Nintendo Direct Speculation |OT3| Nintendo Direct Speculation Trilogy HD

[Raccoon]

This thread is now complete. Raccoon will return in the spring (maybe). Thanks so much, everybody!

Graphic courtesy of previous thread by Muzy

Welcome, everyone, to the third official Nintendo Direct speculation thread. I'm Raccoon, and I'm extraordinarily excited and honored to be making this thread. I offer my thanks and respect to Kevin360 and Muzy, the authors of the OT and OT2, respectively. More info will be filled out soon, but I want this OP to focus on frequent updates with current information and summary of community expectations. This post will improve with time.

One point I'd like to address: while there will be ultimately some kind of overlap between 1st party discussions and Direct discussions, I imagine the Direct thread would be more focused on speculation, possible leaks and rumors than this one. It would basically be a thread to contain "all the madness" in one place to keep this thread more level-headed and on-topic.

We've discussed to have a dedicated thread after Moon's suggestion yesterday and came to the conclusion that this might work for the best going forward. So: if anybody is interested to make that thread, they are officially allowed to do so.

Only thing I'd like to ask for is that the OP keeps the opening post updated and tries to keep up with the discussion/speculation.

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Nibel's post above represents the "charter" for the Nintendo Direct Speculation threads

Incidentally, Handicapped Duck wins "20,000th Post in the Last OT" award. Everyone please congratulate them accordingly (per Dark Cloud they are indefinitely barred from participation in this topic, but this will prove difficult to enforce). Also, the subtitle of this thread was selected by a strawpoll and was initially suggested by skittzo0413.

Everyone, please remember to neither pester insiders for intel nor berate them for ill-tidings. Insiders and leakers are human, and many are respected members of the ResetEra community. Remember to be respectful of all other members at all times, no matter how strongly you disagree with their speculation. Lastly, it is best to keep spam messages to a minimum; speculation is generally better received than pure, unadulterated nonsense. However, as always, have fun. NintendoEra is a weird and wacky community with a surprisingly narrow circle of key players/dorks, so I encourage newcomers to hop in and get to know everybody!

Oh, and make sure to check the threadmarks! I try to add fun and/or relevant posts, including the occasional straw poll.

Out of respect, here is Kevin360's original phrasing:

The purpose of this thread:

To better contain the madness of ResetERA's Nintendo Direct speculation, and keep it relatively separate from the Nintendo First-Party thread.

As a general rule, let's try to avoid too much "reset the clock" type posts, until of course, we have a really good reason to think it's time to actually be resetting the clock. Madness must have some modicum of reasoning, you know?

ALSO: DO NOT MESSAGE/HARASS AND TAG 'INSIDERS' (this should go without saying, but they've alluded these things crossing the line)


Helpful links:
Nintendo First Party Thread |OT3| Internal x External x Publishing - What's cooking?
Nintendo Community Thread |OT| *This Space for Rent* (brutal)
Switch Rumor Archive Rebirth (Read posting rules in OP)
NintendoEra Discord:
https://discordapp.com/invite/rEXr9tC


Previous threads:
Nintendo Direct Speculation |OT|
Nintendo Direct Speculation |OT2| Reset the Thread
***************************
Last Direct: September 4, 2019

When's the next Nintendo Direct?
Here are my thoughts from December:
"Almost certainly in either January or February. January would be more standard based on previous trends, but last year January was skipped in favor of a February event. There may be a January Direct, but recent hints from insiders have suggested that no one is aware of one. January isn't unreasonable to expect, but February is a safer, more conservative bet."

However, there is a growing camp that believes that the Pokémon Direct will directly precede a so-called "general" Nintendo Direct on Thursday the 16th or Wednesday the 15th. I am of the opinion that if neither of those happen, we might see a February Direct, March Direct, or even no Direct until E3. Basically, I have no idea.

Oh, and Team February lost, btw.

What do we expect to see there?
Possible announcements:
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons info
- the final Smash Bros DLC
- the Metro collection port rated in European territories
- Devil May Cry 3
- probably Bayonetta 3
- Tokyo Mirage Sessions FE: Encore

Did an insider say there will be a Direct next week?
No. No insiders have commented on the timing of the Direct except for Zell, who said there wouldn't be a Direct til E3. He was almost certainly joking, but this is amusingly the only timing hint we have.

Oh yeah, I keep hearing about DMC3 confirming a Direct? What's up with that?

First date is interesting....

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Obviously this is no confirmation.

Howdy there, I'm an American. Where the heck is Brain Age?
We don't know, sir. But, one Twitter user thinks it might have something to do with this:

Someone sent this link to me earlier today. Note, it's just speculation:

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Earlier you mentioned Bayonetta 3?

https://www.resetera.com/threads/platinum-games-teases-“big-announcements”-for-“early”-2020.163559/

As noted in this thread, it seems likely that we'll finally see Bayonetta 3 news in an early 2020 Direct, based on the promises of upcoming news from PlatinumGames.
Okay, how about Splatoon 3?
From July 2019:

https://nintendowire.com/news/2019/07/17/splatoon-3-development-hasnt-started-says-series-producer/

Splatoon 3 had not started development as of July. In the interest of fairness I feel compelled that these sorts of comments are not always entirely reliable.

And remember...

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👀

 

[Raccoon]

Holyuu

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I'll add it to the OP in a moment. What a strange turn of events!

 

[Raccoon]

Poll added! Are you #TeamJanuary or #TeamFebruary? Vote now!

 

[Raccoon]

I'd like to suggest a second poll that asks how long in January it will take for Era to melt down if the Direct is indeed in February.

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just for fun:

https://strawpoll.com/pxcek3pk

 

[Raccoon]

Let's do a bad poll

Do you expect them in 2020, yes or no

Bayonetta 3
BotW2
Paper Mario 6
New 2D Metroid
Pikmin 3 Remastered
Prime Trilogy
Mario Odyssey 2
Super Mario Party 2
3D World port
Diamond/Pearl remake

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just for fun

https://www.strawpoll.me/19142060/r

Alright, I want some quick and simple predictions for 2020. One, both or none for each of these:

1. Super Mario Odyssey 2 or Super Mario 3D World Deluxe
2. Paper Mario or WarioWare
3. 2D Metroid or Metroid Prime Trilogy
4. Mario Golf or Super Mario Party 2
5. Main-series Pokémon or a Pokémon spin-off
6. Tomodachi Life or Rhythm Heaven
7. New IP or Existing IP for EPD Group 9's next title

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Odyssey 2
Paper Mario*
2D Metroid (a new one!)
neither til 2021
main series (Sinnoh remake)
neither til 2021
New IP

 

[Raccoon]

Hey guys, as we head into the first week of the year (and this thread) that a Nintendo Direct could feasibly be announced, I wanted to share my personal reminder of preferred etiquette in this thread. I know that at times I've overstepped my role as OP, so I want to make clear that I am in no way trying to moderate or set "rules" for participation in the thread. Instead consider these Raccoon's friendly suggestions for making this thread the best it can be.

Below are my personal recommendations for how best to operate in this thread as things start to get crazier:

First of all, a reminder to be respectful in our interactions with "insiders." The participation of insiders like Emily, NateDrake, the former King Zell, and insider-adjacent figures like Zippo and Jonneh is, of course, appreciated for its utility. But remember that these people are members of the community as well. I was personally quite tickled to see some high profile votes in my little thread poll, but I don't think people should take these votes, or any casual community-oriented participation from these figures in the thread, as hints or gospel. In essence, do not chew these people out if there is no January Direct, please! In fact, don't chew any of them out for anything. Emily doesn't make the games, and being mad about what she or others do or don't know is not conducive to productive discussion and is generally detrimental to the vibe. We owe these fine folks a lot (some of us more than others). In my opinion, here are some behaviors that are supremely uncool:

- mentioning (@-ing) insiders unreasonably (you be the judge, but personally I think anything other than requests for clarification are a bit too bold)
- accusing them of having an agenda
- disrespecting their work (Criticism of leaking is fine in my opinion, I've done it a lot and think unpopular opinions are healthy to share. But please don't belittle, marginalize, or personally attack these people for their work, it's super uncool and unkind)
- crafting conspiracy theories (I'd advise this particularly pertaining to GameXplain. I was on the "Jon Cartwright's a secret leaker!!1!" train for a hot minute, but then I realized it's pretty rude, disrespectful, and honestly kinda crazy.)

Of course, to reiterate, these are not rules! I am not a mod! This is just the advice of someone who cares way too much about this thread. Furthermore, you likely can do the above in ways that aren't uncool and there's plenty of other stuff you could do that would be uncool. You should know the difference between respectful and not, and be mindful of how you're engaging with insiders. Obviously this is a forum and spats and disputes are natural, but if you're really ragging on one of these people, remember that they're members too, and most often Nintendo fans as well! Except Shinobi, if I recall correctly. But don't harrass him about that, either!

Second, while this may seem unreasonable as we head into the most exciting fortnight of recent Nintendo speculation history, please keep spam low. I love shitposting, shitposting is good, but I think there's a noteworthy difference between the good clean fun of a nice shitpost and the unfun oversaturation of spam. Resetting the clock is fun, and I imagine we'll see it a lot when Nintendo Tweets unrelated to the Direct go out. But if you're really just flooding the thread with crap that is neither funny nor beneficial to discussion, maybe reconsider how you're posting. Or at least get better material!

Another short note about Twitter and other sites in general: please don't brigade. I know that isn't going to be a problem for this group, but I'd like to maintain a reputation for NintendoEra as a community that doesn't reply to every Tweet with "Direct where?!?" and the like. Obviously off-site behavior is nobody's business, but again, as a personal favor to me, please don't foster a community attitude of being annoying or trolls.

Next point, I'd like to remind people to please be patient. I mean this in a lot of ways beyond the obvious. Most pertinent to this thread: be patient with your fellow members. One of the most useful philosophies I've found in life is not to presume malice when faced with ignorance. If a participant in this topic, particularly someone who doesn't post very often, doesn't know something that we've accepted into our community zeitgeist, please don't assume they're trolling! I'd really like to see more new faces participate if interested, and the more accommodating we are, the better the thread and the future of the community will be. On the flip side, I'd personally prefer not to see accusations of overinvestment in the thread, speculation, or Nintendo. Some of us, like me, really don't have a lot going on right now. As an American university student on a longer-than-usual winter break between semesters, I've gotten even deeper into this stuff than I think I was when the thread started. So, on a personal note, seeing people's levels of engagement in the thread in either direction used as material for character criticism really bums me out, and I'm pleading with you all that we don't see more of this as the speculation heats up and we see more lurkers and newcomers enter the discourse.

A quick reminder: if we do get a Direct soon and it doesn't live up to expectations (which is, in my opinion, entirely inevitable at this point), please do not be hostile towards those who have suggested that this year (and, if only via proxy and our own assumptions, this Direct) will be stellar. The content of a Direct does not directly indicate how much content is upcoming, unfortunately. It instead only tells us what Nintendo wants to show. As someone who is often hopelessly hot-headed, over-dramatic, and quick to overreact on this forum, I can tell you all personally that it isn't fun. This is basically advice for myself, but I extend it to all of you as well: let's try to keep level heads and calm, collected attitudes this month.

Finally, I'd like to add a boilerplate "be civil" to these recommendations. All of this stuff is in the OP in one form or another, and the biggest thing to take away from that is to be civil. After all, at the end of the day, we're just talking about video games presentations here. You all know what being civil means in the context of this forum I think, so I'll just leave it at that.

Thanks for reading everybody. Now, let the Nintendo Direct craze begin! On Monday, starting in the morning PST. But, y'know. Soon!

Now, while I (hopefully) have eyes on this post, I have some OP logistics stuff I'd like to take note of:

First, as always, if you have any comments, suggestions, or complaints about how I'm doing as OP, I'm listening. You can post in this thread, or DM me. You can be harsh, I won't mind!

If we are still on OT3 when a Nintendo Direct is announced, I'll request a temporary lock to this thread as soon as I see the notification (which will likely be as soon as it goes out on Twitter, unless I'm driving or something). If any moderators or staff are reading this post, I solicit your opinion on this. I will not be attempting to make the Direct announcement thread, as I'll leave that to the fastest typist. I think in the past we've had an announcement thread followed by a live thread for the presentation, but, as a personal suggestion to whomever makes the thread, I think a thread for the announcement with a threadmark for when the presentation starts would be clean, tidy, and clear. That's obviously beyond my jurisdiction, though. This thread will presumably reopen after the Direct has concluded whenever one of the site's hardworking volunteer moderators can get to it. Please do not make an OT4 in the meantime, although there would certainly be some comedy in that.

Speaking of OT4, I'd like to get the issue of finding its author squared away. I slipped in at the end of OT2 and requested the honors, and I personally think that having a different OP for each OT could be a really cool tradition for NintendoEra. However, this time I'd like us to find the person to do it before we get to the end of the thread. Anyone is welcome! Please don't be intimidated by how hard I try at this; it's only a big deal if you make it a big deal. As I alluded to earlier in this post, I've messed up a couple times and done too much or made the wrong call, but it's all been okay. Furthermore, you pretty much can't underperform as OP: at their heart, the Nintendo Direct Speculation Threads are community threads, and how updated the OP is or how many threadmarks there are doesn't impact that. Anyone can do it, and no matter what you'll do a good job! Being OP has been incredibly fun for me, it's the most fun I've ever had on Era and the position has led me to meet a bunch of really cool, nice people with great taste in games. It's been a heck of a way to go out and I wouldn't trade it for anything. If you're someone who wants to get more involved in the community here but you aren't sure how, I'd strongly recommend you consider authoring OT4. If you're interested, you can post in the thread or DM me and I'll try to coordinate that.

Thanks again, NintendoEra, you've been insanely great. Now, let's get ready for the last stretch of waiting for our first 2020 Direct!!

 

[Raccoon]

Are we on board for this week being the week ? Just curious

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I thought this would make for a fun strawpoll

https://www.strawpoll.me/19181248

 

[Raccoon]

Discussion should probably continue here:

https://www.resetera.com/threads/pokemon-direct-announced-for-january-9th.163436/

Lock should be imminent.

 

[Raccoon]

@TeamFebruary

 

[Raccoon]

Everybody change your votes! I used my supreme hacking ability to bend Xenforo to its limits