The new year Nintendo Direct is likely to take place next week, as rumours suggest US stores are planning Advance Wars 1+2 promotions.
There aren’t many things about Nintendo that could be described as predictable, as we discussed in our recent look at Switch 2 rumours, but they do usually have a new Nintendo Direct showcase early in the year, most often sometime in February.
That’s not guaranteed but one usually accurate insider has suggested that it will take place sometime late next week. Since Nintendo Directs are often on a Thursday, that makes February 9 the most likely date.
Rumourmonger Jeff Grubb isn’t always right but his prediction coincides with a separate report that suggests that promotional material for Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp has arrived at Walmart stores in the US, with instructions to start using them from February 10.
‘They always have one in February or March at the latest,’ said Grubb on his YouTube channel. ‘I think it’s going to happen, I think it’s going happen pretty soon, and I wouldn’t be surprised if all these indicators are exactly right, especially with that stuff shaking loose with Advance Wars 1+2.’
Nintendo doesn’t tend to announce a Direct until a day or two before it’s due to happen, so if this is true then there probably won’t be an announcement this week.
The Advance Wars rumour on Reddit claims that promotional material for Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom and Minecraft Legends was received at the same time, all of which seems to point towards a Nintendo Direct at the end of next week.
There’s also a chance that Advance Wars could be a shadow drop, as recently made popular by Hi-Fi Rush. This wouldn’t be too surprising as the remaster collection was finished almost a year ago, but its launch was delayed because Nintendo felt releasing it at the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine would be insensitive.
Since the war is still ongoing it’s not clear why they’d think now was a good time to release it, rather than at any other time in the last 12 months, especially as the conflict will see its first year anniversary on February 24.
