Dear Fellow Gamer,
I won’t mince words or waste any of your valuable time. You probably won’t even read this as chances are you’ve been inundated (as I have) with YouTube videos from various gamer creators sharing their five cents on what may or may not happen during tomorrow’s direct.
Guess who’s back, back again…
The Nintendo Direct is at 10am EST tomorrow. A whole 40min direct?! That seems insane considering all roads lead to the “Switch Successor” coming in 2025. But if this is indeed the “Switch Swan Song” then bring on the unnecessarily long direct. This tells me a few things right off the bat:
There will likely be no September direct. And if so it will be exclusively to tease the new Switch. More thoughts on this later…
They are going to throw everything in here including the farm-game-sink!
So, because everyone in the gaming sphere will likely have their YouTube videos out “first” with their predictions and rumors of what’s left to announce for Nintendo, I didn’t want to be left out. So, without further ado, here are my pie in the sky theories, predictions and wishlist of what I’d love to see announced at this June direct.
Disclaimer: I am not, nor have I ever been, deep in the weeds of the gaming world like others so my list will undoubtedly be 1,000% incorrect and ridiculous. Especially, if you’re more of a gamer than I am. So, please allow me the courtesy of my dreams!
Nintendo Switch Online
Let’s start with what always seems to be the elephant in the room that Nintendo always makes me feel like I’m begging them to give me something and so they do it and then expect me to be thankful for the random drops every now and then. I think it’s time to open the tap and stop with the drips just this once!
Gameboy game drops (Pokemon anyone?)
N64 expansion pack games
GBA games would be nice too
No, I’m not going to into specifics on what games I would like to see cause I wanna leave some surprises open. Besides, as it’s highly unlikely that they will announce any major NSO that isn’t DLC related, why bother…
Now, as for the rumors and predictions swirling around, here are some other nuggets that even I would be excited for and might make me open my wallet for, especially as it is my birthday next week!
Zelda - At this point I’ll take just about anything. I am one of the few (apparently?) who actually love playing Link’s Awakening and will literally start it from the beginning and play it all the way through cause I enjoy it so much. Give me another remake in the same art style. Yes, I said it. The same art style! I’m here for it and will gladly pay $49.99 for it! There is a larger probability of a 2D top down Zelda than a 3D open world Zelda and I prefer it. I love the whole open world thing but they are LONG and arduous and sometimes I want the cozy laid back feel of a 2D top down Zelda to kick back and play.
Mario - The golden goose for Nintendo. Could they even consider having a final Switch direct without giving one last nod to Mario? Yes, we know Luigi’s Mansion is coming. We’ve seen the teaser trailer. Is it possible game play and mechanics will be shown this time around? And if so, will that be all we see from the Mario universe? One thing I don’t think I’ve heard from the rumor mill is the possibility of Princess Peach DLC? Why not debut some new personas that they haven’t revealed yet?
DLCs - Let’s just package all the DLC possibilities together cause, quite frankly, this is the least interesting part for me since I don’t have any of these games nor would I ever consider buying them: Pikmin, Splatoon, and the aforementioned Peach games. Are they likely to have some seasonally themed DLC? Yes. Do I care? No. NEXT!
Farm games - If there isn’t at least one farm game I will be SHOCKED! It’s always farm season on the Nintendo Switch. So the question isn’t, will there be farm games, the question to ask ourselves is, just how many farm games will be announced?
Montages - Ah yes, Nintendo loves to throw in one or two montages of games whenever they have a bunch of indie/3rd party games that wouldn’t wow us enough to deserve spending extra minutes on. I predict we will indeed see a at least two montages of games to cycle through the latter half of this year and make it seem like a banger year!
Teaser Trailers - There are many speculations about what the big, amazing, gotta have it, last ditch effort reveal will be to get the last few Switches snatched off the shelves. I was prepared to throw my hands up at this and just say, whatever man, who cares. It’ll likely be some game I’m not really interested in so I’m not gonna give an answer. Then I decided, why not really think outside the box. Go where Nintendo would NEVER go and predict what Nintendo would NEVER do? So, here are a few to sink your teeth into:
Mario Kart 9 - Picture it, if you will. The familiar sound of a racecar on a track. The WOOSH sound. And then, Mario’s voice can be heard saying “Mario Kart… [long pause for dramatic effect] NIIINNNEEEE!” And that’s it. No footage. No nothing. Not even the logo. Just the sound and the three words. I’d be falling out of my seat. Wouldn’t you? Oh, and maybe a closing image where it says “coming 2025.” They don’t have to say it’s coming on the new console or anything like that. Just that it’s coming.
Call of Duty - We’ve heard it’s coming. They claim it’s coming. So why not prove it can happen and give us MWII or MWIII on the switch? I know, I know, it’s crazy and highly unlikely. But were it to happen I would be going crazy. I’d also be waving my imaginary Benjamins at them, too!
Zelda - I circle back around because I’ve heard there could be a brand new Zelda instead of a remake/remaster. Is it possible we get a 2D but of a Zelda we’ve never played before? Of my many off the wall predictions this one could actually happen and why not? If so, I would hope they don’t go crazy and try to charge us $49 or $59 for it! I only pay those prices for open world games! lol
Metroid Prime 4 - I have to laugh because it’s been how many years that the crazy MP fans have been waiting for this game? I’ve never played any Metroid so I’m not a part of this sad, sad, hype train. But, in the same vein as MK9 I think Nintendo at least owed everyone a date, even if that date is “2025” and that’s it. Haven’t you made your most loyal fans suffer enough?
Pokemon - A real pie in the sky theory cause if this were going to happen I feel like they would’ve announced a teaser for it on Pokemon Day and then given us more to sink our teeth into in this Direct. Cause I’m thinking not of Legends ZA which we already know is coming in 2025, but of a BDSP variety. I love the top down games. I just do. I also love the art style they are going with as well. They are less hacking and slashing and more cozy vibes that I love and appreciate from Nintendo. So give me another BDSP only with X & Y, perhaps? With ZA coming in early 2025, why not? Also, totally likely, we might be shown a bit more of the story and art style behind Pokemon Legends ZA. Especially, if they opt not to do a September Direct.
Which leads me to my final prediction: There will be no September Direct. I base this purely on the fact that they are doing a 40min direct tomorrow. That is hella long for a console that literally has both feet in the grave and is on it’s way out the door in 6 months. Why make such a long direct if your intention isn’t to cram it all in there, shove it all down our throats, and then put all your attention squarely on the device coming next year.
I predict if we see anything in September it will undoubtedly be a sneak peak teaser on the new console. A 7 minute video is plenty more than needed to let us all know what’s coming. Now, I know what some might be thinking: Teasing the next console in September will KILL their last ditch effort to make some Switch sales during the holiday season. I disagree. I think it might have the effect they are looking for which is: We are moving on from the Switch so if you haven’t gotten it by now you better before it’s too late.
Personally, if I didn’t already have the Switch, I would be seeing this happening and thinking I need to get it before it’s gone, especially as the hope is backwards compatibility means I’ll at least have a console to play the new games coming. Cause we all know supplies will be limited. Sure, we assume they pushed the release back because they knew they wouldn’t have enough to go around when it goes on sale but we all know systems will crash and bots will be at the ready to snatch up the new console regardless of how many they might be stockpiling in the meantime. I have low expectations that I’ll be able to pre-order it as this will actually be the first time I will attempt to do so.
Welp, that is all I have for you today my lovelies. I don’t do these sorts of emails often but I’ll try to be better about dropping my two cents prior to these Nintendo Directs, Indie Directs or any other moments of note.
Till next time, Gamers!