Nintendo announces first Direct of 2023

As rumors swirled that a Nintendo Direct was on the horizon, surprise, one is! Announced early this morning, the Direct will be prime time February 8th on the East Coast starting at 5PM and lasting around 40 minutes.

According to the announcement tweet, the Direct will focus on games slated for the first half of 2023. That should cover games like Octopath Traveler II (not that Square Enix has reminded anyone about that game that’s due at the end of February), possibly Pikmin 4, and of course, the hotly anticipated Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. But one (i.e., me) hopes that the Direct will also feature, finally, at long torturous last, a release date for the delayed and seemingly abandoned Advance Wars remakes.

There’s also a (not small) chance that Nintendo will give us another sneak peek at The Super Mario Bros. Movie. It’s unfortunate the movie’s already been cast because I hear tell the internet’s favorite dad makes for a pretty compelling Mario.

Nintendo just released its quarterly earnings statement in which it states the Switch has sold over 120 million units, making it the third-bestselling console of all time. But despite that, according to a CNBC report, the company’s downgrading its forecast for hardware and software sales in 2023 due to less than stellar holiday performance. Given that the Switch is getting up there in years compared to its competition, mayhap a new system is on the horizon, one that might be teased at tomorrow’s Direct?

We’ll find out tomorrow at 2PM PT / 5PM ET on YouTube.