Nintendo Question Box

If the rumours are true, Nintendo likely won't be putting out a Nintendo Direct presentation in the immediate future. That's not to say announcements won't continue to drop, or game-specific Direct videos won't appear online over the summer, but a full-fat blow-out of a presentation doesn't appear to be on the cards in the near-term - certainly not of the type we'd normally see in the first half of June, anyway.

The reasons for this are various and entirely understandable. Disruption to the video game industry over the past few months has led to companies across the spectrum adapting and experimenting with new ways of delivering news and debuting games. Nintendo has been a leader in this field for some time; the first of the big three to abandon a stage presentation at E3 in favour of a broadcast that it could control and edit for maximum impact.

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And we have to say, dropping big announcements out of the blue has proved an effective, exciting strategy. March's Nintendo Direct Mini was shadow-dropped without warning, and then there was Paper Mario: The Origami King, which sprung up on our Twitter timeline with such nonchalance that it took a moment to rack our brains and make sure we hadn't blanked on a previous announcement (hey, we're all suffering from a touch of lockdown fogginess, no?).

There's little doubt that random drops of previously unannounced titles can certainly spice up a quiet Thursday afternoon. Yet, there's still a palpable desire for a real, honest-to-goodness, 45-60 minute 'proper' Nintendo Direct. Not an an Indie World Showcase or an Animal Crossing Direct or a Smash fighter deep-dive Direct or Pokémon DLC Direct; a real one, if you will.

It's not like there aren't other things to think about in the world right now, but with other platform holders lifting the lid on their plans for the rest of the year, we thought it a good time to look to the future and consider the burning questions we'd most love to see answered by Nintendo over the summer, whether via a bumper Nintendo Direct or a sneaky tweet.

Question 1: How is No More Heroes 3 / Bayonetta 3 / Bravely Default 2 coming along?

First up, an update on the big games--Nintendo-published or otherwise--that we know are coming would be a good start. We're talking titles like No More Heroes 3, Bayonetta 3 and Bravely Default II.

PlatinumGames' sequel is a particular mystery in that selection - a game we've seen nothing of beyond its initial tease way back in December 2017. Director Hideki Kamiya has insisted multiple times that everything is progressing smoothly behind the scenes, to the point that questions about it are irritating him. Kamiya irritated? Fancy that.

You could easily bundle the following game in with those above, but we feel it deserves special attention...

Question 2: Got a sitrep on Metroid Prime 4?

How many years has it been now? Our perception of time is a bit skewed after the past couple of months, but it is now a whopping three years since Metroid Prime 4's initial reveal teaser at E3 2017 and nearly 18 months since Shinya Takahashi announced that all development work to that point had been scrapped and the project would be restarted by series veterans Retro Studios.

The game is still a long way off, but given its history we'd love a little development update. Two years, three years off - we don't really mind when it arrives, but acknowledgement that Samus is alive and well would perk us up immeasurably.

Question 3: What's planned for Super Mario Bros.' 35th anniversary?

Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary

Bit of a leading question, this. The rumoured remasters of several Mario games got us dreaming of a 'Super Mario All-Stars 2', and it seems highly likely that a host of 3D favourites will be coming to Switch sooner rather than later. Whatever Nintendo is cooking up, we're eager to find out more. It can't just be a collection of Uniqlo t-shirts, right?

Question 4: What's next for Nintendo Switch Online?

SNES Nintendo Switch Online

We've been getting a slow drip feed of NES and SNES titles added to the online subscription service over the last few months, but Nintendo has stated its intention to continue adding value to the service and we're wondering what's coming next. A new exclusive game a la Tetris 99, perhaps? If not Nintendo 64 games, then how about Game Boy or Game Boy Advance titles? Something else entirely?

There's no time like the present for a new Tetris 99-alike to take the world by storm.

Question 5: When can we stop calling it 'Breath of the Wild 2'?

We say that we're not fussed about game-specific Directs, but a Breath of the Wild 2 deep-dive would be most welcome. Or even a shallow-dive, come to think of it.

We've watched and dissected that reveal trailer from a year ago over and over, and we'd like to be able to stop calling this direct sequel 'Breath of the Wild 2' now. How about The Legend of Zelda: Dungeon Divers? The Legend of Zelda: Calamity's Return? The Legend of Link: A Zelda to the Past...

Okay, they're all rubbish. Give us a proper title, Nintendo, and let's banish 'BOTW2' to the depths where it belongs.

Question 6: What can we look forward to in the second half of 2020?

Animal Crossing Question

This is probably the most pressing question on many a Nintendo fan's mind (and likely a few other people besides). It would be an immense understatement to say that 2020 has been a bit of a rotter so far, and that's one of the reasons so many of us are looking to our favourite creators to provide a little respite and distraction from the challenges of the last few months.

To be fair, Animal Crossing: New Horizons has been a meditative part of our daily routine for many weeks now, but we would welcome something to get excited about in the second half of the year. We understand that Nintendo has projects bubbling away, and that the COVID-19 pandemic has inevitably affected release plans, but a drop of intel on games likely to arrive before Holiday 2020 would lift our spirits no-end.

It needn't be 'Super Mario Odyssey 2', or the rumoured Pikmin that's been MIA for years, or an 'F-ZERO FOR SWITCH' megaton (although we'd snap up any or all of the above). A little Rhythm Heaven or WarioWare compilation on Switch would be just the ticket. Heck, we'd gladly take a couple of Wii U ports (there are still a fair few to pick from) - just something for Switch owners to pin on their mirrors and think about over the summer months, as opposed to staring into the abyss and having only titles on other platforms to get excited about.

Go on Nintendo, throw us a bone, hmm?

We have other questions, of course, but these are the ones causing the most head-scratching for us at the moment. What would you most like Nintendo to spill the beans about this summer? Let us know your burning questions below.