Nintendo Directs are coming back after a five-month hiatus this Thursday at 2 p.m. PST. Nintendo made the announcement on Twitter this morning.
Nintendo Directs are Nintendo’s premiere medium for big game announcements. They’re videos that stream simultaneously across the country so that Nintendo fans can get all of the breaking news at the same time. They were originally conceived about four years ago by Nintendo’s late president Satoru Iwata. Nintendo confirmed late last month that there would be at least one new Nintendo Direct before the end of the year, brushing away fears that the online presentations might be gone forever after the tragic loss of Iwata.
Nintendo Directs also put faces to some of the people behind the games, and have done a lot to bring together the Nintendo community. Before Iwata’s passing, there was approximately one Direct every month of 2015, and these last several months without them have been strongly felt.
Nintendo Directs are often quite silly, such as this one featuring Muppet versions of Reggie Fils-Aimé (President of Nintendo of America), Satoru Iwata (late President of Nintendo), and Shigeru Miyamoto (creator of Super Mario and Nintendo Creative Fellow).
Nintendo has also confirmed that there will be more games coming out in 2015 that haven’t been announced yet. Well, we’re running out of 2015. Thursday’s presentation will also be a good opportunity to introduce their new president, Tatsumi Kimishima, who has not yet appeared in a Nintendo Direct.
Nintendo has explicitly stated that “the presentation will not feature any updates on NX and mobile,” in reference to Nintendo’s next console and upcoming mobile app Miitomo. We probably won’t get more info about Nintendo’s new loyalty program, My Nintendo, either.
