Today’s long-awaited Nintendo Direct came and went in a flash. Despite being longer than usual (roughly one hour of content this time around), there was surprisingly not all that much revealed. Of course, no showcase ever goes by without something of note, and there were a few interesting games, DLC, and more revealed in the livestream. Despite these announcements, this particular Direct came with a lot of hype and expectations that it really did not live up to. I came away feeling rather underwhelmed, and you probably should feel the same.
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Nintendo’s Latest Direct Missed the Mark
Several factors made this Nintendo Direct more anticipated than normal. First off, Nintendo hadn’t had a major Direct since the Switch 2 reveal, which was in April. Since then, very little has actually been revealed for the new console, and this provided a chance for Nintendo to finally show off what they’ve been working on.
Rumors also helped drive that hype up, though it’s not entirely fair to hold Nintendo to the standards enforced by speculation it has nothing to do with. Additionally, this Direct comes right before the holiday season, and Nintendo usually has big games slated for that time of year to capitalize on the sales rush. All signs pointed to a big event, and it just wasn’t that.
The biggest reveals of the Direct included Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave, the Super Mario Galaxy collection, the teaser for the Mario movie sequel, Donkey Kong Bananza DLC, Mario Tennis Fever, Pokémon Pokopia (a weird cozy spin-off with a Ditto posing as a human), and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond‘s release date. I’m sorry, but that’s not quite as massive as it could’ve been.
Among those, I think the biggest announcement is the Super Mario Galaxy remasters. It is quite significant that Super Mario Galaxy 2 isn’t console-locked to the Nintendo Wii anymore, but even that comes with a few caveats. First, Nintendo is packaging it with the first game for a price of $70 and selling it individually for $40. This is especially frustrating for those of us who actually did purchase the 3D All-Stars Collection for Mario’s 35th anniversary. It’s essentially a redundant copy of Super Mario Galaxy now, and it decreases the value of the artificially scarce 3D collection.
The big finale was Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave, which is big news for fans of that franchise. Still, it’s just not the sort of franchise that Nintendo ought to be closing with. It’s a substantial release, but it’s not one that will drive up the excitement. Starting with the Mario announcements and then ending with Fire Emblem felt exceptionally anticlimactic. Plus, one of the major Mario announcements being movie-related only takes away from the gaming side of things.
It feels like Nintendo really missed a golden opportunity here. The Switch 2 is doing well, but there are still plenty who’ve held out. Not much that was revealed today is likely to change anyone’s mind and get them to finally get the new console, and with the holidays nearly here, that’s something that might come back to bite Nintendo.
Where Are All the Biggest Projects?
For all that Nintendo did announce, and there was a lot in the 60 minutes, what’s most surprising is what they didn’t announce. We knew, based on trademark activity and rumors, that the Super Mario Bros. Movie sequel would be teased and that we would have to get Metroid Prime 4: Beyond‘s actual release date. Those were two of the biggest announcements, and they weren’t that surprising at all.
Where was the Animal Crossing love? It’s been five years since New Horizons was a genuine smash hit, and there’s been virtually nothing on that front. Where’s the Zelda remasters, remakes, or a new game? Fans have pleaded, and a new console marked a perfect opportunity to bring back Twilight Princess. While we have Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, this still isn’t scratching the Zelda itch that fans have. There was also no Super Smash Bros., Splatoon, and nothing really new for Mario outside of a Switch 2 upgrade for Super Mario Bros. Wonder. For Nintendo’s biggest franchises, we didn’t get much.
Of course, all of those things weren’t going to happen, but one or two of them certainly seemed plausible. Obviously, Nintendo doesn’t have these games ready or believes that they’re best saved for later, but that just means that today’s Direct is sadly not going to go down as a particularly memorable one.
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