If You’re Not Ready For A Showcase, Nintendo, Don’t Force It

Nintendo's decision to host a Nintendo Direct this June befuddles me. The virtual showcase wasn't terrible, but it certainly didn't wow me either. Deltarune is very cool, so it was nice to see a release date for Chapter 5, and I'm sure plenty of folks are thrilled to jump back into Pokemon Pokopia with its new expansion pass. But the games that would have been this Direct's big hitters, Kingdom Hearts IV and a remake for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, got extremely short teasers that didn't drum up much hype (for me, anyway). The entire Direct felt somewhat lackluster, and I wonder why Nintendo didn't just hold off on having a showcase until later this year. The current landscape of virtual game showcases owes a lot to Nintendo. While major virtual presentations being livestreamed were a major part of E3 when that was still a thing, Nintendo established the framework for how showcases should work with its Directs, starting back in 2011. Nintendo basically separated itself from E3 entirely in 2013, ditching its annual stage presentation to just host Directs. And because of that, Nintendo no longer needed to be restrained to summer for big announcements. The community understood that Directs were their own thing, and they could be hosted at any time. This has been incredible for Nintendo as it's been able to have showcases whenever there has been something to showcase. While some Directs have been far more impressive than others, most of them--especially in recent years--have done a great job of getting the audience excited and talking about at least one game. Each one felt carefully curated and well-prepared. The lack of substantial gameplay or news for Kingdom Hearts IV and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time leaves me wondering why Nintendo revealed anything about them at all. These announcements felt undercooked, like they both could have spent a bit more time in secrecy before their public unveiling to the world. Comparing this Direct to more recent June Directs paints a stark contrast. In 2025, we got a substantial gameplay reveal for Donkey Kong Bananza; in 2024, we got the announcement and gameplay reveal for The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom and both a gameplay reveal and plenty of new info for Metroid Prime 4: Beyond; and in 2023, we got the announcement and gameplay reveal for Pokemon Scarlet/Violet's two DLC expansions, the announcement and gameplay reveal for the remake of Super Mario RPG, the gameplay reveal for Pikmin 4, and the announcement and a pretty big gameplay reveal for Super Mario Bros. Wonder. When I compare those showcases to this year's Direct, it feels like night and day. Maybe something was happening behind the scenes that prevented Nintendo from being able to show what it planned to, or perhaps Nintendo thinks the mere mention of Ocarina of Time getting a remake for Switch 2 is an announcement on par with an entire gameplay reveal for Mario, Pokemon, Donkey Kong, Metroid, or any of its other first-party franchises. If anything, however, this showcase felt more like an act of obligation than anything else, as if Nintendo felt a need to showcase something, anything, to warrant being in the Summer Game Fest conversation. And, frankly, Nintendo doesn't need to be a part of the SGF conversation. It continues to draw viewership for its Directs and hype for its games, largely because its showcases for upcoming games almost always celebrate them with detailed looks at gameplay and fun insights from game directors or producers. If Nintendo somehow feels like it needs to host a Direct within the vicinity of SGF, I hope it ditches that philosophy soon. I'd much rather only have Directs when Nintendo has something it wants to show off, not when it feels pressured it has to show anything off.