Hm, a new franchise...

Since E3 2013, Nintendo's made a big play of lining up an extensive range of regular Wii U releases for the remainder of 2013, along with Mario Kart 8 for Spring 2014 and a range of other titles — such as Super Smash Bros. slated for a broader 2014 arrival. Nintendo has also intrigued us with comments in the recent investor Q & A of brand-new types of games that are yet to be announced, with Satoru Iwata suggesting that they'd be the sort of fresh experiences that will arrive at short notice for greater impact and to avoid imitation. For those of us keen to see the Wii U hardware pushed in innovative directions, it's certainly served notice.

In a recent interview with Famitsu that's been reported by Polygon, Shigeru Miyamoto has spoken of the benefits of greater system speed from the most recent update, a broader lineup being fully in place by next Spring, and has also stated clearly that he's busy at work on a new franchise.

With the most recent version update, the system runs a lot better, and while there will continue to be improvements in the future, I think it's to the point where it's a convenient thing to have in the living room. Of course, these sorts of updates mean nothing if we don't put out games for it, and I hope people are looking forward to the games coming up. We'll have Mario Kart 8 out next spring, and at that point we'll have the whole lineup in place, so I think it's about time we brought out a new franchise. I can't give out details, but that's the title that's been keeping me pretty busy lately.

New IPs have certainly been on the wishlists of some Nintendo fans, particularly those that may fear the existing franchises going stale. Shigeru Miyamoto is on the case, so it'll be interesting to see what emerges.

[source polygon.com]