A whopper of a Nintendo Direct is coming this week: When is it and how to watch

Who cares about Apple? There's a Nintendo Direct this week!

After weeks of rumors and speculation, Nintendo confirmed that there will be a Nintendo Direct livestream on Friday, Sept. 12 at 6am PT/9am ET. As per usual, Nintendo gave next to no indication of what will actually be shown in the stream, other than "roughly 60 minutes of information on upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch games." You can watch it on Nintendo's YouTube channel.

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Eagle-eyed readers may notice that 60 minutes is a long duration for a Nintendo Direct. These things typically max out at around 45 minutes, though the big Switch 2 blowout Direct in April also came in at around 60 minutes. There's presumably not a new console to outline in this one, though, so it's anyone's guess as to how Nintendo will use all of that time. It should be noted that it won't only be Switch 2 games, with the OG Switch getting some representation here, too.

We can at least make a few educated guesses. Metroid Prime 4 is the biggest known unknown left in the 2025 release calendar at this point, as Nintendo has repeatedly insisted it is coming this year without putting an actual date on it yet. If these 60 minutes come and go without Prime 4 getting a release date, then something is officially wrong. I would put money on Nintendo giving us what we want in this regard, though.

Aside from that, we can make a few other guesses using the process of elimination. Kirby Air Riders was just detailed in a 45-minute Direct of its own a few weeks ago, so that's unlikely to get more than a passing mention. The same goes for Pokemon Legends: Z-A, which comes out in October and has gotten plenty of marketing already. Hollow Knight: Silksong is out, so that's a done deal. I would keep an eye on Hades 2, personally, as that's supposed to come out this year but, like Metroid, has no date attached to it yet.

Other "maybes" include future games in the Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing series, both of which have been dormant for just long enough that it might be time to see what's next. The Switch 2 version of Elden Ring is also supposed to come out this year, and also has no firm release date. Speaking of From Software, it might be nice to get some new details on their new Switch 2 exclusive The Duskbloods, but I'm not counting on that.

A couple of smaller things I would count on are some new Switch 2 upgrades for Switch 1 games, as well as a new GameCube game for the Nintendo Classics collection. The former is a near-certainty, as every previously announced Switch 2 upgrade is already out.