Nintendo Direct fans are in for a big week, with a March 2020 broadcast expected to drop in the next few days. It has been over 200 days since the last Nintendo Direct, but that long drought could be about to come to an end. According to the rumour mill the next Nintendo Direct will happen this week, with the stream possibly airing on Thursday March 26.
Two separate – and reliable – sources have claimed that the next Nintendo Direct will be airing this week.
The first source correctly leaked that E3 2020 was going to be cancelled before the news was officially announced.
The second source, VentureBeat, correctly revealed that a Nintendo Indie Direct would be happening last week.
And VB said a proper Nintendo Direct would follow with a “likely” air date of Thursday March 26.
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Nintendo Direct March 2020: Stream date, time and Switch games update
If a Nintendo Direct is indeed happening on Thursday March 26 then Ninty would likely announce the Direct start time and stream details today.
This would be in keeping with past announce schedules, giving fans a full day to prepare for – and get excited about – the next Nintendo Direct.
And ahead of the rumoured March 2020 Nintendo Direct airing fans may have been teased that Mario news could be inbound.
Notable Nintendo insider Emily Rogers recently gave predictions for what Switch fans can expect this year.
And Rogers, curiously, posted on Twitter that 2020 would be a “good year to be a plumber”.
In a post online Rogers said: “My overall expectations for Switch software this year: Good year to be a plumber. Solid year to be an RPG fan. (Xenoblade, BravelyDefault2).
“INSANE year to re-play old games (HD remasters, deluxe ports, remakes). Decent year for more casual games. (AC = casual)”.
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It remains to be seen whether any of these titles Rogers hinted at could be getting announced in the next Nintendo Direct.
But for Mario fans two points Rogers touched on are especially of interest.
The first, and most obvious one, would be Rogers teasing 2020 would be a “good year to be a plumber”.
This could refer to numerous different titles getting released, considering there are so many under the Mario stable.
Other leaks have indicated that new Paper Mario and Mario Kart games are in the works which could be appearing in 2020.
The other possibility, which may seem like a pipe dream (pun completely intended) would be a sequel to Super Mario Odyssey.
That critically acclaimed Nintendo Switch exclusive landed in 2017, the year the console was launched.
But since then we haven’t seen any big DLC, unlike with the other big year one Switch title The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild.
Could the reason for this be any new ideas the dev team had was being saved up for a Super Mario Odyssey 2?
If that was the case then that would surely be a blockbuster announcement that would make the long wait for the next Nintendo Direct worth it.
The other possibility is a remaster or re-release of a previous beloved Mario game.
Rogers said 2020 would be an “INSANE year to re-play old games” which refers to “HD remasters, deluxe ports, remakes”.
What these titles are remain to be seen, but could this tie into what Rogers had teased about 2020 being a good year for Mario fans?
And if so what titles could Rogers be hinting at coming to the Switch?
The leaker had previously said that at least two more Wii U ports were in the works.
So maybe one of these hinted-at titles for the Switch is a port of Super Mario 3D World.
Another possibility, which may seem like a distant dream, would be a re-release or remaster of an older title like Super Mario Sunshine.
For years fans have been clamouring for re-releases of GameCube classics on the Nintendo Switch.
It seemed that this was bound to happen when, prior to the console’s launch, Eurogamer in a post online reported of a GameCube Virtual Console.
Sources had told them GameCube support had been tested for the Switch and worked on three major titles.
These games were Super Mario Sunshine, Luigi’s Mansion and Super Smash Bros Melee.
However, since then classic first-party GameCube titles have not appeared on the Nintendo Switch.
Could Nintendo be saving this up for a GameCube-style NES and SNES Online app that will launch later on?
Or are Nintendo instead planning to remaster in-demand GameCube titles like Super Mario Sunshine for standalone releases?
That remains to be seen, but either way the next Nintendo Direct is going to be one Switch fans won’t want to miss.
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