It’s crazy to think that another week has flown by, bringing us one step closer to the E3 2021 Nintendo Direct. You might recall that last week a Bloomberg report stated that Nintendo would likely reveal its new Switch ‘Pro’ hardware before E3. In the excitement of this discovery, rumors began to fly like crazy, and people got swept up in them, sometimes mistaking rumor for fact.

I get it, though. I’m incredible stoked for an upgraded Switch variant, and I know several others are too. But to keep from being disappointed, we Nintendo fans really need to take every rumor and “leak” with heaps of sodium. After all, Nintendo hasn’t even confirmed they are working on an upgraded Switch yet. Though they usually keep tight-lipped about their hardware and there does seem to be enough evidence to prove that something is in the works. Maybe we’ll get some answers during Nintendo’s officially-announced E3 presentations.

Nintendo reveals E3 plans

After weeks of radio silence, Nintendo finally announced the time for the E3 Nintendo Direct and Treehouse Live broadcasts this week. We can’t wait for Tuesday, June 15 at 9AM PT when the 40-minute presentation will undoubtedly reveal plenty of exciting new games and updates that focus “exclusively on Nintendo Switch software, mostly releasing in 2021.” There’s a lot we’re hoping to see, including news on Breath of the Wild 2 and the fabled Switch ‘Pro’.

The Nintendo Direct will be followed by a three-hour Nintendo Treehouse Live showing off gameplay, though we don’t know what games will be shown yet. Either way, I’m stoked to see what gets announced.

Switch Pro’s leak central

Speaking of the Switch ‘Pro,’ rumors came to a head-on Tuesday due to two “leaks.” Known leaker @CentroLEAKS tweeted that they had seen verified screenshots from a big retailer’s internal system showing that the new Switch listing would go live on Friday, June 4, around midnight. That same day, @nintendalerts posted that a retailer’s database had listed the Switch Pro in the backend for what translates to roughly $400 USD.

The Nintendo fandom practically exploded with these two posts. Now, @CentroLEAKS has been correct about some things in the past, but like many leakers, not everything they post has come true. Twitter was abuzz with people anticipating the Switch ‘Pro’ or “Super Switch” announcement Thursday night. The hype was seriously palpable as people either discussed the pricing for the new Switch, hopes for its capabilities, made fun of it, or flat out trash-talked it. When midnight came and went with no Switch ‘Pro’ news to speak of, many people started posting memes about their discontent.

If Bloomberg’s report is correct about Nintendo revealing this hardware before E3, it’s still very possible that Nintendo will make this announcement within the next few days. However, nothing is guaranteed, so we’ll just have to wait and see. One thing is for sure though, this elongated hype is really starting to burn some fans out. At this rate, many people just need the upgraded Switch to get officially announced so they can get some sleep again.

Don’t mess with Nintendo

Nintendo was also in the news because a verdict had finally been reached on an ongoing legal battle. Back in 2019, Nintendo filed a lawsuit against RomUniverse.com and its owner Matthew Storman for offering downloads of “Nintendo Switch Scene Roms.” The interesting thing here is that Storman decided to represent himself in court, which doesn’t work out well when going up against a multi-million dollar company.

This week a verdict was reached, and Storman now owes Nintendo $2.1 million in damages, although Storman only made $30,000 to $36,000 a year from the service. It didn’t help his case when he failed to provide data for the number of times he had downloaded pirated video games and even stated the data had been lost. This lead Nintendo to allege that Storman had “destroyed it.”

At any rate, history has shown that Nintendo is very protective of its copyrighted games and characters. This result is really not surprising.

WarioWare awareness day

Moving on to something a little silly. On Wednesday, @Beta64Official posted an image of an official Nintendo survey that asked, “how interested are you in buying the next game in the WarioWare series?”

Considering it’s been a few years since the last WarriorWare game was released, this is either just Nintendo testing the waters or possibly indicative of an upcoming Nintendo project already in the works. Either way, it’s gotten the internet buzzing about the silly microgame collections starring Mario’s nemesis that have been so popular in the past. WarioWare: Smooth Moves for Wii was a particularly popular entry, and I wouldn’t mind seeing a new WarioWare title come to Nintendo Switch soon.

Sonic’s creator is no longer at Square Enix

This next bit of news isn’t exactly Nintendo-specific, but it does touch on a well-known figure within the Nintendo fanbase. Many of us know Yuji Naka as the lead programmer and co-creator of the original Sonic the Hedgehog. However, recently he’s seen a rough go of things. He was the lead writer and director for Square Enix’s Balan Wonderworld, released in March for several platforms, including Nintendo Switch. The game didn’t sell well and scored rather lowly among professional critics and user Metacritic reviews.

Now we’ve learned that he’s no longer at Square Enix. It’s possible that his contract could just have been up once the game was released, and it was just his time to go. But since the game performed badly, it’s not too surprising that Square Enix hasn’t called him back for another project. Either way, we hope things look up for him in the future.

A lot has happened this week especially surrounding the Nintendo’s upgraded Switch. Who knows, maybe the Switch ‘Pro’ will get announced shortly after this article goes live this weekend. At any rate, more exciting Nintendo news is sure to follow in the coming weeks, and I’ll be here to discuss it all. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy your weekend and get to play some awesome video games.

Until next time!

- Rebecca Spear