copies. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_games

I agree though that MK8 has gotten seriously long in the tooth. Interesting how new courses don't cut it anymore if the feel and engine have been the same for so long, no?

Me I've started playing Double Dash again, and I love it. Still the best driving feel.

The issue isn’t speculation. The issue is people treating speculation like gospel despite the fact that the so-called insiders have been ridiculously wrong at least as often as they’ve been right.

People in nowadays are so incredibly naive and gullible compared with for +10 years ago, they truly believes in everything now.

I has seen so many here and on internet having impossible "wishes" on the specs "Switch 2" only because they did read it from others, so they truly believes that it gonna will happen. Seriously a Switch 2 with ability of 4K/60 in docked mode with power level of PS4 Pro (or even surpassing it) while having being a Full-HD with OLED on the portable mode, plus having 256GB to 512GB of storage, with a good battery-life too, and still being affordable despite using the dual-screen clamshell design (!!!) is a more than impossible and unrealistic wish.

At the last year, or was it for 2 years ago a handheld console came out which were at PS4 Pro level, aaaand it costed $1400!
Just don't forget that Steam is "just" on 800p and below PS4 in power, with an exception of a higher RAM, but it sadly has a terrible battery-life, and it costs so much more than Switch.

Don't forget that Nintendo never is gonna sell a console on a huge loss like Sony always does.

Just dream on then, perhaps it will becoming the reality in 2035 then, but absolutely not for now, for many more years.

Well, this is a speculation thread, but just be a bit realistic sometimes... I has seen so many youngsters in these days being utterly destroyed by their own unrealistic expectations, because they believes in everything on internet, no matter of how silly it is.

My own guess is
6GB to 8GB RAM
1.5 to 2 Tflops (as the mostly) at docked, but will probably be below it, 2x-3x of Switch so around 1Tflops then.
64GB storage
Max 850p screen, will probably be at 800p like Steam Deck.
No 4K support
Some more extra cores with a bit higher performance like 1.2GHz to 1.4GHz or something.
blah
blah
blah
blah
It's just up to the battery-life, no way they's gonna to accept below 4-5 hours now. So many is gonna be disappointed with the power of "Switch 2" then.

So long Nintendo is going to continue with the hybrid-path, it will be a different kind of beast if it's a non-hybrid console then. It should be stupid for Nintendo to ditching that concept, but Nintendo is always Nintendo in the end. You never knows with Nintendo!

@Keman
I think you lack some serious understanding of the power of exponentials. A lot of the supposed pie in the pie specs you're complaining about are, frankly, fairly mundane for 2023

@Euler
I don't trust rumours in isolation. The Switch Pro rumour was kinda like that, it was a possibility sure but not gospel. Feasible enough it was worth entertaining, and some of it DID happen, but you wouldn't bet your house on it

But that's not what we have now. We now have a bunch of them on-top of verified technical leaks and major companies like Ubisoft openly talking about it. You're a bit of a fool if you still think nothing is happening. This time it isn't one article and a bunch of hit air

Reading this puts a smile on my face. Thankfully, Nintendo Life users are a lot more realistic when it comes to what they want/believe the new console will have. But scrolling through the likes of Twitter and YouTube, and all I see are these stupid and unrealistic ideas for a console. There are lazily edited fake deviant art mock-ups for a “switch 2” (Nintendo would rather make a new Adventures of Lolo than name the future consoles numerically, for the record) that show a purple switch frame with 4 cartridges slots (?!?!?!) and even a dual screen DS-like switch in all their YouTube thumbnails. It’s infuriating to look at. Twitter users are quite gullible too. They believe every damn word these stupid internet “leakers” like Jeff Grubb say. He’s the man that made a great section of the Nintendo community online think we would be getting The Legend Of Zelda: Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD reveals for switch along with Metroid Prime Trilogy. He scrapped the trilogy part and just said the first game after he heard someone else say that before him. And he was still wrong. Prime 1 rang true eventually, but it took 5 months afterwards and these leakers still thought they were correct. People believe this garbage, even Nintendo Life wrote an article about the Wind Waker rumours. It’s pathetic.

Sorry for the rant. I’m passionate about people believing lies and warping them as fact. Now to your point about pricing and your guesses for hardware specs. That VCG report that lots of people believe stated Nintendo would have an LCD screen and specs similar to that of the ps4 for their next console. This is far more realistic than OLED 4K 1080 60fps for every game like people say. Why wouldn’t Nintendo do this? Two things. Pricing and resources. Pumping out consoles that powerful takes a ton of time, money, effort and resources. Nintendo has always favoured “weaker” specs and more outdated features for its consoles in favour of the consoles themselves having cheaper price points and innovative gimmicks that the industry hasn’t yet seen much before. “Weaker” consoles means cheaper, steadier and faster production rates. That is much more efficient. I remember the Xbox Series C and PS5 shortages during the pandemic. You could barely get your hands on either console for up to TWO YEARS after their respective launch dates because consoles that rich in output and specs require much more time to mass produce for the markets. The switch never had that issue because it was cheaper, “weaker” on the hardware and specs side of things, and most importantly, easier and cheaper to mass manufacture. Sales for Switch never stagnated heavily during the pandemic, the sales rose if anything. It was still widely available and much cheaper during a time where many were short on money. It was a very successful time for nintendo switch.

Nintendo also historically aims for a more casual market, especially with the Nintendo switch. Having LCD screens and lower specs on the next console means they can lower the price of it, appealing to more casual consumers like parents, who will naturally consider the cheaper options, that’s how it goes. And it works well for Nintendo, I’d say.

I also agree with your statements about “Nintendo will be Nintendo” and people’s sometimes unrealistic expectations. If you know they know that they will end up disappointed by their own expectations, why do some people make them that way? Lowering expectations and having them more realistic, in line with what Nintendo has done historically, will make some folks much happier and surprised when Nintendo manages to exceed expectations on those special occasions. It also helps with lots of potential (and inevitable) disappointment. Hey, it happens. And you are right again with Nintendo’s unpredictability. They like to innovate and move away from what the competition is doing. They are in a league of their own most of the time. Chance are, if one expects high end specs and frame rates from a Nintendo console like one does a PlayStation console, chances are said individuals will be pretty disappointed in the end.

Sorry for the essay, I like writing this stuff down. Everyone, feel free to correct me if I am wrong at any point during this essay. I tend to just write stuff down for fun, I don’t always fact check

NOTE: Not everyone is like this. A select number of individual are like this online where they have unrealistic expectations of companies like Nintendo. Most people are very smart and know what Nintendo tends to do.

There is no Twitter, only X 👽

I'd again note that 512GB of storage isn't that expensive. Like at all. Even now. And that the Steam Deck is almost 2 years old now but is marginally above the PS4 despite being kneecaped by inefficiencies. Translation layers, heavier OS, code not optimised for the hardware

This new hardware from Nintendo is probably a year from now. So by then Steam Deck will be almost 3 years old. Plus it will have DLSS which will give perceived better performance. So frankly "similar to PS4 Pro" is not that outlandish at all

And while I don't think we'll see OLED given some rumours have suggested LCD to keep costs down. There is already a Switch with an OLED screen, so people speculating OLED aren't coming from nowhere. 1080p? I think is unnecessary at that size. It wouldn't be a huge cost though so it's not that crazy

So while there certainly are some outlandish specs that do get floated? This ain't it. The above is pretty same. If you think it isn't, well, you just haven't caught up yet

This lack of understanding probably also explains why some keep saying, now and forevermore, that there's no reason for new hardware. I mean if your brain can't comprehend beyond half a PS4 with no more RAM and 64GB of storage, an 800p LCD and games rendering at most at 1080p docked? I can understand why you'd argue that Switch OLED looks plenty good enough

The issue is that none of those numbers actually mean anything when the games look and play exactly the same (graphics haven’t changed all that much since the GameCube era, much less the Wii U era). If they mattered, Switch games like Tears of the Kingdom and even Pikmin 4 wouldn’t be selling so well and the other two ninth gen consoles would be lapping the Switch. Thus all a new console would be is locking all new games (save a token Kirby spinoff or two and another ten editions of Just Dance) behind another 400$ box that does the same thing as the current console (which is still selling at full price).

And at the end of the day, all there is are internet rumours. Once again, Ubisoft’s statement was just their way of spinning the fact that their last game didn’t make any money. “It will do better on the next console” is not an indication that a new console is actually coming any time soon. But the internet rumour mongers will jump on anything that validates their narrative, and their fanboys will believe them no matter how many times they’re wrong.

@Euler PS5 may not have sold as many as Switch, but it's still a good example of people's willingness to shell out a lot of money for relatively few fancier looking games even though most games don't need the extra graphics. Nintendo certainly knows this. I suspect Tears of the Kingdom would have sold even better if it had looked better. That game had to be hyper-optimized to run on Switch and it still doesn't look or run perfectly. I would argue Pikmin 4 lives up to the art style it is trying for, but Zelda doesn't quite (insert meme about trees). It's arguably a minor difference, but it's the type of minor difference which might mean a couple million more lifetime game sales, some hardware sales, potentially the difference between nomination and winning GotY. People (even Nintendo fans) like having more modern experiences sometimes even if it's not what they play all or even most of the time.

As for 'internet rumors', well, we'll probably get a Switch 2 next year but maybe we won't. We may as well have fun trying to guess what it will look like. It likely won't have the precise conjectured or 'leaked' specs, but there are only so many possibilities. Regardless, we will see next year. Since this is a thread about Directs, we can guess we may have to wait until somewhere between February and June for a direct to announce it (or if nothing is announced then you can give us all a 'I told you so 😝 )

@Euler
I remember a friend of mine at UNI making the same argument about the DS around 2007 when I suggested the possibility of new hardware. 16:9 top screen, slightly under SD resolutions, GameCube tier visuals. Not as an immediate thing but within a few years.

They were convinced that the DS was selling crazy well and there was little reason for new hardware. And that you didn't really need home console tier visuals on a portable, the PSP selling worse being proof. There are always people who believe this

A year later we got the DSi. A few years later we got the 3DS. Technology marches on, there's an opportunity cost to not releasing new hardware that only increases over time. Eventually the dam breaks, Nintendo wants to be ahead of that

Switch is currently Nintendo's longest lived platform outside of Gameboy. Sales are solid but in decline. And what they could release now is well ahead of what the Switch is. This is not like the DS in 2007, this is like the DS in 2012. Only a fool would bet against new hardware within a year or so

@skywake To add to the Ubisoft quote and the Pokémon patch, there is an interesting chance that Dead Island 2 is a Switch 2 game as well as Embracer is bringing it to another platform in 2024.

@skywake Just out of curiosity, what's your presumed window for Nintendo's announcement event on their next-gen hardware? In April, for release in Summer, or...?

@Magician I’m really torn on how this could play out. On the one hand it could be May with an October release but on the other, I could also see a March reveal just in time for end of financial year to help drive up continued investor interest.

@Magician
At this very moment? Second half of next year for a release with an announcement before July is my gut feeling. Exact timing is way to fuzzy to put a pin on

I admit I have been saying "within the year" on and off since early 2021. I'll be right eventually!