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1. New Animal Crossing
It’s been five years since Animal Crossing: New Horizons literally shook up the gaming world. While there won’t be a pandemic around to aid the sales of the next title, you can be confident that Nintendo is going to go back to the well. It’s been a while since the last major update to New Horizons, indicating that the team might’ve been working on a brand-new game. There aren’t a lot of games in this genre from Nintendo, so it will probably be a priority, and announcing it before the holiday season would be excellent timing to drive up the eventual sales.
2. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond‘s Release Date
Aside from Pokémon Legends: Z-A‘s launch, there’s another reason Nintendo has to have a first-party showcase sooner rather than later. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond was announced long ago, and it still only carries a “2025” release window. If the Direct is in September, that means Nintendo has just four months to confirm, set the date, and market the game before it comes out. If they’re sticking to that 2025 slate, then a release date has to be announced as soon as possible, and the next Nintendo Direct, complete with a new trailer as well, would be the ideal spot to do that.
3. Mario Kart World DLC
It is baffling that Mario Kart World has not been given any DLC yet. Donkey Kong Bananza was right there, providing outfits for Donkey Kong and Pauline, but Nintendo skipped it. However, given the fact that it’s an $80 game and Bananza was not, DLC is highly likely since Nintendo did up the price from literally everything else they’ve done, and now’s a great time to announce it. They are unlikely to let it sit as is forever without any new tracks or characters, so every Nintendo Direct from here until the end of the game is an opportunity for them to add more content to a game that kind of needs it at this point.
4. New Super Smash Bros.
The very existence of Mario Kart World suggests that a new Super Smash Bros. (with or possibly without Masahiro Sakurai) is coming. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate were the pinnacle of their respective series, and yet, there’s already a new Mario Kart. This means Nintendo probably has no plans to let its popular fighting game sit and collect dust. And if Mario Kart World was literally the first Switch 2 game, then the company probably isn’t going to waste too much time getting a new Smash Bros. out, which is why the September Direct is a good option to reveal it.
5. 2D Mario
We can safely assume there will not be a new 3D Mario anytime soon. Donkey Kong Bananza effectively took that spot, and Nintendo won’t want to undermine what is a brilliant game before they have to, and 3D Mario would ruin any future sales for Bananza. But there needs to be a 2D platformer as well, and there currently isn’t one. Super Mario Bros. Wonder was an exceptional entry, and Nintendo would do well to expound on it. The timing just makes too much sense for Nintendo to skip a 2D Mario game right now. They can’t waste their mascot character, but they also can’t use him in 3D, and this is the obvious solution.
