Rumors of a January 11 Nintendo Direct have been circulating for the past week. Speculation began on New Year's Eve when 18 unannounced titles were listed as "Coming Soon" on Amazon. Nintendo Switch owners questioned and theorized what those titles could potentially be but no one really knows just yet. However, games are not the only thing expected to come to the Switch in 2018. According to a video that leaked online Friday, a firmware update of some sort is something that is almost definitely coming very soon. Here's what to expect in the next Nintendo Direct.

Version 5.0 update

January 11 is just a rumored date but a Direct has to come eventually and this next one might be the most anticipated. A video showcasing new Switch capabilities has users of the console clamoring for a new Nintendo Direct. Features Switch owners have wanted since launch appear in the video and while it seems too good to be true for Nintendo, it does also seem to be a real possibility. The first noticeable additions are video streaming apps like YouTube, Twitch, and Crunchyroll. As the video progresses, changes in the Settings menu can be seen. A Theme Shop is present in the menu and the leaker demonstrates how to change the dashboard's look.

Apparently, Pins can be rearranged as well but most importantly, the video shows Cloud Save support.

If this update is real, Nintendo Switch owners will no longer have to worry about completely losing all their game progress if ever a hardware malfunction occurs, or worse, the console goes missing. Whether or not a Direct will go live this Thursday, Nintendo's loyal fan base is waiting with bated breath for an official statement or announcement regarding this leak.

New games, obviously

This Nintendo Direct is expected to be the company's E3 for the year in the sense that it will be full of exciting announcements and surprises. With that in mind, a Metroid Prime 4 teaser trailer actually showing Samus is very likely to be shown. A brand new Pokémon RPG is basically guaranteed at this point and Nintendo might want to continue their incredible run of consistently selling consoles with one of the best-selling properties for the coming fiscal year.

Yoshi and Kirby are coming this year with their own titles, and launch dates for those games will be revealed as long as there are no delays in development.

This one's a stretch but if Nintendo is planning a "Super Mario Odyssey" DLC, the next Direct would be the time to at least announce that it's coming. Indie games will continue to shine and the inevitable Nintendo Switch Online App updates need to be sold convincingly so a spotlight on mostly online multiplayer games can take up a good portion of the presentation. Continued third-party support would be best to promote to continue to attract consumers enough to move more units.

As loaded as it may sound, Nintendo Direct presentations are very fast-paced so unexpected surprises can still shake things up to make 2018 another standout year for Nintendo.

If nothing happens on Thursday, the Switch's future surely still has a lot to be excited for. January 11 may not be the date for all these exciting things to be revealed, or for any of it for that matter. Regardless, it's only a matter of time before all these expectations become a reality.
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