Daily Debate: Does August’s Nintendo Direct Double Feature Signal a New Console Reveal Next Month?

In a move rarely seen by Nintendo, the company recently had two different Directs happen on the same day, one after the other. Both an Indie World Showcase and a Partner Direct streamed back-to-back on Tuesday, as the Big N laid out a slate of releases, big and small, coming to the Switch in the near future. The beautiful indie title Neva and a 40th anniversary Tetris collection were just a few announcements to come out of yesterday’s double feature.

Nintendo of course reiterated in its announcement that there would be no mention of the Switch successor during these presentations. It is interesting though how, at a time when we were anticipating a September Direct event to be announced within a few weeks, Nintendo decided to host two presentations focused only on third-party developers in late August. The average Direct is usually packed with announcements from both first and third-party developers, so why would two Directs focused solely on the latter be happening in August? One of the biggest guesses floating around the internet is that Nintendo’s annual Fall Direct will focus on the Switch successor.

Back in May, Nintendo not only officially confirmed the existence of its next-generation system, but the company confirmed that more Switch-successor news would be coming between then and the end of next March. The Summer Direct happened a month later, with a majority of the first-party titles shown due to come out by the end of this year; the only titles to receive a 2025 release date were Donkey Country Returns HD and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. With Nintendo showing off what it and its partners have left for 2024, what else can it show in the next few months?

I believe that Nintendo will host a Fall Direct in order to finally reveal the new set of cards it’s been holding close to its chest for quite some time now. This presentation will be the company’s opportunity to tell us everything we need to know about its next-gen system (much like it did in the 2017 Switch Presentation). I can see Nintendo possibly doing what Sony did back in 2020 with the reveal of its PlayStation 5 platform. Sony hosted a June presentation that year to unveil its next-generation console and focus on the upcoming titles. Then, just a few months later, it announced the system’s price and release date. Nintendo doesn’t have to necessarily follow Sony’s lead, but I see it doing something similar with its Switch successor.

Do two back-to-back Nintendo Directs in August signal a Switch successor-focused presentation in September? If it does happen, what do you expect Nintendo to reveal? Let us know in the comments below!

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