It’s been a long time since Nintendo has held a full-fat Nintendo Direct, opting for more bit-sized broadcasts since the latter half of 2019. The last time we had a proper Nintendo Direct was back in November 2019, with Ninty changing tact in 2020 – with the introduction of the regular Nintendo Direct Mini broadcasts. And already this month we’ve seen a Direct devoted to the upcoming Monster Hunter Rise, which came hot on the heels of a Direct focused on the highly anticipated Super Nintendo World theme park.
And hopes have been raised that Nintendo could have another Direct up their sleeves for January 2021.
Redditors have spotted that since the Monster Hunter Direct the Nintendo Direct Archive website has been updated.
A specialist website which tracks when websites are updated was used to spot this, and updates to the Nintendo Direct Archive website is often seen as a sign of an incoming new Direct.
Highlighting the news one Redditor wrote: “The Nintendo Direct Archive was modified again on 09-Jan-2021 03:34:25.
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“As I have already said other times, personally I still think that the page is updated every day, even several times a day, even when a Direct is not coming out soon. What do you think about it?”
This is the fourth time updates to Nintendo Direct pages online have been spotted recently.
Prior to this the Japanese Nintendo Direct playlist on YouTube was updated, with a Pokemon Direct that was listed getting removed.
All of this online activity has sparked speculation that Nintendo could be planning some big Direct broadcasts in the near future.
And there’s reason to believe that we could be getting some more broadcasts in the upcoming weeks.
That’s because in February both the Zelda and Pokemon series celebrate landmark birthday.
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On February 21 the Zelda series celebrates its 35th birthday, while on February 27 it’s the turn of Pokemon which marks its 25th birthday.
The Pokemon Company has already teased “very special” anniversary plans for 2021, while given how big Nintendo went with Mario’s 35th birthday it wouldn’t be a surprise to see similar plans in store for the Zelda series.
So at the very least we could see separate Directs coming up for the Zelda and Pokemon anniversary celebrations.
While fans will surely be hoping we may get another more wide-ranging Direct that looks at upcoming Switch games for 2021.
There are plenty of games that could feature in a general Direct, such as Metroid Prime 4 and Bayonetta 3 – which haven’t seen the light of day for years.
And there are also those rumours about the 4K capable Nintendo Switch Pro, which could also feature in a Direct this year.
In terms of potential Pokemon and Zelda Directs, rumours are circulating that Pokemon Diamond and Pearl will at last be getting remakes for the Nintendo Switch.
While surely Zelda fans will be hoping we get an update on Breath of the Wild 2, as well as re-releases for the Switch to commemorate the big anniversary.
The Wii U already has HD versions of Twilight Princess and Wind Waker, which should be easy enough to port to the Switch.
And rumours have been circulating for some time now that Skyward Sword could be heading to the Switch also.
