Rumour has it that a ‘blowout’ Zelda-centric Nintendo Direct scheduled for later this month was quickly cancelled after news of the death of Queen Elizabeth II began to spread.
Yes, we’re reporting on a rumour about a rumour. It’s Friday and I’m on my own today. Let me have this.
News of a possible Nintendo Direct surfaced last week in a conversation between Game Mess’ Jeff Grubb and GamesBeat’s Mike Minotti. Grubb’s understanding was that a ‘Zelda blowout’ was on the way, with ports of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD coming to the Switch.
However, with the death of a monarch and all the pomp and circumstance surrounding it now devouring the news cycle, Nintendo has decided to punt the Direct to a later date. That’s the claim from industry insider Quarterdann, anyway, whose comments Grubb later shared on Twitter.
It’s worth noting that, for its part, Nintendo has not announced a Direct of any kind just yet. All off what Grubb, Minotti, and Quarterdann are talking about, if true, is all happening behind the scenes. In a thread discussing the situation, Grubb said his sources had indicated that, due to timezone differences, Nintendo had not yet informed its third-party partners of a delay.
The comments section was quick to respond. Why would Nintendo want to shift the date? What does a Nintendo Direct have to do with the death of a British royal? The Tokyo Game Show will certainly be going ahead next week. Grubb’s response: Yeah, it’s a weird call, but have you met Nintendo?
Anyway, I never said that it made sense. I agree that it’s weird. But are you new here? Have you met Nintendo? Hopefully this was just a conversation about whether or not they should delay and it still happens.
— Grubb (@JeffGrubb) September 8, 2022
Anyway, it’s all very strange and, if it’s happening at all, nothing is out in the open just yet.
Nintendo has delayed certain announcements and projects when significant global events have occurred in the past. Earlier this year, it made the decision to delay Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp indefinitely following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The idea that it would move a Direct broadcast, even one about Zelda, to keep it out of the way of another major story, one that will dominate the news cycle for the next ten days at least, isn’t without precedent. But the time before the beginning of the all-important Q4 Christmas rush is dwindling.
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