Nintendo surprised everyone with the release of a new Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcase for August 2020. No announcement about the Nintendo Direct Mini was made ahead of time, with the Big N deciding to just drop it randomly on its YouTube channel, showcasing a number of upcoming third-party Switch games that are in development, including a few noteworthy surprises.
Square Enix was well-represented in the Nintendo Direct Mini, with Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles Remastered getting shown off alongside Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory, which was given a November 13 release date. Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory will have a Switch-exclusive 8-player Free for All mode, alongside online leaderboards, boss fights against memorable Kingdom Hearts villains, and even at least one new story scene. And finally, Square Enix also announced Collection of SaGa: Final Fantasy Legend for release on December 15, which brings together the three Final Fantasy Legend Game Boy games in one package.
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Nintendo showed off a variety of other third-party games during the Nintendo Direct Mini showcase, including Just Dance 2021, World of Tanks: Blitz, Fuser from Harmonix, and even Puyo Puyo Tetris 2. Many of the games shown will also be available for the Nintendo Switch by the end of the year, so the Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcase did help bolster the console’s relatively bare holiday lineup.
As some may recall, this Nintendo Direct Mini was actually leaked last week by industry insider Jeff Grubb, who hinted that a non-traditional Nintendo Direct would take place this week, though he believed it would premiere on Friday, August 28 instead of the 26. Grubb also believes that a proper, traditional Nintendo Direct presentation is set to take place at some point between now and the middle of September, so fans upset that there was yet another Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcase shouldn’t have to fret much longer. However, it remains to be seen what will be announced.
The only big first-party holiday release Nintendo has lined up right now is Pikmin 3 Deluxe, which is a port of a Wii U game. One has to imagine that Nintendo has more than just Pikmin 3 Deluxe on the way for the Switch’s holiday lineup, and rumors point to a 3D Super Mario collection to celebrate the plumber’s 35th anniversary. According to reports, the 3D Super Mario collection will include Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, Super Mario Galaxy, and Super Mario Galaxy 2, though nothing official has been announced by Nintendo at the time of this writing.
Meanwhile, rumors indicate that Nintendo plans on launching a 4K Switch Pro at some point in 2021, and may be holding back some games to bolster its new console’s launch lineup. Whatever the case may be, here’s hoping Nintendo has a traditional Direct to share with fans sooner rather than later.
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