StarTopic Nintendo Direct Speculation |ST3| Speculate Chronicles 3

[Mr_No_U]

Hey, it's the one of only two non gaming characters to get its own special Nintendo console (other being Naruto):

Spongebob is an honorary first party character.

better than Mario and Sonic

 

[LukasManak22]

I actually don't think they will show a Mario movie in the Direct, and not after the delay happened.

 

[LukasManak22]

The reason why there was only 1 minute of footage from Splatoon 3: Return of the Mammalians campain is that there is a final Splatoon 3 trailer on September 1st/2nd (depending on timezone). The trailer will be in the Direct, 2 minutes long.

 

[Thunder84]

Imagine if the “one last thing” is the Mario Movie. No Zelda, no new Mario game, nothing. Just Chris Pratt.

 

[Ibrahim]

I just don't see a one more Direct without BOTW2 at any capacity.

That’s why we won’t see any Direct soon lol

 

[DrDave]

I see some hype Direct predictions today and that makes me happy. I don’t know if it’s safe yet or if we’re still in Twitter drop territory though, but September could be fun. Let’s hope we see some smoke soon.

 

[Raccoon]

We can't imagine something that will never happen

we've been doing it for almost a year now though

 

[LukasManak22]

we've been doing it for almost a year now though

Speaking of. Pikmin 4, EPD Tokyo, EPD 9 game. Oh yeah, it's always: but it will be in this Direct for sure

 

[Marce-chan]

Metroid Prime will get delayed to Q1 and it will release late January.

You think they'll extend the anniversary to the end of the FY like the Super Mario one to include 3D World + Bowser's Fury?

I wouldn't be completely opposed to the idea if it meant the game would get to its full sales potential instead of the same month as Pokemon, but idk if it not being holiday season would help it, really.

I can see MPR being January if Fire Emblem is December and Zelda is march tho.

 

[HockeyBird]

You think they'll extend the anniversary to the end of the FY like the Super Mario one to include 3D World + Bowser's Fury?

I wouldn't be completely opposed to the idea if it meant the game would get to its full sales potential instead of the same month as Pokemon, but idk if it not being holiday season would help it, really.

I can see MPR being January if Fire Emblem is December and Zelda is march tho.

Extend what anniversary?

 

[Blue Monty]

Extend what anniversary?

20th Prime anniversary

You think they'll extend the anniversary to the end of the FY like the Super Mario one to include 3D World + Bowser's Fury?

Yep, I just don’t think there is enough time to market the release of the game without being a December release which Nintendo tends to avoid for non-casual games because it tends to slot a casual game there. At this point a late January would give them plenty of time to market the game and if MP4 is late 2023 use it as a way to start the marketing of the game and make it a big year for Metroid fans

 

[Marce-chan]

Unless it’s delayed again, BOTW2 can’t come out later than June 2023. So if it’s out in June, I could MAYBE see them waiting until January to show it again but even that feels too close and unlikely to me. And if it’s out any earlier than June that’s even less likely.

No matter what I think a lot of our questions about Nintendo will be answered in September, one way or another. I’m looking forward to seeing how it plays out. I still think we get a Direct before TGS, which means we’re within around 4 weeks.

We could bring back the fact BOTW didn't get its release date for march until mid January 2017, but that was a different situation as it already had its title revealed, also was playable at an E3 8.5 months earlier, got hours of gameplay there, appeared on Jimmy Fallon and The Game Awards, while BotW 2 doesn't even its title nor 2 minutes of gameplay shown. It'll also not have an E3 nor a Switch presentation where it's playable.

So I think it can be shown at the September Direct and have its title revealed, then shown again and dated at the February Direct.

If they go for a may/June release tho, February Direct is fine imo.

I think it's gonna be march tho as it's the month of H1 Nintendo puts most of their big releases of that half in most Switch era years.

 

[Thunder84]

If there’s any mention of Prime’s anniversary, it will be a throwaway line in the direct. I can’t imagine it will be a significant piece of marketing material.

 

[HockeyBird]

20th Prime anniversary

Yep, I just don’t think there is enough time to market the release of the game without being a December release which Nintendo tends to avoid for non-casual games because it tends to slot a casual game there. At this point a late January would give them plenty of time to market the game and if MP4 is late 2023 use it as a way to start the marketing of the game and make it a big year for Metroid fans

Oh.

I don't think Nintendo cares about coinciding the release with the 20th anniversary. If the release of the game happens to coincide with the anniversary, then great. If it's not out in time, Nintendo doesn't care.

 

[Joe]

Haven't been here in a while. Why are we talking about Metroid Prime releasing in 2023? Did I miss something?

 

[Raccoon]

Haven't been here in a while. Why are we talking about Metroid Prime releasing in 2023? Did I miss something?

it's just August jitters

 

[xghost777]

Even with Pokemon being the huge step forward that it is, I still feel pretty safe saying Prime R is the November game. Nintendo always has a non-Pokemon November game. Last year it was SMTV, this year it should be Prime.

I also feel it doesn’t need an extensive amount of marketing if it is just a graphics update. There’s so little to go over there beyond hey it’s shiny.

 

[Marce-chan]

All those rumors for it turned out to be bogus though. I expect the bare minimum from Capcom moving on. More and more ROM dump collections, similar to Megaman Battle Network Collection (it doesn't even have the Star Force game, which is lame). Everyone is moving on, the base Switch is becoming old news. Nintendo needs a hardware refresh asap to keep devs interested in them. Because in Switch's case, it doesn't even have Etrian series to keep the schedule busy.

Oh they did?? I mean it was Dusk and he got MHR and Village correct. I think it can still happen. I don't think Nintendo desperately needs new hardware nor that interest on the Switch is fading. We're having a peak that was spread for three years because the ship shortage made the demand not be filed, so we're having 3 consecutive years at 20m+. It's gonna be down this year because it being up after 2020 was something quite impossible for anything not named DS. It's not old news when we're going through an amazing year that started with a huge Pokémon and will end with open world Pokémon. Next year will be big no matter what with Zelda releasing.

This is a case by case situation actually. Square is still interested in AA development and invests in remastering older games more than anyone. This most likely to continue for years to come. But it's a fact that Switch is missing games more and more as the time passes, even the most logical choices like One Piece Odyssey or Soul Hackers 2.

I can't imagine how the 2023 third party will end up to be, but I suspect it won't better than 2022.

I mean, Soul Hackers 2 skipping Switch is a double punch of Atlus being weird and, you can bet, late port for double dips just like they did with everything really. They just released their biggest and most ambitious game ever last year exclusively for Switch. They're porting the Persona games for it after years of it being PS exclusive. I don't think their Switch exclusive greatness ended with SMT V, either.
Square is doing a lot of AA, but most is exclusive or sells marginally better on the Switch. They did basically remake DQXI and made the Switch version the definitive one with timed exclusivity. They'll keep supporting Switch this way, it's also an audience thing in which they'll see the Switch audience more welcoming to more niche stuff.
To me 2021 was great third party wise(MHR! SMT V!!!), 2022 is(Nier Automata, Bright Memory, many indie stuff) and 2023 will be(definitely more Square 2D HD goodness and more late ports).

Tbh, the more I think about it, the more I get the feeling that Nintendo's full plans (or 99% of them) for the year have already been posted. The shitwizard game promising news soon, and the fact that the Kirby game is dropping midway into the month is giving me the vibe that another Partner Showcase is planned for September. That means three potential things for Metroid Prime HD: 1) it got delayed out of the year somehow, 2) it's a Twitter drop, or 3) it's cancelled/it never really existed. Given a lot of contracts at Retro expired back in September last year, I think 3 is by far the least likely with 2 the most likely. At this point, I think the most we're going to get from Nintendo in terms of 1st party presentations is a Zelda Direct late September.

I think a general September Direct is still possible as an announcement for November release, but if we get a Partner Showcase instead, I'm welcoming of a Twitter drop for it, maybe a Zelda Direct like the Mario direct and new trailers or dedicated directs for upcoming games.

My big worry with it being moved to 2023 is that I was a big believer of avoiding MP4 doomposting unless we heard nothing by the end of this year, and it is very unlikely we're going to hear about that game until MP1 is announced/is going to be announced immediately after, so...

I would only fear if Metroid Prime Remastered was Q1 2023 that MP4 would be 2024 . But I think we can have a September Direct announcing MPR with a 4 teaser.

I could see the September Direct following a similar structure to last year's September Direct. The opening is some big 3rd party game or DLC, the big mid-Direct reveal is the big Q1/March game aka mainline FE, and the final reveal is a re-reveal of a previously announced 1st party game, so BotW2. Like previous September Directs, it'll be primarily focused on 3rd party stuff, though. Prime HD can also be thrown in the Direct somewhere (personally, I don't think they're gonna do a double reveal of Prime HD and Prime 4).

If the third party opener was Resident Evil Switch I would be thrilled. Don't think any DLC reveal would hype me the slightest as the ship for Odyssey DLC has long sailed.

With both the Mario movie and Super Nintendo World Hollywood happening around April next year, I think there's a good chance of some kind of bigger Mario title in H1. Would be cool if they released a new Mario title on Mar10 Day as that actually falls on a Friday next year.

Would be great, but I don't think that's happening. I see a brand new 3D Mario game for holiday 2023 tho. I don't see them releasing Mario so close to Zelda. Only way I can see that is if Zelda is June and they have a 2D Mario for March. January 2D Mario for March Zelda would also fit.

imagine the mario movie stealing the show two septembers in a row

DON'T MAKE ME IMAGINE THAT!!!

If they actually show footage of the Mario movie for the first time during a Direct, I really hope, in the name of peace and sanity, that they tag it as such beforehand, because imagine the absolute chaos if they don't; screen fades to black, Mario appears running around, everyone and their mother goes "Oh, shit, new 3D Mario game! FINALLY!" only to suddenly hear Christ Pratt making pop culture references in a high-pitched voice.

We'll go from to:

Oh.

I don't think Nintendo cares about coinciding the release with the 20th anniversary. If the release of the game happens to coincide with the anniversary, then great. If it's not out in time, Nintendo doesn't care.

That's true tho because they didn't tie Zelda's march release to the 2016 anniversary. It's probably just because Mario was already a big stuff planned that didn't go exactly as planned due to the pandemic.

 

[damondamon]

The reason why there was only 1 minute of footage from Splatoon 3: Return of the Mammalians campain is that there is a final Splatoon 3 trailer on September 1st/2nd (depending on timezone). The trailer will be in the Direct, 2 minutes long.

I was thinking the same thing, that they're saving the last story trailer for a potential Direct, but I think the Direct could be on the 24 or 25 this month. New trailer and reminder that Splatfest Premier is coming at the weekend as well. 2 Sept would be Friday in Japan time; have they every done any big event on a Friday?

 

[Ibrahim]

Haven't been here in a while. Why are we talking about Metroid Prime releasing in 2023? Did I miss something?

Because after MK8D DLC and Splatoon 3 Direct we got nothing else to talk about

 

[RealUncleNintendo]

I still don't think there'd be a september Direct. Sure there are some first party games to be revealed soon but there's almost no third party ones. Both Square and Namco have super stacked lineups and Capcom's next game isn't coming out until next year. Directs are usually 80% third party and we might not have enough to fill that.

My guess would be a November Direct to focus on H1 2023.

In all honesty I truly believe there will be a September Direct! Nintendo won’t stay silent…

 

[Stupid Sexy Flanders]

They’ll have a direct in September. They probably have something to announce for the holiday and they’ll give people a reason to renew NSO this fall.

A big part of the September direct is to show people what they’ll be playing early next year if they buy a switch this holiday.

 

[anderson64]

I’d usually say the week of US Labor Day for one last Splatoon 3 push, but the week before Labor Day works too.

 

[SammyJ9]

At this rate, early H1 2023 is going to be PACKED across all systems, since it's shaping up like this year again where half the releases from late 2021 got pushed into early 2022 and you end up with a very busy Feb/March so they still make the fiscal year. Not sure how that will affect Nintendo as much, but it's an interesting trend to see happening lately.

 

[Blue Monty]

At this rate, early H1 2023 is going to be PACKED across all systems, since it's shaping up like this year again where half the releases from late 2021 got pushed into early 2022 and you end up with a very busy Feb/March so they still make the fiscal year. Not sure how that will affect Nintendo as much, but it's an interesting trend to see happening lately.

I don’t see H1 2023 being more packed than H1 2022 imo

 

[SammyJ9]

I don’t see H1 2023 being more packed than H1 2022 imo

I'm not so sure. This year we got Arceus, Elden Ring, SOP:FFOrigins, Triangle Strat, Horizon: FW, and more I'm sure I'm forgetting in the first three months or so. 2023 has Starfield, HL, Forspoken, Dead Space, RE4, Forza, BOTW2 (maybe?), etc. That's already a massively packed H1 and I'm sure I'm forgetting a lot

 

[HockeyBird]

I'll be honest with you all, when some of you say they you don't think there will be a September or Fall Direct, I don't believe you. I think all you believe that there will be a September Direct and you're only outwardly saying that there won't be one is because you think it will help lessen the disappointed if there isn't one. I've been around this community long enough to know that is the truth and the minute Nintendo announces the next full Direct, we'll be right back to #TeamJanuary, patterns, new haircut, etc. insanity all over again.

 

[Mr Doggo]

I'll say this.
I might be overreacting, but IF Metroid Prime Remakester doesn't get announced this year, I will never trust a (3D) Metroid rumor ever again. I've been burned out too much now.

Preach. Year after year this happens, im tired.

 

[Mr Doggo]

I also feel it doesn’t need an extensive amount of marketing if it is just a graphics update. There’s so little to go over there beyond hey it’s shiny.

Lets remember that outside of the famiboards bubble 90% of people buy remasters for shiny new visuals lol.

Im not worried about pokemon unless if it releases on the same day lol. If SMTV of all games managed to be a success for its respective franchise, Prime should not sweat.

 

[Samus95]

Considering that September is always focus on 2023 stuff

N at first party have enough for a direct, they have Prime, Fire Emblem, they HAVE to start marketing Botw 2, Advance Wars 2023 date + Nintendo Online stuff (Gameboy +F-Zero 99)

Also it would not suprise me if the FF9 remake(if it in a Trials of Mana style) is announced by Nintendo

Also we still dont know who annonce Goldeneye remastered


Edit: also Forever still have no date for Front Mission Remake and probably some other IP they got a license to announce

 

[MisterSpo]

I'm still pretty sure we're looking at a September 7th/8th Direct. Though it is interesting there's very little smoke right now; but that was the case back in January/February 2022 (I think), when some people had given up on Nintendo doing Directs.

 

[Kartina]

I'm still pretty sure we're looking at a September 7th/8th Direct. Though it is interesting there's very little smoke right now; but that was the case back in January/February 2022 (I think), when some people had given up on Nintendo doing Directs.

*February 2021
In february 2022 we were back in full patterns mode

 

[MisterSpo]

*February 2021
In february 2022 we were back in full patterns mode

Yes - I was thinking of 2021. Woops.

 

[Kartina]

Btw what I'm most curious about is the new fire emblem, was the leak real? How did it get leaked like at least 5 months before release and how it didn't get leaked more in the following months. It's such a strange situation and I just want to see it now and understand what happened.

 

[Blue Monty]

Btw what I'm most curious about is the new fire emblem, was the leak real? How did it get leaked like at least 5 months before release and how it didn't get leaked more in the following months. It's such a strange situation and I just want to see it now and understand what happened.

 

[MisterSpo]

Btw what I'm most curious about is the new fire emblem, was the leak real? How did it get leaked like at least 5 months before release and how it didn't get leaked more in the following months. It's such a strange situation and I just want to see it now and understand what happened.

I think it originated with the Chinese localisation team. The leaked screenshots also matched previously leaked details about the game. It's possible Nintendo discovered the source of the leaks after that point.

 

[Legion of Primes]

Imagine if the “one last thing” is the Mario Movie. No Zelda, no new Mario game, nothing. Just Chris Pratt.

Want me to post my photoshop of Chris Pratt with Mario’s hat and mustache again?

 

[Cucufate]

Btw what I'm most curious about is the new fire emblem, was the leak real? How did it get leaked like at least 5 months before release and how it didn't get leaked more in the following months. It's such a strange situation and I just want to see it now and understand what happened.

Assuming it was real (and it looked like it was) the most likely explanation is that whoever leaked the images was identified and fired, so the rest of the people that have access to game are probably going to be like "You know what, I don't wanna lose my job, so I'm not gonna do the thing that got that guy fired".

 

[9-Volt]

Considering that September is always focus on 2023 stuff

September Direct 2021 had a few brand new reveals, it mostly was about updates on already known games, like Mario Golg, Bayonetta and Disco Elysium. New reveals were:

Kirby & The Forgotten Land (2022)
Sunbreak (2022)
Chocobo GP (2022)
Voice of Cards 1 (released in the following month)
Star Wars KOTOR (November 2021)
Disney Magical World 2 (November 2021)
ActRaiser Renaissance (shadowdrop)
Castlevania Advance collection (shadowdrop)
Shadowrun Trilogy (2022)
Wreckfest (Fall 2021, delayed to June 2022)

So it's actually a mixture of 2021 and 2022 releases. Considering the latter half of 2022 schedule is incomplete, I'd expect few 2022 reveals in the upcoming Direct.

 

[Cucufate]

September Direct 2021 had a few brand new reveals, it mostly was about updates on already known games, like Mario Golg, Bayonetta and Disco Elysium. New reveals were:

Kirby & The Forgotten Land (2022)
Sunbreak (2022)
Chocobo GP (2022)
Voice of Cards 1 (released in the following month)
Star Wars KOTOR (November 2021)
Disney Magical World 2 (November 2021)
ActRaiser Renaissance (shadowdrop)
Castlevania Advance collection (shadowdrop)
Shadowrun Trilogy (2022)
Wreckfest (Fall 2021, delayed to June 2022)

So it's actually a mixture of 2021 and 2022 releases. Considering the latter half of 2022 schedule is incomplete, I'd expect few 2022 reveals in the upcoming Direct.

Tangentially related, but seeing KOTOR there made me realise the fact that Aspyr-ported games are a very recurring occurrence on General Directs, and they are almost always games that they had already ported to other platforms.

So there is a very real possibility that the next Direct may feature at some point something nice, like Jade Empire, or something... euh... else, like Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy.

 

[9-Volt]

Tangentially related, but seeing KOTOR there made me realise the fact that Aspyr-ported games are a very recurring occurrence on General Directs, and they are almost always games that they had already ported to other platforms.

So there is a very real possibility that the next Direct may feature at some point something nice, like Jade Empire, or something... euh... else, like Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy.

But we've already got 2 Aspyr remasters this year: Force Unleashed and KOTORII. Do you think they'd announce a third one next month? Isn't it a little too soon?

And I'd like to think SW Battlefront 2 2005 is the next one.

 

[Raccoon]

Recently I've been thinking about Everybody's 1-2 Switch again. I really hope they clean it up and ship it out, as I suspect it will become an instant cult classic.

 

[jirou]

Hey, it's the one of only two non gaming characters to get its own special Nintendo console (other being Naruto):

Spongebob is an honorary first party character.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding but there are 2 One Piece 3DS systems and a Dragon Ball New 3DS (which I guess just has the face plates if you don't want to count that.) They're tied to games, yes, but Spongebob also has games on the GBA. Or did you mean that it's not specifically tied to a game based on the marketing?

 

[Awesomegames23]

Recently I've been thinking about Everybody's 1-2 Switch again. I really hope they clean it up and ship it out, as I suspect it will become an instant cult classic.

This makes me realize that Nintendo needs to make a purposely bad game where the characters are aware that they’re in a game and they’re super pissed about it and have hilarious dialogue. You go on quests that purposely make you exploit bugs and the characters in the game are also trying to execute glitches because they’re trying to crash the game since they’re so miserable that the developers were so lazy and since it sucks so much.

It will sell millions and become a cult classic.

 

[Dardan Sandiego]

Recently I've been thinking about Everybody's 1-2 Switch again. I really hope they clean it up and ship it out, as I suspect it will become an instant cult classic.

The suspense is killing me. I'll be super pissed if they shelve it.

 

[LukasManak22]

Recently I've been thinking about Everybody's 1-2 Switch again. I really hope they clean it up and ship it out, as I suspect it will become an instant cult classic.

December

 

[9-Volt]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding but there are 2 One Piece 3DS systems and a Dragon Ball New 3DS (which I guess just has the face plates if you don't want to count that.) They're tied to games, yes, but Spongebob also has games on the GBA. Or did you mean that it's not specifically tied to a game based on the marketing?

I meant not a gaming character, I know both Naruto and Spongebob had multiple games on GBA.

And yes, I forgot about that One piece 3DS. Dragon Ball one on the other hand was just a faceplate and not an official one from Nintendo.

 

[jirou]

I meant not a gaming character, I know both Naruto and Spongebob had multiple games on GBA.

And yes, I forgot about that One piece 3DS. Dragon Ball one on the other hand was just a faceplate and not an official one from Nintendo.

Oh ok I thought Dragon Ball was official because it was part of a bundle, good to know. Now we just need to wait for Nintendo to buy Spongebob and Shounen Jump hehehe

 

[Cucufate]

But we've already got 2 Aspyr remasters this year: Force Unleashed and KOTORII. Do you think they'd announce a third one next month? Isn't it a little too soon?

And I'd like to think SW Battlefront 2 2005 is the next one.

It could happen. Last year they announced no less than four Switch ports/remasters: Star Wars: Republic Commando, Stubbs the Zombie, that RWBY game whose name I can't remember right now and Star Wars KOTOR.

Although if I were them, I'd definitely keep focusing on Star Wars games, since those clearly pull very decent sales numbers for what they are.

 

[LukasManak22]

I don't think that the game will be called Everybody's 1-2 Switch, they need to figure out different name but maybe they will try to keep that 1-2 Switch branding.