Topic: Next Nintendo Direct?

I hope switch 2 isn’t codenamed Ounce because it’s gimmick is that it’s super light like the iPad or MacBook Air lol.

@ImGrenadeMan Codenames usually don't give away the gimmicks of their respective consoles. "Dolphin" and "NX" didn't give away the gimmicks of their systems.

@VoidofLight Beg to differ. Dolphin had flippers for shoulder buttons and NX was short for merging their home and handheld divisions (Nintendo home X handheld type thing.) They kinda go with their design brief / mission statement for that generation (Nintendo tend to have this governing the game ideas as opposed to Sony with their moar powah approach.). My guess is Ounce or Oz, refers to DLSS like some sort of wizard behind a curtain lol (ok, no idea really!)

@VoidofLight I was being silly. 😅 Odds definitely seem good that switch 2 will be quite beefy, especially since that one leak is still yet to be debunked.

My theory is that it weighs exactly one ounce more than normal Switch 😆

No way in hell Gen 10 is cross gen. Game Freak has been breaking a lot of patterns, but this is one pattern I don't think they'll break, the first new generation games of the console generation will always be exclusive to the new console. Game Freak likes to use the first new generation of the console to showcase the new console's features. GBA games showed the more detailed sprite design and faster processing (with things like double battles, the trade system changes, map design that shows more depth/elevation). DP games heavily utilized the touch screen. XY games showcased the 3DS' stereoscopic 3D by transitioning from 2D sprites to 3D models. SwSh games did things like more open map design and more co-op mechanics to show the Switch's console level power and to showcase the multiplayer features of the console. The added features from the next gen console opened up new mechanics for the series, and in turn the next generation games utilized those features in gameplay to help make them killer apps for the new hardware. It's simply good marketing and design, having Gen 10 games exclusive to the Switch 2 (in presumably 2026, the 2nd year of the console) with new mechanics and gameplay built around whatever the Switch 2 does differently will be a huge boost to that early lineup and boost sales, having Gen 10 as another title that shows why you need a Switch 2 alongside other presumably early games like the new 3D Mario and Mario Kart would give it new entries from some of its biggest IPs and would make for a pretty compelling early lineup. I could see Z-A being cross gen, those sorts of mid-gen titles are better suited for a transition like this (and there's even some vague hints that transition might be a major theme in this game). But new generation games? If you're making a new Pokemon generation, it needs to feel like more of a quantum leap to set the standard for the next few years. And a Gen 10 game that's cross gen? That'd be a bad look, that would show that the Switch is still being supported for a LONG time and that would significantly reduce incentive to buy the Switch 2.

October 20th during the Switch era has been a big day for Nintendo, being the day that the Switch got the announcement trailer (2016), Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope released (2022), and the release of Super Mario Bros Wonder (2023). I believe more info about the NSO playtest is supposed to be given that day in some time zones (at least to those who were accepted for the playtest), so it seems like Nintendo is still doing stuff on this day! Hopefully the new NSO feature will be announced to everyone that day, but who knows.

Apparently the leaker has the gen 10 source code. Wonder what’ll happen with TPCi if that gets released.

@Tayrailbridge Not necessarily. It seems like the hacker is actually trickling info. Right now they’re saying they aren’t spoiling because they “want to keep the surprise,” but given their behavior- like Skywake is saying another thread, they’re pulling an extortion scheme. Chances are they’re going in generation order until they get to gen 10.

Thursday was unlikely anyway for Nintendo announcements because of Jamboree launch but now we also know there's a Xbox event that day as well:

@Grumblevolcano I didn't think it would be that day because of Jamboree, but I doubt an 'XBox Partner Preview' would've changed much, and a new console reveal from Nintendo would overshadow it by a lot.

@PikminMarioKirby Like I've said before I think October 10th was the last possible 2024 reveal date for Switch 2 and that's passed so now late January is the earliest possible reveal timing.

What I had in mind was about stuff like the NSO playtest, that needs a reveal before the codes go out on Sunday (otherwise people will leak the feature) but I don't see that happening on Thursday unless the feature was Game Pass for Switch.

@Grumblevolcano October 10th felt like the most likely deadline, but I don't think Nintendo can go the rest of this year without an announcement, since that implies that it's H2 and H1 would be really empty (we probably would've seen a September Direct to fill in H1). The 2 weeks before Brothership (especially the week before) are still technically open for an announcement, so I think if it is this year it is one of those weeks.

From my understanding this almost confirms that we're getting this new feature announced before the Playtest. My guess is 20/10/2024 (or 10/20/2024 if you prefer it that way) at 6:00 PM PT/9:00 PM EST

Why exactly was the 10th a deadline?
Next week or the week after is just as likely. Or doesn't it? I could imagine that Nintendo would like to release a reveal trailer about the time they revealed the Switch. And that would fall into that time period.

@Budda The way they structured their game lineup. Like if they announced Switch 2 this week, it would've overshadowed Jamboree. I feel that the release timing of Jamboree and Brothership would've been different if Switch 2 was being revealed in the 2nd half of October.

Switch 1 had the unique situation that BotW (which was a crossgen release) was the only 1st party Wii U game releasing after Color Splash so they gave Color Splash some space and then revealed the new console.

@Grumblevolcano
I wouldn't say the games get overshadowed by a reveal. It's the same "but there are holidays soon" argument. You could make the argument that a reveal could actually boosts sales of games. More eyes on Nintendo in general -> more potential customers (through hype or otherwise). And it wouldn't massively hurt hardware sales.

@Grumblevolcano The gap between Jamboree and Brothership is the same as between EoW and Jamboree though, so there's plenty of time in that gap that they could reveal Switch 2.

Full disclosure. I have no data to back this up, it's just a theory which anyone is welcome to say if it holds water or not lol

Could it be a case for console reveal timing that if the console is coming off the back of a lower selling console, like N64 and Gamecube, then there is no harm in announcing a console as late as November. But if the previous console is selling stronger, you want to reveal it earlier in the year (like E3 time.) Now granted as they said fiscal year, I can see as late as March (January is a dead month.)

Basically, if your console is a flop, you need something to make you relevant in the holiday season and an announcement usually does this.

Just to reiterate...this is just corporate theory (and I am no CEO lmao!)

I think people are overthinking it. E3 doesn't exist anymore and so there isn't this central point of focused for the year. That's why stuff used to be announced and why it slowly became a less popular place to announce things until it died

Then secondly with the Switch announcement cycle they had to appese investors. Reassure them that they were still in the hardware game. That's why we got more concrete and earlier timing for Switch. This doesn't apply for Switch 2 so they can be more vague and only have to really disclose what they're doing this financial year. Announcement, not release

Everything else is just a question of how much time they need for promotion, distribution, production etc