We reference "a Nintendo Direct" constantly on this blog as the likely venue for any Ocarina hardware announcement, so it's worth explaining what that phrase actually means for anyone who's newer to following Nintendo news.
The basic format
A Nintendo Direct is Nintendo's own branded video presentation, produced and published directly by Nintendo (hence the name) rather than delivered at a third-party event like a traditional press conference. It's typically a rapid-fire sequence of game and hardware reveals, hosted with minimal filler, released on Nintendo's own YouTube channel and website.
It comes in a few different sizes
- A full, numbered Direct — the biggest format, usually covering a broad slate of upcoming releases across the year.
- A "Partner" Showcase — focused specifically on third-party published games rather than Nintendo's own first-party lineup.
- A game-specific Direct — a shorter presentation dedicated entirely to one upcoming release, which is the format big single-game reveals (and by extension, tie-in hardware reveals) most often use.
Why the format matters for a hardware reveal specifically
Special-edition hardware tied to a specific game has historically tended to piggyback on that game's own dedicated showcase rather than getting a standalone announcement of its own — the hardware becomes one segment inside a presentation that's primarily about the game. That's consistent with what we've seen after past Zelda hardware reveals, and it's part of why we flagged Direct scheduling as one of the things worth watching in our main roundup.
What to actually watch for
Nintendo doesn't publish a fixed public schedule of Directs in advance — they're generally announced only a few days ahead of time. If a game-specific Direct dedicated to the Ocarina of Time remake gets scheduled, that's a strong candidate moment for any hardware reveal to happen alongside it, though there's no guarantee the two are bundled together at all.