Topic: Next Nintendo Direct?

@TheBigBlue
The truth for Xbox is probably somewhere in the middle: Halo isn't going to PlayStation anytime soon, but some of their other stuff is for sure gonna start going multi-platform. I would be shocked if Starfield isn't on PS5 by the end of this year, along with a big marketing push touting big patches and how they've improved the game and streamlined the opening hours.

It's kind of sad in that weird ex-fanboy way - the 360 was my jam all through college and a couple years after. Those were good times. Gears and Halo of course, but the Live Arcade (Geometry Wars!!!), Viva Pinata, Mirror's Edge, Fable II, pretty much the best way to play all of those third-party adventure games like Assassin's Creed and Red Dead and Mass Effect, at least for 75% of that generation. And it was hands-down the place to play CoD before CoD got ridiculous.

I do think there's a Partner Showcase given the Xbox situation (Side Order news today pretty much deconfirms a Direct with 1st party reveals). But not sure whether it would be announced in advance or just shadow dropped. The September 2020 Partner Showcase was announced in advance and streamed because of Monster Hunter meanwhile the others were shadow dropped like some random video.

@Grumblevolcano The last Partner Showcase we had back in June 2022 was announced a day in advance so I imagine it'll be the same deal this time as well (in which case it'd probably be announced between 1PM to 3PM tomorrow afternoon).

I only saw the tweet and for a second I thought it was a reveal lol

@Fizza @Nintoz Good point, that one too. I should've just went searching for the tweet rather than the Nintendo Life articles as sometimes articles get merged.

Maybe the Nintendo direct has to wait until after the Microsoft thing if they have some agreement? I don't know how long the Microsoft announcement is but it starts earlier on Thursday than directs usually are.

Happy V̶a̶l̶e̶n̶t̶i̶n̶e̶'s̶ Direct Announcement Day folks! XD

@FishyS Based on what I'm seeing it's happening later in the day than directs, no? In CST the Xbox thing is at 2 pm and Directs usually air at 9 am. (Though I could be easily missing something)

@chiiizu Feb directs in 2021, 2022, 2023 were at 5 pm EST and the xbox thing is 3 pm EST.

@FishyS @chiiizu Some happen earlier, some happen later.

• Mini/Partner Showcase and game/franchise specific Directs are reliably at 2pm/3pm UK time (it depends on stuff like daylight savings)
• E3 Directs are at 5pm UK time
• Non-E3 general Directs with the exception of September 2022, June 2023 and September 2023 have been at 10pm/11pm UK time (it depends on stuff like daylight savings)

So considering the Splatoon 3 news likely means any Direct this week would be a Partner Showcase, it would be before the Xbox thing.

I really doubt more than a partner direct and pokemon day this month. Nintendo already showed off all their upcoming games. Release dates for ttyd and lm2 can easily just be tweets. My money is on pokemon day being the only news this month and a switch 2 reveal next month.

Gonna offer up some Partner Direct predictions, since that's most likely what we're getting:

• Mario and Sonic at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games is announced (LinkedIn listings have implied one's been in the works)
• Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake finally resurfaces
• Hi-Fi Rush and Pentiment are announced, with the former being a strong pick for opening or closing the Direct
• Fantasy Life i gets a release date (maybe)
• Ace Combat 7 will show up somewhere
• Penny's Big Breakaway gets shadowdropped (there's a chance it'll get a physical soon after, especially because Play-Asia does have a placeholder one up, but Private Division only issued a code in a box for OlliOlli World - we'll see) - mostly because they've been running previews for the game like it's about to release
• There is a chance we see a Nintendo collaboration of some kind; Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, Part Time UFO, and Mario + Rabbids all appeared in past Partner Showcases, with Part Time UFO even being published by Nintendo for Switch worldwide. I do think we're long overdue for another Cadence of Hyrule or Good Job-esque game, though I could also maybe see Mameda no Bakeru qualifying if Nintendo helps bring it to the West?
• Lastly, there's probably like a 5% chance Silksong is there

@FishyS @Grumblevolcano Oops thank y'all for reminding me I somehow completely forgot that directs aren't always at the earlier time

@PikaPhantom That lineup would make for a very good direct, though personally I really hope they have one of those more indie-style games like UFO or GJ, and Mameda no Bakeru would be great, I don't know much about it but it looks like a lot of fun. (I want Momotaro Dentetsu but it does not seem like that's in the realm of possibility)

Imagine if it was a partner direct where Microsoft was the only partner. 😝

@PikaPhantom Penny's big breakaway seems reasonable since the previews have already gone out; good call.

Honestly not sure what else to predict. The number of upcoming third party games seems a little sparse right now so I could easily imagine a couple shadow drops or near release windows.

@Professor_Plumber All looks very plausible in terms of costumes. And if they aren't having a general direct, another Peach trailer tomorrow wouldn't be crazy.

On the other hand... I don't have an artist's eye and could be easily tricked.

We will see tomorrow again...

Imagine they really just do a direct mini where it gets shadow-dropped.

@FishyS Looking at the Famiboards thread, there's more to the leak, with names and descriptions for each form juxtaposed against previously unseen screenshots of the areas they belong to. It's not fake.

If they had all these different trailers/announcement-type things (well I guess just Side Order and DK vs Mario stop motion thing) couldn't they have put together a direct mini out of these odds and ends, especially happening so close together? I mean Nintendo does as Nintendo pleases but they could have avoided a direct mini so they could have their partner direct? Not a new take but this certainly corroborates the idea.

@chiiizu The Direct Mini variant which isn't Partner Showcase still had unannounced 1st party games. So the decision to do trailers + Partner Showcase suggests that we know everything 1st party outside of Pokemon that'll be announced prior to Switch 2 reveal.