Julius

Agreed on all of the above. VII Remake being made available this year on Switch 2 with a stinger for VII Rebirth coming next year would be massive. Hell, I don't want to get carried away here, but just because I don't think they want to send the message that this thing is only getting ports, they could totally have short-ish trailers for both Remake and Rebirth back-to-back ("Fall 2025", "Spring 2026") and confirm that the yet-to-be-titled trilogy-closer is coming to Switch 2 at launch and that could be your stinger to the back-to-back trailers – coming "Winter 2026" (i.e. Jan/Feb/March 2027). Rebirth was first announced during S-E's own VII 25th anniversary stream, after all, not at a a PlayStation event, and a bit over 18 months out from its launch, so unless there's still some element of exclusivity which hasn't changed despite the low sales which forced their hand to get Rebirth on PC less than 12 months after launch...it feels like a possibility. I think you're right on the money with Kingdom Hearts and the recent Resident Evil games being freed of their cloud-based shackles, but of the cloud-based games available on Switch, they're the only ones I really see being big enough to cause a splash with a native version launch. I wonder if they could give an update on 4? One of KH4 or FFVIIR-III seems realistic to me if they're going to go hard after the JRPG market in Japan (which they should be). Hell, if I were Atlus, I'd be showing Persona 6 here unless there's some weird deals somewhere else (though there were those P4R rumours recently, and P3R and ReFantazio are right there waiting to be ported). Speaking of re-porting things, they could release real versions of the Yakuza games on Switch 2. That'd be awesome, and Like A Dragon and Infinite Wealth would be perfect fits for the system. Haven't played any 3D brawlers in handheld myself so I won't comment on the rest of the series could also do similar for big games we've already seen like The Witcher 3 – and speaking of which, Cyberpunk 2077 has to be planned, surely? Speaking to the other cloud-based Switch titles, AC Odyssey would do gangbusters, too, but that game's pretty old now, so while maybe they port it at some point, I imagine getting Shadows and maybe Mirage over on Switch 2 ASAP would be their focus. We'll only 2 weeks removed from Shadows' launch and Ubisoft has a lot going on at the moment, but that Black Flag remake feels like it'd be a good fit here as a statement of Ubi's Switch 2 support. But, again, one of those they could also save for their own show later this year. And yeah, Rare Replay would be massive – I'd be there for it. If I were Microsoft I'd be keeping that as a Switch 2 exclusive, purely because I think it vibes better with the Nintendo catalogue, but then there's also Forza Horizon 5, Indy, that Oblivion Remake which they're apparently planning to just shadow-drop in April, Starfield, etc. Honestly, if Xbox shows up here in a meaningful way – do they finally give Phil the opportunity to show off his chops in an actually well-managed show and give him 5 minutes to pledge Xbox's catalogue to Switch 2? That feels like it could be massive. Thinking along similar lines, I wonder if we see some weird PlayStation remasters here which have been licensed out to Bandai Namco or whoever else is up to the task? Wasn't at all on my radar, but after the Direct other day, it really makes me wonder. LittleBigPlanet? Puppeteer? LocoRoco? Part of me wants to suggest Astro Bot or even just Playroom purely because of the Nintendo vibe and how big it would be on a Switch 2, and has been in Japan, but it seems too big a deal to let go and integrates too much of the PS hardware to be seriously under consideration, I feel. Then there's also Baldur's Gate III (such an obvious showcase for Mouse-Con, similar to how Prime 4 is the obvious showcase for the jump in tech with the Switch 2), Elden Ring (+ Dark Souls trilogy + Sekiro + Armored Core VI)...every time I start listing out the third-party potential for the Switch 2, it scares me a little. Curation is going to be so key. I haven't even mentioned a potential GTA V port or Red Dead Redemption II! And we haven't even dipped into potential indie big-hitters, either. To make this personal, though, and I might need to maybe think on this a little more, right now the potential announcements in terms of third-party I'm by far the most interested in are going to all be coming from Square Enix (way to set myself up for disappointment , I know). Not saying I expect all or even any of these, but, to name and shame them: Dragon Quest XII – XI is up there with Chrono Trigger as one of my all-time favourite JRPGs, and we have known nothing other than a title, and it being a bit more serious (hopefully that doesn't mean edgy) for the longest time. Even if it's not coming until 2027, I don't care. Give me something. Please. Horii, if you can self-leak I & II HD-2D Remake, you can do it for XII too! Final Fantasy Tactics / IX – included in that Nvidia leak forever ago and completely missing since. One of those where I don't know if you do it here simply because they could totally be on the OG Switch technically - then again, DQ III HD-2D didn't perform as well on Switch as it did other consoles, so maybe not? - but either way, if we're playing to the Japanese and JRPG crowd here, one of these seems the obvious pick. Selfishly I'd want Tactics of the two, purely because I've had it sitting on my Vita since getting it but put it off due to the Nvidia leak, and have already played IX myself. It is IX's 25th anniversary later this year, though, so The next HD-2D project – Chrono Trigger. Final Fantasy VI. A commitment to Dragon Quest IV / V / VI. One of them, please. Yes, I'm putting the cart before the horse here, because we're still waiting on DQ I & II HD-2D to get a release date, but why not? These things do crazy well sales-wise now and are such a great way to get timeless classics on modern systems. I'll save my first-party ramblings for another day, because yeah...I think I'm excited now No timeframe yet as I mentioned above, but yeah, like I mentioned before, I agree that this template is a possibility. The use of Nintendo Today! to drop news/announcements daily updates to launch could be huge, too – makes me wonder if people are already trying to crack that code, though... Although I do think it's a small possibility, I want a blowout, and I do think waiting on sharing more info as long as they have just to go "well here's what you'll get in 2 months" and then maybe throwing us a bone for another release later in the summer is going to make people pause for a moment. Not in any way which is going to damage, because it will sell out at launch regardless – but because it will sell out at launch regardless, I think this needs to be a bit more like their E3 2017 presentation than it does the January 2017 presentation. Big statement console events like these rarely happen, and I think do a very bad job if they're just trying to sell you on the launch, because I believe they need to create a feeling of investment moving forwards, beyond that initial launch window: I'm not just buying the Switch 2 at launch for [3D Mario/new Mario Kart] at launch, I'm buying into the promise of what's to come. For those unable to buy-in at launch or not planning to buy-in at launch, it becomes a question of what's on the horizon: oh, smaller scale 3D Zelda coming in 2026? I guess I know when I'm picking up my Switch 2 now, better start saving for then. (just an example, sorry to those of you waiting on something like this ) Very interested to see how this all gets handled, they're under a lot of pressure to deliver even without hoping for specific first-party releases to be shown, purely because of the success of the Switch. I'm hoping we get a runtime tomorrow!

Yeah, definitely! I remember even the January Presentation for the Switch back in 2017 got leaked because of there being a floor and media hands-on after, but this being a Direct...it has been super quiet. I'm working from home on Wednesday and sticking myself on Do Not Disturb from 13:45 onwards, going to get all my work out of the way in the morning (just a team meeting and a couple of Zooms) Should come in handy if these pre-orders drop randomly during/after the Direct... Which is a bit crazy because, like @Hero-of-Time said, I don't even know what to expect here other than 3D Mario (because it's long overdue) and more news on the new Mario Kart. Otherwise, I'm just essentially born-again Anton Ego: What's keeping my expectations in check for now - check in with me tomorrow or Tuesday and we'll see where I'm at then - is that we don't know how long this Switch 2 Direct is going to be just yet, and the wording of "a closer look at Switch 2" without a mention of games... ...there's a possibility here for this thing to be 25 minutes, 10 minutes on the new hardware/eShop and NSO-related updates which could be specific to Switch 2 (i.e. DS if there's some sort of second screen/Mouse-Con solution), 15 minutes specifically on launch titles and call it a day, it releases in June when they could hold a more typical Not-E3-style Direct and third parties could be left to market the games themselves, rest of the release calendar gets fleshed out over the summer. I mean it sells out regardless, right? On the flipside, following the announcement of Nintendo Today! and it already being host to more substantial news than I think we were expecting, I wonder if some other updates could be fleshed out there, for example "This is a bit more on how the Mouse-Con works!" with a short video on how it works, and "Here are more games which will be enhanced with Switch 2 Editions" with some Switch vs Switch 2 performance comparisons, etc. I'm really curious to see how Nintendo Today! is utilised with the promise of daily Switch 2 updates following Wednesday's Direct, as I genuinely think some smaller games tacked on to launch (think something like a Snipperclips equivalent, not included in the Switch Jan 2017 Presentation) could easily be saved for and get some lip service there, too. Obviously I'm on Team 45-60 Minutes of Hardware + Games Galore, but it's just so hard to guess what Nintendo's moves are going to be – that Switch Direct on Thursday caught everyone off guard. Not long until we find out now, in any case!

(yeah, yeah, it's not dawn, I had a lie-in alright? ) 3 days remain.

A few more tidbits from the game's page on the PlayStation site: Hurry up and say something about GTA VI already Rockstar, I'm chomping at the bit to see more Yōtei and learn when it's dropping

DanielRPK (Daniel Richtman) shared on his Patreon that this project is planned to be a trilogy of films released over six years, and with the aim of major roles unsurprisingly being cast for the entire trilogy. (Not going to link someone's Patreon, so here's the VGC article on the topic)

Filming in New Zealand from November this year until April of next year, with a brief description of the film sounding like it could be most Zelda games Per FTIA's Production List: Very curious to see how the puzzles translate to the big screen. Linkiana Jones?

4 days remain.

The source on this being a "large US retailer" in WITSEC makes me think that it could be US-specific, or even specific to that retailer. I would be shocked if this was a globally adopted thing, because that would be impossible for Nintendo to keep tabs on. The only they would be able to come close to trying to implement it would be through some absolutely obscene and draconian methods. Plus, if anything, the ideal time for pre-orders to go up is to not have such a huge heads-up that we know the when and where of it all too far ahead of time, because otherwise scalpers will be able to make preparations of their own which will screw a lot of people out of the chance to get their own Switch 2 pre-order in. I'm going to be shocked if pre-orders aren't up by the end of next Thursday (3rd) over here, and am half expecting them to drop randomly in the afternoon/evening on Wednesday following the Direct, somewhat similar to what we saw happened with the PS5 (went up late evening/early morning following that September 2020 event earlier in the evening).

An unnamed large US retailer - are they in witness protection or something? What did the [unnamed large US retailer] do?! - has apparently leaked how things will be going down on the other side of the pond. Per Insider Gaming: Related to pre-orders, just wondering ahead of Wednesday's Switch 2 Direct: could it be worth having a dedicated Switch 2 pre-orders thread? Just thinking it might make it easier for people to parse when and where pre-order drops are happening, as well as talk about what they've managed to put in an order in for, rather than those posts inevitably getting buried in a general Switch 2 thread and people potentially missing out simply because they hadn't seen a post about pre-orders dropping at X or Y retailer?

How about for people born over a decade after the first film and haven't seen it, but did watch the 2014 remake?

Take it back before they read it man! Those damn Ninjas are everywhere!

Damn it man how bad does the world need to get for the C-button to be for a churro dispenser?! In all seriousness, this is totally wild and very silly, and there are obviously potential pitfalls to the idea...but that makes it sound absolutely Nintendo. They need to get DS games on there somehow, because the DS/3DS catalogue is otherwise going to be the only big Nintendo catalogue you can't reasonably play on the system. If this is how they do it – I mean, I don't care how they do it, I'm totally game The fact it would probably boost Switch sales post-Switch 2 launch is kind of hilarious to think about too. And would probably be good for the environment in a weird way (people's Switch consoles not getting thrown away as soon as they get a Switch 2). EDIT: just seen the source is eXtas1s...yeah...idk man...

Yeah, been watching these spill out over the last few days, and it's reminded me of how mad I was about a certain something back in the day, which I'll get in to below. This purported leak this has come out of an old build of the game from the massive Game Freak - FREAK LEAK - a few months ago. I'll just post the list in a spoiler tag here: Oh, and another thing which apparently came from these purported leaks...