The next Nintendo Direct went official this morning. After months of rumors of an official, proper Direct showcase, it is finally on the slate. Nintendo has been cranking these things out faster and more frequent than ever since Switch 2 hit store shelves, but they have largely come in the form of dedicated showcases for specific titles and those Direct side quests: IndieWorld and Partner Showcase. This week though, we get the real deal.
After rumors and leaks predicted as much (to the day by the way), Nintendo officially revealed that it will host the first proper Nintendo Direct since Switch 2 released this week.
It goes live Friday morning at 6 a.m. PT/9 a.m. ET and will run for roughly 60 minutes.
Again, it certainly hasn’t starved gamers of content – there have been a ton of Nintendo announcement streams this year already, which is perhaps to be expected in a console launch year. First we got the dedicated Mario Kart World show that more or less just showed us everything we already knew, but Nintendo really took it up a notch from there with a particularly fantastic dedicated Donkey Bananza showcase followed by a lengthy blow out of the new Kirby Air Riders game thereafter. There were also a pair of shows in between in the form of IndieWorld and a Partner Showcase that were relatively jam-packed – there was still no Sliksong at that point so they seemed worse than they really were if you ask me.
And with all of that out of the way, it’s finally time to give us a full-force Direct – Let’s-a-go!
That is not to say we are expecting some massive Mario announcement, or the next main line Zelda, but you never know. Chances are we are still a ways out from the announcement of a new 3D Mario game and it still feels a bit soon after the release of Super Mario Bros. Wonder for the next side-scroller. But a brief teaser could be huge and take the show right over the top.
As for Zelda, Echoes of Wisdom is still relatively recent and Nintendo pushed the re-releases of the last two mainline games pretty hard for the launch of Switch 2 – we are betting it will be well into 2026 before we hear more from the lands of Hyrule in any significant way.
We are however expecting to get a firm release for the Tears of Kingdom prequel-meets-spin-off Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, and it is almost Mario’s birthday after all. More specifically speaking, the 40 year anniversary of Super Mario Bros. that originally released overseas on September 13, 1985 – that puts the Mario 40th anniversary just 1 day after this week’s release.
Is it even possible Nintendo doesn’t have something to say about it? We hope not and we hope it’s a lot more than a colorful virtual birthday card too. Back for the 35th anniversary Nintendo did a lot more than just remind us – there was the Super Mario 3D All-Stars bundle release, that Super Mario Bros. 35 game, and it even opened the doors to a theme park attraction. And that was just for Mario’s 35th – we expect big things even if it isn’t that rumored collection of classic Mario titles.
It might also makes sense to see Nintendo release Mario Sunshine for the new Switch GameCube library – we already know that game is coming for sure at some point. Maybe even some kind of Mario Maker Switch Edition release to hold us over until the next 2D game?
Both would be a touch disappointing, or maybe just not enough for me when it comes to Mario’s big 4-0, but I’ll take it.
Release dates
There are a number of lingering titles on the horizon, or at least rumored Switch 2 ports, yet to receive proper release dates, but none more pressing for anticipated than Metroid Prime 4: Beyond.
Could it even be possible that this one doesn’t get an official release during Friday’s Nintendo Direct? Well, maybe, but it would seem the only way that could possibly happen is if it is going to get delayed into 2026 and we seriously hope that is not the case. It is, as of right now, and according to Nintendo, still releasing this year.
Beyond that, the Switch Elden Ring release and Finally Fantasy VII seem like safe bets, and here’s a list of long-rumored Switch ports many folks were expecting to hear about by now (and in the last Partner Showcase for that matter):
- Metaphor: ReFantazio
- Assassin’s Creed Shadows
- Assassin’s Creed Mirage
- Death Stranding: Director’s Cut
- Diablo 4
- Fallout 4
- Starfield
- Rainbow Six Siege
- Microsoft Flight Simulator
- Halo: The Master Chief Collection
- Sea of Thieves
- Ori and the Will of the Wisps
- Ori and the Blind Forest
- Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater
Whether or not Microsoft, Ubisoft, and the rest of the gang are ready to bring some of the big boys over to Switch 2 yet is unclear, but we wouldn’t be all tool surprised to see any of the titles above land in this week’s Direct.
What are you hoping for most?
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