Nintendo Direct September 2023: all the news and trailers

It’s been a busy year for Nintendo — it released one of the best games of the year and a sequel to Breath of the Wild — but the company isn’t slowing down, hosting its third full-on Nintendo Direct of the year on September 14th.

Nintendo promises that the September Direct will feature “roughly 40 minutes of information” about Nintendo Switch games coming “this winter.” Hopefully, that means we’ll get another look at Super Mario Bros. Wonder, and I’d be thrilled to see another trailer for the Super Mario RPG remake.

But as the Switch is getting on in age, there’s now a console-sized question hanging over every major Nintendo announcement: is Nintendo ready to share details about the company’s Switch successor? It’s rumored to launch as soon as 2024, after all.

Here’s our coverage of the September 2023 Nintendo Direct, which kicks off on Thursday at 10AM ET / 7AM PT.

Dave the Diver splashes onto Nintendo Switch in October.

If you haven’t played Dave the Diver yet, you really should when it comes to Switch on October 26th. It’s a fish-catching roguelike mixed with a restaurant simulator mixed with a bunch of other genres, and somehow, it all holds together.

I recently got to ask the creators a few questions about making the game, so stay tuned for my piece on that.

During its September Direct event, Nintendo announced progress on plans to convert its old Nintendo Uji Ogura Plant in Kyoto, Japan, into a gallery displaying its various products. Dubbed the Nintendo Museum, the site is under construction and on track to finish by March 2024. However, an exact opening date hasn’t been announced yet.

Other than the concept rendering from its original announcement in 2021, Nintendo showed off an iconic question block that’s painted on the building’s roof, and from the air, you can get an idea of how it will line up with the planned design, at least from the outside.

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Did you know there was a time when Nintendo had more than one racing game? With today’s Nintendo Direct, now you do. F-Zero, after an almost 20-year hiatus, is back with a new online multiplayer battle royale game, F-Zero 99.

F-Zero 99, like Super Mario Bros. 35, Pac-Man 99, and Tetris 99 before it, is a battle royale game in which you and up to 98 other players race to be the last Captain Falcon standing. F-Zero 99 will feature all the carts and tracks from the original F-Zero game and is available for free to those with a Nintendo Switch Online subscription.

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Paper Mario is back! At its September 2023 Nintendo Direct, the company announced a remake of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, the beloved RPG that first came out for the GameCube. The game is set to come out sometime in 2024.

It looks incredible in large part thanks to the game’s original paper and cardboard art design holding up remarkably well. But there have clearly been some graphical enhancements to make the game look even better on Nintendo’s Switch hardware. In Nintendo’s trailer, characters in particular looked really impressive: to me, they actually seemed like they’re cardboard cutouts come to life. The remake also looks to be incredibly faithful to the original game, as the trailer is packed with iconic moments that I remember from my time playing it on GameCube.

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The Luigi’s Mansion 2 remake for Switch is coming next year.

Officially titled Luigi’s Mansion 2: HD, it’s set to release in summer 2024. Nintendo showed off a new trailer at the September 2023 Nintendo Direct, and I think it looks really charming.

Splatoon 3’s expansion pass is getting a new single-player campaign. The DLC, called Side Order, comes out in spring 2024 and is designed to “be replayed over and over,” according to Nintendo.

The new DLC invites you to see what has happened to Inkopolis Square, the city featured in Splatoon 2. As you traverse the Spire of Order, you can continue to level up your abilities by adding upgrades to run speed, splash damage, and more. The new mode also features damage counters that appear when you splat your enemies, which seem a bit distracting at first glance.

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He’s the leader of the bunch; you know him well. He’s finally back to kick some Mario tail in Mario vs. Donkey Kong.

Mario vs. Donkey Kong seems to be a remake of the 2004 Game Boy Advance game. In it, Mario must complete a series of platforming puzzles to reach Donkey Kong and thwart his theft of windup Mario toys.

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I can’t wait for the new Prince of Persia game.

Nintendo debuted a new trailer for Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown during its September Nintendo Direct. It looks fantastic — I love the return to a side-scrolling style.

Need a refresher of what Nintendo has in store?

During its June Direct, Nintendo revealed games like Super Mario Bros. Wonder, the Super Mario RPG remake, and a new WarioWare game. I’m guessing we’ll hear more about all of those during the September Direct, which starts at 10AM ET.

Today, Nintendo announced a 40-minute fall Direct showcase focusing on games scheduled for release this winter, set to stream on September 14th at 7AM PT / 10AM ET.

Ever since Nintendo had its Super Mario Bros. Wonder Direct earlier this month, rumors circulated saying that a bigger, more general Direct would follow. Those rumors strengthened when the Gotham Knights ESRB rating page added Nintendo Switch as one of the game’s platforms.

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