Nintendo has held a number of streams since the last full Nintendo Direct, with a Direct Mini in March that was almost as long as a proper Nintendo Direct.
And there has been other broadcasts, such as the Nintendo Direct Mini Partner Showcase and the Pokemon Presents streams.
But none of these have been as all encompassing as a proper, full fat Nintendo Direct.
And with the Nintendo Switch release schedule for the latter half of this year looking particularly bare, fans are eager to find out more news on upcoming releases.
Announcements on the games heading to the Switch in Q3 and Q4 of this year are likely being saved up for the next big Direct.
Given the huge amount of mystery surrounding the Switch’s release schedule for 2020 there is plenty of excitement for the next Nintendo Direct.
Which begs the question – when is the next Direct? And will there be an August 2020 Direct?
If you’ve got these burning questions then Express.co.uk is here to help…
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NINTENDO DIRECT – WHEN IS THE NEXT DIRECT? WILL THERE BE A JULY 2020 DIRECT OR AN AUGUST 2020 DIRECT?
Nintendo has not officially confirmed when the next Direct will be, typically making these announcements shortly before the actual broadcast.
So all we have to go on at the moment is rumours, but it has been claimed that the next proper Nintendo Direct could be as far away as the end of this summer.
That’s according to in-the-know journalist Jeff Grubb, who correctly leaked the timings for Direct streams in March ahead of the broadcasts being confirmed.
In a post online on VentureBeat back in April Grubb said: “If it holds another Direct, it may not come until the very end of summer.”
Grubb claimed Nintendo had planned for a June Direct, but these plans were scuppered by hurdles caused by working from home as people went into lockdown over the coronavirus.
And the claims of a Direct being as far away as “the very end of summer” look more and more likely as time goes on.
This September marks 35 years since Super Mario Bros arrived on the Famicom in Japan, and Ninty allegedly have a number of ways planned to mark this.
The big rumoured announcement is Nintendo allegedly have a Super Mario All Stars-style collection in the works for the Switch.
This will allegedly bundle together remasters of classic 3D Mario titles Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Galaxy.
Nintendo are also allegedly working on other ways to mark Mario’s 35th anniversary.
It’s believed there will be other releases, including a port of the Wii U’s critically acclaimed platformer Super Mario 3D World.
While a brand new Mario Kart game is also rumoured to be in the works which could be the big holiday game for the Switch in 2020.
If this is the case, then Nintendo will surely have to announce this before September 13 – which is when SMB first arrived on Nintendo home consoles.
Which is why August seems the most likely point for the next Direct.
We could also see the next Super Smash Bros DLC character get announced in the next Direct.
While fans will also surely be hoping for updates on games we haven’t heard about for awhile such as Breath of the Wild 2, Bayonetta 3 and Metroid Prime 4.