Just in time for Mario’s big 40th birthday, we have a massive Nintendo Direct to dissect. Traditionally, Directs only last around half an hour, but Nintendo is pulling out all the stops for this one. We started off with a ton of Mario news, including a look at the next feature film, some ports, and a new Yoshi game coming to Switch 2. We finally got a release date for Metroid Prime 4, and some major surprises that make this easily the best Nintendo Direct in years. Check out all the announcements below.
Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto appeared to start off the direct, revealing a new museum exhibit showcasing tons of Mario history, as well as announcing the third section to the Super Mario theme park. In Kyoto, Nintendo is sponsoring an upcoming marathon. But the big reveal for us Mario fans was a first look at the upcoming Super Mario Galaxy Movie, the sequel to the hit Super Mario Movie. All the main stars of the first film will return to repraise their roles, including Chris Pratt and Anya Taylor-Joy.
If you thought we were only getting a Galaxy movie, think again. Two of the best 3D Mario games are coming to the Switch 2. While Galaxy was released on the Switch, it was only available for a limited time, so many of us never got our chance to play it. This bundle won’t have that unnecessary restraint and is coming on October 2 physically and digitally for Switch and Switch 2, with new Amiibos to boot. You can even buy Rosalina’s storybook as a physical item.
Mario Tennis Fever brings the hit tennis game to Switch 2 with new moves, equipment, items, and a total of 38 characters. Modes include a tournament mode, challenge mode, Mix it UP mode with strange Wonder Effects, and online casual and ranked modes. A major surprise is an Adventure mode where baby versions of all the characters must face off against monsters…in tennis, of course.
There’s no new Mario game just yet, but Yoshi is starring in his next story-book adventure that looks like a mix of Yoshi’s Island and Yoshi Story. Yoshi will explore a storybook in a new charming 2D platformer called Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, launching next Spring.
After a long time in early access on Steam, the highly anticipated roguelike Hades 2 is finally ready for its full 1.0 release and is coming to Switch 2 and Switch on September 25.
We all hoped it was true, but it’s official: Dragon Quest 7 is back and looking better than ever called Reimagined. This ground-up remake gives fans new and old a chance to revisit one of the most beloved entries of the iconic series on February 5, 2026.
The last major Switch 2 game of the year, Metroid Prime 4, finally has a release date of December 4, alongside the reveal of a hype new motorcycle to explore what looks like a giant hub world.
Resident Evil Requiem is somehow squeezing its way onto the Switch 2. The trailer looks very impressive for being on the Switch 2, though there are some noticeable concessions. Still, this is a huge game to get on Nintendo consoles and is promising for future Switch 2 ports. It will arrive on February 27, the same day as other platforms, alongside ports of Resident Evil 7 and 8 to let players catch up on the most recent story arc.
At long last, a new Fire Emblem game is on the way. The tactical combat looks as crisp as ever, but it’s the characters and social elements we really care about. From what it looks like, there are a ton of winners in the design department here, but we have to wait until we play to see if their personalities match. Fire Emblem Fortune’s Weave will hit Switch 2 sometime in 2026.
Not every announcement was huge, but I’m not leaving anything out! Here are all the smaller announcements from the Direct.
Imagine tapping a Zelda icon on your iPhone and jumping straight into Hyrule. A new open-source project called nxnative makes that possible by repackaging Switch games you’ve bought into apps for iPhone, iPad, and Mac, with no emulator in the middle.
Why does this run so well on Apple devices?
The Call of Duty franchise has held a special place in my heart ever since I played my first Black Ops game back in 2010. That game's campaign was something else, with twists and turns that culminated in a mind-blowing finale. We can all admit that compared to those older campaigns, the recent CODs have been lackluster at best, and a complete and utter disappointment at worst. The reboot of Modern Warfare did give me some hope, as the first two installments were actually quite good, but the third game left such a bad taste in my mouth that I wasn’t exactly expecting much from Modern Warfare 4.
After recently finishing the campaign, I can say that this installment is nothing like the recent releases and instead feels closer to the franchise’s roots. For the first time in a long while, the campaign comes across as well-crafted rather than rushed to hit a release date. It arrives three years after MW3, and you can see exactly where all that time went. It seems the studio finally made listening to player feedback a priority.
Epic Games has just announced the 2026 Epic AI MegaJam, which is looking to see how much game development can be squeezed into a very short window. This is running from November 12 through November 15.
Participants can work alone or in teams of up to five people, build in Unreal Engine or Unreal Editor for Fortnite, and bring along “as many AI agents as you want.” Epic explicitly encourages coding agents, AI-generated assets, audio tools, writing tools, and other AI systems. The official event page literally says "Vibe your way to $50k.”