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Will they pull out all the stops, or leave fans in the dust and disappointed?
If you haven’t heard, at the time of publication, a new Nintendo Direct will be airing later the the same day, September 23rd. Frankly, I’m not too sure what to expect. They have plenty of ways that they could easily smash it out of the park, but this is Nintendo we are talking about, one of the most skilled companies in creating Directs that are major let-downs.
Here’s the thing. At this point, we are nearing 5 years into the console’s life. And there are several titles that got announced all the way back before console launch which still have yet to have anything shown for them. The main two are Bayonetta 3 and Metroid Prime 4. We at least know Metroid Prime 4 was in development before being completely scrapped and starting over roughly a year ago. (Actually going back to fact check, it has now been almost 2 years. Where did the time go?) Bayonetta 3 at this point should have something to show, but everyone has said that for multiple years and still nothing, so I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if it’s still trapped in the void and is a no-call no-show for this direct.
Honestly, At this point I somehow more expect to see something about Metroid Prime 4 than Bayonetta 3. At the very least, we are closing in on 2 years since the last we heard about development completely restarting for Prime 4, which is much more than what we’ve heard from Bayonetta 3, which has been squatch. Zilch. Nada. Nothing. And honestly, once a game starts taking 5 years to develop, you start heading into a dangerous zone where hype builds up too high as the lengthy development cycle causes expectations to rise as mentally people assume more time = betterer game. Nearly every game that starts reaching a timeframe of 5+ years after announcement can start running into these issues. I wholly understand why they would announce something like that, especially at the start of the Switch life when they were coming off the heels of the flopped Wii U and needing to regain trust in both the consumer and the share holders. But at the same time, announcing something far before it’s going to release also has it’s pitfalls.
Outside of those two titles, there are several others we could actually have a good chance of seeing. To start, Splatoon 3 is releasing next year, so I would honestly not be surprised if they show something to that, whether it just be some more info or even possibly a test fire. I probably wouldn’t count on a test-fire just yet, but maybe this truly will be a knockout Direct.
On top of that, I highly believe we will be seeing info on a new console coming to Nintendo Switch Online service. They have patents in for a new controllers, the documentation of which is set to go public on the 24th, the day after the direct. And with the holiday season coming up, they probably want something to help continue to push both console and NSO sales. Currently, the rumors speculate either N64 or Game Boy. As much as I love the Nintendo 64, I would honestly be much more excited for Game Boy. As I’ve stated in this video from over 2 years ago, I do enjoy the system, but I don’t feel it’s aged super well. A fun system for sure, but one that at this point I find most of my joy in playing as an IRL group. Though it would be cool to play some classic N64 games via online multiplayer. I would also like to see how Nintendo would do a controller for it, mainly the thumbstick portion. Frankly even for Game Boy I would like to see exactly what they do in terms of a controller.
We could also possibly see the last Smash Bros Ultimate DLC fighter, though I honestly stopped caring a while ago after they started with Steve and kinda dropped into more generic fighters. It’s cool for the people who care about those fighters, but I’m just much more interested in seeing characters that offer unique styles and gameplay.
I expect we’ll likely see info about an Animal Crossing update as that seems to get seasonal updates. I would like to see DLC added for Mario Kart, or better yet a new Mario Kart game entirely. At this point Mario Kart 8 is 7 years old, and from the Wii U. Don’t get me wrong it’s a great game, but the Switch still does not have it’s own version of Mario Kart, which up to this point every system since GBA has had some version of Mario Kart to call its own. But at the very least I would settle for some DLC it can claim ownership of.
We could possibly see more info on Breath of the Wild 2, but for some reason I’m doubting it. It could end up with a release date at end of fiscal year, putting it right at the 5th year anniversary of the Switch, and thusly the original Breath of the Wild. But me personally, I’m seeing it more as a holiday release for 2022.
Thoughts from TheShyARC
I asked if any of the other Gamer’s Charisma staff wanted to chime in their thoughts on the upcoming direct, and this is what @theshyarc had to say:
Keep Expectations Low
The long and short of it is to always keep expectations low. While it’s fun to think about what might be, you may end up setting yourself up for disappointment, even if they still have a decent direct. Plan for the worst, but hope for the best. We’ll see you all on the other side.
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