Nintendo has announced its first Nintendo Direct presentation of 2023 will be today and is set to feature games like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
Nintendo Switch owners have been impatiently waiting for a new Nintendo Direct presentation, since well, the minute the last one ended! Speculation reached a boiling point last week when a Nintendo eShop update for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was discovered. Now, Nintendo has confirmed on its Twitter account that a Nintendo Direct is set to air today and will focus on “games launching in the first half of 2023”.
Nintendo Direct 2023 – confirmed start time
The Nintendo Direct for February 2023 will air on Wednesday, February 8, and will kick off at 10pm GMT / 5pm ET / 2pm PST. The presentation is set to be “roughly 40 minutes” long, according to Nintendo. The direct will be available to watch on-demand after the presentation has ended.
Nintendo Direct February 2023 – how to watch
The Nintendo Direct can be viewed on Nintendo’s YouTube and Twitch channels. Typically both platforms are about the same, so I wouldn’t worry about it being spoiled by folks watching the other stream; just pick whatever platform suits your fancy. We’ll link the platforms below.
Nintendo tends to start streaming the direct logo around 30 minutes before a presentation is set to start, so if the feed isn't live, it might be worth a refresh. We'll embed the YouTube live stream below so that you can hit play and get watching straight away.
Nintendo Direct February 2023 – what to expect
Nintendo has said that the direct will consist mostly of games that will be released in the first half of this year. So right away we can cross a few games off of our prediction list. We're too excited about The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, so we're omitting it here and have made a separate post on what we want to see from the upcoming title.
Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe
This four-player Kirby title was originally released on the Nintendo Wii back in 2011, and the new Deluxe version launches later this month on February 24. I can’t imagine this getting much screen time due to it being a known quantity, but hopefully, Nintendo has a few more surprises for returning players than a new copy ability and minigame.
Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon
This Bayonetta 3 spinoff, which was announced with a short trailer at last year's The Game Awards, will launch on March 17. Not much is known about the title as of yet, so I imagine a decent chunk of time will be dedicated to it during the presentation.
This title moves away from the over-the-top combat the Bayonetta series is known for and instead looks to be more of an adventure game. You play as a younger Bayonetta as she seeks to save her mother from a forbidden forest. Along the way, she meets the demon cat Cheshire (who was featured prominently in Bayonetta 3), who seems to do the majority of the battling for young Cereza.
While the spectacle is a big part of Bayonetta’s charm, this game looks to be a nice change of pace for the series, especially for those interested in the series’ storyline.
Advance Wars 1 + 2 Re-Boot camp
When the Zelda Nintendo eShop page was updated, so was the page for Advance Wars 1 + 2: Re-Boot Camp. The strategy title was delayed last year because of concerns about inappropriate timing due to the Russian Invasion of Ukraine. Rumours have been circulating that Nintendo is gearing up for a release, maybe even as soon as this week if a rumour from a Wal-Mart worker posted on Reddit is to be believed.
Pikmin 4
While I highly doubt that Pikmin 4 will launch in the first half of 2023, I would be shocked if we didn't get a look at everyone's favourite little plant guys in tonight's direct. We didn't see much of the game when it was first announced at the last Nintendo Direct in September 2022, so hopefully, we find out a bit more about how Pikmin 4 will improve on the fantastic Pikmin 3 Deluxe.
Third-Party titles
We’ll no doubt see some third-party titles from other publishers make up a large chunk of the Nintendo Direct. The Square Enix titles, Octopath Traveler 2 and Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Final Bar Line both be released later this month on February 24 and February 16 respectively. Minecraft Legends – which was featured in last week's Xbox and Bethesda developer direct – is also likely to show up.
Surprises
It wouldn’t be a Nintendo direct without some surprises. It would be hard to even speculate on what we might see. Perhaps we could see the long-awaited return of Metroid Prime 4. We could maybe even see a new Super Mario game on the way to coincide with the upcoming Super Mario Bros Movie.
