As you all might know by now, if the world was still at its normal state, we would have been wandering around the show floor of the biggest gaming convention on Earth. Just like many other mass gatherings, E3 2020 got canceled due to the pandemic and this also meant the end for Nintendo’s annual E3 Direct. Their biggest one, filled with new reveals and upcoming titles. Until today, we still haven’t heard of a replacement for that show, so what can we expect from Nintendo? Let’s think about that for a while.
Option A: No Nintendo Direct for the coming months
The first option isn’t the happiest one but it’s extremely plausible we won’t see a Nintendo Direct during the coming months. The reason for this is simple, COVID-19 is responsible for major delays in game development since staff members were forced to work from their home offices. A noble effort but it never matches the speed of an entire team working together. Since bigger Nintendo games might suffer from huge delays, it would make sense that the company is giving us the silent treatment. Why get us hyped for games that won’t release the coming months? This news also aired on VentureBeat, stating that Nintendo won’t host their annual E3 Direct.
As we’re currently the 9th of June, it’s pretty safe to say they got it right. Nintendo did cancel their typical Nintendo E3 Direct since we clearly haven’t heard a single thing to state the opposite. If we can believe the rumors, a show might air during the summer but what if that’s too soon? What if the delays are way bigger than first anticipated? Well, that would mean we’re in for a long period without Nintendo news, so how can the company keep its momentum?
Option B: Surprise drops such as Paper Mario: The Origami King
Without a Nintendo Direct during the coming months, it will be challenging for Nintendo to keep its relevance, especially when both Xbox and PlayStation are going all-out with digital exposure of their next-generation hardware. How can Nintendo fight such a brutal force? Well, surprise drops might give us the answer. Remember the big reveal of Paper Mario: The Origami King? Neither do we. This game just dropped out of nowhere and in all honesty, it was one of the most surprising PR-mails I got in years. No teasing, no hype building, just a trailer for a game that’s releasing next month, which is pretty insane!
It’s easy to tell that this Paper Mario was part of the Nintendo E3 Direct and was already well underway to completion before the pandemic hit us at full force. This game was planned and developed for years and kept as a secret to reveal when the time was right. If you ask me, Nintendo still has a couple of those cards up their sleeve. What about the rumored Super Mario remakes, the Definitive Edition of Super Mario 3D Land, the rumored Metroid Prime Trilogy on Switch? I think all of those games are coming and I’m pretty convinced these are releasing a lot sooner than we would first have anticipated. If Nintendo could surprise reveals of a couple of their upcoming big hitters, they would certainly keep their momentum.
Option C: The biggest Nintendo (digital) event this summer
The final and last option I think is plausible is one big (digital) event during the summer. Yes, the typical Nintendo E3 Direct is gone but I think the company won’t give up that easily. Surprise revealing a couple of games could certainly create some waves but it won’t be enough to slow down the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. The big PlayStation 5 reveal is this Thursday, Xbox is demonstrating their first-party games this July, so I think Nintendo will go all-out this August. As the company will have a better look at the upcoming competition, they’ll have a better idea of what they need to reveal in order to steal back the attention. It’s been an interesting year so far but I think Nintendo might bring the bigger guns and reveal their cards by the end of the summer, which would be the perfect time to grab our attention and claim back their position of reveal champions. If there’s one game that could really make a difference this upcoming Holiday season, it might be The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2, so why not release it? 2020 still is short of a new Zelda adventure…
Conclusion:
These are just three possible outcomes and in all honesty, we don’t know what to expect. Nintendo likes to keep things as secretive as possible until they think the world is ready to see what they have been working on for all those years. That being said, I don’t believe Nintendo won’t reveal anything this summer, especially since the competition is sending out the big guns. We’ll have to wait and see. What do you think will happen?
