Topic: Everybody who thinks there is no way the Wii U will be discontinued within 5 years

Ya, another one of these threads, but if you are someone who believes Nintendo won't cut ties with a failure, please remember the Virtual Boy. Now, Wii U is nowhere near the failure level of Virtual Boy, but that would be why it would be given a 4 year cycle VS whatever tiny amount of lifespan the VB got. One less year to cut what they are probably seeing as a loss is NOT a hard thing to believe.

And as far as Zelda, I know every single Zelda game has been delayed, but they were ADAMANT it was coming in 2015 on multiple occasions, most recently in the video at the 2014 Game Awards. So, you can either believe it's just a normal delay and they were lying, as, admittedly, they have before, or you have to ask yourself: Why were they so sure and then did an about face? There are only 2 possible answers to that: Miyamoto once again upended the tea table because he didn't like the progression of the product, or they wanted to twilight princess the game, releasing it for both systems, so they pushed it back to 2016, which we all know means Holiday 2016 like always, which will be 4 years since Wii U's release.

It won't seem as bad 1.5 years from now. It seems like it's too short because we're only 2.5 years into Wii U's life, but this is 1.5 years from now this would all happen, should this theory be correct. Also, let's not forget that even though no new systems came in the last 1.5-2 years of the Wii's life, the system was essentially all but dropped. So it basically had a very similar lifespan to what the Wii U's could be. Which makes it even more mind boggling that Nintendo had so little to launch the Wii U with, but that's beating a dead horse

The Wii U will definitely be discontinued within five years. I sincerely doubt they'd ride the Wii U train until 2020. Even if it was doing well

Although that's probably a troll response, what I meant was.. Nevermind, lol.

I put Nintendo's next shot at a console somewhere in the 2017-2018 range. It's not too hard to imagine them riding the Wii U train for a 5-9 6 year generation.

I'm not saying it will happen, but I can totally see them releasing the next console at Christmas 2016. Is that short than other cycles? Yes, but it's also sold much, much worse than any of those other consoles people are referring to.

The Wii U is pretty clearly losing them money too. In Q4, they made a profit only because of favourable exchange rates. Without those, they're not even making a profit, despite the decent 3DS sales (including a Japanese launch of the N3DS), amiibo and the bumper sales of Smash Bros and Pokemon Something must be sucking up money if even with those success stories, they're not really making much.

If we can believe Aonuma, Zelda U was doing fine until they noticed the scope would allow them to make so much more, and refused to release the game as it was and then add DLC, probably meaning the change was integral to the gameplay and thus not patchable. So yes, upending but not because the product was bad, it was because they want to do something even better.

I feel Wii U could make it to 2017, with the NX being released on Holidays of that year the soonest. Better hold off even if they are losing money instead of burning bridges with loyal fans. They will have 3DS, QoL, amiibo and mobile games as other sources of revenue anyway.

^I don't even think it's about burning bridges with their fans, lets say the new console is done now I still don't think a year will be enough time get a strong line up of 1st party games, build hype up for the console and work with 3rd party developers to develop a relationship and have them develop games for the NX. Rushing in with a new console seems to reckless for Nintendo.

Must be close to E3 with all this Wii U's time is over talk heating up. Seriously, can people not just wait a little while longer to see what Nintendo will announce at the biggest video game convention of the year before we speculate how much time the Wii U has left?

The Xbone and PS4 must have at least 5 years worth of juice left in them so if NX was to release at the end of next year they could actually have a machine out to compete on a level with those processing behemoths. Then a successor to each could come out at more or less the same time?

Considering there's neither a rhythm nor a pattern with the console releases, I'd assume it will go on until around 2018. Though I don't really care about how long the WiiU continues, as long as a good amount of japanese games come out on it.

It's a tough call because all of the resources Nintendo use to support the WiiU almost single handedly will be needed to laucnh the NX with the best possible line up. If they can some how patch up things with some key third parties then launching a new console with be a bit easier but again it takes time to do that. I hope Nintendo invest strongly in there development teams bringing in more staff to help get projects moving at a good speed and cut down on workload. I also hope they use the WiiUs remaining life span to experiment with new and ressurected IP to see what loyal Nintendo fans would like to see more of.

Wii U will not be discontinued in their 5 years, but in the next 2 or 3 years, is highly possible, that would be dished out.

I'm guessing we'll see the NX some time in 2017.

I don't think we will see the NX in 2016. (Going based off the assumption that it is a home console, 3DS might be easier to replace but I feel it is still going strong enough to not have to worry about a replacement yet) I can't imagine that they are very far along with developing NX launch titles and I don't think Zelda will be delayed just for that. I think it would make more sense to release Zelda U then when the NX comes out have a "Master Quest edition" release at launch. 2017 seems like a much more likely date. Also I don't think 3rd Parties have already been working on the system, they will need more time.

The problem with this idea is that when will they announce it? If they announce at E3 2016 for release Winter 2016 it will be 3.5 years into the Wii U (giving them only 6 months before release) will they be able to get 3rd Party support and have titles ready by then? If they announce it at E3 2015 then that is 2.5 years into the Wii U which will make people think it is to soon. However announcing it at E3 2016 with a Winter 2017 release will give people enough time with the system to not feel burned and give 3rd Parties enough heads up for ports or possible new games. This seems to be the more likely way things will go.

THANK YOU

Some people (like me) like to speculate. I also keep my expectations in check but speculating is a lot of fun.

Some people need to understand what internet forums are for. Guess what? People are going to discuss stuff, and not wait for some arbitrary date to do so. If you think you'll have a clear idea of how well the Wii U will last simply by what Nintendo shows at E3, then you're frankly deluded. Marketing material, and pressured stuff at that, is by no means a promise of anything.

Deluded because I choose to wait and get more information on future releases before making a prediction on the future? Yeah seems really deluded...

Even if the NX is released in 2016 (the same year they intend to formally announce it), I highly doubt they'll drop all Wii U stock right then and there. While releases will likely be slow, it'll probably get at least another year or so for games to finish coming out for it. Like with most systems. I mean, seriously, I think the N64 and Virtual Boy are the only systems to flatout stop getting games just because the new console hit store shelves...

I think what he's saying is some people like to talk unproductively and flex their typing fingers. Clearly there's nothing wrong with getting some good old fashion exercise, while generating enough hot air that even James A. Garfield could fly around the world in 80 days, now is there? (ಠ‿ರೃ)ᕗ

Um...why is everyone assuming that Nintendo will abandon the Wii U with no evidence to suggest them doing so?
Um...even if the internet is good for speculation saying stuff like this hurts the industry we love so much.