Topic: Next Nintendo Direct?

No way they wait until April for a general Direct. As far as I know there aren't any confirmed first party release dates after Animal Crossing, and they'd have to be stupid to go any length of time without at least one title for consumers to look forward to (and retailers to advertise). I guess Wonderful 101 could be that title if the April Switch date is to be believed, but as it's being self published by Platinum, it's doubtful if it's part of Nintendo's own release schedule.

While I concede that it may come as late as March, I think this month is most likely.

Yeah they're not gonna wait until April to have a general Direct when they don't have a single Nintendo published title known for Q2.

Well we didn't have a release date after NSMBU Deluxe last year and then Nintendo did a "twitter direct" a few days before NSMBU Deluxe's launch which announced Yoshi for March 29th. If not much more info needs to be shared about Xenoblade (the most likely existing Nintendo published title to have a Q2 release date), Nintendo could do the same a few days before Animal Crossing launches.

PS5 and Xbox Series X complicates things as even though Nintendo says they're not competing, timing of announcements does have to consider their existence.

Guys, my sister-in-law's boyfriend has a 3rd cousin who works for a manufacturer in China who supplies the Styrofoam that Nintendo uses in their packaging. He found documents indicating that Nintendo is planning on closing its doors at midnight April 31st 2020 for good. Apparently to allow every worker to retire, since they are all over 97 years old. This is why there wont be another Direct.

I... I believe you @Heavyarms55 . I also heard Ferris Bueller is, like, really sick.

@Woomy_NNYes Oh not! Not Ferris Bueller! We should send him a case of beer as a get well present!

I imagined some sort of horrific science experiment like in The Fly where a few pikmin and some men walks into a teleporter and out comes a bunch of pikmen.

Less than 35 minutes remaining until we find out if there's a Direct this week.

EDIT: It's now 2pm UK time, no Direct this week.

Yeah I'm pretty sure my logic about being after the Fire Emblem DLC (but before Animal Crossing) is correct. So either 13th or 20th Feb. I'm fairly confident! If it's on the 13th, they could even do a kind of quick reminder the DLC has just come out.

What do people think we're actually gonna see?

My prediction is a kind of 40 minute Direct. About 15-20 minutes dedicated to Animal Crossing. A lengthy 5-10 minute segment on Xenoblade to more fully pitch it to newcomers who never played it on Wii/3DS. Then a short reel of new announcements, including a Wii U port (probably Mario 3D World) and Bayonetta 3's first trailer. Then I think it will finish with another short teaser for Breath of the Wild 2, which won't be fully revealed until E3.

@RR529 My guess is we're not getting a Nintendo published title in April. Wonderful 101 is still a Nintendo IP whether they're publishing it or not, and Tales of Mana and Minecraft Dungeons are both major releases they've been repeatedly showing off. With those three games covering most of the market and Nintendo's general reluctance to release games in April, I doubt we'll get a game published by them before May. If we do, it'll be a small eshop title, a la Boxboy & Boxgirl last year.

@Dezzy Alright, here's my pitch:
Kick off with a reveal of Mario Golf - May release
Showing off release dates for many titles in 1-2 minute bursts (Panzer Dragoon Remake, XC:Remake, FF: Crystal Chronicles, Empire of Sin, Inazuma 11, Hollow Knight: Silksong, Rune Factory 5)
2 minute reminder for Animal Crossing (this is after a dedicated direct)
Several 1 minute trailers for games we already know (Wonderful 101, Trials of Mana)
2 minute discussion of Bravely Default 2 revealing new details and a release window.
Sizzle Reel (Minecraft Dungeons, Ty the Tasmanian Tiger, Outer Worlds, Little Nightmare 2, Spongebob, AVICII Invector, a few others)
Several new ports revealed - Bioshock Collection, KH 1.5 + 2.5, Borderlands 2 + Pre-Sequel
Super Mario 3D World port dated for June
One More Thing - Pikmin 4 in July

Gotta include some unexpected stuff (Pikmin 4) of course, but this feels right more or less.

I'm going with a variation of @link3710's prediction for when the Directs air. Animal Crossing Direct on February 13th, Indie World on the week of February 20th (PAX East starts February 27th), next general Direct on March 12th or 19th (after Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team DX and before Animal Crossing New Horizons) though I could see an April Direct instead of March if Nintendo released Xenoblade's release date in a random trailer like Yoshi last year.

As for predictions about the contents of the general Direct:

• Animal Crossing is a headline with the earlier Animal Crossing Direct having revealed a lot about the game
• Bravely Default II is a spotlight game like Octopath was in 2017 directs, release date July
• Xenoblade is a headline, just a brief trailer with release date of May/June
• No More Heroes III is a headline, same setup as Xenoblade but with a release date of August
• Surprise 1st party announcements being 3D World (December but announced as 2020), Pikmin 3 (May/June), Wind Waker HD (September but announced as 2020), a free for NSO game (available shortly after the Direct) and Smash DLC
• Known 1st party DLC/updates like Super Mario Maker 2, Luigi's Mansion 3 and Pokemon Sword/Shield has a presence as headlines
• Surprise 3rd party announcements being Ezio Collection, Rare Replay, Dragon Quest Heroes I & II, Deltarune Chapter 2 and The Story So Far (KH1.5, KH2.5 and KH2.8)
• Known upcoming 3rd party games like Trials of Mana, Deadly Premonition 2 and Rogue Company appear as headlines
• Direct starts with Rare Replay and finishes with Kingdom Hearts (September Direct started with Overwatch so the opening and close doesn't necessarily have to be 1st party)
• Switch Sports is announced in its own teaser like Ring Fit Adventure outside the Direct for release in June

Lol I completely forgot about Bravely Default 2. That will definitely get another trailer, unless it's a christmas game.

Also, it'll be incredibly disappointing if Xenoblade only gets a 1-2 mins trailer. That's a game that you can make spectacular and epic trailers from, with the combination of beautiful environments and action-heavy cutscenes. It's probably quite a big undertaking for them too, so I think they'll want it heavily promoted rather than treated as if it's a random port.

@Grumblevolcano I was so confused reading that until I realized you meant 2020 wherever you put 2019. Also I was about to say there's no way Deltarune is coming already when I realized it's already been 2 years since the first chapter launched. LM3 and SS DLC is certain I agree, totally forgot about that. But I will say there's absolutely no way they won't announce another 1st party published title. We probably won't get any more announcements til E3, meaning the calendar is going to be set after that point probably through the end of July, and there's no way we aren't getting a single brand new game from Nintendo between April, May, June and July, only remasters and ports.

@Dezzy Yeah, I'm not sure? XC will defifnitely get a longer trailer, I just think the version they'll use in the direct will be cut down. Still, 3-4 minutes is probably more likely than 1-2.

@link3710 I have listed 1 new game from Nintendo (Switch Sports in June), my idea would be it being kind of like the Smash Ultimate of Wii Sports. Also I think there'd be an eshop title (around the scale of Box Boy + Box Girl) announced and shadow dropped at E3 if Nintendo is at E3.

@Grumblevolcano Whoops, I am so uninterested in Switch Sports that I completely forgot about it by the time I finished reading.

I can say Nintendo's already confirmed to be at E3 this year though, as is Microsoft.

@link3710 With Switch becoming essentially the JRPG console I was thinking Camelot may do Golden Sun instead of Mario Golf this time and that being where Switch Sports comes in as the sports replacement like in the Wii era.

@Grumblevolcano As much as I wish that was the case, I doubt Nintendo will let them do a Golden Sun when there's so many JRPGs already and not enough sports games.

@link3710 I feel if Nintendo had a problem with the balance between JRPGs and other genres, they would've saved Xenoblade and Bravely Default II announcements for an early 2020 Direct while having other games to close off September 2019's Direct and be the main Game Awards 2019 reveal respectively. On the Nintendo published front Brain Training, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon and Animal Crossing are the only games that aren't JRPGs between mid-November 2019 and some unknown point in 2020.

Seems more like Nintendo's taking advantage of Sony officially killing the Vita (discontinued last year).

I prefer Miitopia 2 on Nintendo Switch.
JRPG can be so quirky and hilarious. 😉

Direct will either start or end in this fashion. Lights will suddenly shut off. Announcer will say "what's going on". Followed by "You never saw it coming".