Topic: Next Nintendo Direct?

I doubt XVI would come to the Switch 2. The Switch 2 isn't going to be nearly powerful enough to actually run the game, and CBU III isn't going to compromise the vision of the game for it to run on Switch 2. It would effectively cause them to have to retool the graphics and cinematic cutscenes, given how a huge part of the game is the blending of CG and in-engine scenes that are hard to tell apart other than a few minor differences.

On top of this, Switch 2 most likely won't have an SSD, which makes it harder for any of the games to end up being on par with current gen versions of games. @Grumblevolcano

Heh, you have no idea do you?

@skywake From what I've heard the rumors about the successor mentions that there's not a very wide power-gap between the current switch and the switch 2. Mainly just Ai upscaling which'll help with bringing things up to 4K, but not much else.

@VoidofLight
You've heard very, very wrong and are in for one hell of a suprise

@VoidofLight
Just to add to the "Switch 2 is way more than what you're expecting" bit. Here is what we know with a fairly high level of confidence:

Storage Bandwidth:
UFS3 i.e. ~2900MB/s. Comfortably above the <100MB/s on Switch and <100MB/s on the 2.5" mechanical HDDs on the PS4/XBOne. Under the ~5500MB/s on the PS5 but honestly not that far off

Hardware accelerated file compression:
It has it on the SoC. The PS5 and XB Series also have this and it's what all of that marketing regarding storage in this generation has been about. Having this, in effect, allows storage capacity and bandwidth to go further

RAM:
12GB and as I understand it ~100GB/s. 3x the amount and 4x the speed of the Switch. In terms of memory bandwidth all of the current-gen consoles outclass it, and so do the PS4/XBOne. But in terms of capacity it sits comfortably above last gen and is notably quite a bit higher than the XB Series S

In terms of power? That's a bit harder to judge and even harder when you consider there are two different modes to deal with. But the general view is that it's going to be a touch under PS4 Pro/Series S. But with DLSS, more memory to play with, faster storage, hardware file decompression and enough modern NVidia features to support some light RT effects

So yeah, I think you might need to adjust your assumptions on what we should expect here. I'm sure some stuff that's targeting the current gen stuff will skip it, even if not for power just simply because of the resources involved in porting to a fairly different platform. But as a general rule, if someone is porting it to the Series S? Switch 2 almost surely could run it given the development effort

@VoidofLight I doubt the only difference Nintendo has made in the last 8 years is a little AI upscaling. Even if they've only doubled the RAM (which @skywake points out is likely an underestimation) that's a huge difference. Let alone the change in chip architecture in the last few years. They could release a Switch with 2020 chips, 4 years behind the curve, and still be well ahead of what the Switch could do. And I think without the boost in power, Nintendo are gonna be hard pressed to differentiate between the two and could have another Wii U on their hands.

Nintendo released a new trailer for Echoes of Wisdom today. That and the Mario Party news coincide with the games being playable at PAX West this weekend.

I hope Switch 2 will have some new Mario spinoffs instead of Mario Party, Golf, Tennis and Kart that they been releasing for the past few generations. SNES introduced Kart and Paint and N64 introduced Party, Tennis and Golf. We need new spinoffs instead of new entries in these games. Some new Pokemon spinoffs would also be great although I don’t mind another Snap or Stadium.

@skywake sorry if you have mentioned it earlier in the thread, but whats the source on the possible RAM specs? I would like to read more; RAM has been all over the place in the rumors that I have read and that seems to be a new variation.

@skywake Ahhh. That actually seems insane if true. A handheld with the power-level of a PS4 Pro or Series S. Makes me wonder how good the first party games are going to look on something like this- or what the battery life is going to look like.

@VoidofLight
As I understand it the more accurate thing to say would be that it has the potential to be PS4 Pro/Series S adjacent but with a more modern storage config, more RAM and shiny new features. It will probably reach that level of performance while docked. In portable mode it'll almost surely wind things back to preserve battery life but even there it would maintain the nice and shiny things that don't consume much power like the RAM and faster storage

@ProPAIN
There are really only two reliable "leaks" that have happened in terms of the Switch 2 hardware. The first was the NVidia hack which opened the door to a lot of details about the T239 SoC the Switch 2 will use. Eurogamer went over it here. The second source has from shipping manifests, cross referenced and discovered to include the T239 SoC. 12GB LPDDR5X, 256GB of UFS 3.1 ..... and a few other bits and pieces but those were the two important bits

There haven't really been any other major and believable leaks about the Switch I'd argue. Well, I guess maybe the Matrix Awakening Demo/BotW one which seems reasonable enough, but not much else

@Grumblevolcano Definitely makes sense to have trailers/announcements beforehand so PAX West doesn’t reveal that stuff.

So far I don’t think this makes a September Direct less likely, since this stuff was almost necessary for Nintendo to reveal before the end of the month (due to PAX West). It’s likely there wouldn’t be too much focus on Echoes of Wisdom in the Direct anyway (probably just a short recap trailer), and Mario Party Jamboree essentially got a character reveal trailer, so we’re probably still waiting for another big trailer before an overview trailer.

If Echoes of Wisdom gets an overview trailer internationally before a potential September Direct happens, I think that’ll make the Direct significantly less likely (and would likely point towards a Switch Successor announcement being imminent)

@skywake If the Switch’s Successor is that powerful that’d be awesome! I’d hope it’d have backwards compatibility and takes advantage of the power to maybe upgrade some Switch games! I believe Paper Mario TTYD had 4K in the game’s code, so could that be hinting at something?

People keep forgetting that we haven't actually gotten a second trailer for Mario and Luigi despite it releasing in November. Definitely either a random trailer drop or direct coming.

Soo, are we still getting a September Direct?

Between the indie/partner direct and the new Zelda trailer, I think the only remaining options for September are Switch 2 reveal or nothing.

I think so, but I also don’t really know. Maybe a 50/50 chance of happening and not happening, but I don’t know how fast Nintendo follows up Partner showcases and Indie World showcases with general Directs. I think a bit of game info, like a possible NSO drop for the N64 service, which usually is shown in September Directs, could be a random announcement on social media if a September Direct doesn’t happen. I still think a September Direct maybe could happen, but the recent showcase I think sort of lessens the chances of it happening. But, I’ll look at the Direct Wikipedia article to see if there is a pattern with how fast general Directs follow Partner/Indie showcases.

EDIT: From the pattern I’m seeing, usually general Directs occur two months after Indie World events, but there have been times where a general Direct occurs a month after Indie World, an example being an Indie World event that occurred in August 2019 and a general Direct occurring a month later in September, but the recent pattern seems to be two months.

General directs occur after Partner Directs very sporadically. A Partner showcase that happened earlier this year in February was followed up by a general Direct four months later in June, but some past Partner showcases have been followed up by general Directs in less or more time.

I’m not sure if the next Direct will occur in a few more weeks, maybe they might do what they did again with that 2019 showcase, but it could be possible they could break tradition and have the next general Direct happen in October or November, but I still think that the time an Indie World showcase was followed up with a Direct just a month later could sort of lend some support toward a September Direct still happening. If not, then I’d expect more game info to be released in a February 2025 direct. However, usually October is sometimes reserved for special Directs dedicated to showing overviews and details on specific games, so I don’t know if a September Direct will happen at all. In fact, they could have a Direct in September that serves as an overview to one of their upcoming games for this year, maybe Echoes of Wisdom or Brothership. Wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case. They tend to have those types of Directs in the fall.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Direct

I think if Switch 2 is announced in September, it'll be the week beginning September 16th. Much like about this week and Emio, I don't see Nintendo announcing something over the next 2 weeks which sabotages all the promotion they've done for Splatoon 3's Grand Fest.

N64 NSO update and/or more news on Echoes of Wisdom/Jamboree/Brothership I could see happening in those first 2 weeks of September.

Is it weird that I don’t expect the possible “Switch 2” to get a reveal in September or October? I feel like that early 2025 would make sense, but I don’t know. I believe that a Switch 2 reveal happening early could sort of take attention and momentum away from a Direct that could happen around in September or any games for that, cuz I know the internet will talk about the “Switch 2” nonstop when they reveal it. I know that Nintendo would probably want to sell a few more Switches and games before they start to phase the Switch, since the Switch is getting a bit closer to the DS and PlayStation 2’s sales numbers (154.02 million and 155 million respectively) and there could be a chance that it could surpass both, and the people at Nintendo might want to reach a little milestone as well while they start to slowly phase it out.

But, I read and discovered that the PlayStation 2 apparently has now sold 160 million? A Wikipedia article I read on that doesn’t have 160 million listed as its sales number because that number has never been confirmed true officially by Sony.

Maybe, for Animal Crossing Amiibo Festival Deluxe on Switch and I will double dip purchase that game. 😆