I'm expecting more details on games already announced for this year (and maybe a couple new surprises), but I also think half the Direct will be announcements for games releasing next year.  I.e. almost all of the new announcements will be for next year. 

We'd either see something brief (like a cutscene) like we did when Tears of the Kingdom was revealed or we could get a normal unveiling with no release date or coming late 2026 or some point in 2027. 

I just know Nintendo is in an interesting spot because the DK team is surely working on 3D Mario but who knows if they could even start active development until Dk went gold. 

Hoping for release dates for Metroid Prime 4 and Hyrule Warriors Age of Imprisonment, native Resident Evil Switch 2 ports, a Splatoon Raiders trailer, and something brand new first party wise.

The focus has been on games coming out in the near future since a long time, but because we've already entered September, there will be a bunch of early 2026 games as well for sure. It's fair to expect to see games that will release by May 2026, and given the length of the Direct, you have to be prepared to sit through ~15 minutes of uninteresting third party games.

As for Duskbloods specifically, I wouldn't get my hopes up to see it in this Direct because at best it's a 50/50 chance that it releases in the first half of 2026. Its teaser trailer didn't tell us anything about how far along the development is.

Hmmm .... Somehow I think it would feel legitimate to expect the moon for a Direct of this length and especially because they've kept quiet on the first party front since the June Direct.

Anyway, I'm at least guessing that by such length, the Direct will likely feature of a few games for considerable extended periods like an in-depth look of Metroid Prime 4, Splatoon Rider and a few 3rd parties.

Considering the 40th anniversary, Mario is likely to be features big.

I'm awaiting for a polorizing Direct.

Also, why is it on a Friday?
That hasn't happened before with any General Direct, yes ?

The 13th is the anniversary of Mario Bros. Possible they didn't want to do it on a Saturday but wanted to do it as close as possible.

An hour of footage?!

HOOOO Boy, this is gonna be GOOOOD! Lots of stuff!! (Watch it be 25-30 minutes of Sakurai rambling on and on and on about Kirby Air Riders.)

Damn a full hour. I thought that was just a special occasion for the Switch 2 direct but perhaps this will be the norm now for general directs. Of course this isn't automatically a good thing since quality>quantity but if it's mostly cause of more third party stuff than usual then that's still a really good sign for the platform. It's about damn for some more first party announcements as well so I expect at least one big 2026 game announced.

I thought EDP 4(?) only ever worked on one game at a time? Unless I’m misunderstanding? DKBananza was their latest release, though it’s been revealed that it wasn’t an “all hands on deck” game, but a small chunk of the studio.

Finally. 

A release date and a closer look at Prime 4 is top of my wishlist, but it'd also be great to see some new first party game reveals, and some big third party stuff as the recent Partner Direct only really showed small to medium size stuff. (Doom the Dark Ages and Resident Evil please)

60 minutes is nice and meaty too, looking forward to it.