Nintendo Direct Leaks Points Toward Epic New Game Announcements

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With rumors of a Nintendo Direct fast approaching, leakers already claim to know what it'll reveal. Nintendo Directs are irregularly spaced, airing whenever the company has enough big reveals to fill the time slot. A Nintendo Direct was initially predicted for February 15, but was likely delayed so as not to be overshadowed by the end of Xbox exclusivity also announced that week. However, rumor has it a Direct is still coming later this month — and some fans hint at the games it'll allegedly feature.

Leaker Pyoro on X (formerly Twitter) recently asked the loaded question, "" This refers to a specific kind of Nintendo Direct — a Partner Showcase — that focuses on games developed by third parties, but published on Nintendo consoles. The wording of this tweet seems to suggest that 2024's first Nintendo Direct could reveal a spin-off of a Nintendo game, developed by a third party. Many in the replies suggest this could be, a crossover between the RPG series and the hack-and-slash franchise. However, Pyoro's other tweets suggest something else entirely.

has already adapted two Nintendo properties in and the series, and with its real-time RPG combat and diverse cast of characters, is a prime candidate for the next spin-off. However, Pyoro's direct reply states, "," complete with a dolphin emoji. This could refer to a series revival of , a formerly Sega-exclusive action-adventure series later ported to Nintendo systems. Series creator Ed Annunziata has expressed interest in an game for the Switch, but so far, nothing concrete has materialized.

But Nintendo has another association with aquatic mammals: during the GameCube's development, it used the internal codename "." So, the dolphin in this tweet could instead reference something related to the GameCube — perhaps GameCube titles coming to Nintendo Switch Online. The addition of the GameCube library to NSO, a subscription service that grants players access to a plethora of NES, Genesis, and N64 games, has long since been