Welcome to Famiboard’s 7th Nintendo Direct Speculation ST! We are back for another wild round of Nintendo Direct speculation and I’m so excited to once again be hosting this amazing thread! This time we are all asking ourselves, what lies beyond the door? The Thousand Year Door hasn’t been opened in
We are only a few days away from finally being in the expected year where we will hear about and perhaps actually play the long awaited Switch successor! At thread launch, approximately 116,000 posts have been written so far on Famiboards in just the Future Hardware and Switch 2 STs alone so to say this console has been highly anticipated is an understatement. It’s with this shadow hanging over us now more than ever, that we will embark on this speculation journey! While Switch 2 looms large, and I’ll discuss how that affects the thread’s life and events a little deeper in, we are certainly still largely expecting a software showcase in the next month or two. Nintendo’s current dated release calendar ends in March after all with Princess Peach Showtime and there are only a few undated games from them and third parties beyond that. The next show will likely cover us through roughly July or August. Will it also be the home of the Switch 2 announcement? We shall see!
RESOURCES
This section of the OP will compile a lot of information and resources to help form the basis of good discussion. Let’s start simply with Nintendo’s release calendar which is becoming quite sparse especially as long term DLC has mostly all been completed.
Another Code Recollection January 19th
Mario Vs Donkey Kong February 16th
Princess Peach Showtime! March 22nd
Splatoon 3 Side Order - UPDATE - February 22nd!!
Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD Summer 2024
Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door 2024
Metroid Prime 4 TBD
We have here four remakes and three brand new experiences. Of particular note I feel are Princess Peach Showtime, Splatoon 3 Side Order, Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door, and Metroid Prime 4. Both Peach and Side Order were given new trailers in the last Nintendo Direct, but as the two immediate, new experiences we’ll likely get some good final showings. While Side Order mostly needs a release date, Princess Peach Showtime is still somewhat shrouded in mystery as many questions about the game’s structure remain and there are more transformations to be revealed or discovered ourselves! Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door Switch is a little more interesting for speculation than it appears at first glance as we’ve already discovered new NPCs in the game. What other new content will it get beyond the graphical overhaul largely remains to be seen, but I’m personally hoping for a new story expansion of some sort. Finally, we have Metroid Prime 4 which to this day still has virtually nothing known about it. While I of course #trusttheprocess that this game will eventually come out and be amazing, I do wonder exactly what Prime 4’s chances are to be here. Switch 2’s reveal and release plans should greatly inform its likelihood of appearance here especially if it is cross gen or not.
Similar to the more sparse release calendar, our rumored games list is sadly a bit small walking into this thread. Should we get any updates or substantial rumors (no shaky information or accounts) I will of course add games onto the list and threadmark when appropriate. Twitter is pretty unreliable these days, so if you do bring info to share (rumors and actual news) please make sure to transcribe it.
Fire Emblem Genealogy of the Holy War Remake
Donkey Kong
Metroid Prime 2 Echoes
Of the three, the rumored Fire Emblem Genealogy Remake is definitely on top this time as it is allegedly finished and can drop whenever. New Donkey Kong is a longstanding rumor and he is getting a new theme park expansion this year so a new game or port is expected for synergy. Perhaps that is just the Mario Vs Donkey Kong remake or perhaps that’s only the start. I sure hope it’s the latter! Finally, last Summer we did get a fresh rumor on Metroid Prime 2 Echoes that so far hasn’t panned out. Depending on when Prime 4 drops, this rumored remaster might not fit in, but I know I’d love to see it. Before I wrap up this part of the rumor section, I will mention there was technically a Zelda remake rumor from Serkan Toto in a now deleted tweet that dated it in 2023. That obviously didn’t happen so while I don’t want to give it a full spotlight, I will say this is good grounds for speculation regardless as Zelda is traditionally an annual series and the Wii U versions in particular seem like great cross gen releases.
While we are on the subject of rumors, I just want to remind you all of good guidelines and practices to always remember when discussing rumors and insider information. Make sure you do not randomly AT message and beg insiders who post on our boards for information as that is deeply awkward for all parties involved. Whenever is safely possible, please point people to the direct sources of information to avoid games of telephone and the hurt feelings that come with them. If Hide or Reply Tags are in use, please use them as well for all related discussion as we do not want to get people in trouble. If you are sharing sensitive info yourself, consider using higher limit Hide and Reply tags if you want to limit the spread of information, but please know it’s not a perfect solution. In general with all rumor talk, please keep in mind we often only have a fraction of the information that may no longer be true if it ever was at all. There’s no reason to be dismissive and rude to others or to be weirdly attached both in favor of or against video game news, rumors, speculation or even games themselves that may not pan out. The golden rule above all else is to always be kind to each other so we can have a fun time discussing games and hanging out together!
Before I get to our thread games and close out the OP, I do want to add one last section to the Resources section in regards to the frequently asked questions regarding thread life as well as Direct spoilers. If no Pyoro-style leaks happen, this thread will run until the next major game showcase from Nintendo is announced. That means either the standard Nintendo Direct, a Mini Direct, or a Partner Showcase as well as a potential unique ending if a Switch 2 presentation is announced that announces and covers games. If we just get some Switch style reveal trailer dropped that only shows a few seconds each of a few games, that does not count and the thread will remain open or be reopened if necessary. If Pyoro-style leaks do occur for a presentation, this thread will run until the end of the actual event as it did for ST 6. At any time, anyone is welcome to make a leak free Direct Speculation thread though I do highly encourage it to be made after Pyoro-style leaks occur since we don't want to split the community if possible. Personally, I hope we can all stick together to the end this time, but we’ll see what happens!
THREAD GAMES AND EVENTS
To close out this OP, we do of course have thread games and events! First, we will have polls that will shift over the thread’s life. To kick things off we have the classic #TeamJanuary, #TeamFebruary, and #TeamMarch etc. showdown, but with a twist! This time the three main positions are split in half for a total of six teams! That’s because we are adding one other variable to the mix with a simple question, will your Direct Month Team also have the Switch 2 announcement as well? We are counting some kind of public announcement here so it could be a video, a tweet, a press release etc. Choose wisely, rep your team proudly, and have fun seeing where everyone winds up!
Weekly thread questions of course return as well and will aim to cycle out every Wednesday into Thursday night Pacific Time since that worked out well for the last thread. I’ve prepared seven questions for the start of the thread, but will add more if needed. You can get a preview of upcoming questions below if you so choose. Question 1 will be formally announced shortly after we get settled in.
1: What are you most looking forward to and hoping for from Nintendo in 2024? (Thread launch through January 3rd)
2: What’s going on with Donkey Kong in 2024 and beyond? (January 4th – January 10th)
3: What four games would you like to see most in Year 1 for Switch 2 and why? You can pick either realistic or dream guesses. (January 11th – January 17th)
4: What other IP revival remakes like Another Code would you like to see and why? Can be first or third party. (January 18th – January 24th)
5: In celebration of Under Night In-Birth II and the Apollo Justice collection, what are your favorite fighting games and visual novel / story heavy games on Switch? What fighting game and visual novels / story heavy games would you like to see return with rereleases and new entries? (January 25th – January 31st)
6: What new content do you expect to see and what would you like to see from Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door? Are there any other upcoming remaster / remakes you hope will get some brand new content? (February 1st – February 7th)
7: What do you most want to see from this Nintendo Direct both realistic and otherwise and why? Also, what games will shadowdrop if any? (February 8th – February 14th)
2: What’s going on with Donkey Kong in 2024 and beyond? (January 4th – January 10th)
3: What four games would you like to see most in Year 1 for Switch 2 and why? You can pick either realistic or dream guesses. (January 11th – January 17th)
4: What other IP revival remakes like Another Code would you like to see and why? Can be first or third party. (January 18th – January 24th)
5: In celebration of Under Night In-Birth II and the Apollo Justice collection, what are your favorite fighting games and visual novel / story heavy games on Switch? What fighting game and visual novels / story heavy games would you like to see return with rereleases and new entries? (January 25th – January 31st)
6: What new content do you expect to see and what would you like to see from Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door? Are there any other upcoming remaster / remakes you hope will get some brand new content? (February 1st – February 7th)
7: What do you most want to see from this Nintendo Direct both realistic and otherwise and why? Also, what games will shadowdrop if any? (February 8th – February 14th)
Our first major thread event, The Great Direct Date Guess Event - Featuring Switch 2 has started! It's an event where you can win up to two badges for correctly predicting the air date of the next Direct and the announcement of Switch 2. More info can be found in this post and please note the registration window ends on December 31st at 11:59 PM Pacific Time. I'm tracking the predictions in the chart below here, so check it out!
I will also announce upfront The Last Call Summon The Direct Event where we share YouTube videos as we count down to an expected announcement is planned to return provided Nintendo doesn’t blindside us all, as that was a ton of fun last time. More details will be announced when it occurs.
That’s it for this OP then, so let’s bring the hype and enjoy speculating together!
UPDATE 2/16/2024
On post 15,588 we entered Act II of this long running thread! Check out what's essentially a new OP here for the next part of our journey together!
Last edited:
