Tuesday’s Nintendo Direct was the opposite of what Nintendo and the Switch 2 needed. The presentation, which fans had been eagerly awaiting, inevitably failed to live up to expectations as the Switch 2 line-up continues to underwhelm.
When we wrote about the one-year anniversary of the Switch 2 last month, we expressed frustration at Nintendo’s peculiar decision-making and the lack of a first-party Nintendo Direct. On Tuesday, we finally got the latter and, somehow, it was exactly what you would have expected—not in terms of specific announcements but in the fact that it wasn’t what the majority of people or investors wanted.
Nintendo’s Focus on Japanese Tastes
Nintendo has previously admitted that they may have focused too much on the tastes and preferences of Japanese fans with the Switch 2’s line-up, but there was no indication of a change of direction in this Direct. Everything in the video games industry takes a long time to happen, so it would have been wrong to expect a major shift straight away, but nothing in the Direct suggested that Nintendo knew it needed to do more to attract Western gamers.
The Direct opened with Rhythm Paradise Groove, which was possibly the least arresting game they could have chosen. Nintendo invented the format of the Direct, which every other publisher now copies, and they used to be very clever about how they structured and paced them—opening with something surprising and exciting, having a big reveal in the middle, and a mic drop moment at the end. You could see the logic of starting with Rhythm Paradise Groove (it was the only Switch 1 game, so they wanted to get it out of the way first), but it immediately deflated expectations for what the Direct would be.
Things perked up a bit when the Pokémon Pokopia DLC was announced, and then it was straight into Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave, four different Xenoblade games, and Nintendo Switch Sports Resort. It’s impossible to believe that Nintendo didn’t know how these were going to be received by a significant proportion of Western viewers, but they did it anyway.
Questionable Prioritisation
Not to take anything away from any of the games or their fans, but why were these not interspersed with other first-party titles from more prominent franchises? If Nintendo felt it was so important to have a new Fire Emblem out this early in the Switch 2’s career, why does it still look so cheap and low-tech? A new Xenoblade game is all well and good, but why was so much of the Direct spent talking about four separate new releases from the franchise? And exactly how excited did Nintendo expect anyone to get about a new variation of Wii Sports, especially when it looked so similar to the previous ones? By their normal logic, that sort of ultra-casual release is something that appears later in a console’s life, when a greater number of non-traditional gamers have the hardware—so why has it been prioritised this time?
It’s the lack of contrast that seems most peculiar. Almost nothing was shown of The Duskbloods, yet far longer was spent on Splatoon Raiders, despite the announcement that it’s getting its own Nintendo Direct. Even if you don’t want to announce the release date yet for The Duskbloods, why show so little new footage? It’s the format’s most high-profile third-party exclusive and it’s supposed to be out this year, but the Direct didn’t even reconfirm that.
Third-Party Announcements and Western Absence
What was also noticeable is that while there were plenty of interesting third-party announcements, almost all the big ones were from Japanese publishers. Was there really no other Western publisher they could have featured? Call Of Duty for Switch 2 was only announced the other day, so surely they could have mentioned that at the very least?
And then the mic drop at the end was 10 seconds of (presumably) in-game footage of Young Link from Zelda: Ocarina Of Time—an image that anyone who played the original will understand immediately but will probably be quite off-putting for anyone else. What was gained by showing so little, considering the inevitable backlash it created? Perhaps it made more sense before the news of the remake was leaked, but that happened weeks ago and Nintendo had plenty of time to put together a more substantial preview.
Missing Big Names and New IP
Almost all of the games in the Direct looked interesting, but that’s not the problem. The problem is all the absent big-name franchises, the lack of any new IP at all, and the fact that the console seems to be targeting a worryingly narrow group of fans. If anything, the impression given was of doubling down on second-tier franchises and titles that appeal primarily to a Japanese audience.
As a reminder, a tease for Super Mario Odyssey was featured in the unveiling of the Switch 1, followed by a release in the launch year. For the Switch 2, we’ve not had a whisper of any kind of new Mario game, despite a new Super Mario movie being the perfect cross-promotion. The practical reason for the delay is that most of the team were busy making Donkey Kong Bananza (ironically, Donkey Kong is not in the movie as anything but a cameo), but maybe Nintendo should have thought about that beforehand and had a Mario game in the launch window, as most people expect of a new Nintendo console. Then they could have had Donkey Kong afterwards, to tie in to the spin-off movie that’s supposedly coming.
Games take a long time to make nowadays, but where is the Switch 2 Edition of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and why did we get a Switch 2 version of Animal Crossing: New Horizons and not that? Nintendo is leaving all its big hitters on the bench and instead prioritising its second stringers, and it’s really impossible to understand why.
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Especially because when they do put out a big-name game, like a new Mario Kart, they then completely fail to follow that up with any DLC—despite the primary complaint levelled at the game being that it lacks content. Although there will presumably be separate Directs for The Duskbloods and Ocarina Of Time, as well as the already confirmed Splatoon Raiders presentation, we are now faced with the distinct possibility that we may not get another general, first-party-focused Nintendo Direct until this time next year. That in turn means we may not get another major new game announcement until then either.
Nintendo’s Reputation at Stake
Nintendo has a reputation for unpredictability, but that is currently being overturned as they consistently underdeliver—not in terms of the quality of the games but in their ability to excite people about the Switch 2’s line-up. For many fans, every new announcement is now expected to be at least a minor disappointment, as Nintendo refuses to give them what they want, and even when they do, they present it in the least exciting way possible.
The Switch 2 has a price hike coming soon, and Nintendo implied that they were aware they had to make an extra effort to justify the console’s cost through its games line-up. At that point, they appeared to understand what was needed, but after watching Tuesday’s Nintendo Direct, it seems like they’re completely oblivious. The Switch 2 is not a disaster by any means, but Nintendo sure is making things difficult for themselves when trying to fulfil its potential.
