Video: Everything The February 2023 Nintendo Direct Didn't Tell You

Didn't tell us anything about any first party games we didn't already know about!

Donkey Kong, Mario, Star Fox all MIA.

Makes me think a new console is close.

I would have thought the release of Metroid Prime Remastered would guarantee that's all I'd be playing for some time. As it turns out, I'm so busy with the Gameboy/GBA games that I haven't even bought it yet.

@nocdaes yeah its obvious - no new Nintendo first party games announced - first time ever for a direct I believe! We should know the new console by October I think

@nocdaes I think a 10 year life cycle is very much a possibility. I was part of the Switch losing its lustre discourse but Pokémon and Splatoon were setting sales records at late as 2022 so there’s more than enough incentive to keep the Switch on the docket. Don’t doubt the next machine is coming down the tracks though.

@nocdaes @gizmo998 yeah, I think they will follow the same working formula they used for the Switch.

• A reveal in October (as they did on 20th of October 2016) to reveal the concept of the hardware
• A presentation in January, revealing the console and the technology and the first batch of software (Metroid Prime 4 will be a cross generational game, technical showcase, together with a new Mario).
• Release in March. Slew of games and 3d party ports the months after.

I think they will also reduce the price of the Switch this August, together with the prices of 1st party software (Nintendo Selects) and that they will reveal that all digital purchases and NSO will carry over to the next console. And that we will only have a couple of smaller (e.g. not new) 1st party titles and 3d party releases (Xenoblade X, Zelda HD remakes and Metroid Prime 2 and 3 remakes come to mind).

They’re sitting on a gold mine if they keep the current library of games available for the next platform. So many evergreen titles that can be reintroduced to the market. Which not everybody has had the ability to buy or play yet.

No new console until 2025 Nintendo… play the long game, play the winning game

TokiMemo puzzle cameo??

@Friendly I'm going to have to agree with @YoshiF2 on this one. The next console won't be until early 2025. The final batch of DLC's for switch games will release 2024 along with a slow year of exclusives and remasters/remakes.

@gizmo998 @nocdaes
So Zelda isn't a first party game?

@Friendly We'd get a codename and release window by May if it's going down that route. NX was given a March 2017 release on the same day as the April 2016 fiscal year shareholders meeting.

The direct started with a game we all knew about and ended with a game we all have seen in 4 previous directs

Really enjoying these features that Zion brings to the YouTube channel.

As for a new Nintendo console? No chance that they'll even mention one until after this time next year.

@Grumblevolcano they could give it the codename NX again

People seem to forget that manufacturers are still struggling with chip shortages after Covid. I highly doubt that a Switch Succesor will enter production before 2024, so a 2025 release year is more probable.
Also, with the state of the world with war & looming recession amongst other issues, I think Nintendo will be very careful when they choose to release the next console. They have a wealth of back catalogue titles and other games waiting in the wings that will tie them over until then.

And still nothing on Hollow Knight: Silksong…

@Bunkerneath NEW games. We have known about that for 4 years.

Even Nintendolife didn't cover this upcoming Switch game Natsumon.

@Bunkerneath Yea, as gizmo already said, we mean new first party games that we haven't heard anything about previously. Zelda Tears of the Kingdom has been featured a few times now, and launches very soon.

I can't remember another Direct where Nintendo didn't reveal something new that's First Party. It suggests they're in a new phase of the Switch lifecycle.

I love how Japan gets better NSO selections than NA every time. There are no GB/A games I want to play. But they get TWO Fire Emblems!? So unfair

Doesnt matter for me if Switch Next comes tomorrow.
I have a big backlog still on switch to play.

The june direct will say all if they havent any big first party games in autumn/winter, then i think the new one comes next year.

@Anti-Matter https://www.nintendolife.com/features/round-up-everything-announced-in-the-february-2023-nintendo-direct-every-game-reveal-and-trailer
the last trailer

Loved this feature, loved the new visual novel-y game!

And I don't have about 400-500 bucks ready for a new console. So let's wait with that for a little longer.

@nocdaes @Bunkerneath Natsumon is published from Spike Chunsoft, so that’s not a new first party Nintendo game.

Metroid Prime Remastered however IS a new first party game that happened to be shadow dropped. I don’t think you’re getting any Switch 2 news this year, but I could see next year be reveal and launch. I would like to be wrong though!

There was a first-party Nintendo title revealed during the Nintendo Direct that had not been announced officially: Metroid Prime Remastered.

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet sold 20.61 million in 6 weeks, double that of the PS5's focal holiday title, God of War Ragnarok. The PS5 will more than likely be the best-selling console this year but the Switch will sell the most software, which is what the president of Nintendo has said where they will turn the attention to now.

Before the September Direct, we had no concrete details for games to be released in 2023. From that Direct alone, Fire Emblem Engage and Kirby Return to Dreamland Deluxe were unveiled with early 2023 release dates. Zelda TotK got its release date and Pikmin 4 was teased. The Game Awards brought the new Bayonetta Origins game and following the February Direct, release dates were given for Pikmin 4 and Advance Wars.

The February Direct Ronseal'd the release schedule and did - for the most part - actually what it said on the tin by focusing on games releasing over the next six months. The only gap, per se, is June as it has nothing so far scheduled. Last year, Mario Strikers and Fire Emblems Warriors: Three Hopes were both released in June. Naturally, Zelda TofK is a monumental release but I still think that there will be a first-party release from our (good?) friends at The Pokémon Company. I have read elsewhere that Detective Pikachu 2 is nearing completion and I could see that or another spinoff snagging up that June 2023 spot.

I also do not think Nintendo will launch its Switch 2 until 2025. Plus it has to be backwards compatible as the Switch is too popular to move on from at this stage. A revision to the Switch Lite would make sense later this year to generate some 'new' hardware hype.

Oh, Grassl! Great feature btw! This should definitely become a recurring feature as I imagine there are many fans like myself that want to know if there’s any more details about these exciting new releases, and especially for those who don’t watch the Japanese directs as well. Smashing work!

@nocdaes They said they were mostly going to talk about the first half of the year, so it's not surprising at all that any post-August releases weren't mentioned.

@Friendly Not a chance they announce a new console in October of this year and don't launch it for months; when they did that last time, they discontinued the production of the Wii U in November of that year. Announcing a new console would drastically lower the sales of the current hardware during the holiday season; should the console be backward compatible, anyone looking to purchase the current Switch with a new one on the horizon would just be spending money on lesser hardware, price cut or no (and I don't think we'll get one since they're selling well enough without one and costs have increased around the board due to inflation and gas prices, etc).

I initially scoffed at Nintendo’s 10 year plan for the Switch. Now I’m thinking 10 years isn’t that much of a stretch at this point. I think 8 yrs is the sweet spot before any new hardware is announced. They just said they still believe there’s room to grow sales with the Switch and they haven’t even introduced a price cut yet so I believe them! I agree and think Nintendo will let Zelda and the Mario movie carry most the of this years momentum, then I could see a swan song year in 2024 with a steady stream of quality software before they introduce Switch 2 in 2025.

I'm not sure I found out much new info from this video, but the Japanese section was definitely interesting, and I've never felt let down by a Zion vid, so you carry on, good man, the more, the merrier.

Pikmin 4 & sea of stars indie.

Another small thing they didn't talk about in the Direct is that Link's Awakening DX is also available in German and French, which is nice, because most NSO NES and SNES games have been English only, even if official translations exist.

On why they haven't shown any new first party titles: I think they will focus their marketing on Tears of the Kingdom and reveal new games only after it has been out for a month or two.

@Friendly yeah I think it’d really suck if they changed the format the games came in and you couldn’t play the current ones. So many great games and decent remakes