Topic: Next Nintendo Direct?

Although a lot of Nintendo games have had demos lately, Mario RPG didn't, so I doubt TTYD will. I'm guessing the game will review well and sales will be via word of mouth and advertising rather than a demo since the game is already well known.

@PikminMarioKirby I don't think TTYD necessarily needs a demo, but I have liked most of the recent other Nintendo demos. I thought the Pikmin 4 demo was phenomenal and the Mario vs DK demo was a decent introduction to the game for newcomers. The Peach demo definitely could have been better but I do think the game needed a demo; it was so unclear what the game was going to actually be that people needed at least a taste of gameplay and anyone who really liked or really disliked the demo basically got the information they needed.

@FishyS Fair point. I haven’t tried the Pikmin 4 Demo, but I think that it would be a great introduction to the series. Pikmin 4 is really good, and I hope the demo helped it’s sales.

Princess Peach Showtime was pretty confusing to a lot of people and the demo cleared it up a bit, but still didn’t have a grasp on what the whole game is about. For instance, someone could’ve hated the game modes featured in the demo, but they could thoroughly enjoy the other parts, although they wouldn’t know because they didn’t get the game because they didn’t enjoy the demo. I think it does give a good general feel for the game, as long as you’re okay with the gameplay dramatically changing, and just know the consistent charm of the game.

With all this talk of the second half of the year being quiet I still think we can fairly confidently expect something in the second half of the year. The question is what is it and how compelling a release will it be. I think we can expect something fairly mid but whether or not it's compelling is another question. And it'll also be fairly subjective even when we do find out what it is

...... as it stands I'm just looking at TTYD on the horizon and wondering whether or not I buy it digitally through the Game Voucher program or just pick it up at retail. Because usually for a release like that I'd just pick it a couple of vouchers and just assume that something else would come up within the year. But this time it's a bit up in the air

Will the voucher program extend to Switch 2? Who knows. Will there be aggressive discounting of titles going upto the Switch 2 launch that negate the value of the vouchers? Probably. Will any games that launch during the second half of the year be more budget titles that don't really benefit much from the voucher program? Almost surely....

........ I don't know, bit of a ramble there. But I do think that if we don't hear anything over the next month about how these things will play out? I might end up picking up a physical copy of TTYD

@skywake I had the same conundrum. I ended up buying vouchers for Peach Showtime, not knowing if there would be any other game I would want to buy at near full price this year. But my logic was that I would have payed $60 for Peach if I absolutely had to. So worst case scenario, as long as there is a game I would be willing to pay $40 for ( e.g. standard Nintendo sale price) I can snag that and I won't lose money with the vouchers. And of course if there is another game I would normally be willing to spend $50 or $60 for, I win.

Weird that Nintendo's revealing maintenance a month in advance but on May 28th 2-4am (UK time), there's a lot of maintenance:

https://www.nintendo.co.jp/netinfo/en_GB/index.html

That's the week after TTYD releases.

@Grumblevolcano Do they usually do that a MONTH ahead? I feel like it's usually the weekend before that they announce the maintenances. I also wonder why it's AFTER TTYD, instead of before. Do they usually do a maintenance after a big game releases?

Downloading software/updates, eShop, and the Switch Online app all being changed at the same time is a really weird move from Nintendo.

I feel like maintenances can sometimes happen around Directs, but that is a weird time since TTYD releases so close. Although I feel like sometimes Directs can happen soon after a big game release, like that September Direct right after Splatoon 3's release. I feel like they'd want to feature TTYD there if it was so close, but I doubt it's getting DLC since it's a remake. Maybe just thanking people for playing the game? They've done that before, so it's possible.
I'm leaning slightly towards no for a Direct happening around this time, I think they could just wait until June since that's normally when Directs take place. Unless they want the Direct out of the way for another presentation...

I think their next Direct is going to announce the Switch 2. Coming in 1 years time. Meanwhile, the Switch will get a price cut, a select range of re-releases (imagine having to buy all the games again because they are complete on cart lol!) and them going all in on Switch saying there has never been a better time to join the Switch family (or something.) Especially with Metroid Prime 4 and whatever other titles are due this holiday.

I know. Crazy. Price cutting a system that sells like 60K units a week in Japan would be very charitabkle lmao! Last time I looked, Nintendo werem't a charity. Anyhoo, I'll tell you what, it will be interesting to hear what their forecast for Switch is this fiscal year. How on Earth does one transition from such a crazy selling system lol. Or maybe...just maybe...third parties need to start developing with it in mind and build up for next gen versions, instead of butchering their games in order to try to crowbar it onto the system? Might help their sustainability.

I think the switch 1 has way too big of a user base to be phased out so quickly, especially since Nintendo really wants to avoid repeating the Wii U's failure. I think the switch 2 will be backwards compatible start out with only a few exclusives while other games are still available on switch 1 as well while running better on 2.

If the rumors of a 2025 delay are true then we might have a relatively low key holiday 2024 since bigger games are most likely being stockpiled for switch 2's launch, but surely they don't have nothing at all. Otherwise they would have spread out the first half of year's releases to stretch the full year because there were quite a few of them even if there was nothing huge. Some sort of Zelda game (the rumored HD ports or Oracle remakes), the rumored Fire Emblem remake, Prime 2/3 (and 4 if we're really lucky), a new Mario Party, a Kirby spin off, or another GameCube remaster all seem like possible late-gen contenders.

@Novamii Ohhh true! That would be cool! I imagine that being a 3ds port it would run fine on the current switch, but it'd be awesome if it got such a glow up that it needs the switch 2 treatment. I always wanted to play Uprising but was kind of scared by the unconventional control scheme, which I hear is especially tricky for left handers like me. Hopefully a remaster/remake would solve this issue though!

@Noble_Haltmann
They have to stop selling the hardware eventually and if Switch 2 is backwards compatible what reason do some of the Switch SKUs have to exist post Switch 2? Maybe not immediately but I think within the first two years they drop the Switch SKUs down to just the Lite and the Switch 2. And probably a price cut in there somewhere to make room for the Switch 2 launch price which I'm thinking will likely land marginally higher than the OLED. They'll have to shuffle the prices down or nobody will be interested

I'm still keen on a micro SKU myself, as a budget and pocketable way to sell NSO and small Indie titles, but I'm not holding my breath

And it's somewhat similar for games. As soon as Switch 2 is out with games that are all new and likely with packaging that clearly sells the new hardware. Will people buy Switch games still? I mean probably yes. But not at the same rate. So they'll want to adjust the prices to keep the sales ticking over

If we don’t hear from Pyoro today, there probably won’t be a Direct this week. Well, at least a general Direct.

…So if Pyoro sees this, please say something today

I'm hoping they'll announce some great bundles in the Fall. I think there's a chance they'll straight-up cut Switch 1 hardware prices, but I think it's most likely they'll do some cool bundles.

There are very few 1st-party games I don't have at this point, but I would love to get a cool bundle, maybe even with a Switch 1 that has a new design on it.

I predict May 2nd Direct.

June 12th. Mark the date. (I am pyoros cousin)

February 10th. Nothing but Twitter drops and a Switch 2 presentation until then.

Xbox has an indie event on April 29th, so more Silksong speculation incoming I guess.

Silksong is starting to give me the same feelings I had for bayo3, which ultimately I loved. But, the more I speculated and waited, with little to no information, my hype levels decreased.

I guess April is a good month for indies! Hopefully we get another Direct soon from Nintendo though, although to be honest I've got TTYD coming this year so I wouldn't mind if there wasn't a Direct soon...

...although I wouldn't mind a Luigi's Mansion 1 port for Switch...

Righty, NOW everyone can start to take their clown costumes off waiting for Silksong!

Nintendo announced Nintendo Live 2024 Sydney:

I think it seems very clear now why Nintendo aren't attending Gamescom. Nintendo Live is becoming a global thing which replaces Nintendo needing to turn up to any general gaming events like Summer Game Fest, Gamescom, PAX, EGX, etc.