Topic: Next Nintendo Direct?

@FishyS Oh right, Air Riders. Forgot about that. Air Riders Direct is possible because Sakurai, but I suspect it isn't happening either.

Honestly, I'm feeling like Prime 4 is getting delayed. They are running out of time to market it and I really feel like the blowout needs several months to reach people since Metroid isn't a huge seller. The long silence and showcasing of the same areas of the game says to me that they're struggling to get the game right and need even more time. It's frustrating because this game keeps getting pushed further and further back but I think if this game were getting ready to launch we'd know more about it by now. But I could be wrong, so I'm not totally ready to dismiss a Prime 4 Direct happening soon.

I definitely agree that if Prime 4 doesn't get a release date by halfway through September, then it's been delayed to 2026

@Grumblevolcano They’re being way quicker with these than I expected. We’re 100% getting Mario Sunshine next month for the 40th anniversary, as much as it kills my hopes for a 3D all stars re-release

@Bigmanfan theres always a slim possibility, its mostly just me wishing. with drag x drive and the surprise drop of Chibi-Robo (never really looked into it so im excited!) on gamecube i think its near impossible. however, as @FishyS said a metroid prime 4 direct or another game-specific direct would be good for mid august 😸
@ShieldHero after the london underground mishap, nintendo reconfirmed it would be coming in 2025. i think we just gotta be patient and see (sadly) 😌😔

Ooh, great addition to the GameCube library. I'm gonna take a guess and say they add Sunshine next month and then Luigi's Mansion in October.

I get the feeling my suspicions are correct though - no additions to the N64 and GBA libraries until the road map of GameCube games is done.

I wonder if Kirby Air Riders and/or Splatoon Raiders are small eshop only releases. The only retail Kirby spinoff since Nintendo started using the eshop for digital games was Rainbow Curse for Wii U in 2015 meanwhile Splatoon Raiders could perhaps be standalone Splatoon 3 DLC to avoid the issue of adding mouse controls to Splatoon 3.

If either of them are small eshop only releases, that could be what comes in September if Prime 4 is November.

@Grumblevolcano I feel like they gave Air Riders too much of a dramatic announcement to be a small game.

@Grumblevolcano if nintendo got sakurai to do kirby air riders i think its probably gonna be a full priced game. they also made a huge deal out of splatoon raiders being the “first splatoon spinoff” so i dont think so, but who knows maybe youre right. i do wonder if the splatoon and animal crossing teams have split? i really wouldnt be surprised if animal crossing was next summer and splatoon in the fall of 26.

If Sakurai's manning the project, I personally think it will be a full scale game (one that I'm really looking forward to at that, even more so if I get a Switch 2 any time soon).

If it was an unannounced game filling the September slot, I think Prime 2+3 would have the best chance of being it at this point. Leaning more towards that being released next week alongside new Prime 4 info considering Prime 4 is on the Gamescom show floor but they could theoretically save it for a September Direct instead while the Gamescom demo is just the April/May demo.

i would love to play prime 2 and 3 before prime four, metroid prime remastered was such an experience. @Grumblevolcano do you think they would release them seperately as $40 games or bundle them together for $60 or even $80? hoping for a deptember direct shadow drop 🙏🏼

I saw a Nintendo Forecast on this and it has been sitting in my mind for a while. Their video didn't present it in a particularly visible way so.... I think it's worth me doing that here. This is what the Switch launch would look like if you made the dates Switch 2 aligned, in terms of a selection of first party published titles and presentations

I prefer the Switch 2 launch thus far

@OctolingKing13 I think Switch 1 version would be same pricing as Pikmin 1+2, maybe they add on $10 for a Switch 2 edition with mouse controls.

The news from the Worlds closing ceremony which applies to Switch are:

• 3 new additions to Unite (Empoleon, Dhelmise, Vaporeon)
• 4 player multiplayer mode announced for Legends Z-A (Z-A Battle Club)
• Pokemon Champions is the VGC game for Worlds 2026 (August 28th - 30th 2026)

@Grumblevolcano This means the main series is finally free from having to cater to Competitive.

@Grumblevolcano Pokémon Champions was also confirmed to have a Switch 2 version

@skywake I just saw the video in question and I'll repeat what I said in the comments, I think this exercise of analyzing the Switch 1's lineup in the Switch 2's time frame is a fairly pointless exercise. It really doesn't matter much in the grand scheme of things, it's not like there's some countdown that causes sales/hype to expire after a certain period of time (that is true when there's a lack of news and coverage after a certain period of time, but that's beside the point). What matters is what's sitting on store shelves by the holiday season. That's what people are most likely to associate with something being a "2017" game or a "2025" game, not how long it's been since the system launch. Yes, the Switch did get an extra 3 months on the market than the Switch 2. But Nintendo strategically plans their dates based on what's ready and when they think it would have an impact. Having less games, especially major games, in 2025 than 2017 may have been a factor in why it launched 3 months later in the year. Fact of the matter is that Switch had BotW, MK8D, Splatoon 2, and Mario Odyssey by its first holiday season and that's hard to top. Switch 2 has come close with MKW, DK Bananza, and Pokemon Legends Z-A, but it's not quite at 2017's level. I think it needs one more megaton coming to really match 2017, and at this point in the year I find it unlikely it's going to get it (such a game would likely have been announced by now). So this year is probably going to fall just short of 2017. Not a bad year at all, the lineup is still respectable, it's just not the highest high. Maybe 2026 could if the stars align (if we can get something like Pokemon Gen 10, the big new 3D Mario game, Luigi's Mansion 4, and Animal Crossing all in 2026 then yes, that would be a much more 2017-esque lineup), but 2025 is not looking like it's going to hit the high mark set by 2017.

Prime 4? Kirby's Air Ride? And if we're counting Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in the Switch column then surely we count the Switch 2 Editions of Kirby and Zelda at the very least

I know these kinds of discussions tend to end with everyone choosing to count or not count games based on what strengthens our argument. Because this kind of stuff is mailable. And sure, BotW was a generational game that's incomparable. But IMO the doom and gloom math ain't mathing

There's a lot of content here to chew on for this early in a console life

What we're all overlooking is the third-party Switch 1 exclusive games. Do we have a comparison of Switch 1 vs 2 on that? Because from what I can tell, it's been much poorer. Heck AFAIK, the only Switch 2 exclusive third-party game is FAST Fusion?

There's also the fact that for the Switch 1, ports were genuinely exciting due to the new, pretty unique handheld selling point. With Switch 2 this isn't a major factor for most people anymore, because most ports are either also available for Switch 1, or on another competitive handheld.

At least that's the case for me and the few in my circle with a Switch 2; we're not buying multiplatform ports. We'll either play those games on PC or on the Steam Deck, which when you include the ability to stream games from your desktop for free means it can run anything far "better" than the Switch 2 with more options. This last point (having a desktop PC and a Steam Deck) is probably quite niche, but it's worth mentioning.

Kirby Air Riders Direct announced, 45 minutes?!