Skip to main content

Nintendo Direct 2019: Here are all the biggest announcements

Nintendo held its latest Nintendo Direct video presentation on February 13, and it had plenty of news about upcoming Switch titles, as well as new game announcements that have us very excited. From Fire Emblem: Three Houses to the latest Zelda game, here are the biggest announcements from the presentation.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Fire Emblem: Three Houses - Nintendo Direct 2.13.2019 - Nintendo Switch

Fire Emblem: Three Houses is shaping up to be one of the biggest Switch games of the year, and Nintendo provided several details on its structure and story during the show. Set on a continent called Fódlan, the land has been split into three separate governments — the Adrestian Empire, the Faerghus Kingdom, and the Leicester Alliance. As a mercenary traveling with your father, you’re given the opportunity to teach at the Officer’s Academy located in the center of the continent.

Recommended Videos

Your students will become your units, and they can train at the academy to learn weapon types, magic, or abilities like horse riding. Three student houses are available, but you can only choose one of them during your adventure. As it’s classic Fire Emblem, you are also seeing visions of a girl named “Sothis” in your head, but she isn’t visible to anyone else.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses releases exclusively for Nintendo Switch on July 26. The “Seasons of Warfare Edition” will be available the same day and comes with an art book, 2020 calendar, CD, and steel book case.

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening - Announcement Trailer - Nintendo Switch

Classic Game Boy adventure The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening is getting a full remake on Switch, which preserves the top-down perspective of the original while using modern 3D graphics. The game will contain 2D segments, as well, and will have the same snappy swordplay you know and love from the Game Boy version.

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening is out on Switch later this year.

Super Mario Maker 2

Super Mario Maker 2 - Announcement Trailer - Nintendo Switch

Super Mario Maker is getting a full sequel on Switch, appropriately titled Super Mario Maker 2. The sequel gives you access to all the same visual styles as the first game, but a host of new game objects and tools to make your creations even more dastardly. To accommodate for the Switch’s different control scheme compared to the Wii U, there will be a wheel interface for picking items and it appears hazards can approach from the background to the foreground as well.

Super Mario Maker 2 releases on Switch June 19.

Tetris 99

TETRIS® 99 [Nintendo Direct 2019.2.14]

We never thought Tetris would be the latest home for a battle royale game, and yet Tetris 99 is real. The free-to-play game matches 99 players against each other in a battle to be the last player standing. As you play your Tetris board, you’re given “garbage” that can be thrown at other players to eliminate them.

Tetris 99 is available now and requires a Nintendo Switch  Online account to compete against other players.

Astral Chain

Astral Chain - Announcement Trailer - Nintendo Switch

Astral Chain is the latest stylish action game from Platinum Games and it will star two heroes battling against demon-like enemies at the same time. Details on the project remain scarce at the moment, but development is being supervised by Bayonetta creator Hideki Kamiya and its team includes at least one Nier: Automata staffer. There are also robotic dogs who can be your friend, so we’re looking forward to that.

Astral Chain is out on Switch on August 30. Platinum Games continues its work on Bayonetta 3, as well, but no release date or gameplay was shown during the presentation.

Gabe Gurwin
Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…
Our favorite Switch games of 2023: Tears of the Kingdom, Mario, and much more
Link stands behind text that says Best Switch Games 2023.

If 2023 was our last full year with the Nintendo Switch, what a heck of a sendoff it got.

The rumor mill has been buzzing for months now, claiming that Nintendo plans to reveal and release its Switch successor next year. While that’s a rumor you should take with some skepticism, there’s good reason to believe it may happen. Nintendo reportedly showed off the system to developers behind closed doors at Gamescom this year, and the Switch’s current 2024 lineup feels like the final drop we’d get right before a new system. The Switch could be old news this time next year.

Read more
Everything announced at the September 2023 Nintendo Direct
Princess Peach with a parasol in Super Mario RPG.

The third Nintendo Direct of the year just aired, and it established clear expectations for what players should expect as we head into what may be the final year of the Switch's life as Nintendo's main platform. Remakes of games like Mario vs. Donkey Kong and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door were confirmed, the Princess Peach game finally got a full title, and some dormant retro series like Contra and F-Zero are getting brand new games.

As this was a packed 40-minute gaming showcase full of surprising reveals, it might have been hard for you to keep track of everything shown off. There's no need to worry about that, though, as we've rounded up every announcement that's made during the September 14 Nintendo Direct.

Read more
Nintendo’s next console may feature DLSS and ray-tracing support
Mario high-fives Nintendo Live guests.

New reports affirm the rumors that Nintendo has started to show its next-generation console -- referred to colloquially by fans as Nintendo Switch 2 -- behind closed doors at a recent video game industry expo. It reportedly featured tech demos highlighting features like Nvidia DLSS support and ray tracing.
Gamescom 2023 was held in Cologne, Germany, between August 23 and August 27. Nintendo attended the European game industry event, and shortly thereafter, rumors emerged that Nintendo had shown its next console behind closed doors. Now, new reports from Eurogamer and VGC are corroborating these claims.
Specifically, both sources say that Nintendo showed tech demos for its next game console in private during meetings with some other game developers at Gamescom. Both sources confirmed that an upgraded version of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was shown off on this "Switch 2" hardware.
VGC also had a source who claimed that the impressive The Matrix Awakens Unreal Engine 5 tech demo -- used to promote Epic Games' new engine and the power of the PS5 and Xbox Series X back in 2021 -- was also shown to developers and seemed to confirm that the new Nintendo system will support Nvidia's upscaling DLSS tech as well as ray-tracing. Keep in mind that tech demos for systems often don't make the transition to full-game releases.

We don't know much else about what was shown, although VGC claims that this system will be usable in a portable mode like the Nintendo Switch is. Currently, the launch window for Nintendo's next new piece of hardware is expected to be sometime in fall 2024, although Eurogamer's source stated that "Nintendo is keen to launch the system sooner if possible."
Nintendo has not commented on these rumors, and is unlikely to ahead of an official console reveal. Still, the idea that the next Nintendo console is nearly upon us should be exciting for fans of one of the video game industry's most storied companies. 

Read more