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StarTopic Nintendo Direct Speculation |ST8| Press Your (Nintendo Direct) Luck!

Y'all think Pokémon is definitely early 2025 now? I'm still hoping for fall because that would mean they gave it more time but if Switch 2 launches then or is perhaps already out by then... not like GF are strangers to putting games on the old console I guess
I always thought it was given they have a such a rigid schedule, but would love if they finally broke off it and gave these games more time. I’ve been penciling it in for January even like the last one, but it could be timed with being potentially cross gen on Switch 2. Would be wild to see how much better a Switch 2 version would run or not.
 
There won't be a new Mario Party on Switch. The circumstances when consoles got 3 or more of them were very different.
You think so?

It's almost been an unwritten rule that we get a new Mario Party the year before or the year of a new console launching, I think going back to the N64.
 
I'm still not letting myself get too excited for H2, remember, the console was initially planned for this year, so there's no way anything that requires any significant dev time would've made it this year (I don't expect new Mario Party or DK this holiday). FE4 and Prime 4, and likely the bamco remaster (I think Uprising) were likely always planned for this year, so I anticipate H2 will be those games spread out alongside some SUPER low effort stuff.

I have no doubt NWC wasn't even conceived until a few months ago, that's a fun campaign they can run in July, buying them time with something "new" made with as little effort as possible. And that's likely what the rest of this year looks like, so what do I think?

May 2024: TTYD HD

June 2024: Prime 2 Shadowdrop and LM2: I think they'll have some fun with this, split up the two's releases, shadow drop one after the Direct and schedule the other with a physical release for August, just to fill things up further

July 2024: NWC NES Edition

August 2024: Prime 3 and 2 + 3 Physical Edition: See June for more info

September 2024: Donkey Kong Country Returns HD: ...Y'all, they're opening a theme park and haven't had a release PERIOD since 2018. This is an easy read, 3D World + BF launched alongside SNW, which borrowed plenty of aesthetic cues from said game. Similarly, Kong's park is very Returns inspired, which is unfortunately still the only brand identity the series has despite the game being nearly 14 years old! So yeah, an HD port of the only Country not on Switch makes sense.

October 2024: FE4 Remake and Prime 4: ...Okay I know I just said these would be split up but nahhhhh these both seem pretty ripe for here

November 2024: Wind Waker HD: It's been in the back pocket, might as well bust it out here, another easy win for the holidays AND it fulfils the yearly Zelda quota.

December 2024: Noooooothing

January 2025: Either Kirby Rainbow Curse port or Yoshi's Wooly World port: both are cute easy games they can pad out the schedule with.

February 2025: Noooooooooooooooooothing

And as a bonus, I still think the new console drops March 2025, with Legends ZA dropping maybe a month or two after, BUUUUT I could TOTALLY see a world where Nintendo pushes the launch to April or even May, and Pokemon comes in as one last major title in March
 
You think so?

It's almost been an unwritten rule that we get a new Mario Party the year before or the year of a new console launching, I think going back to the N64.
Yeah. Mario Party 9 was only the second entry on the system and had a brand new mechanic, while the 3DS games were low effort filler.

Either way, I don't like putting too much stock in patterns like this that rely on events that are over a decade old when the company and its current system are in a totally different place now. Switch userbase is clearly well served with two Mario Party games that keep on selling a lot despite their age, and Nintendo is going to want one early on in the next system's life.

They could do something like a $40 Animal Crossing Party this year (that would take less resources than a new Mario Party), and then next gen Mario Party in 2026. That I could see.
 
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There won't be a new Mario Party on Switch. The circumstances when consoles got 3 or more of them were very different.
Yup. Back then we had Hudson Soft, a much bigger publisher/studio capable of putting out much more games in one generation.
 
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We’re in that gray area period which makes it hard to guess which games are coming when. Because you don’t know if certain games will be cross gen or Switch only or Switch 2 only.

DK game is definitely real. We know with proof EPD made/is making a 2D game for years.
 
DK game is definitely real. We know with proof EPD made/is making a 2D game for years.
I wonder why it's taking so long. Holding out until the Universal expansion arrives? You'd think a 2D Platformer would take less than 7 years to make. What do I know though, I'm no game developer.
 
Y'all think Pokémon is definitely early 2025 now? I'm still hoping for fall because that would mean they gave it more time but if Switch 2 launches then or is perhaps already out by then... not like GF are strangers to putting games on the old console I guess
I've seen no reason to abandon #TeamFall2025 for Legends Z-A yet. I really do feel that if it was January-March 2025, they would have just said so like they did with Legends Arceus.
 
Is everyone feeling The Process working behind the scenes? Is the general opinion that it'll work its magic next month, or further out with the Switch 2 reveal?
I feel like it’s next month for better and for worse. I’m feeling good and mostly excited it’s the big holiday game more than a cross gen launch title.
 
I've seen no reason to abandon #TeamFall2025 for Legends Z-A yet. I really do feel that if it was January-March 2025, they would have just said so like they did with Legends Arceus.
I feel like saying a game is early in the year means, "we're targeting January but maybe it'll slip." I currently believe it'll come shortly after the console launches if said launch is March (April/May), or it'll be the March game if Switch 2 slips past the fiscal year.
 
Is everyone feeling The Process working behind the scenes? Is the general opinion that it'll work its magic next month, or further out with the Switch 2 reveal?
I feel like we're gonna see Prime 4 sooner rather than later

We got Grubb's info that they wanted promotional assets in hand by late spring, Brazil made an educated guess it could show up in the June show as a late 2024 game, and back in December Nate said the only thing that could prevent a 2024 release is if Nintendo decides to strategically hold it back. IMO the vibes are leaning more towards "this is a late Switch 1 game" and not "this is an early Switch 2 game"
 
I feel like saying a game is early in the year means, "we're targeting January but maybe it'll slip." I currently believe it'll come shortly after the console launches if said launch is March (April/May), or it'll be the March game if Switch 2 slips past the fiscal year.
Thing is that TPC never specified when in 2025. They've been pretty good at specifying when a game is launching early or late in a given year for a good decade now, but this time they just said it was a Switch game releasing in 2025. Maybe the vagueness is because its a planned cross-gen launch window title, but who knows? We might get a release window for the game at the next Presents, which will probably be in August as usual.
 
Yeah. Mario Party 9 was only the second entry on the system and had a brand new mechanic, while the 3DS games were low effort filler.

Either way, I don't like putting too much stock in patterns like this that rely on events that are over a decade old when the company and its current system are in a totally different place now. Switch userbase is clearly well served with two Mario Party games that keep on selling a lot despite their age, and Nintendo is going to want one early on in the next system's life.

They could do something like a $40 Animal Crossing Party this year (that would take less resources than a new Mario Party), and then next gen Mario Party in 2026. That I could see.
I could see something thing like, I think an NDcube title is coming regardless.

I do think only 2 Mario Parties on the Wii has more to do with what happened to Hudson Soft, but I guess the Wii U only had the one.
 
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Yeah. Mario Party 9 was only the second entry on the system and had a brand new mechanic, while the 3DS games were low effort filler.

Either way, I don't like putting too much stock in patterns like this that rely on events that are over a decade old when the company and its current system are in a totally different place now. Switch userbase is clearly well served with two Mario Party games that keep on selling a lot despite their age, and Nintendo is going to want one early on in the next system's life.

They could do something like a $40 Animal Crossing Party this year (that would take less resources than a new Mario Party), and then next gen Mario Party in 2026. That I could see.
I've been calling for a new MP for 2024, one that's a lower effort "superstars 2" that reuses the engine, has new remade maps, and reuses a ton of Superstars mini games along with newly remade ones. Something a smaller team could handle while the main team focuses on a next gen Mario Party for Switch 2. Call it copium, but I refuse to believe there weren't plans for Superstar dlc maps at some point, if those dlc maps got moved to a Superstar 2 it would justify my decreasingly embarrassing prediction that DLC HAD to be coming ☠️
 
Put me on Team Holiday 2025 for Z-A.
  • Like others have said, if they were releasing early 2025 they would have said so and shown footage
  • The anime is only just now adapting SV's main story, which indicates plans to stretch out the gen
  • Switch 2 launch is already going to be crowded with 3D Mario among other things, that's probably one of the few things "mass appeal" enough to interfere with Pokemon sales
  • Most importantly, Pokemon Legends is a proven brand now. Out of all the Switch Pokemon games, Arceus was the only one that avoided massive controversy and got net good-will from the hardcore base. It also sold incredibly well given the circumstances (BDSP two months before, releasing at the ass-end of January, gen 9 getting announced not even a month later). Game Freak desperately needs a win before the intense negativity around the brand leaks into mainstream consciousness, so a Legends game that has time to cook would sell insanely well if launched in the usual holiday slot while also riding the Switch 2 wave.
 
If that was ever gonna happen, it already would have
As angry as the fanbase got over it, stuff like overly faithful remakes and dexit does not mean shit to the average joe buying these games for their kids or w/e. The majority of people who buy stuff as culturally saturated as Pokemon are low information consumers so I wouldn't be surprised if they never even heard about those controversies. Stuff like SV's glitches and complete lack of polish is much easier to grasp and reject for the masses. They will not risk devaluing the games in the eyes of their biggest demographic
 
Imagine instead of a Bayonetta 3 like announcement at The Game Awards, we get...

Nintendo presents
From the people that brought you Hi-Fi Rush

It's not going to happen but it would be a sly move if Nintendo were to ever pick up the former Tango Games staff
 
Imagine instead of a Bayonetta 3 like announcement at The Game Awards, we get...

Nintendo presents
From the people that brought you Hi-Fi Rush

It's not going to happen but it would be a sly move if Nintendo were to ever pick up the former Tango Games staff
It's definitely possible. The devs there are (were :[ ) really talented, so Nintendo will be looking to recruit them.
 
The tl;dr is that several people said Switch had no more "big" games after TotK. Chris Dring, a noted sales analyst, implied he knew Nintendo's upcoming line up was weak which is why they were skipping the yet to be canceled e3. So of course in June when Nintendo announced a new 2D Mario, everyone went back at Dring like "I thought you said no more big games?" To which he famously replied "this is a game by the C team"
frankly it feels like the dude got some bad info, thought the Switch only had Pikmin/Metroid-scale sellers left, and instead of just owning it and admitting "my bad" he doubled down to an embarrassing degree
The whole thing was just him moving goalposts to stay "right," even in the face of more and more info to the contrary. The funniest part was after it came out and was a success with great reviews he tried to spin the "C-Team" comment into that he was actually complimenting them 😅
Ahhhh, I see now. Thank you!
And lmao
 
I've been wondering whether NWC: NES Edition was moved to July as part of Nintendo spreading releases around to make up for the apparent hardware delay, but I'm not sure it was. July 18th is the end of the Famicom anniversary year so I feel the release date was chosen with that in mind.

Another factor here is I think people are generally underestimating Luigi's Mansion 2HD; that's understandable given it essentially is a 3DS game given both a facelift and a price hike, and so it's not really something for the dedicated audience online. But if that reaches even 40% of the audience that bought Luigi's Mansion 3, then it's broke the 5 million barrier and would easily be Nintendo's best performing game of the year (depending on what else gets announced).

To me it looks like Nintendo expect Luigi's Mansion 2 HD to do the heavier lifting for the summer commercially; Paper Mario is there for the online enthusiasts; and NWC:NES Edition is just one of those smaller projects that sometimes pop up in this period (like Everybody 1-2 Switch last summer, or Game Builder Garage in 2021).

Now maybe NWC wasn't the only July release at one stage. Personally at the start of the year I felt July was the window for the rumoured Fire Emblem remake, and so part of me wonders if that, as a core title for the enthusiast audience, has been pushed back to firm up the autumn line up. But I'd say there's little real evidence that's the case, given Nintendo can probably bank on Luigi's Mansion 2 to shift a few million over the course of the summer. We might also see further eShop only content slotted into June or July at the next Direct.
 
Am I the only one hoping we get a Wooly world port? Crafted world was soulless and huge disappointment
Xenoblade 1 was ported to New 3DS and then got Definitive Edition on Switch.
I don't think it's impossible to port DKCR, Epic Yarn, and Woolly World to Switch and it would certainly be profitable.
 
What glitches?
Even ignoring the disaster that was 1.0, there's stuff like massive parts of the terrain flickering in and out of existence, Pokemon spawning inside of walls, other players being invisible in Area Zero, camera glitches in Tera Raid, etc. C'mon now
 
Even ignoring the disaster that was 1.0, there's stuff like massive parts of the terrain flickering in and out of existence, Pokemon spawning inside of walls, other players being invisible in Area Zero, camera glitches in Tera Raid, etc. C'mon now

I think he was being sarcastic.

At least, I hope he was.
 
I wonder why it's taking so long. Holding out until the Universal expansion arrives? You'd think a 2D Platformer would take less than 7 years to make. What do I know though, I'm no game developer.
I think we should at least stop with this story of 7 years of development. Things don’t work that way at all, many well-informed posts here have already explained why.
 
hot prediction: Nintendo's big holiday game is a new multiplayer Zelda game like four swords or tri-force hero's
I... think you could be onto something here. Like Metroid Prime 4 or Mario Wonder, stinks of the kind of game Nintendo greenlit for Switch some time ago and they just spent a long time getting it right.
 
hot prediction: Nintendo's big holiday game is a new multiplayer Zelda game like four swords or tri-force hero's
There's a solid chance that idea happens eventually, and why not now? Switch has the power and flexibility to actually do the idea justice. It's always had a lot of potential, after all; Four Swords Adventures on GC was brilliant but badly hampered by GBA/GC connectivity existing in a tiny niche. Plus, the one Zelda convention Nintendo didn't upend with the open world games was the player playing alone.

They've tried it a couple of times without much commercial success, and in Triforce Heroes' case, without much critical or fan reception. But multiplayer Zelda is an immensely promising idea and not one I think Nintendo let rest indefinitely.
 
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I really would love a remaster of Four Swords Adventures. In multiplayer it's incredible how it manages to get the core elements of Zelda into a functional multiplayer. And hats off to EPD for also balancing the game around singleplayer very well, going so far as to change actual puzzles between the two modes and letting you essentially control all four Links in a smart way.

Triforce Heroes is such a downgrade, it's unbelievable. Which is a shame because the costume idea wasn't even that bad, just underbaked.
 
I know some people are just being sarcastic, but what are the actual odds we'll see a new DK game?

I'd like to imagine they'll have DK for the new system but with how Nintendo is, who the fuck knows at this point.
EPD Tokyo started hiring for a 2D Action game in August 2020, which kinda lines up well with what DK Vine said about it moving to EPD Tokyo by 2018(pre-production/concept with just the leads until full production and mash hirings in 2020), and that would be about time for it to be done.
I'm pretty sure it's gonna be a Switch title, whether that's gonna be a cross gen game and come in summer 2025 or a late 2024 title is what is up in the air.
I think there are odds it comes this year - DK rollercoaster was delayed to fall 2024. Back in 2020/2021, both the Super Nintendo World(officially) and 3D World + Bowser's Fury(internally) were delayed to February 2021 from the intended holiday 2020 opening/release.
I think they'll couple the park with a new game. Donkey Kong Country Returns hagi port can be a bonus, but I don't see them relying on it as THE DK Switch game. If only because Switch already has a port of DKCTF that sold 4m and Returns already had a port for the 3DS and sold 9m combined.
For what it's worth, I think it's been over 3 years now that I've also been hearing on and off about The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess remasters. More often than not from people that could just be wishful thinking, but occasionally from some that usually know better than that.
I think it'd be plenty of time for Tantalus to make a real good remaster of Wind Waker HD/Twilight Princess HD since it'll be ~3 years since Skyward Sword HD (which I believe took 18 months? I don't know for sure tho).
I'd play a wild card and say that instead of ports of the Wii U remasters they'll improve them and release separately - starting with Twilight Princess Remastered (they'll touch up the geometry, add a new lighting and make it 60FPS)..

I do wonder if Nintendo would announce some big 2025 game at the June direct, which ends up being cross-gen.. Obviously a 3D Mario or new Mario Kart would be an exclusive and would be marketed alongside the new system, but something like a big new Kirby or DK could be teased for 2025 and end up being a cross-gen release early next year

I'm doubtful though, I'm definitely expecting a direct with many more low-key announcements
I think that possible spring/summer 2025 reveals for Switch games that will be cross gen with Switch 2(and ofc appear on the Switch 2 event or trailer) would be:
  • the 2D Donkey Kong game by EPD Tokyo;
  • a new 2D Zelda;
  • Metroid Prime 4 (if it's not coming this fall);
  • Astral Chain 2;
  • Kirby and the Forgotten Land sequel?? But that's more likely for 2026 and next gen exclusive;
  • Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition;
  • new IP.

It's not a marketing term. It just refers to the budget.

Did Mario Wonder cost as much to develop as Tears of the Kingdom or Mario Odyssey?

No. It's a smaller game.

I'm referring to budgets here, not the popularity of IP.
In terms of development budget alone, yeah, it probably costed more to develop than Super Mario Odyssey. It had a development team double as big and took longer to make.

As much as Tears of the Kingdom, definitely not but literally only Super Smash Bros. Ultimate took as much to make.

If we add marketing budget tho, then I'd say Breath of the Wild would end up costing more than Tears of the Kingdom, maybe Smash Ultimate would still be higher, Super Mario Odyssey would end up quite expensive as well and Mario Kart 8 would probably be abnormally high considering it's been market as hell after launch.
 
I'm still not letting myself get too excited for H2, remember, the console was initially planned for this year, so there's no way anything that requires any significant dev time would've made it this year (I don't expect new Mario Party or DK this holiday). FE4 and Prime 4, and likely the bamco remaster (I think Uprising) were likely always planned for this year, so I anticipate H2 will be those games spread out alongside some SUPER low effort stuff.

I have no doubt NWC wasn't even conceived until a few months ago, that's a fun campaign they can run in July, buying them time with something "new" made with as little effort as possible. And that's likely what the rest of this year looks like, so what do I think?

May 2024: TTYD HD

June 2024: Prime 2 Shadowdrop and LM2: I think they'll have some fun with this, split up the two's releases, shadow drop one after the Direct and schedule the other with a physical release for August, just to fill things up further

July 2024: NWC NES Edition

August 2024: Prime 3 and 2 + 3 Physical Edition: See June for more info

September 2024: Donkey Kong Country Returns HD: ...Y'all, they're opening a theme park and haven't had a release PERIOD since 2018. This is an easy read, 3D World + BF launched alongside SNW, which borrowed plenty of aesthetic cues from said game. Similarly, Kong's park is very Returns inspired, which is unfortunately still the only brand identity the series has despite the game being nearly 14 years old! So yeah, an HD port of the only Country not on Switch makes sense.

October 2024: FE4 Remake and Prime 4: ...Okay I know I just said these would be split up but nahhhhh these both seem pretty ripe for here

November 2024: Wind Waker HD: It's been in the back pocket, might as well bust it out here, another easy win for the holidays AND it fulfils the yearly Zelda quota.

December 2024: Noooooothing

January 2025: Either Kirby Rainbow Curse port or Yoshi's Wooly World port: both are cute easy games they can pad out the schedule with.

February 2025: Noooooooooooooooooothing

And as a bonus, I still think the new console drops March 2025, with Legends ZA dropping maybe a month or two after, BUUUUT I could TOTALLY see a world where Nintendo pushes the launch to April or even May, and Pokemon comes in as one last major title in March
This is a solid list of predictions, especially considering DKCR. I have a hard time believing that they’d launch both FE4 and Metroid Prime next to each other though. I feel like they’d save MP4 for the next system if the rest of their schedule looks like this, since they’re already in crisis “make the most of each release” mode (as we think is communicated by NWC)
 
I know people are antsy because the last full Direct was so long ago, but I don't think Nintendo's going to be shifting from their "2-3 first party reveals per Direct" average now that we're in the endgame. Metroid Prime 4, Fire Emblem 4, and GameCube Zelda Pack is still a great Direct (with the addition of minor NSO stuff). It's not unknown unknowns, but it'll all be brand-new first-look footage. If there's anything else, it'll be because the successor isn't coming until the second half of 2025.

I think it'll be great enough of a showing that the only real backlash will be from people realising that the Switch 2 version of MP4 that they only promised to themselves, likely doesn't exist at all.
 
I know people are antsy because the last full Direct was so long ago, but I don't think Nintendo's going to be shifting from their "2-3 first party reveals per Direct" average now that we're in the endgame. Metroid Prime 4, Fire Emblem 4, and GameCube Zelda Pack is still a great Direct (with the addition of minor NSO stuff). It's not unknown unknowns, but it'll all be brand-new first-look footage. If there's anything else, it'll be because the successor isn't coming until the second half of 2025.

I think it'll be great enough of a showing that the only real backlash will be from people realising that the Switch 2 version of MP4 that they only promised to themselves, likely doesn't exist at all.
June Directs tend to have more reveals than the average February/September Direct. Like last year for example had Pikmin 1/2, Super Mario RPG, Super Mario Bros Wonder, Warioware Move It, the re-reveal of Detective Pikachu, and the early announcements of Princess Peach Showtime and Luigi's Mansion 2 HD. June 2021 had Metroid Dread, Mario Party Superstars, Warioware Get It Together, Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope (technically this was revealed the day before at Ubisofts show, but it was close enough), and the re-reveal of Tears of the Kingdom.
 
I feel like the June Direct is going to be the last Switch focused Direct.

If Nintendo does do a September Direct, they are delaying the successor until mid or late 2025.

2016 only really had 1 Direct (3DS focused) on the back half of 2016. E3 2016 was a BotW show featuring Sun and Moon with guest appearances.
 
I think the 2 GameCube Zelda’s have absolutely zero chance of coming out on Switch as Nintendo’s gonna need them on Switch 2 as we are probably not going to have a new 3D Zelda till 2028 at the earliest.

Now would be a great time to release the GameCubes other Zelda game, Four Swords Adventure. It was super difficult (expensive) to play properly back in the day, but now with Online, Switch Lites and Bluetooth it would be easy to play properly now. They could put Tetra’s Treasure Trackers back into it and maybe a few more mini games and it would be a great little game and it would also be a relatively cheap/quick port for Nintendo as well.
 
I have to say, reading through this thread has been a lot more enjoyable since knowing for sure a direct is happening next month, it takes away the chaos and speculation surrounding the existence of a direct and allows us just to focus on the content of the upcoming direct, and beyond!

It's refreshing 😊
 
Real talk, if there's a traditional Switch-only September Direct, and they still don't reveal Switch successor games, what the hell can they even show if the thing is widely considered to launch sometime between March-June 2025? Feels like they'd show the holiday game for this year in the June Direct.
 
I'm going with the assumption that June is the final Switch only Direct, and the usual September Direct won't be held or will be delayed to include Switch 2 software along with Switch 1 games yet to come out (I'm guessing an October or November reveal here on Switch 2). The jump from last September to now proves Nintendo can still have a few games on the calendar (Peach Showtime, TTYD, LM 2) without feeling the need to have another General Direct to recap and show new things in them. I think this next one is it - hopefully a huge one that fulfills some dreams like Prime 4. The Switch deserves one more great Direct dedicated to it to go out in a blaze of glory in.

Regarding the Bandai Namco 3D remake / remaster project, is there a consensus yet on what this could be, or are we still on pure speculation? I can't explain how stoked I'd be if it was Star Fox: Assault, as it's one of my all-time favorites and something I'd be overjoyed to see revived. That one makes sense based on them having done the original and the basic 3D action game description, but it also feels like a far-out wildcard just based on its lower popularity level. Either way, we are so overdue for something Star Fox that it hurts. I always wanted Assault's template to be the type of route the franchise went in afterwards, but alas, it wasn't to be.
 


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