If there's one constant that remains for fans of Nintendo, it's that one can never predict when exactly a Nintendo Direct presentation will be announced. Already, rumors about a 2021 Nintendo Direct are making the rounds among Nintendo fans, with Nintendo being just as quiet as ever regarding any official announcement of an upcoming presentation.
Despite the relative drought of big Nintendo Direct presentations that cover a myriad of new games and announcements, there have been a decent number of smaller presentations that focus on one topic overall. Now, a recent job listing from Nintendo of America may suggest that the company is gearing up for more Nintendo Direct presentations this year, which could potentially point to a return of the bigger Nintendo Direct showcases of the past.
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The job listing in question is for a position at Nintendo of America for an Associate AV Producer. In the description of the job role, the website mentions that applicants "may assist with filming live-action footage for use in Nintendo Directs, and other content marketing initiatives." Of course, audio-visual specialists excel in a number of different fields that encompass different forms of marketing, as the job listing even points out. Still, it's a good sign that the job description specifically makes note of future Nintendo Direct presentations, which goes to show that Nintendo still sees Directs are worth the effort to produce.
Especially during a time when many people and employees have to work remotely, Nintendo Direct presentations are undoubtedly harder to produce as a result. Still, Nintendo has managed to provide smaller, more focused Direct presentations in recent months at a consistently high quality. The most recent Direct, which focused on Japan's Super Nintendo World theme park, is a great example of this, though Japan has been handling the ongoing pandemic much smoother than the US. Still, even Nintendo's Indie World Showcases and Direct Minis have been fairly smooth during the pandemic.
Of course, it's hard to mention Nintendo Direct presentations without bringing up the fact that Nintendo's approach to Directs has shifted within the past year. Instead of longer presentations that focus on multiple games and announcements, Nintendo has been opting to produce showcases that focus on a singular topic. Additionally, in recent months, Nintendo has started to randomly drop new trailers surrounding upcoming games, like the recent Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury trailer that detailed the new content. While these surprise trailers can be exciting, nothing beats the anticipation of looking forward to a 25-to-30 minute Nintendo Direct presentation.
On top of that, there's a lot more that can be shown in such a time frame, and there's no shortage of what Nintendo could possibly show in such a Direct. This includes, but is not limited to, the following:
- Apex Legends (Switch version)
- Bravely Default 2
- Monster Hunter Rise
- New Pokemon Snap
- Bayonetta 3
- Metroid Prime 4
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2
- Plenty of third-party titles not mentioned here
- The rumored Super Switch
- ...and far more!
Still, it's understandable why Nintendo has veered away from longer Directs with multiple announcements at once. While neither Nintendo of Japan or America has explicitly mentioned this, it's fairly clear that the complications brought on by the ongoing pandemic have slowed Nintendo's production and development down a fair bit. That being said, Nintendo surely has plenty of announcements coming down the road in 2021, especially as the Switch continues to dominate sales charts in Japan and the US. Hopefully, Nintendo of America's job listing proves fruitful to those of us looking forward to more Nintendo Direct presentations.
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Source: Nintendo of America