Topic: Next Nintendo Direct?

@VoidofLight I think there's 4 key points:
1. The Gamescom 2023 rumours of BotW Switch 2 tech demo
2. Aonuma's comments about linear Zelda in a TotK interview from 2023 - Is it a sign of no new linear Zelda games but remasters are possible, a sign of no linear Zelda games at all where remasters are just of the open world games or does it mean something else?
3. The talk about a potential GCN NSO - If GCN NSO were to happen they may put Wind Waker and Twilight Princess there instead like they brought OoT and MM to N64 NSO instead of porting over the 3DS versions.
4. Sony's strategy with PS5 - Nintendo may see the success of the TLoU PS5 versions and decide to follow much like how Nintendo decided to lock online multiplayer behind a subscription after PS4 was a huge success doing the same.

I really hope Nintendo doesn't fall into that trap and instead focuses on continuing to make games not playable on Switch 1 available.

Why do people want GCN on Switch Online so badly? I'd love to bet to play Sunshine or Twilight Princess for the first time, but if it is at the price of the other systems having an even slower feed of games, then no think you!

I don’t think we’re getting a Zelda game this year unless it’s an OoT remake. GameCube NSO will possibly be a part of the launch (or close to it) for Switch 2. Wind Waker could be there at launch, and then maybe Twilight Princess get it’s own NSO release a little later on. These 2 games being on NSO could essentially be the year’s Zelda game.

BotW and TotK already have a standalone release on Switch so seeing a $70 version of those games as a big Switch 2 release seems ridiculous. That would feel like a wasted slot in Nintendo’s line of Switch 2 year 1 games.

@PikminMarioKirby honestly the fact that Nintendo has remade/remastered/ported so many GameCube games makes me think we’re not getting them on NSO. We’ve already gotten Pikmin 1 and 2, Metroid prime, Mario sunshine, and thousand year door. If anything I could see Wind Waker and Twilight Princess being sold separately, along with the other missing GameCube games

@CaleBoi25 I'd much rather have ports/remasters/remakes for GCN, I much prefer physical and it would be amazing for example to have like an actual Switch physical copy of an F-Zero game.

@SplatRay001 There have been a lot of GameCube games already put on Switch, but there is a reason some of those games got ports or even reasons why they wouldn’t have them on NSO:

• Mario Sunshine was in a limited time bundle. Mario 64 was also a part of this same bundle, and N64 NSO with Mario 64 released about a year after the bundle did.
• Metroid Prime Remastered was seemingly finished for a long time before release (and it’s been 2 years since it released), so this could be a similar situation to Link’s Awakening on Switch. Also since Metroid Prime 3 isn’t on GameCube and if we do get 2+3 on Switch, it’d be weird to have 3 and not the others.
• Paper Mario TTYD has likely been in development since 2020/2021, but porting the original to NSO may be hard with some of the stuff in the game (particularly in the JP version).
• Pikmin 1+2 were added to promote Pikmin 4, and Pikmin 2 couldn’t really go on NSO anyways with all the products they likely lost licenses to in the game (Switch version replaces them).

I also think if Nintendo wasn’t planning on GCN NSO, we’d have Luigi’s Mansion 1 ported last year around the time of LM2 (It’s weird we only have the 2nd and 3rd but not the 1st)

Yeah, I think I'm all right with GameCube not being on NSO. A lot of GC games might be too big for an NSO app, and the joy-cons and pro controllers don't have analog L/R/ZL/ZR buttons. I'm totally fine with GC games being remade/remastered, especially with something like Super Mario Sunshine. It's my least favorite 3D Mario game, so if they remake it with all its flaws fixed somehow, it could be an even better game than it was back in 2002.

@Grumblevolcano If they remaster BotW, I genuinely hope no one is stupid enough to purchase it like people are with Sony. Last we need is a company copying Sony's idiotic practice of "remastering" a game that came out a few years ago.

Yea I would not be buying it and it's potentially my favorite game of all time. If it just has a next gen patch available from a switch 1 cart that'll be good enough for me. It'd have to be some serious extra content for me to consider a botw deluxe

@Novamii IMO, it should be a free upgrade. Nintendo should show up Sony by offering next gen upgrades of older games for free, given that was Sony's original promise for Next Gen upgrades (which they broke).

I'm fairly confident in a February direct, but then again I felt the same way in September :/
Although I think we're in a much better position for one now.

@Nintoz I’m pretty confident as well. A September Direct would’ve worked but it feels almost necessary at this point.

Some people are speculating a Direct tomorrow, if that’s true we should be getting the announcement in a few hours.

No Nintendo Direct announced today (at least in the expected time range), so that most likely means there won't be one tomorrow. It's possible to happen on Thursday, but it's hard to say.

@PikminMarioKirby Capcom does have a showcase at 10pm UK time today, maybe Nintendo announces after that?

@PikminMarioKirby Kinda surprised Nintendo didn’t use the same date as their financials to announce the last date Direct for Switch and use it to keep everyone happy. Rumours circulated Nintendo have been persuading third party publishers to get games ported over to the system to fill out the release schedule in the run up to Switch 2.

@Grumblevolcano @PikminMarioKirby The only possibility I see for one happening tomorrow is if it’s a Mini Direct. Talk about one or two first parties but have a lot of third party games to fill out the schedule

@Grumblevolcano Usually that hour is the last possible hour for a Direct announcement (even though it's extremely rare and usually for smaller Directs), so it'd be during the Capcom event that a Nintendo Direct would be revealed (or rather, as soon as it starts) So I kind of doubt that they would do that. A Thursday Direct is still possible, but it doesn't feel like it lines up with the maintenances like it usually does.

Also, NoA already tweeted today, so that also makes it feel less likely.

@FragRed A lot of times the February Directs are the week of or week after the investor meeting. Would've been nice to get some sort of announcement from the investor meeting but sadly we didn't. I don't think it'd hurt them too much to have it a bit later though.

Honestly wouldn't surprise me if they wait until next week for a Direct because of the "Supercharge" sale that Nintendo's having on the US eShop

The Capcom event revealed that Capcom Fighting Collection 2 is releasing May 16th and an Onimusha 2 remaster is coming out in 2025.

If there is a general direct happening at all, I'll stick with my guess of next week. If there is only a partner showcase or mini, could be anytime.