It’s another Nintendo Direct week, folks! The September 12 Direct has been announced, promising roughly 60 minutes of games coming to the Switch and, more importantly, the Switch 2. Naturally, fans are wondering what could be revealed, with many of them already preparing themselves for disappointment when their dream scenario doesn’t come true.
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Since we’re approaching the end of the year, some obvious announcements have to happen in this Direct; Metroid Prime 4 being the prime (haha) example. There’s also the 40th anniversary of everyone’s favorite Italian plumber, Mario, and his superior brother Luigi, so we simply have to see something there. Beyond that, the sky’s the limit when it comes to the major reveals in this show, so let’s start guessing.
Here are our predictions for the September 12 Nintendo Direct.
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond
The one game that has to appear in the Nintendo Direct, Metroid Prime 4, is slated for a Fall 2025 release, and we still don’t have a date for Samus’ next adventure.
Nintendo has actually revealed a ton of information for Beyond. We already know that the game is going to have mouse controls for Switch 2’s unique Joy-Cons. Samus is also going to rock some new psychic powers for her Switch 2 adventure, which she’ll be able to use for offense and traversal. This also looks like it’s going to be the last major cross-generation Switch release for a Nintendo property, because we don’t think Miitopia or Rhythm Heaven are major games for the company, sorry.
Beyond everything else, the only thing we need from Metroid Prime 4 is a release date. If we don’t get one during this Direct, expect a delay for mid-to-late 2026.
Mario’s Seventh 3D Adventure
With Mario’s 40th anniversary coming up, everyone is expecting something big in the Nintendo Direct when it comes to Nintendo’s Italian plumber. A bunch of us at Gfinity did the math (Mario 64, Mario Sunshine, Mario Galaxy, Mario Galaxy 2, Mario 3D World, Mario Odyssey), and this is technically the seventh major 3D Mario game if you don’t count Super Mario 3D Land on the 3DS. That sounds ridiculous, but Nintendo can be very wishy-washy with what counts as an official entry for their games.
Does Nintendo count the Zelda DS games as mainline titles? No. How about the handheld Mario Kart games? Oh, wait, they do count those. In fact, we’re still not sure if MK Tour is part of the mainline series because they named the new game Mario Kart World.
Whatever the case, it’s Mario’s 40th anniversary, and surely that means a brand-new game for the character?
I’m personally hoping for a new open-world-like 3D Mario that uses Bowser’s Fury as the blueprint for something much bigger. And if that doesn’t happen, we can always see that rumored New Super Mario Bros. collection, which isn’t the worst way to celebrate this character. These are still solid 2D games with fun levels and power-ups, if somewhat vanilla and safe (Bowser kidnaps Peach in all of them, that’s how safe they are).
Native Kingdom Hearts Ports
Let a man dream, okay?
I’m still mad that Square Enix released cloud versions of the Kingdom Hearts games on Switch, when they would have played natively just fine. The 1.5 and 2.5 collections were released on a PS3, so Nintendo’s last-gen Switch was more than capable of running these games. For Pete’s sake, they were all PS2 and PSP games before getting the HD treatment.
Square Enix has already confirmed that Final Fantasy VII Remake is coming to Switch 2 this year, with hints that the rest of the Remake trilogy will make its way to Nintendo’s powerful handheld. If this system can run FF7 Remake, it should have little to no issues running a bunch of HD PS2 games and Kingdom Hearts 3.
Xbox Ports
Now that Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is coming to Switch 2, we think Microsoft can go crazy with Xbox ports on Nintendo’s hybrid console.
Sea of Thieves has done really well on both Xbox and PlayStation, so Nintendo is the next sea to conquer for Rare. Because Nintendo is always quick to talk about multiplayer games for their consoles, it would be appropriate to have Xbox’s premier online title make an impact there. If Splatoon 3 and Street Fighter 6 can have a place on this system, why can’t Rare’s pirate-themed multiplayer adventure?
For something more out of the (X)box, it would be pretty wild if Nintendo announced that Gears of War: Reloaded or Halo: The Master Chief Collection were coming to Switch 2. GoW: Reloaded looks like an enhanced Xbox 360 game, so a port on Switch 2 shouldn’t be impossible. The same goes for Halo: TMCC, since those are mostly Xbox and Xbox 360 shooters. Bring them over to Switch 2; it would get fans talking for all the right reasons.
I mean, Gears of War is already on PS5, you might as well bring it to Switch 2.
Could all of these games be announced on the September 12 Nintendo Direct? Probably not. After all, these are predictions, and Nintendo always has something up its sleeve. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is the most obvious game for this Direct, but other than that, who knows? It will be fun, though.
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