Topic: Next Nintendo Direct?

Time to review my predictions:
$- correct / &- incorrect / * - kind of correct
Pokémon Legends Z-A trailer (new Mega reveal?) $
Kirby Air Riders trailer *
Shadowdrop of Metroid Prime 2 and 3 Remastered (releases on both Switch 1 and 2) &
Metroid Prime 4 Beyond trailer: release date October, November, or December 2025 $
Hyrule Warriors Age of Imprisonment trailer: release date January 2026 (I got the release month wrong on this one)
Rhythm Heaven Groove trailer: release date February 2026 &
Free update for Rhythm Heaven Groove that adds mouse controls on Switch 2 &
(Very surprised that Rhythm Heaven didn't show up)
Tomodachi Life Living the Dream: March 2026, Switch 2 Edition detailed and is launching on the same day * (for all we know, game could still launch in March since it's spring, and a Switch 2 Edition is still possible)
Splatoon Raiders trailer: release date summer 2026 & (also surprised that this didn't show up)
Maybe a teaser trailer for a new Animal Crossing or Fire Emblem tba 2026? $ (new Fire Emblem!)
Mario 40th segment:
Mario Wonder Switch 2 Edition for late October * (my release month guess was off by like half a year 🤣)
Mario Maker Switch 2 Edition or Mario Maker 3 trailer: release date April 2026 &
First Mario Kart World content update for November or December (DK Bananza crossover?) &
Sunshine for GameCube NSO shadowdrop &
Western release of the Hello, Mario! app shadowdrop & (I'm still waiting for this app to come out in the United States 😭)
Teaser trailer for new 3D Mario that is openworld: release date tba 2026 (probably releasing in the fall of that year) &

I did get some things correct, at least 😂!

Feels like a 3 or 4. There was very little new here and most of it just missed the mark. The non-gaming stuff at the beginning dragged too long. Galaxy 1 & 2 is okay, but for anyone that bought 3D All Stars feels like a waste (you can buy just 2 digitally but... digital). Tennis just looks like Tennis. Wonder S2E may be nice, but they focused way too much on the multiplayer gimmicks and only teased the actual meat of the update. The Yoshi game looks way too slow, plodding, and casual. Bananza DLC is also okay but I don't like roguelites. Prime 4 concerns me because giant, empty open worlds feels like it clashes with Metroid's appeal (and this is coming from someone that LOVES open world). Virtual Boy is a poor choice for your only NSO announcement since that's arguably Nintendo's worst failure, where are other GC games or the main series Pokemon games? Fire Emblem is a poor closer and feels too niche for all of the love it gets. And no Splatoon Raiders or any tease for a major 2026 game (something like a new entry in 3D Mario, Animal Crossing, Luigi's Mansion, or Smash would've fit the bill, where are these IPs?). Really feels like they're scraping the bottom of the barrel here when they need to give us big reasons to own a Switch 2. I certainly saw none in this Direct. Utterly maddening that they spent so long telling us so little, I had MUCH higher expectations for a 60 minute Direct that is the first one after a new console release.

@Bolt_Strike I am starting to wonder that maybe I've just been playing games for so long, that it's all a "me" problem, because I can't see why any of this would really excite anyone. It's iterative at best. If these games cost half of what they do, the level of "seen and done it before" wouldn't be as bad, but when the price is this premium — and it's not a Nintendo exclusive problem before someone jumps on me for saying this — it's really hard to even get interested, because I can't justify spending 829 NOK on any of this. I'm simply not that interested by this.

A wrinkle in my theory that it's just my experience is that I play indie games made by tiny teams, even solo devs, on PC / Steam Deck that cost a fraction, run on practically any hardware, and entertain me way more than any Switch 2 game has so far.

It was a very solid direct. There's a lot that I was hoping to be announced, that was absent, which is always the case with these. I've come to terms with Nintendo spending quite a bit of time on games I have zero interest in playing, in almost every direct (Pokemon & Farming Sims)...and Nintendo doing something completely unexpected (DK DLC & Freaking Virtual Boy) - that reveal might be my favorite of any direct, ever. Even though there were quite a bit of games that aren't for me - it doesn't make it a bad direct.
I thought the MP4 preview looked great - very excited for the game and pumped that it's coming this year. I cannot wait to play the RE games that were shown...been hoping for the RE Remakes...but I love that we are getting RE9 along with the other consoles. Hades 2 will be a day 1 purchase. DK DLC, that is insane that we are already getting additional content, can't wait to check it out. Wonder DLC looks fantastic & fun. I don't mind having to wait a bit to pick up FF7, I have so many games to get through before starting that, just happy for a date. Galaxy 2 is finally confirmed! Age of Imprisonment is a Nov release! So by my count, I'm picking up at least 8 of the games/DLC that was announced today, not bad at all. Oh yeah, and there's Virtual Fighter!
Questions I still have:

• When are we getting Elden Ring?
• Where is Microsoft?
• Where are the Ubi games?
• Where the **** is the Mario Kart roadmap??? I've already fallen off this game - frankly, there have just been better SW2 games released that have held my attention (I'm looking at you DK, Cyberpunk, Silksong). I want to get back into this game - but I'm not seeing much of a reason to. It's great, it just hasn't been able to hold my attention. When I boot it up, I think - I can be leveling up in Cyberpunk right now.
  For future directs, here's what would be a 10/10 for me: New Mario or New Zelda tease or Ocarina of Time remake, big 3rd party showcase,

Just waiting on the game list pictochart so I can hold a funeral for my wallet.

Really need the wishlist to be expanded to 500. It is getting harder to keep up with what I need to buy and my purchases will span years to come.

Great direct. 8/10. Was hoping for more Nintendo switch 2 exclusive games

Pre order open for virtual boy. Got it.

Great Direct. My only major disappointments are no Metroid Prime 2+3 and no GameCube NSO games being shadow dropped.

@Don Yeah, I was really expecting a Mario Sunshine NSO shadow drop.

About Prime 4, I noticed on the eshop its file size is 28.9GB so if there's still a Switch 1 physical version it'll be using the mythical 32GB carts.

28.9 GB for Prime 4?! Holy heck Nintendo has been getting a ton of new records for biggest game file size lately. Zelda TotK was the biggest for a little over two years.

Dragon Quest did look pretty solid, probably the game that most had me thinking "yeah, I'll probably grab that one". Yeah, it's a remake and some will turn their nose up at that. But I've never bothered to pick up a DQ game before and the art direction and image quality here looked very sharp. I'm also a sucker for this kind of style for a 2D game. Case and point Link's Awakening HD

But yeah, doomers are going to find excuses to doom. That's what they do. You wonder if they go out of their way to find new reasons to be disappointed. And others were just going into this expecting Mario Universe, Prime 2 & 3, Ocarina of Time Remastered, Luigi's Mansion 4, Mario Maker 3, Animal Crossing, several new IPs specific to their interests and a partridge in a pear tree. Setting themselves up for disappointment

But for a Direct designed to cover the end of this year into the first quarter or so of next year? Especially when we already knew pretty well what the rest of the year was likely to look like. It was pretty solid. And there was a lot to like here

That kind of laundry list of big games is more along the lines of what they need to sell a $450 console though, those are the kinds of games that sell consoles and they need several of them to justify a console purchase. And it's pretty close to what the Switch 1 delivered early (really more within the first 3 years than 1 year, but we don't really have 1/3 of that after the 1 year mark so we're definitely not getting that if they continue at this pace). Sorry, if this is solid, I shudder to imagine what a poor Direct looks like to you. This is pretty much all crumbs.

I was missing more Switch 2 ONLY games that weren't remakes, most of the big hitters like Hades 2 also come out on Switch.
6/10 for me, Fire Emblem and Resident Evil got me excited though.

Also lots of farming games in 1 direct.

The new tennis game isn't my jam but can we just appreciate that, hey, it looks like it's not going to be spreading content out over 3 months and then dropping it like a hot potato? Haha!

It's funny how yesterday there were rumors that Fire Emblem Three Houses was getting a "Deluxe Edition," but it turned out that it was a genuine sequel to Three Houses- and not a Deluxe Edition at all.

I think this direct was pretty solid. Not many heavy hitter games present, but I feel like there was enough to hold us over until the next direct or showcase. Fire Emblem was a big highlight for me- even though I've yet to actually finish a single game in the series. The Yoshi game was interesting looking (but I'll probably never purchase another in that series given that Crafted World was so abysmally bland that I'd rather not play another).

Tomodachi Life looks good, but it feels weird that all they really showed off was the general concept of the game and nothing else. The Mii maker, taking care of residents. None of the island customization that actually seems to be in the game. I guess they're waiting for the release date reveal to show that off.

Stories 3 looks good, but it obviously runs poorly on Switch 2. Might pick that up on PC, assuming they're not using RE Engine- which could very well be what's causing performance issues. Especially since it looks like it'll be a properly Open World this time around.

Legends Z-A is something I'm excited for, but I'm also iffy on the announcements they made here. The Kalos starters getting Mega Evolutions was pretty sweet, but apparently those are restricted to a game-mode that requires you to get NSO. I get why they did this though, as they probably want to encourage people to engage with the Online battles- but it feels like it would've probably been better to do this for other Mega Evolutions that weren't so highly sought after. The DLC for Z-A being announced was a weird choice, but it doesn't really leave a bad taste in my mouth like it did for some. 35 dollars is a big asking price for what it looks like on the surface (given that it's one DLC Pack instead of two), but I'm wanting to wait and see before I make any judgements on it. Especially since Nintendo has revealed DLC before launch for many of their games in the past- and Koei Techmo did that with Dynasty Warriors in this same direct.

Prime 4 looks cool, but I'll probably skip on it because it comes out the same day as Octopath 0 does, and they still haven't re-released Metroid Prime 2 and 3.

I walked away alright with this Direct- but I hope they reveal more heavy hitting games in the future.. I wasn't expecting all of these large-scale franchises to be revealed in this one specific direct, but I was hoping for something a bit more substantial outside of just Fire Emblem.

Seeing people’s reaction online after the direct, I feel there’s this conception that if a game isn’t made specifically for you/your tastes it’s automatically bad. And it’s so stupid ! Like I don’t care about Tomodachi Life but a lot of people do. I’m happy for them.

Wish people would be if even so slightly more open minded but people will be people I guess lol.

Wait a minute the Kalos starter Megas are locked behind online? I mean, they've been doing mystery gifts for years and all that, but I'm still not the greatest fan of things like that. Still won't stop me from playing the game though.

@VoidofLight Just a small correction: the Legends ZA DLC is $30, not $35.

Oh it's worse than just needing online, they're rewards for Ranked Battles. In other words, you can only get them by battling other players in multiplayer. So they're basically an eSports trophy. Not only that, but supposedly they're only for a limited time too, so there's also FOMO at play here.

That definitely deflates this announcement for me, I hate PvP content and having an exclusive reward doesn't make me more inclined to engage with it, it just makes the game less fun.

While I wouldn't call this Direct a failure, I was still a bit more disappointed than usual. Not due to them not announcing any new games I'm interested in (I'm fine with that), but due to going all-in on additional purchases for games I don't even own yet - it's a bit upsetting to have to shell out an extra $50 combined to have the complete versions of DK Bananza and Legends ZA. And I hoped they would announce S2 upgrades for more 1st-party titles other than Mario Wonder.

And although I'm not in any rush to sign up for the Expansion Pack, it's still disappointing that the Virtual Boy app seemingly requires an accessory. How will that even work? Do they use something to detect if you're using the thing? I don't see what's stopping those games from being played without it otherwise.