Topic: Next Nintendo Direct?

Okay this bit kind of concerns me. When you say mobile games being reworked into actual games without micro transactions are you talking about Pokemon Quest type games or Animal Crossing (the latter hopefully not being the case)?

I am interested as to your reasoning behind why Nintendo would do this? Even with Sony not participating this year, it still doesn't really make sense for Nintendo to suddenly do a 180 and have a proper conference and what would these special guests be outside Japanese developers from internal studios? Kind of makes little sense to me for Nintendo to do such a thing.

@Whitewatermoose Honestly think that both February and April have no "big" game. I think the next big game after Yoshi will be released in May. From there on you'll see "big" games for the rest of the year.

So basically Fire Emblem, Animal Crossing, Daemon, and Marvel from May - August alongside a Wii U port or two, then Luigi's Mansion 3 in October and Pokemon in November. That leaves September and December. My guess is either Metroid Prime Trilogy HD or Bayonetta 3 for September, with a 2D Zelda for December.

@IceClimbers I could see Nintendo doing more of the games as a service type idea with a couple of games. Rush them out the door and then drip feed the remaining content over a few months. Kirby and Mario Tennis still sold well so it obviously didn't do too much harm and if Nintendo are truly struggling with delays, it may make more sense from a business perspective.

Interesting you say 2D Zelda for December, I was thinking of another port such as Wind Waker HD or that "teased" Skyward Sword remaster.

@FragRed Quite possible. Definitely confident that we're getting something Zelda this year. Just not 100% sure what.

@Whitewatermoose what is your game on there being a direct this month?

Ahh, the much requested Sonic 06 port

@IceClimbers No, think about it. They have a Marvel game under their belt but they don't have anything from DC. It's got to be Superman 64

Honestly think were not going to see a 2D Zelda this year or for quite some time. 2D Zelda has long been the handheld partner to consoles 3D Zelda and I don't think Nintendo really knows what to do with it especially after the massive success of Breath of the Wild. I think a Wind Waker HD port is the most likely option at this point.

Another game I am predicting is an HD remaster of Billy Hatcher. I know it was Sega developed but its quite an iconic game and along with hopefully Mario Sunshine HD and Wind Waker HD it would help satisfy some of the fan demand for GameCube games for online and maybe be the start of a series of GameCube remasters.

Zelda HD trilogy: Faces of Evil, Wand of Gamelon, Zelda's Adventure

On a more serious note, if there's a Zelda game happening in 2019 I think either Skyward Sword HD for Switch, new 2D Zelda for smartphones or a remake for 3DS that uses the ALBW engine.

And your reason for dancing around the topic rather than naming anything is...

@gcunit Moose probably is not sure about what it is/if it’s happening. I mean, just a few posts ago, he said to take what he said with a grain of salt, which contradicts this statement.

Then only rumors i want to be true are skyward sword hd and links awakening remake

I don't see how anything has changed with their 2D releases. Remember that before New SMB Wii the idea of a 2D platformer on a home console again seemed a bit stupid. Then that game ended up selling about as well as the DS release becoming one of the top 10 best selling games of all time.

The "portable" 2D Zeldas have fairly consistently sold about as well as their 3D counterparts. All of them being multi-million sellers. In terms of sales performance I'd say Breath of the Wild is in a class of its own, it's the exception rather than the rule. Here's a chart showing the sales performance of 3D vs 2D, Home console vs Portable games for Zelda.

Usually a Zelda release, portable and 2D or not, would move between 2 and 5 mill units. Then the flagship 3D release of that generation would do over and above that by some margin. Given the unprecedented success of Breath of the Wild? I would think a 2D Zelda on Switch could easily become the best selling 2D Zelda since the NES.

Oh man! Don't even mention the three super bad CD-i Zelda games! XD But back on topic, I am hoping for a new 3D Zelda that is either like BOTW, OOT or Skyward Sword or Twilight Princess.

If Nintendo are struggling with some of their scheduled releases, honestly I'd be delighted if they just did ports of Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 + Zelda Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword etc. Until their big guns are ready. Never had any of their Wii systems.

My biggest hope is for a new Zelda that is literally just an HD version of A Link to the Past. They don't need to change anything about the game itself since it's already perfect as it is, just put it in BotW's graphics engine and you're done. Automatic GotY

New 2D Zelda incoming.

Will most certainly reuse assets and the dungeons-any-order concept from Link Between Worlds, but other wise new.

@rallydefault Are you reporting this or is this just a wish? If it’s the former, what sources are you getting this from?

@GyroZeppeli
Sources or not it's almost surely going to happen at some point. Nintendo aren't just going to stop making 2D Zelda games when the last effort still moved close to 4mill units... ignoring Tri Force Heroes which doesn't really count. And with the 3DS basically dead at this point that game would be developed for Switch. It's an incredibly safe bet.

I think my only scepticism about it coming out this year is that the lineup is already pretty "portable" heavy. If the end of 2019 is Animal Crossing, Pokemon, 2D Zelda, Town and Fire Emblem? It starts to look a bit too much like a good year for a portable not a home console. Even if we also see titles like Metroid Prime 3 etc. A port of a 3D Zelda like Skyward Sword would almost make more of an impact than a brand new 2D release in that lineup

@skywake No doubt that it’s coming at some point, just not too sure if it would come out this year. I agree that a port of a 3D Zelda is the most likely option rn, but it would be nicer to have even a 2D Zelda port, i.e. A Link To The Past or Minish Cap.
We really are overdue for a good 2D Zelda game since Triforce Heroes was a disappointment.