A Link to Nintendo’s future
It’s 2023, and Nintendo is laying out its plans for the Switch. Today, Nintendo is hosting its first Direct of 2023, where we’ll get updates on what’s in store for its handheld and associated services.
The show goes live at 5 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. PT, and you can find the link here and the stream embedded below.
What to expect?
Nintendo’s 2023 plans are largely a mystery, aside from the looming titan of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. The follow-up to 2017’s massive hit Breath of the Wild seems destined to be one of the year’s biggest games, though a surprise listing that’s since been scrubbed has fans curious about the sequel’s price tag.
Pikmin 4 is also due to arrive this year, though we haven’t seen anything about that since the original reveal. And Nintendo could always pop open the drawer holding the Advance Wars remake, if the schedule’s looking a bit thin.
According to Nintendo, the show will run for roughly 40 minutes and mostly cover Switch games launching in the first half of 2023. Taking a look back at last year’s February Direct, which happened around the same time, we can see a similar pattern. The 2022 February Direct revealed Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes for a June date, as well as Mario Strikers: Battle League (also in June) and the Advance Wars reboot (set for April at the time).
It was also where the Front Mission remakes first showed up, alongside the Chrono Cross HD remaster and the Live A Live remake. I don’t think it’d be a surprise to see some similar third-party partner reveals, alongside whatever Nintendo is cooking up. Plus, there’s still some DLC on deck for Nintendo to lock in.
My advice, as always, is expect the unexpected and keep those expectations in check. So sit back, crack a cold beverage of your choice, and let’s see what this Nintendo Direct has in store for the first half of 2023.
