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Fun Club Nintendo's announcement strategy has changed; say good-bye to Nintendo Directs

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MisterSpo

MisterSpo

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And say hello to Patent Drops​

I know this is a very long post, but you'll see it's well-researched with many different sources, and so I'd just like to really ask you to strap yourself in and read the whole thing because I'm not doing a TL;DR version. It's best to have a full and holistic understanding of what I'm saying here. Before we get to my major idea - which I think we'll agree is rock solid - let me give you all some vital contextual information.

Our Princess Is In Another Castle

Nintendo did not talk about The Legend of Zelda; The Sequel To Breath of the wild at TGA 2021 as every reliable source indicated they would and which would have fit perfectly with what Eiji Aonuma, Zelda Overlord, said at E3. So, if the most reliable source was wrong just this one time, and if Eiji Aonuma lied to our faces in a bare-faced display of honesty, then what on Earth has gone wrong at Nintendo?

We already know, from highly secretive information that leaked onto the internet (see page 48 of the leaked document), that they've starved EPD of funding, and reports from the Japanese press indicate that Nintendo don't have anywhere near enough buildings to create games, which is why they probably make Sakurai work at Bandai Namco. With Sony buying major games studios by the minute, and Microsoft's plans for Game Pass and their first-party output launching without any issues whatsoever, it's clear Nintendo are under more pressure than ever to create good games that core gamers will actually care about. Nintendo haven't launched a core game people care about in forever, and when they can't even win Best Family Game at TGA, you know their software development is really in the doldrums.

Perhaps, with all that context, it shouldn't surprise us that Nintendo don't want to share much news with us at all. If they can't even make games, why should they present anything? It shouldn't really surprise us that they're moving away from Directs once again, after the infamous Direct Drought of 2019 to 2021, during which Nintendo resorted to announcing games on Twitter or during streams that weren't called Nintendo Direct.

Another Nintendo Exec Promises Zelda Info

However, there is a crucial piece of evidence which shouldn't be overlooked which suggests Nintendo definitely wanted to share more about the new Zelda game with us and that they definitely intended that to happen in 2021. I'm an arts and humanities scholar, so believe me when I say I'm excellent at decoding language, analysing text and narrative, and fitting it all into its proper context. This quotation from Bill Trinen, a figure clearly involved in game development high up at Nintendo, unambiguously states we should have expected more news on Zelda this year:
FGOEJZFWYAM4zNU


That's right - Nintendo wanted to show Zelda this year, after E3. I don't think it's too strong to say that Nintendo promised more information about the game, but that, in the absence of a noteworthy Direct there's clear and mounting evidence, my fellow Famizens, that Nintendo's announcement strategy has in fact just changed dramatically. Please see this report from Game Reactor for more information:

New Nintendo patent unveils more about Zelda: BOTW 2 gameplay​

In a first patent, published under number 20210370175 at WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization), we discovered the conditions to accomplish the ability to go through a suspended platform from below to its surface, as we could observe it in the trailer. It proves that it will be possible to perform this action freely, and not at a given and pre-established point, as one might have feared.

Then, the patent US20210370178 also addresses a mechanism already exposed in the trailer. Thanks to the video shared this summer by Nintendo, the most observant had noticed that Link was going to be endowed with a new power, a kind of "Rewind" function to apply to objects. We see from this patent that the object goes back in time in a same way, in reverse, that in its last movement with a representation of the power by a gauge. We can easily imagine that tons of puzzles in a style loved by fans of the series will be based on this.

Last but not least, the file under number US20210370179 reveals that the free falling will be much more developed than one might have expected. Not only will our character be able to take several positions but also to shoot with his bow during it. More precisely, Link will have the possibility of falling backward but also diving. This aerial gymnastics is obviously inspired by the acrobatic performances of parachutists, and possibility to shoot with the bow, even while free falling, promises to deliver charismatic and exciting combats in the air.
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What does this mean? Well, friends, it's very simple. Nintendo promised more Zelda news this year, and we all thought it would come in a Direct or at TGA. Instead of using Directs - which many enlightened Nintendo fans have accepted are dead, even if Nintendo sometimes pretend otherwise - or TGA, at which Nintendo were clearly shamed into not showing anything by the high standards of the rest of the gaming industry (don't even need a link to prove this, just check what's going on with other top publishers, you could even just look alphabetically), Nintendo have a new tool:

Patent Drops

That's right. We've actually seen this in the past: completely real, practical products (which might even point towards the game Emily leaked) Nintendo launched have been revealed numerous times by patents. We all assumed this is just some formal process Nintendo have to go through, but with Nintendo now having revealed all of the next Zelda game's major mechanics by uploading them to the internet where any idiot could find them, it's very clear that this is now Nintendo's new strategy for major news.

So get used to it, Fami. The only news we're getting from Nintendo now will come in the form of patents. I'm sorry, but that's just the way it is. With Nintendo letting us down so many times (I haven't even touched on their failure in reviving old intellectual properties, or in launching new IP, because I'm close to snapping) I've only got one question at this point. I'll leave it to you all to answer, because I've got to work.

How deep is the rot? Or, how direct is the rot?
 
MisterSpo casually skyrocketing the bar for shitposts with this profound and informative thread.
 
Oregano said:
Oh god you just reminded me that this time last year people were adamant Directs were dead for real.
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I forgot 2020 was a thing and so much happened on Era and the... pessimism was on another level.

Also that OP title got me scared for a second lmao.
 
Nintendo is interesting in that they are the most tight lipped of the 3 (sony is getting close though). Which makes sense i suppose, if your doing well why spend a ton of cash on marketing that you dont need to do. As a nintendo fan, its frustrating, but as someone who understands business realities, i get it. Though, in some ways, i do miss the way nintend handled communication during the wii u and 3ds era. While it still was not super common, they always seemed like they were having, like the starfox e3 puppets, or the mega 64 videos at noa.
 
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I've read the entire OP in the voice of the pianta plaintiff from Super Mario Sunshine, and now you will too.
 
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Version 2.0 notes (hypothetical update, if Nintendo actually cared about European content)
  • Index
    • There are two things that a patched version of this thread would provide:

    • the hyperlink in 'pretend otherwise' would actually be individual hyperlinks for each letter of 'pretend'. Each link would connect to a Partner Showcase, Mini Direct, or game-specific Direct to prove Nintendo were just pretending to care about Directs.
    • the link to Advance Wars would be hyperlinked to the word 'strategy', which I would somehow pun into the relevant part of the post.

    Only those two improvements would be offered, because Nintendo rarely bother to patch anything, and because this content was created in Europe, so we know it's a low priority for Nintendo.
     
  • Index
    • Oregano said:
    Oh god you just reminded me that this time last year people were adamant Directs were dead for real.
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    Not sure what the problem is? It's completely believable that Nintendo would just abandon one of their most effective marketing tools with no suitable replacement.
     
    Remember when the mods on Era closed the Direct speculation thread because they thought there wasn't going to be Directs in the foreseeable future and then Nintendo announced a Direct just a few days later?
     
    HockeyBird said:
    Remember when the mods on Era closed the Direct speculation thread because they thought there wasn't going to be Directs in the foreseeable future and then Nintendo announced a Direct just a few days later?
    Click to expand...
    Pepperidge Farm remembers.
     
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    I preferred it when big announcements happened randomly out of nowhere. That double take when opening YouTube, seeing an important new trailer and taking a few seconds to realise this isn't some clickbait speculation video. Loved that feeling. It also meant that anything could happen any day rather than being limited to isolated events where, due to ramping, the likelihood is you'll be disappointed. Fuck Directs. Bring back the shadow drops.

    Oregano said:
    This is how someone ends up Arlo posting....
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    "Arlo posting"? Is that a thing?
     
    Glom said:
    I preferred it when big announcements happened randomly out of nowhere. That double take when opening YouTube, seeing an important new trailer and taking a few seconds to realise this isn't some clickbait speculation video. Loved that feeling. It also meant that anything could happen any day rather than being limited to isolated events where, due to ramping, the likelihood is you'll be disappointed. Fuck Directs. Bring back the shadow drops.
    Click to expand...
    what in sam hell are you talking about?

    the covid drops of paper mario and pikmin?
     
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