Topic: Next Nintendo Direct?

@Slowdive I'd guess it'll be like the September 2019 Direct where there's a lot of reminding people about games coming later on in the year and have just a few new announcements. For 2019, at the time of the Direct these were upcoming known 2019 Nintendo IP and Nintendo published releases:

• Daemon X Machina (September 13th)
• Link's Awakening (September 20th)
• DQXIS (September 27th)
• Luigi's Mansion 3 (October 31st)
• Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 (November 5th)
• Pokemon Sword/Shield (November 15th)

DLC/updates:

• Banjo release date and Terry reveal for Smash
• Tetris 99 DLC wave 2

Games focused on a lot were:

• Smash Ultimate
• Pokemon Sword/Shield
• Animal Crossing New Horizons

New announcements were:

• Super Kirby Clash (shadow drop)
• Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore (January 17th 2020)
• Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition (2020)
• SNES for NSO (day after the Direct)

I'd guess the Direct would air September 8th to allow a final reminder about WarioWare Get It Together so upcoming Nintendo IP and Nintendo published releases for 2021 would be:

• WarioWare Get It Together (September 10th)
• Metroid Dread (October 8th)
• Mario Party Superstars (October 29th)
• Shin Megami Tensei V (November 12th) - It's Nintendo published in Europe so I'm including it
• Pokemon Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl (November 19th)
• Advance Wars 1+2 Re-Boot Camp (December 3rd)

DLC/updates I think would appear:

• Smash Ultimate final fighter
• Age of Calamity DLC wave 2
• Animal Crossing update
• Mario Golf update

Games I think will be focused on a lot:

• Smash Ultimate
• Pokemon Legends Arceus
• Splatoon 3

New announcements I think would happen:

• Shadow drop eshop title
• Zelda Wii U ports (February 2022)
• Kirby (Spring 2022)
• Another port or remaster (2022)

Throw in among those a mixture of already announced and new announcement 3rd party games. Start with Smash Ultimate, close with the Nintendo/Microsoft collaboration whatever that ends up being.

@Grumblevolcano I definitely agree on getting something on the new Kirby... But I think instead of Zelda ports, we'll see the announcement of Kirby's Anniversary Collection 2 (or w/e it's called), collecting the N64, GBA, and DS titles (plus poooosssibly Return to Dreamland, though that might be a standalone port later, and maybe Air Ride if we're lucky), and a port of the original anniversary collection. The new Kirby will only get a very small tease, with a full reveal in the Feb / March direct.

Side note: I'd assume Inti Creates would be developing, and a deal made with Capcom to use their emulators for GBA / DS... Either that or NERD getting involved.

Edit: also, why does everyone think it'll be WW/TP and not OoT/MM based on the 3DS versions?

@Grumblevolcano What third party games do you think we'll see?

@Slowdive another lackluster update for Animal Crossing New Horizons
a tease for the next mainline Kirby game in 2022 for the 30th anniversary
the reveal of the final Super Smash Bros Ultimate character
the final bit of information on Metroid Dread, Warioware Get it Together and Mario Party Superstar
the reveal or tease of the rumored 2.5D Donkey Kong game developed by Nintendo EPD tokyo
the reveal of the temporary exclusive Resident Evil for 2022
and a trailer for Zelda Breath of the Wild 2

Kirby definitely seems primed for a fall announcement, it typically releases in Spring and HAL's been teasing it for a while. I don't think we'll see any further announcements though, we might have to wait until Spring 2022 for announcements like the DK game. They like to focus on games coming out in the near future to help them sell, they're not going to announce more than 1 or 2 games coming in the further future. They don't want the announcement of a DK game to hurt sales for things like Metroid Dread, BDSP, or Legends Arceus. We probably won't see a lot of big new 1st party announcements until those games have come and gone.

I know Nintendo touched on Wave Race a couple of years ago and it sounded like they were exploring ideas. (There is a lot of gameplay to be had on different waves.) Not sure if it would go down well as a full price release in it's own right these days (depends on how much mileage they can get out of water physics I suppose) so my gut tells me it will feature in a Switch Sports type deal.

@Bolt_Strike i see, so expect the anouncement of the rumored 2.5D Donkey Kong game on the first Direct of 2022? or in E3 2022? along with the full reveal of the next mainline Kirby game?

@Bolt_Strike With predicting very few unannounced 1st party games I was also taking into account that if you take Smash away from the past 3 years of Directs, quite a few of them fall flat due to over-reliance on Smash. The first Direct of 2022 will be the first main Direct in 4 years without Smash so Nintendo will need to use other ways to excite people about Switch's future from that point onwards. Hence I think they'll let the final Smash character be the biggest announcement of the September 2021 Direct, my prediction did state Smash opening the Direct but I could see it being the Direct closer instead as a farewell to the game.

@MarioBrickLayer Stuff like DOOM Eternal Ancient Gods Part 2 shadow drop, something Xbox related that isn't to do with Bethesda, the Final Fantasy 1-6 pixel remasters, recap of already announced stuff (e.g. Super Monkey Ball, Life is Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy), more cloud versions, some new Switch revision exclusives, etc.

Just before 2022 starts. With some huge games already lined up, I'd bet Nintendo pile a few more in and do a repeat of 2017 in terms of released games.

@chapu2006 reveal Super Mario Odyssey 2 or a brand new 3D Mario game and we gonna have a repeat of 2017 in 2022

Lets all be brutally honest. We DON'T actually know what Nintendo is doing behind the scenes. We COULD all be wrong in our assumptions about what Nintendo is cooking up. The switch is a very unique console, and Nintendo's plans for the future could be.

Speaking of, does anyone else think it's weird that Nintendo hasn't done some kind of "Switch Sports" title yet? Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort were huge obviously. And then Wii Sports Club on the Wii U was a bit of an afterthought even for Wii U. Then just nothing at all. Seems like such an easy win, I don't know why they haven't done it yet.

@skywake Ring Fit says hi.

I think that's likely the reason they published Go Vacation!, to fill that void. Plus, they included bowling in Clubhouse Games, and of course have new Mario Tennis & Mario Golf games (the latter of which was absent on Wii & Wii U), so that pretty much covers most of the most popular sports in the Wii Sports lineup.

I assume because the people that made Wii Sports aren't making Wii Sports is why there hasn't been a sport game like Wii Sports.

Also because Wii Sports Club bombed, but that's mostly because Nintendo were idiots who didn't promote an online HD remaster of literally their most popular game.

I get that they've done Mario Tennis/Golf and yeah Clubhouse Games and Ring Fit adventure exist. There was also 1-2 Switch which kinda lived in the Wii-Series style of game, a bit more Wii Play than Wii Sports but still. I was going to mention them in my post but I'm trying to be a little less long winded.

Problem is, these things aren't really a substitute for what Wii Sports was. Clubhouse games has pool and bowling but it's a bit more or a handheld game than a TV game. I had high hopes for bowling and it's ok I guess, but it's clear Wii Sports bowling wasn't what they were trying to emulate. And Ring Fit Adventure, as much as I like it, it very much a single player game.

There isn't really anything on the Switch that kinda captures what Wii Sports did. And by that I mean a cross-generational and easy to approach multiplayer game where "gaming skill" isn't the thing that decides who wins. The closest we have to that on Switch are those Jackbox Party style games.

@skywake I think the Wii was more of a natural fit on a system that had motion controls as its main gimmick, as sort of a tech demo (which was followed by Play, Music, Fit, and the rest of the Wii family of games). There's no obvious parallel with the Switch, so the series is effectively dead (though Miis remain an optional part of several games).

I don't think we've seen the last of Wii Sports.

It's the kind of thing that Nintendo will pull out one year when they've got nothing else to show, like "hey look, this year Sony has five AAA cinematic experiences that look better than films, Microsoft has Halo and fifteen RPGs that can let you be literally any fantasy character you can possibly imagine but we have... Wii Sports - it's a perfect replica of the game you played in 2007! Literally exactly the same! We'll even throw in a CD soundtrack that includes the Wii Shop channel music (yes we know it's 202x and you don't own a CD player)!!!". Then everyone goes wild for it and you can't buy a copy for love nor money - just like the NES Classic.

The nostalgia attached to Wii Sports alone, completely aside from the fact that it's a genuinely great game that always catches new players by surprise, means that it'll always resurface into the popular culture every 10-20 years.

I like how despite your best efforts, this Wii Sports plan is still more interesting than what Sony will apparently do.

@StuTwo
I'd buy it