Nintendo has favoured the Nintendo Direct as a way of sharing news with fans and journalists, and last night saw the Japanese company share their slate of games for 2022.
While fans were expecting news about a sequel to 'Breath Of The Wild' or a full-fledged 'Metroid' game, fans still had plenty to celebrate.
Major titles announced at this Direct include a sequel to 'Mario Strikers', 'Xenoblade Chronicles', and a new Sports title.
'Nintendo Switch Sports' will release on April 29th, and is a new version of the wildly successful 'Wii Sports' titles that helped the Nintendo Wii establish cultural dominance in the late 2000s.
Three new sports have been added to the original 'Wii Sports' line-up, including football, and the boxed version of the game comes with a leg strap.
Players can attach the strap for the football mode, which looks like 'Rocket League' minus the rocket-powered cars.
Badminton and Volleyball have also been added to the traditional roster of sports, and of course, Bowling will be in the game.
The short-lived 'Mario Strikers' series is making a comeback, with a new title in the series coming on June 10th.
'Battle League' will allow 8 players to play on the same Switch console, and is poised to be the social event of the summer for gamers.
The idea of gathering 8 friends together in the same room to play 'Mario Strikers' is a big marketing sell, and it's hard not to get excited about the idea.
Wednesday's Direct gave us an in-depth look at the new Kirby game.
'Kirby and The Forgotten Land' seems to take its cues from 'Super Mario Odyssey, and the game looks like another winning platformer from Nintendo.
There was a major emphasis on ports of existing games coming to Switch, with third-party titles like the 'Portal' games and 'No Man's Sky' receiving Switch ports later this year.
Some old school Nintendo properties will make the move to Switch, including the superb 'Advance Wars' games and the peerless 'Earthbound' being added to the Virtual Console service.
'Xenoblade Chronicles 3' is now confirmed to have a September release date, with the cult series becoming a strong word-of-mouth hit for Nintendo.
Nintendo also announced new courses for the ever-popular 'Mario Kart 8', with remastered tracks from old 'Mario Kart' games being made available as paid DLC from now until the end of 2023
Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pass members will get access to all 48 courses.
While a new 'Metroid' game didn't surface at this Direct as many fans expected, fans of last years fantastic 'Metroid Dread' can now avail of a new update for the game aimed at casual and hardcore players.
Rookie Mode lowers the difficulty of the game, and the new Dread mode adds a one-hit-kill mode to the game for 'Dark Souls' types.
Nintendo has plenty to celebrate as the Switch heads into its 5th year of existence, with lifetime sales of the console recently overtaking their hit Wii console and the original Sony PlayStation.
Industry analysts are pointing to a possible 2024 release for a successor console to the Switch, but with the console still selling exceptionally well, this Direct is a vote of confidence for the console, and Nintendo aren't done with the console just yet.
