Everything You Need to Know about Nintendo Direct
Nintendo Direct is an online presentation produced by Nintendo for the purpose of informing interested individuals about upcoming titles for Nintendo consoles as well as related topics. There is no set time for the length of such presentations. As a result, Nintendo Direct can be as short as 5 minutes and as long as 50 minutes, which are numbers based on past occurrences rather than stated limitations. Furthermore, it should be noted that Nintendo Direct presentations exist in both regional and international formats, with the potential regions being Japan, North America, Europe, and South Korea. There was one such presentation for the Australian region that happened in 2014, but so far, there hasn’t been another one.
There are no set topics for Nintendo Direct presentations save that they are focused on either titles for Nintendo consoles or related topics. Likewise, there are no set times for when Nintendo Direct presentations happen, though there tends to be one or more in each month when counting both regional and international versions. The best-known Nintendo Direct presentations are the ones that cover both hardware and software for the full range of Nintendo consoles. However, there can be Nintendo Direct presentations focused on specific titles, specific series, and even specific kinds of titles. In particular, there have been a number of presentations focused on indie games, which have become something of a focus for Nintendo in recent times.
When Nintendo Direct presentations are international rather than regional, the information is presented to interested individuals by Yoshiaki Koizumi, whose words are dubbed for the North American region but subbed for other regions. Otherwise, regional versions are presented by high-ranking figures for the respective regions. When Nintendo Direct presentations are centered on either specific titles or specific series, in which case, it isn’t uncommon for either a director or a producer to take on presentation duties.
Why Should You Care About Nintendo Direct?
People should pay attention to Nintendo Direction presentations provided that they are interested in either hardware or software for Nintendo consoles. There is no need for interested individuals to pay attention to each and every one of the presentations that are produced because while Nintendo won’t reveal their exact contents ahead of time, it tends to be pretty good about informing them the general gist of what they can expect. As a result, if a Nintendo Direct presentation is focused on either titles or series that people aren’t interested in, they are more than capable of avoiding it to prevent the drain on their limited time.
For example, the most recent Nintendo Direct presentation that happened on February 13 of 2019 was a pretty standard one in the sense that it focused on a selection of upcoming titles for Nintendo consoles. The exact titles were not mentioned before time. However, Nintendo did state that the presentation would be providing further information about Fire Emblem: Three Houses, which was notable because the title had been announced in January of 2017 and had more concrete information released about it in June of 2018. As a result, there was a pretty long wait for more information about a title of considerable interest, which is presumably why its presence was announced ahead of time.
Otherwise, the nature of the rest of the presentation’s content was unsurprising, though the same can’t be said for the exact selection of titles featured within it. Stand-outs included a Tetris game with battle royale elements called Tetris 99, a remake of The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening for the Nintendo Switch, and a follow-up to Super Mario Maker called Super Mario Maker 2 for the same console. Other reveals ranged from a port of Final Fantasy VII to a mech game called Daemon X Machina, which has released a demo for the purpose of collecting user feedback.
Final Thoughts
Summed up, it is clear that Nintendo Direct presentations are a good way for people to get more information about Nintendo releases. Furthermore, it is clear that they have managed to establish themselves as something of a brand by this point in time. Combined, this means that Nintendo is likely to continue producing Nintendo Direct presentations for the foreseeable future, though changes to their format are inevitable as the needs and circumstances continue to change.