A new year, a new decade, a new round of speculation. It has
been a few months since the last Nintendo Direct and with the new year having
started, there is very little that Nintendo fans know to be on the lookout for
throughout the year. With E3 is all the way off in June, it is likely that
Nintendo will make at least a few announcements and maybe a Direct or two
before then, telling the public what they plan to give us this year. With a Pokemon Direct coming this Thursday and a full Nintendo Direct rumored to be coming not too long after, speculation is running high.
That is the focus of this article as we focus on our picks
for the Top 10 Nintendo Direct Predictions from January to E3 2020.
Rather than focusing on specific titles, this list is
focusing on more general topics Since so many Nintendo series can apply to several
of these topics, some of these entries have potential announcements for
different series grouped together.
10. New Amiibos or A New Experimental Project
Nintendo likes to throw experimental projects at the public from
out of left field. Whether they become hits or not, things like Nintendo Labo
or Ring Fit Adventure tell us to expect the unexpected when it comes to this
publisher. Of course, unexpected things aren’t all when it comes to special
merchandise. Although the toys-to-life fad may have come and gone, Amiibos have
managed to survive by just being cool collectibles of Nintendo characters, with
some third-party characters thrown in for good measure. We could get
announcements of the newer Smash Bros. characters that have yet to get figures
or even figures for new series coming soon.
9. A New Upgraded Switch Type
People have been asking for a Switch Pro, Switch Plus, or Super
Switch for a long time now, some would even say since the Switch first came
out. With the new console generation on the horizon, this seems like the
perfect time to announce an upgraded version of the current Nintendo console. The
PlayStation 5 and the new iteration of the Xbox will be boasting top of the
line graphics and performance and while Nintendo isn’t expected to reach quite
that level, they might need some kind of hardware upgrade if they want to
continue to look appealing to third-parties. There have even been hints that Nintendo
may be planning a hardware upgrade, so to some people, it’s not a matter of ‘if’,
but ‘when’.
8. The Last Few Wii U Ports
Nintendo has done a good job so far bringing over so many of
the Wii U’s titles to the Switch, giving these quality games a second life from
their overlooked first outing or even just giving them full-on sequels.
However, there are still a few titles that have yet to get this attention.
Games like Super Mario 3D World and The Wonderful 101 have yet to see the same
success as other titles that have come to the Switch, and at this point there
aren’t that many titles left for the Wii U to bring over. So, why not finish them
off?
7. New First Party Minor Release or Spin-Off Game
Not all of Nintendo’s titles are big ticket releases. Sometimes,
when Nintendo wants to expand the universe of one of their games or experiment
with new ideas, they do it with a spin-off title of one of their biggest
franchises. Sometimes, it gives us new
marquee titles like Mario Kart, but other times, it gives us Metroid Prime:
Federation Force. Two of the most likely franchises to do this with are Super Mario
and Pokemon, due to how versatile they have proven in the past, but Nintendo
could reasonably give this attention to one of their other franchises as well.
6. Nintendo Switch Online Update
While Nintendo has for the most part been doing things well
this generation, especially compared to the Wii U or how certain publishers
have been handling themselves now (cough Bethesda cough), one of the biggest
sticking points about them is how they’ve handled their online services. Nintendo
Switch Online has been lacking in features that other online subscription
services have used, essentially being just a way for Nintendo to paywall online
play for games like Splatoon and Smash. While the access to old-school Nintendo
titles is great, the offerings there are a little too shallow for most people. Even
if NSO is cheaper than other services, gamers want more bang for their buck.
5. New DLC Characters for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
With the release of Terry Bogard in November, everyone was
hoping for news of the next new fighter in December and speculation was high
about who it could be. When the month came and went with not a peep from
Nintendo, everyone’s wondering when they’ll be announced as much as who it is.
Past the fifth character in Fighters Pass 1, there is also speculation about
which characters might make it into Smash beyond that point and even how many
more characters may enter the game. Exactly who might make it in is an article
for another day, but hopefully, the fifth DLC fighter gets revealed soon.
4. Nintendo Music Service
Nintendo made gaming news headlines a few months ago
and not in a good way.
Back in August 2019, the company took down several YouTube channels that were
hosting Nintendo game music, hitting them with so many copyright claims that
channels were shut down as a result. While it can be argued that Nintendo is in
their right to do so, most of these
games, especially older or obscure ones, don’t have their full soundtracks readily
available, and so, there is no viable alternative to those who want to listen
to their favorite game tracks. (No one wants to have to find an old console and work through a game just to listen to one song from it.) Also, for some, this called back a little too much to the time when Nintendo
would strike down any video that even talked about Nintendo game content.
Many believed that this was leading to Nintendo announcing
their very own music platform, music YouTube channel, or adding their music
catalogue to a streaming service like Spotify, but so far, they haven’t
announced anything. We’re hoping they still might, but until then, at least some
Nintendo music channels survived the purge.
3. Big Third-Party Announcements
Nintendo first-party titles are big news, but just as big
are announcements of multi-platform, or even exclusive titles from big
third-party publishers. There are the usual suspects of Sega, Capcom,
Square-Enix, Bandai-Namco, and even Ubisoft, but recent developments have even
put Microsoft and SNK up as candidates. The success of the Switch and Nintendo’s
collaboration with several of these companies make it feel like Nintendo is a
couple of talks away from making something big happen, from a big, new game to
a rerelease of a fan-favorite past game to a popular gaming service making its way to
the Switch (looking at you, Xbox Game Pass). We’re all just waiting for it.
2. Updates on Announced Titles
While news about unannounced titles are just as
hype-raising, a lot of people are ready for news about some of the games
Nintendo has already announced as coming to the system. Such titles include
Breath of the Wild 2, Bayonetta 3, No More Heroes 3, Metroid Prime 4, Pikmin 4,
and Shin Megami Tensei 5. (All sequels, yes, but that doesn’t make them any
less exciting.) These titles were all announced a long time ago and there has
been next to no news about them since. Everyone wants to hear more about how
the development on them is going and if they can expect any of them anytime
soon.
1. New Major First Party Game Announcements
Perhaps the biggest kind of announcement we could get from a
Nintendo Direct, bigger than anything else on this list, is the announcement of
a brand-new game from Nintendo. Apart from the above-mentioned games that we
already know about, Nintendo doesn’t really have anything else for fans to look
forward to, so another big new announcement could be just what they need to keep
the hype going. This could be anything from a revival of a dormant game series
like F-Zero, a new entry in a beloved series yet to touch the Switch like Kid
Icarus, or, if we’re really stretching it, a completely new IP. The sky’s the
limit, right?
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What did you think of this list? What are you hoping
Nintendo announces in their next Direct? Sound off in the comments below.
Thanks for coming!
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