February Nintendo Direct live blog: all the news in real time

With roughly two hours until the Nintendo Direct begins, we can’t say much definitive about the livestream just yet. However, Nintendo fans are excited to learn more about The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2.

We don’t know if this game will arrive or in the first second half of 2022, so we may not see it this afternoon. However, the first Breath of the Wild was released in March, so it’s entirely possible that the sequel will follow. If nothing else, we’re pretty close to being ready for the game to get a definitive title.

We still have a little over an hour before Nintendo’s stream goes live. Anyway, little treats started to slide out. For example, Nintendo Life reports that Mother series creator, known as Earthbound in the US, Shigesato Itoi, retweeted the live this morning. His tweet, in Japanese, translates to “7am, that’s amazing. It might be snowing.”

That’s an odd statement to put on a retweet for a Nintendo Direct. But there might be an encrypted message hidden inside. Or maybe he just can’t wait to wake up in the morning on a cool, snowy day to watch it.

Alright, we’re less than 30 minutes from the live stream. Other than a rare $20 discount on Woot (Amazon Prime membership required), there’s not much else.

There have been rumors that Nintendo was working on a sequel to 1-2-Switch, a launch title that featured a lot of casual games.

Personally, we’d like some sort of HD remaster of the Metroid Prime Trilogy or improvements to Nintendo’s online subscription service, mostly in the area of ​​latency and extra features. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Well, the Live begins! Watch it on YouTube here.

Nintendo is leading the presentation with a new Fire Emblem Warriors game. Subtitled Three Hopes, it’s a lot like the Dynasty Warriors of Hyrule Warriors series, with tons of satisfying, albeit repetitive, hacking and slashing. The game will take place in the universe of the Three Houses. It is set to release on June 24, 2022.

Advance Wars 1+2 Re-Boot Camp has been announced for an April 8 release date. This complete remake of the original Game Boy Advance classics will feature modern graphics and a fully voiced cast.

No Man’s Sky, the procedurally generated universe with literally a trillion planets, is coming to Nintendo Switch. Graphically, the game lags behind its PS4, Xbox One, and PC counterparts, but that’s to be expected. It is planned for a summer release.

Mario Strikers Battle League brings back the Mario and football remix game first released on GameCube. This new game will feature more wackiness from the original. This highly attacking 5v5 soccer game will add more customization options for players and has some cool goal mechanics. Eight players can compete on one system, and there will also be online play. Players can create clubs, with 20 players per club. Clubs can compete to be the best in the world.

Nintendo has finally given us an update on its mysterious Splatoon 3. This is Nintendo’s paintball shooter that will feature a new single-player mode. According to the live, we now know that there will also be a treasure-type co-op wave mode. Splatoon 3 is slated for a summer 2022 launch.

A full remake of the first Front Mission game is coming to the Nintendo Switch. Titled Front Mission 1st: Remake, it is a remake of the 1995 original. It will launch this summer. And in the future, a remake of Front Mission 2 will also arrive.

From the creators of the Asphalt series, Gameloft SE comes a new go-kart racing game featuring Disney and Pixar characters. There will be kart customization as well as online gameplay.

Other Disney-owned properties coming to Nintendo Switch include a port of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. If the graphics look a bit outdated, that’s because it appears to be a port of the Wii version, not the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions.

The Ezio Assassin’s Creed trilogy is also ported to the Nintendo Switch. Assassin’s Creed: The Ezio Collection arrives February 17.

SD Gundam Battle Alliance is coming to Nintendo Switch. The Chibi Gundam fighter is coming this year.

Chrono Cross is getting a remaster for the Nintendo Switch. The game was originally released in 1999 on PlayStation. The game still looks like a PlayStation game, just with better textures and models. Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition releases April 7.

Nintendo has finally given us some details on Kirby and the Forgotten Land. It’s not quite the open-world game that many predicted, but it is more open-ended in nature. Levels are much bigger in this 3D adventure.

Kirby has a new expansion mode, allowing him to suck up a car or vending machine. Of course, Kirby can also use his copy ability to gain special powers.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land will launch on March 25.

Baseball superstar Shuhei Ohtani helped bring MLB The Show 22 to Switch. It will feature cross-play support with players on other consoles.

Other ports include a new Kingdom Hearts collection. This collection will include Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 and 2.5 Remix, Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, and Kingdom Hearts 3 + Re-Mind. These will be cloud streaming games and can only be played over the internet. This collection will be available tomorrow, February 10.

The Klonoa Phantasy Reverie series is also coming to Switch. This collection will include the first two Klonoa games.

Valve will bring Portal to Switch. Portal entitled: Companion Collection. This collection will bring both Portal and Portal 2.

A 2D-HD version of Live A Live, a Japanese-only RPG, is being redesigned for Nintendo Switch. It will launch on July 22.

Wii Sports is back! This time it’s titled Nintendo Switch Sports. The collection will include tennis, bowling, chanbara (sword fighting), football, badminton and volleyball.

Those who buy the physical version will also get a leg strap to play a soccer mini-game that involves kicking.

There is local and online play for all sports.

Mii characters will unfortunately not be returning. Hopefully it will still have the catchy tunes found in the original. It will be released on April 29. Nintendo will update the soccer minigame to a full game. And golf will also come in the summer.

There will be an online playtest from February 18 to 20 for Nintendo Online members. Those interested can register on Nintendo’s website.

Taiko no Tatsujun: Rhythm Festival is coming to Switch. This drum rhythm game will also include tracks from Legend of Zelda. The game will be released later this year. It will also have a subscription service for more songs, up to 500.

Nintendo also gave us an update on Triangle Strategy. The 2D-HD game will have a demo, playable today. The demo backup date is transferable.

Cuphead will also see its DLC coming to Nintendo Switch on June 30.

Metroid Dread is getting a free update later today. This will add a new dread mode, which will feature one-hit gameplay. There’s also a new rookie mode for those who are having trouble. A Boss Rush update will launch in April 2022.

Nintendo Switch Online members will be getting a great new game. Earthbound, known as Mother in Japan, is coming to Nintendo Switch Online later today. Also included will be Earthbound Beginnings.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe will receive paid DLCs. With some classic courses from previous entries, expect a good mix. Called the Booster Course Pass, Nintendo will release eight new courses across six waves. That’s 48 courses in total by the end of 2023.

The pass costs $24.99, with the first wave coming March 18. This DLC is available at no additional cost to those who subscribe to Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack, a top tier of Nintendo’s online service. A one-year subscription sells for $50.

Nintendo’s last announcement was Xenoblade Chronicles 3, slated for release in September 2022. It bridges the worlds of Xenoblade Chronicles 1 and 2. We know little about the game. There is also no news on whether the Wii U game, Xenoblade Chronicles X, is reportedly getting a Nintendo Switch port.