well

well

We're in September, and you know what that means: a new Nintendo Direct is right around the corner! Normally I don't like to make assumptions like this without official statements but I think this time it's ok to do so: since the Nintendo Directs were introduced there's always been at least one Nintendo Direct in September, the only exception was 2015 when Nintendo was facing the internal turmoil following Iwata's passing and the negative feedback from E3, that prevented them to have anything exciting to show off to justify making a Direct. Additionally in recent years Nintendo seems to prefer to show off their lineup for the Fall season in September in order to let fans know what exactly is coming and when aswell as giving glimpses of what's to come in the following year, as we've seen in 2017 where both Kirby and Octopath Traveler were shown among others.

Now, since the rumors about a new Direct are rising (but still unreliable) to me it seems like the perfect time to check what people want/predict to see in this new Nintendo Direct: Do you expect many big announcements or will Nintendo hold their gun for a little more, perhaps until The Game Awards ? What would you like to see and what would make for you a good Direct right now.

Here's to my prediction/expectation: 

-Super Mario Party: the game is one of the main reasons I think this Direct will happen, it's releasing October 5th and Nintendo certainly wants to advertise it more, it'd be foolish of them to wait until 5 days or less from release to do so;

-Pokémon Let's GO: some new gameplay from areas we haven't seen yet, possibly new zones that expand to the original game i.e. Sevii Islands;

-Smash Ultimate: no brainer, but still less likely than the previous two, I think they could just end the Direct with a single character announcement, leaving the mysterous new mode and other characters for another Direct, but then again they might want to skip this one to relieve the Smash pressure and then hit with another Smash Direct down the line;

-One GOOD Wii U port for 2018: I think Nintendo realizes that Pokémon Let's GO doesn't cater to the same audience as a regular Pokémon game since GameFreak themselves described it as a casual-oriented game, this leads me to believe Nintendo might want to have another title to fill the gap for those users in late October/November. Still Nintendo is Nintendo, they won't announce and release a brand new game within 3 months, this means only one thing: more ports ! I think the most likely pick would be Super Mario Maker, followed by Wind Waker HD and Super Mario 3D World, I myself would love Xenoblade X, but I think it'd be too close to Torna, they'll probably save it for 2019;

-Yoshi: Yoshi needs to show up, you know how long it's been since we've seen this game ? 15 months, it was shown for the first and last time at E3 2017, Nintendo said development is progressing smoothly and, considering it was meant to come out this year, it only makes sense for it to be part of Nintendo's lineup for early 2019;

-Fire Emblem Three Houses: This is a tricky one, I think it'd be smart of them to start showcasing the game, Nintendo sent the clear message that they want the series to become one of their main IPs and this could be the right time to give the extra push it needs to become that: fans have been waiting for a home console Fire Emblem for a long time, and it only makes sense to start building the hype now, though I could see them holding off until November/December;

-Many third party titles and surprise ports, possibly releasing in 2018;

-One game we don't know anything about (for Nintendo): Nintendo likes to have surprises in their Directs, and let's be real, Wii U ports aren't, we know many teams inside and outside of Nintendo are working on titles for 2019, which will likely have a much stronger lineup than 2018, I think giving us something about that might give the fans an easier time going through the last months of 2018, it's really hard to say, it could be the "close to completion in 2015" Pikmin 4, the Star Fox Racing game allegedly in development at Retro Studios, a new Animal Crossing or possibly a new IP, there's only one thing I'm sure: it's not Pokémon 2019, they don't want to cut the sales of Let's GO showing a better game before release :p (also similarly I wouldn't bet on a new Luigi's Mansion)