There seems to be reason to believe that Nintendo is planning a Nintendo Direct yet again.
Before we get to the rumor, it’s worth reviewing Nintendo’s recent slate of announcements that had fans convinced that Nintendo thought better than to make a new Nintendo Direct.
In the months leading up to now, Nintendo had been preoccupied marketing one specific game: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. The latest in this recent slate of major 2023 releases, which includes Diablo 3 and Street Fighter 6, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was pegged as an instant classic, and GOTY contender.
So, Nintendo didn’t hold another Nintendo Direct for its launch, but Nintendo no longer holds such events with that much frequency. Post-Iwata, Nintendo Directs are more measured events, an opportunity for Nintendo’s executives and developers to introduce games, or make announcements, but no longer a place where we even learn about deep insights on game development.
In any case, Nintendo held an Indie World Showcase last April 19, weeks before The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s release on May 12, 2023. They had also made an announcement about Nintendo Live, but without a Direct to go with it.
Nintendo also made a stealth announcement for Everybody 1-2-Switch. This group party game isn’t the strongest follow up to The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom on paper, but it just might surprise us. In any case, this stealth announcement seems intended to benefit Everybody 1-2-Switch more than it was to hurt The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
And most recently, we got a release date and trailer for Pikmin 4, but that did not get a Direct. We’re sure Shigeru Miyamoto would have loved to bring the staff on to talk about this game, but in this case, Nintendo opted not to have that Direct.
Now, as reported by The Gamer, Nintendo Co Ltd (that’s the Japanese Nintendo) recently updated the Nintendo Direct page of their website. It still isn’t known what changes Nintendo Co made to the web page, but it is known that these changes usually come before Nintendo hosts a new Nintendo Direct.
Pikmin 4 isn’t releasing until July 21, 2023, so there is still a reason for Nintendo to have such a Direct, for this game, and other possible upcoming Nintendo Switch games.
This may, in fact, also be where Nintendo finally announces their next console. But we can only speculate on all of that until Nintendo finally pulls the trigger.
It also seemed like Nintendo was happy to pass on the summer hype period of E3 Week, or as some people want to call it now, Summer Games Showcase Week. Nintendo may still opt to make such a Direct until the end of June or July, but we still can’t rule out that they may choose to jump in between this week and next week.
Of course, you can trust us to keep you up to date on Nintendo’s latest games and consoles here at GameRanx.
