Topic: Next Nintendo Direct?

I would Kevin-Keegan-Luv-it if the next Direct arrives with still no Switch 2 news, and the Direct ends with a big Metroid blow-out, where Prime 4 is revealed, before we get 'time for one more thing...' and a box bathed in shadow is shown, everyone on the Stream starts yelling 'Switch 2! Switch 2!' and as the shadow slowly departs, what's revealed is a kick-ass Metroid Prime 4 special edition OLED Switch. And then we don't get any Switch 2 news for another year.

@gcunit Yeah, the first time I watched it I was on my phone at work so was pretty distracted and just adding the stuff to my wish list that looked vaguely interesting. Watched it again on TV when I got home and took a couple off the wish list and ended up buying stitch. which was one I wasn't really interested in first time around. I don't think any of the stuff I wish-listed is particularly high priority on the list to be fair - some might stay on there until eternity, be removed later or wait for a sale, but the beauty of the indie game is that they are usually pretty cheap and are not too lengthy, so more chance I pick something up on impulse.

Splatoon 3 is the main thing to look at. Given the way Nintendo has promoted Splatoon 3 over the past few years, if there's a general Direct within the next few months it'll for certain have a Splatoon 3 segment. If we take the 2 years of support comment as still accurate, the stuff left to announce are:

• Sizzle Season 2024 content (would usually happen mid/late May)
• Maximum of 5 Splatfests (May, June, July, August, September), I think it'll be 4 (May, June, July, August) with FinalFest being in late August
• There is the possibility of more amiibo. Splatoon 2 Octo Expansion released in June and the associated amiibo released in November. Considering Nintendo announces amiibo closer to launch nowadays, Side Order amiibo could be announced within the next few months and release over the summer

Taking all this into account, considering SpringFest is ongoing right now, it's unlikely there'll be a general Direct before Sizzle Season 2024 content is announced.

I do think June is most likely for general Direct with amiibo + FinalFest announcement but think there's a small chance for the 2nd half of May announcing the Sizzle Season 2024 content.

@Grumblevolcano two amiibo were leaked too…so almost confirmed.

@OctolingKing13 Which two? I'm assuming they were from Side Order?

That reminds me I need to play more Splatoon 3.

I doubt they'd decide when to have a Direct based off of just one game, especially when it's just smaller DLC (well, smaller than Side Order anyway). If anything, Splatoon DLC's release schedule will be somewhat determined by when the next Direct is. Also, it could just be a stealth announcement instead of just being in a Direct.

Honestly we have no idea about Nintendo's schedule at this point. If the Direct isn't this upcoming week then we can assume we're not getting one until June. And yeah they've had an empty-looking H2 before and then went and announced a bunch of stuff in one Direct in June (Like last year, where the only big game we knew about was Pikmin 4, and then a Direct happened and showed a bunch of games), so that is possible for this year as well.

And we should also keep a close eye on the investor meeting. That could be huge as it's talking about this fiscal year (April 2024-March 2025) and could potentially give us information on the timeframe of the Switch successor.

I'll wait until the red bird says more, if we don't hear anything by Monday, it may indicate that we'll have to wait until around early June.

@PikminMarioKirby Splatoon 3's content timing is rigid as a result of its seasonal structure and it's this rigidity that makes it a useful tool for Direct speculation. I think Sizzle Season 2024 will be your usual standalone trailer in mid/late May but if they wanted to showcase it in a general Direct as a result of being the last season of the game, that would mean that the general Direct is in mid/late May considering we know for certain that Sizzle Season begins June 1st.

Like I mentioned in my comment earlier, I think the Splatoon 3 segment of general Direct would be amiibo + FinalFest of which June would work perfectly.

@PikminMarioKirby Actually, Splatoon 3 gets content ever 3 months, so it is not based around Directs; rather, if anything, the Direct would be timed to coincide with Sizzle Season 24.

EDIT: This is why you read everything; @GrumbleVolcano already covered all of that. Sorry!

@PikminMarioKirby This. They're not going to do a full Direct unless they have MULTIPLE first party announcements to make, they're not just going to have a Direct because of Splatoon, then they'd just make it a Splatoon Direct. Really Splatoon seasonal content is probably just going to be a Twitter drop if they have nothing else.

I think their criteria for deciding on a Direct is along the lines of "Do we have announcements to make for multiple first party games (like, at least 3 or 4) and at least 1 new first party game to announce?". And I would say the answer to that question is going to be "No" until Fall.

@Bolt_Strike Exactly, Splatoon doesn’t have enough right now to get it’s own Direct. They have TTYD remake, Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD, and Endless Ocean already. They could also announce possibly Luigi’s mansion 1 stealth drop, a Kirby game, something metroid prime, fire emblem, Splatoon DLC, possibly DLC for Pikmin 4 or Mario Wonder, zelda ports, Mario sports, etc.
If we have a Direct, though, is the question. I think we’re getting one in June at the latest, and maybe a Direct Mini or TTYD Direct possibly next week. They could technically have a full general next week, but that is seeming less likely, and it’s more likely we’ll see one of the other 2.

There’s a rumour saying that Paper Mario TTYD previews release next week, specifically Thursday. It would make a lot of sense if a trailer for the game came out a little while before it (Maybe Tuesday or Wednesday) so more information is revealed before the previews are out. Specifically, the previews will likely want to talk about the new QoL features added to the game, but Nintendo may want to reveal that themselves first, along with plausible big new features/modes/content.
If there is a trailer for it, could there be a Direct? Be it a mini, general, or even TTYD-focused Direct. I know a TTYD focused Direct sounds unlikely since it’s a remake, but they could fill it in with several sections like

1. explain the plot/what the game is like
   2. basic features/battle engine
   3. character introductions (introduce some partners and other NPCs)
   4. explaining Rogueport/a few of the first areas
   5. Go over how to Peach/Bowser missions work
   6. QoL changes
   7. New side or post game content
   8. conclusion of the Direct (could be amiibo, OLED, or somewhat of a short overview like they do with most games last big trailers)

Yeah this is complete speculation and maybe nonsense, but just saying they could hypothetically have a Direct of some sort.

Direct or no Direct, they need to talk about what they're releasing in the second half of the year soon, especially whatever they have planned for July.

@PikminMarioKirby maybe they’ll release a demo? I sure hope so

@OctolingKing13 Idk if my opinion is unpopular, but I’d actually rather there not be a demo. Typically I feel like Nintendo demos don’t represent their games well.
Pikmin 4 is a good example because it was pretty much just the tutorial, not a true feel for the majority of the game.
Also Princess Peach Showtime only had a couple of the transformations in the demo, and since they play so uniquely, it’s not a good feel (ha) for the rest of the game.
If TTYD got a demo it’d likely be the intro which is a lot different from a lot of the rest of the game, so I feel like they should just let people experience the game in full.
Also Origami King didn’t have a demo so I feel like this one won’t either. I know some people would want the demo, but for me I’d rather wait to experience the full game in it’s entirety.
I think that it is still possible, and if they do have a big presentation they could say ‘demo available later today!’ I would be okay either way, it would be nice for them to have one for those who want want/are on the fence. Maybe instead of the intro for the demo they could just do chapter 1? That’d be a better feel for the game, and possibly more accurate to the Paper Mario 2 demo. I would actually like it better if they did it like that!

@PikminMarioKirby I doubt they have that much planned for this year. Probably only getting like, 2 or 3 of those and they could just Twitter drop those. Not enough for a full Direct.

@Bolt_Strike I guess we will see in the coming days/months what Nintendo will do, they are a very unpredictable company

Although a lot of Nintendo games have had demos lately, Mario RPG didn't, so I doubt TTYD will. I'm guessing the game will review well and sales will be via word of mouth and advertising rather than a demo since the game is already well known.

@PikminMarioKirby I don't think TTYD necessarily needs a demo, but I have liked most of the recent other Nintendo demos. I thought the Pikmin 4 demo was phenomenal and the Mario vs DK demo was a decent introduction to the game for newcomers. The Peach demo definitely could have been better but I do think the game needed a demo; it was so unclear what the game was going to actually be that people needed at least a taste of gameplay and anyone who really liked or really disliked the demo basically got the information they needed.

@FishyS Fair point. I haven’t tried the Pikmin 4 Demo, but I think that it would be a great introduction to the series. Pikmin 4 is really good, and I hope the demo helped it’s sales.

Princess Peach Showtime was pretty confusing to a lot of people and the demo cleared it up a bit, but still didn’t have a grasp on what the whole game is about. For instance, someone could’ve hated the game modes featured in the demo, but they could thoroughly enjoy the other parts, although they wouldn’t know because they didn’t get the game because they didn’t enjoy the demo. I think it does give a good general feel for the game, as long as you’re okay with the gameplay dramatically changing, and just know the consistent charm of the game.

With all this talk of the second half of the year being quiet I still think we can fairly confidently expect something in the second half of the year. The question is what is it and how compelling a release will it be. I think we can expect something fairly mid but whether or not it's compelling is another question. And it'll also be fairly subjective even when we do find out what it is

...... as it stands I'm just looking at TTYD on the horizon and wondering whether or not I buy it digitally through the Game Voucher program or just pick it up at retail. Because usually for a release like that I'd just pick it a couple of vouchers and just assume that something else would come up within the year. But this time it's a bit up in the air

Will the voucher program extend to Switch 2? Who knows. Will there be aggressive discounting of titles going upto the Switch 2 launch that negate the value of the vouchers? Probably. Will any games that launch during the second half of the year be more budget titles that don't really benefit much from the voucher program? Almost surely....

........ I don't know, bit of a ramble there. But I do think that if we don't hear anything over the next month about how these things will play out? I might end up picking up a physical copy of TTYD

@skywake I had the same conundrum. I ended up buying vouchers for Peach Showtime, not knowing if there would be any other game I would want to buy at near full price this year. But my logic was that I would have payed $60 for Peach if I absolutely had to. So worst case scenario, as long as there is a game I would be willing to pay $40 for ( e.g. standard Nintendo sale price) I can snag that and I won't lose money with the vouchers. And of course if there is another game I would normally be willing to spend $50 or $60 for, I win.