Hollow Knight Silksong fans and Switch 2 hopefuls prepare their clown makeup ahead of Nintendo Direct

Hollow Knight
(Image credit: Team Cherry)

Nintendo Direct time is nearly here again, and as is tradition fans have begun setting themselves up for inevitable disappointments.

The announcement for tomorrow's Direct says that it will feature "roughly 40 minutes of information mostly focused on Nintendo Switch games launching in the first half of 2023." It's a safe bet that we'll get new information on The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, as well as Bayonetta Origins and Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe, all of which are scheduled to be out by May.

If you look at the community reaction to the event, however, the bets are getting downright reckless. Hollow Knight Silksong fans are gluttons for punishment, but I will at least give them the benefit of the doubt since there were hints of Silksong releasing by June 2023. But, like, there are new forum posts getting excited over the fact that Silksong has a Switch eShop page - a page that has been there, unchanged, for a year.

Beyond that, well… if you can imagine Nintendo announcing it, fans are wantonly speculating about it. Advance Wars 1+2 shadowdrop during the show? A bigger look at Pikmin 4? An acknowledgement of Metroid Prime 4's existence? Old rumors like the Metroid Prime remasters and Game Boy titles for Nintendo Switch Online are coming home to roost, too. One thing everyone's sure about - there will be more farming games.

Then, there's speculation about Switch 2. Most fans are - quite reasonably - laughing off the idea of Nintendo's next hardware being announced at this event, but the age of the Switch and the long-standing rumors about its successor means that people are still discussing the possibility. I honestly can't even tell who's joking anymore.

Really, you should just take after Reddit user Popple06's example. "I'm going to keep my expectations low by only expecting Metriod Prime 4, Pikmin 4 release date, new 3D Mario, new DK game, Nintendo to pay off my credit cards, and world peace to be solved." At least some folks have their heads on straight.

I can reveal with some confidence that the Direct will feature information on upcoming Switch games. For more on the big show, why not check out our Nintendo Direct predictions.

Dustin Bailey
Staff Writer

Dustin Bailey joined the GamesRadar team as a Staff Writer in May 2022, and is currently based in Missouri. He's been covering games (with occasional dalliances in the worlds of anime and pro wrestling) since 2015, first as a freelancer, then as a news writer at PCGamesN for nearly five years. His love for games was sparked somewhere between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Knights of the Old Republic, and these days you can usually find him splitting his entertainment time between retro gaming, the latest big action-adventure title, or a long haul in American Truck Simulator.

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