Topic: Are Nintendo Directs over or is it still "Too soon"?

[Nile Boogie Returns]

Seems like the information released over the last week could have been done in a ND. I think if Iwata was still here we would of had one right about now. Shovel Knight Amiibo alone is enough to warrant at least a Mini ND. Is it too soon or should we not expect them anymore?

Still kinda hurts...

[Adrock]

Most of the new information released recently was from PAX. Had there not been a show Nintendo attended, we may have gotten a Nintendo Direct instead.

[ThePerm]

well yeah, whats going on at Nintendo? How long are they going to wait until they announce an official restructuring?
I hope they are not all so devastated they wont know how to move forward.

[Luigi Dude]

Nintendo Directs were filmed at least a month before the things even aired.  Any August Direct would have to have been filmed in June or July, were Iwata's health was either taking a turn for the worse or he was already died around the time for filming.

So yes, an August Direct probably didn't happen because it was too soon.  But it doesn't mean we're not going to ever get one again.  I don't see them not using it to announce the next wave of Smash Bros DLC characters when every other new character was announced during a Direct.

well yeah, whats going on at Nintendo? How long are they going to wait until they announce an official restructuring?
I hope they are not all so devastated they wont know how to move forward.

They already announced Miyamoto and Takeda are acting as dual presidents after Iwata died during the transition period.  They're probably going to stay that way until the person they feel is best to succeed Iwata is ready for the role.  Which could still be more months or even another year.  Seriously, it's not like they need to rush this decisions since the direction Nintendo is going the next couple years was already decided while Iwata was still alive and the board of directors is made up entirely of his longtime friends who share his same vision.

The next president will probably be one of the younger members anyway but they're just trying to see who is most capable of handling the role of President since that's not exactly an easy position to run.

[TOPHATANT123]

This seems to always happen, Nintendo goes a few months without a direct and then fans rationalise it as Nintendo Direct is dead forever. There isn't a pattern to directs it's just whenever they have a substantial amount of information to share. The directs have been on an upward trend in 2015 with most directs having over 1 million views with some having over 2 million views. The Nintendo Direct is an event, to keep it's event status they need to be careful about having enough content to satisfy someone familiar with past directs, if they put one up once a week it would lose it's event status and the viewership would go down.

I suppose you could have cobbled together a direct out of Pokken + Shovel Knight + Mario Maker + Others but I imagine they are still getting back on their feet after Iwata passed away. However I don't think that means the direct is gone, game specific directs have nothing to do with Iwata and the recent traditional directs where his condition was deteriorating seemed to fine without him being there. It's just a matter of having enough content so that fans don't go away disappointed, with Wii U and 3DS winding down it's only natural for their to be less new information and having to wait a bit longer for enough information to accumulate for a decent length presentation.

[sudoshuff]

I think they're over for this calendar year.  Nintendo needs to focus on restructuring their leadership.  There is already a well-publicized roadmap of games coming out and any additional details they want to release could happen through traditional press releases. 


As for next year, part of me wants to see the directs again since I genuinely looked forward to them.  But, I also see this as an opportunity for Nintendo to rebuild its relationship with the press and try something different.  To answer your question, it is still too soon to tell.

[Enner]

I was hoping for a Nintendo Direct in August just because I enjoy them and the experience around them. I believe NOA and NOE are capable of producing their own Directs. On a sadder note, NCL has had an Iwata-less Nintendo Direct for Japan this year.

As mentioned by others previously, there isn't too much news for Nintendo to share for the rest of the year. The only potential titles to go further in to detailing are Star Fox Zero, Animal Crossing amiibo Festival, Tri-Force Heroes, and a few others. Not a flashy or inspiring show to put up.

We might see game-specific and region-specific Directs for games such as Xenoblade Chronicles X and Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water. Fatal Frame is a long shot given it's an eShop-only title in North America, and that there is little you would want previewed of a horror game. Along the same line, Xenoblade Chronicles X already had an abridged version of NCL's pre-release coverage. While I would love to see an official English version of the hour and a half of Xenoblade Chronicles X digest videos, that is far too much.

What has the best chance of bringing a Nintendo Direct to stream? Nintendo's first smart device game.

[broodwars]

I think it's a pretty safe bet that they're done with Directs until at least December, if not the rest of the year. Really, what would they show? Most of the games they have left for the rest of the year have been prominently featured in past Directs over the last few years, and some have even had multiple Directs devoted exclusively to them (Xenoblade X). Really, the only games they'd have to really blow out are Fatal Frame & Devil's 3rd, and I suspect Nintendo doesn't really want to talk about Devil's 3rd. I don't see them wasting a Direct on their inevitable mobile shovelware, as the audience that watches these Directs isn't the one that really cares about mobile.

Nah, the earliest we'll probably see a Direct is December, where we might see a minor Direct covering January-February 2016 releases.

[Shaymin]

We might get a couple of Xenoblade X videos showing more of the localization, similar to the Splatoon thing or the Xenoblade video/livestream earlier this year.

I don't think the mobile stuff would warrant a Direct alone, but a game + the new loyalty system + a few smaller localizations for early 2016 or the eShop (Picross 3D 2 and Style Savvy 3, come on down) might come around in October.

[Evan_B]

Maybe revealing everything coming out this year at E3 was because they knew that Iwata's health was failing and they needed to put it out there so he wouldn't be taxed with Nintendo Directs while he was unwell.

Makes a whole lot of sense, if you ask me.

[Mop it up]

I think we'll see something that's pretty much the same, but with a different name. The Directs were kind of Iwata's thing, and so I could see them retiring the name as some sort of respect thingie.