yeah but i just wanted something good, not just the slop nintendo is going to put on my plate because they know there is nothing better to eat around here.

The Direct was good. I didn't expect any major new AAA Ninty franchises to be announced yet. There was plenty in the Direct though, but nothing to get someone excited to upgrade from a Switch to a Switch 2.

Next Mario movie coming in Spring 2026 is awesome, way sooner than I expected. That means we get Mario in 2026 and Zelda in 2027, I'm excited!

Finallyyyyyy the best game from the Wii - Galaxy 2 - gets re-released. It was a travesty that it wasn't included in 3D All-Stars. I've been wondering ever since that blatant omission when they'll finally release it, and glad to see it's on both systems and not just S2. Though the pricing at $70 for the bundle is ridiculous (as is all Nintendo pricing starting this year), but at least you can also buy the games separately so I don't have to have two copies of Galaxy for Switch, but still $40 for Galaxy 2 is also ridiculous but I'll probably give it to myself as a xmas present.

The Mario Tennis game makes it seem like Nintendo is taking their sports games seriously again. Lots of features and modes and stuff. Every single Nintendo sports game on Switch was notable for being an obviously low effort game, as though they were just going through the motions with their sports games last gen. MT Fever looks like they are putting real effort into making good sports games again.

Hades 2 on Switch and S2 is awesome.

DQ7 remake looks like it could be cool.

The Virtual Boy added to NSO and having to buy a whole separate VB peripheral for it is wild! haha. I'm sure collectors will like it, but beyond that this is something nobody asked for or wants or would ever pay for - it costs $100! or $25 for the cardboard version, all just to eventually play 14 crappy VB games lol.

Metroid Prime 4 finally getting a release date is good, and the game looks epic, that bike was a surprise, for a second I thought it was some spinoff Metroid action racing game haha.

Announcing paid DLC for Pokemon Legends Z-A before the game has even released makes it feel like a deliberate decision to leave out content from the actual game in order to do a cash grab DLC. Usually DLC is something that is made after the game launches to give the gamer a reason to come back to the game and do more stuff, now it's just something made alongside the game and released a few months later. Awkward.

For the holidays I'll be trying to decide if I'm gonna buy Galaxy 2 and Prime 4 on Switch.

Metroid Prime 4, Kirby Air Riders, DKBananza, and MKWorld are all Nintendo games released/releasing over the span of six months. Nintendo is not simply putting out “slop…because they know there is nothing better to eat around.” We can agree on Nintendo’s pricing strategy being aggressive specifically when it comes software and accessories, but arguing that Nintendo hasn’t been keeping up with quality first-party output is a tad bit much IMO.

first of all, i want to you to know that i agree with your overall point. however, metroid is long overdue. i understand they had to scrap it and they took their time and made it the best it could be, i would take that 10/10 times over a rushed mess of a product, but as far as the direct itself (which was the subject at hand) i dont really give it credit for metroid because its just such old news at this point. the thing about the direct, nintendos strategy until the spring, is that they are not really giving us much. to me it is a lot of mediocre efforts and half assed re-releases which i am beyond tired of. for instance, yoshi and mario tennis are new games, thats great. thats always the first thing i want to see. but at this point, they really are starting to feel like rehashes of things weve seen on the previous 3 to 4 systems. medicore effort. ill give them credit though, overall theyre doing well and again, its better than anything else out there but the bar is so low at this point, theyre able to get away with anything if they wanted to, and they know that. its cool though. metroid looks phenomenal and donkey kong was awesome and the type of fresh new experience from a series that i like to see.

I think Metroid Prime 4 and Rhythm Heaven Groove is all Im interested in from Nintendo at this point. Doesnt mean Kirby Air Riders, Hyrule Warriors, Mario Tennis, Pokemon Legends and Fire Emblem will be bad games, they just look like the same old for me. I think Im just tired of AAA gaming as a whole. They keep going up in price while giving us less content.

I think the big problem is that Nintendo revealed their “hand of cards” for 2025 way too soon. For instance, we knew about Metroid Prime 4: Beyond’s 2025 release all the way back in June 2024, and every game they intended to release this year was revealed in the April presentation. What we’re seeing right now is very predictable: Nintendo is left empty-handed, having nothing to show for a June Direct, and only managing to cobble together a collection of small announcements for the September Direct. (Reminds me a whole lot of Nintendo’s September 2017 presentation (minus Mario Odyssey).) All in all, had Nintendo not previously announced Metroid Prime 4, Kirby Air Riders, Mario Tennis Fever, etc., then this Direct would easily go down as one of the best they’ve ever done.

Ultimately, I’m a sucker for all things Nintendo, so I walked away from this presentation very pleased. But if you are somebody not looking to spend $70 on a compilation of Wii games, then I understand the frustration coming out of this. You know good games are coming, but this presentation was wimpy by Nintendo standards.

i do think that if nintendo saved the release date for metroid that it would have hit much harder. 

for marios 40th, didnt you expect something substantial? i mean, of course the new 3d mario is what we all had in mind, and its obviously what should have happened given the milestone, but it didnt have to be that. maybe some fresh new type of mario game or another series in a franchise that takes things to the next level or innovates in some way. not re-releases. im so sick of ports and remasters. i was on this site trashing sony for this throughout the entirety of 2014, relentlessly. and im not going to accept that from nintendo. at least with my words. i might with my wallet. 

new rhythm heaven? i dont know how i completely missed that. im a big fan, love that series. will definitely pick up.

You nailed it, the same thing happens every time, people treat each Direct like it’s E3 and we’re supposed to get megaton after megaton of games releasing over the next 2-3 years.

That model no longer exists and Nintendo does a few general Directs each year where the focus is on games releasing over the next 6 or so months.

Nintendo doesn’t operate according to deadlines. When a game’s ready, then it ships out. Hence, Nintendo has an inconsistent history with these five year anniversaries, often serving is nothing more than a marketing ploy. 2010 saw Galaxy 2 and a re-release of SNES Mario All Stars (lol), 2015 saw Mario Maker and not much else, 2020 saw DLC and a Mario 3D All Stars, 2025 saw DLC, a movie, and Mario Galaxy 1+2. I definitely was hoping for a 3D Mario, but if Nintendo doesn’t see the 40th anniversary as the best launch window, then they’ll hold off. Them marketing Yoshi as the big Mario game for the 40th anniversary reminds me of how they marketed M&L: Dream Team as the big Luigi game of 2013.

I think this is more of an expectations issue than a Nintendo problem. I also would’ve loved what you suggest, though if they don’t deliver on it, then…well…it’s not like there was precedent for such in the first place.