Nintendo Direct (8th February 2023 @ 22:00 GMT)

[Julius]

Right on cue!

Now, give me dungeons or give me death 

Edited February 7, 2023 by Julius

[Ronnie]

Nice!

Looking forward to Pikmin 4 and obviously Zelda. Not sure they'll do a big blow-out on the latter quite yet, but should be a proper trailer at least.

[MindFreak]

Og ffs, why so late? 

Still, going to be exciting!

[Ronnie]

Always found it weird that their usual time (5pm UK) is like 2 in the morning in Japan. 

[V. Amoleo]

Choo chooo!

I reckon Advance Wars will get a release date.

[darksnowman]

Too soon for Fire Emblem, Warriors, Engage! So they'll open with an apology for spoiling Christmas with Sports Story. While I'm at it I'll scud a few more things.

Rabbids Go Home Remake
New Rabbids platformer
Mario + Rabbids RPG
Mario + Rabbids Street Hockey

In-house DK platformer

Is more content for DQ Treasures possible?
Recycled Theatrhythm trailer 
Pikmin 4K and the New! Switch Dock.
Advance Wars Re:boot Camp imminent release
NES Remix 
Xenoblade 3 DLC info
Next wave of MK tracks?
Splatoon 3 next season and DLC info?
A Link Between Worlds barebones port
Thousand Year Door
Super Metroid 2D-HD
FF XIII Trilogy
Metal Slug Tactics (PLEASE)
An "impossible port"
An update on the Disney racer 
Epic Mickey
Breath of the Wild DLC added to the Expansion Pack
Super Mario Sunshine in Power Wash Simulator
F-Zero! No it's Nintendo Land.
Last-generation Batman games.
CoD Cloud Edition
Galleon
Sega Rally

3DS eShop Sale that's practically a giveaway.

Oh, one more thing: Another Code

Least likely of all: Animal Crossing (Paradise Planning outdoor decorating features on your main island) and Mario Maker updates. Etrian Odyssey. 

[Dcubed]

And there's the usual February Direct, right on cue!

All I want is Advance Wars Reboot Camp.  Please don't let it suffer the same fate as Starfox 2!!!

[Julius]

I have no expectations for once, because I can't go asking for the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters as they're actually on their way. I mean, maybe if Square Enix would be so kind as to give us a physical stock update or something, idk...

1 hour ago, Ronnie said:

...and obviously Zelda. Not sure they'll do a big blow-out on the latter quite yet, but should be a proper trailer at least.

It's such a weird one I feel now with Tears of the Kingdom, I feel like we could just as easily get a meaty 4 minute trailer actually giving us a sense of understanding when it comes to changes at ground level (and quell those fears), outright confirming temples and giving us a look at one or two, seeing some enemy variety, etc. Or we could just get another sub-2 minute trailer and learn basically nothing. 

Would it be too cute if they held a Treehouse on/around 3rd March for BOTW's sixth anniversary? Probably. But I'd love it! Really do just want a deeper look at this game, even if not here, I hope that comes around sooner rather than later! 

1 hour ago, Ronnie said:

Always found it weird that their usual time (5pm UK) is like 2 in the morning in Japan. 

I could be mistaken but my instinct is that 17:00 is their usual time for E3 Directs, but I can't recall many others (idk, maybe a Direct Mini/Partners Showcase?) that were also at that time. Early afternoon and late evening feels like it's been a thing for a while? Again, could be wrong on that, I should probably look it up...but feeling a bit too lazy to do so atm 

35 minutes ago, Dcubed said:

All I want is Advance Wars Reboot Camp.  Please don't let it suffer the same fate as Starfox 2!!!

I imagine you probably saw this, but I think it was a week or so back when there was the initial stir over a February Direct incoming, one of the reasons pointing to it being legit (you know, besides the fact we've had a Feb Direct pretty consistently for a while now!) was that Advance Wars pre-orders started cropping back up again at major retailers. 

So fingers crossed your wish comes true! 

Edited February 7, 2023 by Julius

[Ronnie]

I've almost given up hoping for Silksong news, but I think this might finally be the place it shows up, with a release date.

5 minutes ago, Julius said:

Really do just want a deeper look at this game, even if not here, I hope that comes around sooner rather than later! 

I could definitely see a Treehouse segment with a chunk of gameplay, but maybe not until next month sometime, so maybe you're right, around the 3rd of March.

I might try and skip things if they go too in depth, the beauty of BOTW was discovering stuff on your own.

[darksnowman]

1 hour ago, V. Amoleo said:

Choo chooo!

Cryptic. Train games to be this Directs farming games?

8 minutes ago, Julius said:

I have no expectations for once, because I can't go asking for the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters as they're actually on their way. I mean, maybe if Square Enix would be so kind as to give us a physical stock update or something, idk...

You don't need expectations but you can get hyped.  

There will be an Octopath trailer followed by... Kingdom Hearts: On Carts. Then with no fanfare it'll move on to Tales of Symphonia Remaster and DotNW to follow. Remember these other GameCube RPGs? Baiton Kaitos games. We go wild. Then what about this one? Skies of Arcadia Remake. The Internet goes down.

[Julius]

12 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

I've almost given up hoping for Silksong news, but I think this might finally be the place it shows up, with a release date.

Yeah, I think you're right about that.

Seen some people suggesting a shadow-drop...but who on earth shadow drops a game like that in February out of the blue? 

I still need to play Hollow Knight 

13 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

I might try and skip things if they go too in depth, the beauty of BOTW was discovering stuff on your own.

Oh yeah, I'll do the same if they go too far in I think.

I could just go for 30 minutes uninterrupted gameplay honestly just to get an idea of the tone at ground level (and maybe just a very quick look at what's above and below), because the trailers have been a contrasting dichotomy of bright and soaring open blue skies and floating islands adorned with gold-leafed trees with the dark browns, purples and reds of everything surrounding and below Hyrule Castle, but we haven't really got too clear an idea as to what's up at ground level. Can I expect more towns? Please?! 

And also maybe just show off a blacksmith or something idk

11 minutes ago, darksnowman said:

You don't need expectations but you can get hyped.  

In which case..! 

Nah, I don't have much I feel like I'll get hyped for, other than obviously Tears of the Kingdom, I feel like I've not got much left to go crazy over. Maybe some Dragon Quest Remasters are my next agenda now that we're waiting on the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters to land...(see you all in 5+ years for that I guess?)

Actually, it would be really neat if Suikoden I&II showed up here too with a release date, I think I saw rumours floating around a month or so back about it potentially coming by the end of Q1? Everyone who loves a lean but wonderful JRPG (and let's be honest, there aren't nearly enough of those!) needs to play these two games 

[Dcubed]

BTW, we're due some info about the upcoming Fire Emblem Engage DLC (and also well past overdue some DLC for Three Hopes, seriously! I'm shocked that they haven't announced a season pass yet!).

Likewise, we'll probably see Wave 4 announced for MK8DX as well.

Otherwise, I expect this to be very heavy on TOTK (at least 15 mins dedicated to that game alone) and 3rd party titles (Perhaps even including the rumoured Baten Kaitos remake?)

Edited February 7, 2023 by Dcubed

[MindFreak]

I don't expect more than a longer trailer for TotK. Perhaps 1 or 2 minutes, nothing more. Just teasing us, and showing some real gameplay that we can spend the next two months analysing. 

I expect Advance Wars to release in March. We don't have any big games announced for March yet so it fits perfectly there. 

We will likely also get news about NSO, perhaps Game Boy games as well as the next four or so games for N64.

And then a surprise like a new Donkey a Kong or Star Fox game. 

Og course there'll be new info about Kirby, Bayonetta Origins, Octopath Traveler 2. 

We will also see gameplay from Pikmin 4. 

[Ronnie]

I'm expecting a 2 or 3 minute (at most) trailer for Zelda, revealing the main hook of the game. Maybe Aonuma talking about it afterwards for another minute or so, before saying there'll be more to come and to please be excited for that.

[Julius]

Yeah, I'm not sure if I agree with @Dcubed that I expect 15 minutes dedicated to TOTK (hey, I'd love for you to be right, because that's what I want ), but if all we're going to get is a trailer for it, I really do think this needs to be a trailer coming in at a solid 3 minutes or so, something along the lines of the E3 2016 trailer for Breath of the Wild: 

Now, while I prefer the Switch Presentation 2017 trailer personally, I think this trailer in particular really highlights the importance of a 3 minute trailer compared to a 2 minute trailer (or less). I'm super interested in marketing campaigns when it comes to films and games, so I'm going to go off on a bit of a tangent about why we need a 3 minute trailer like this and not something much shorter. 

What we've had so far with Tears of the Kingdom is a 1:27 first look trailer (at E3 2019), a 1:39 teaser trailer (at E3 2021), and a 1:37 title reveal trailer (which we got in the September 2022 Direct) – and honestly, partly down to their lengths but also Nintendo's own marketing plans, they all portray something closer to a teaser trailer: mostly quick cuts, dramatic and eye-catching frames (Ganondorf turning his head, Hyrule Castle rising up, Link leaping from a floating island, flashes of new mechanics, etc., etc.), but virtually nothing to really set either the tone or expectation for what moment-to-moment gameplay for Tears of the Kingdom is going to be like. 

At this point we're comfortable with the idea of there being an underground, ground level, and sky islands...but given that most of our time will surely be spent at ground level (I mean, it's going to be the largest physical plane by size, surely?) it kind of shocks me how little we've seen of what's at ground level. 

Again, I don't think we need to see everything this game has to offer ahead of release, but I really think the E3 2016 trailer for Breath of the Wild was fantastic because of what it achieves in its 3 minutes and 19 seconds: it sets the tone of an empty, post-apocalyptic world ripe for exploration; the music is allowed to sweep us away because it can be one functional piece which doesn't need to be edited down and can instead breathe; and it bounces you around between showing off new mechanics to the new systems at play.

Hype aside - which is difficult at times, I'll be the first to admit! - I think it's one of the purest examples of what a trailer for a game should be. So I have my fingers tightly crossed for something around 3 minutes long - which, notably, would be nearly double the length of all of the TOTK trailers we've had so far - to really set the tone of the game and let some of those moment-to-moment gameplay tidbits breathe a little bit more, as well as sweep us away with some awesome music. There's a narrative throughline to a trailer which is attainable in 3 minutes with smart decisions and good editing, but nearly impossible to attempt in 1 minute 30 seconds as we've had up to this point. 

So, please and thanks Nintendo, that's all I'm looking for, even if the other 37 minutes of the Direct are just spent with Koizumi holding a staring contest with the cameraman 

Edited February 8, 2023 by Julius

[RedShell]

Ok, Nintendo, let's see what you got. It can't be worse than the last Direct surely...

3 hours ago, darksnowman said:

Train games to be this Directs farming games?

...Oh, I guess it could.

 

[Jonnas]

Well, well, we meet again, Nintendo Direct TM...

Hopes and Dreams

• Still waiting for that Advance Wars release date...
• ...and maybe a remaster of Baten Kaitos and/or Skies of Arcadia?
• Definitely not a Mole Mania entry, that series prefers to stay underground.
• Translated versions of the SNES Fire Emblems
• New Wario Land!

 

Realistic expectations

• I expect FE Engage DLC to be officially revealed. Its contents have been datamined, and if they're correct, I'm excited to see it in motion.
• On a similar note, no DLC whatsoever for Three Hopes. Doesn't sound like they ever had a DLC plan for that game.
• Pikmin 4: the first real look into the game
• Tears of the Kingdom: an in-depth look. 5 minutes at most.
• Miyamoto: "The Mario movie is almost out! Super Nintendo World is already open! Bye!"
• (further) Roadmap plans for Mario Kart, Switch Sports, and Splatoon 3

And that's it. Keeping expectations low...

Quote

featuring roughly 40 minutes of information mostly focused on #NintendoSwitch games launching in the first half of 2023.

...but man, that intriguing, exact choice of words is hard to ignore.

[MindFreak]

5 minutes ago, Jonnas said:

...but man, that intriguing, exact choice of words is hard to ignore.

They'll just look back on the past 25 years of gaming. Taking up 10 minutes of the Direct. 

[Ronnie]

I imagine the stuff that isn't releasing in the first half is say, Pikmin 4, coming August/September. They could finally show off Metroid Prime 4, but would be weird to take attention away from Zelda (among the hardcore at least)

[darksnowman]

Not in the first half of 2023 will be the Zelda DLC and amiibos. 

[Ashley]

Hmm it's actually 9am (Friday) in Sydney so I might watch it live for a change

[darksnowman]

22 minutes ago, Ashley said:

Hmm it's actually 9am (Friday) in Sydney so I might watch it live for a change

Ye wha. They don't ring in the new year a day and a half in advance.  

[Ashley]

1 hour ago, darksnowman said:

Ye wha. They don't ring in the new year a day and a half in advance.  

I'm traveling and lost track of days. I meant Thursday obviously. 

[Ronnie]

17 hours ago, Julius said:

and honestly, partly down to their lengths but also Nintendo's own marketing plans, they all portray something closer to a teaser trailer: mostly quick cuts, dramatic and eye-catching frames (Ganondorf turning his head, Hyrule Castle rising up, Link leaping from a floating island, flashes of new mechanics, etc., etc.), but virtually nothing to really set either the tone or expectation for what moment-to-moment gameplay for Tears of the Kingdom is going to be like. 

For their bigger games, Nintendo seem to like to step the stage with full length but vague teaser trailers, and then reveal the main gimmick or hook of the game much closer to release, which is pretty much where we are atm. Think back to that pretty meaty Odyssey trailer at the Switch event, and then 6 months later showing us literally the main point of the game, Cappy and transformations. Same with BOTW, we had no idea about the towns, shrines, divine beasts, storyline etc until that January presentation.

[Sprout]

This is Maidahiro Sproukurai.

Have you been watching Sakurai's YouTube channel? He tends to release a new video every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and today's video was all about-

...Huh. That's strange. It's Wednesday, and yet there hasn't been a new video upload.

Don't you think that's a little strange?

I think that's a little strange.

At least I'll have a Nintendo Direct to watch today to make up for not getting a video from Sakurai, I suppose.

...Oh! Sorry, don't mind me! Just pondering things to myself. Don't worry, I'M FINISHED!