There'll be a number of Nintendo fans that, if they feel so inclined, can now say "I told you so". After insisting in December 2014 that The Legend of Zelda for Wii U was on track for a 2015 release, despite bold promises of a sizeable integrated game world and innovative ideas, Eiji Aonuma released a video update stating that a 2015 release is no longer the top priority. While the series producer stopped short of outright saying it'll be out in 2016, that's certainly the take-home message - the fact the game won't even be shown at E3 this year is further evidence of that.
While there was certainly precedent behind the instinct this title wouldn't make it for 2015, it's an odd u-turn considering the confidence Nintendo had previously shown. The appearance at the Game Awards in December was a statement of intent, with Shigeru Miyamoto pointedly asking whether it'd still arrive in 2015 - Aonuma-san seemed confident.
As you can see in the video update itself, below, Aonuma-san makes clear that pushing the game back is in order to ensure the best experience, with new ideas and creativity taking the lead. This is pretty standard fare for these delay announcements, to be blunt, though it does nevertheless give hope to those that want this new title to be a high-point and evolution for the franchise.
On the side of the fence that's accepting of this delay, the oft-quoted Shigeru Miyamoto line has often been shared - "A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad". We're not going to be hypocrites and argue against that, either, as in the past we've often spoken up and defended Nintendo's focus on high quality and gameplay trumping marketing concerns. That's not to say Nintendo doesn't release its share of occasionally sloppy efforts or milk the cow dry when it finds a formula that works, but it does have a strong record of putting great effort into its premier games. That's part of why we love Nintendo, as you can often put down money for its games with confidence.
This is also a decision that reinforces and proves an ongoing message from Nintendo and its game makers - commercial concerns and profits aren't a prominent factor when making games. Of course there's overlap, which explains some sequels we've seen, but typically Nintendo's creative forces operate in a bit of a bubble, and that's evident in various ways. The Wii U may be struggling in terms of sales, yet there's still a breeziness to developers when they talk about their games, still a focus on making fun experiences. Numbers and financial figures are for Satoru Iwata and some of his board members to worry about; plenty within Nintendo are simply focused on making the best games possible.
That emphasis on game quality above financial concerns pops up in that Aonuma-san update, as he mentions that the decision to push back and focus on exploring ideas was taken across management. We don't know whether this is code for "actually, this open world business is harder and taking longer than we expected", but ultimately the decision's been made to focus on the quality rather than force something, anything out for the Holiday period.
The Holiday period - that's where some tough realities kick in. Moving on from the promise of an amazing Zelda game and the sound reasoning to delay, it brings a major headache for Nintendo. We'd always assumed, with sound logic, that The Legend of Zelda would be the last major Wii U release of the year and the big name for the vital Holiday season of shopping. Nintendo's marketing would be simple - buy the Wii U because it's great value and has awesome games, and there's a spectacular new Legend of Zelda experience. The marketing team's eyes were no doubt already widened, especially as the expected PS4-exclusive blockbuster Uncharted 4: A Thief's End is now delayed into 2016. One less rival game to worry about.
Yet now the same fate has befallen The Legend of Zelda, and there are problems as a result. The anticipated retail line-up for the year - almost exclusively first-party - has always looked like it would give us one or two big games each quarter: still due to be dated are entries like Mario Maker, Xenoblade Chronicles X, Yoshi's Woolly World and the third party (but published by Nintendo) Devil's Third, with Splatoon still apparently due in May. We also have the ongoing mystery of Star Fox on Wii U, and we're awaiting a Nintendo Direct and E3 to spill the beans on details and dates for these sorts of games.
There are a few other games coming, yes, but it's still a focus on quality over quantity, but there's legitimate doubt that any of those experiences will be a huge mainstream draw at the vital end of year shopping season. We don't know what kind of experience Star Fox will be - we hope amazing, but on what scale? - and with the best will in the world the likes of Xenoblade Chronicles X et al will be popular but are unlikely to grab attention and drive notable sales for the hardware. It's all great stuff for us, as fans, but a massive Zelda adventure seemed the perfect showcase to excite more consumers at the end of the year - can any of these take its place and have the same impact?
Of course, there'll be tricks up Nintendo's sleeve to flesh the library out - Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker was first seen at E3 last year but made it to release in North America as a fun extra game at the end of 2014. The question is whether any unannounced games will drive us crazy with hype and, importantly, help make the Wii U more of a must-have system. Perhaps Animal Crossing can help with mainstream buzz, a new Metroid, projects from Next Level Games and Retro Studios; we can only hope that, as it's done in the past, Nintendo can stun us with a shock reveal that blows 2015 wide open.
Perhaps that's the plan and we're about to be shocked and enticed in a Direct or at E3, or perhaps some projects need to be pushed through as a plan B. That's part of the fun with Nintendo and its brilliant ability to keep secrets - we just don't know.
As it stands, though, the loss of The Legend of Zelda this year is worrying, simply in terms of potential sales and market presence for the Wii U. Perhaps Nintendo's beyond being concerned about numbers for the Wii U and is simply using the system to hone its HD development and work on exciting games, but in a big year for keeping the system relevant in the marketplace it needs a winner in place. There are some exciting games coming, but a Zelda-sized blockbuster gap has been created; we're nervous over whether it can be filled.
Finally, and beyond all that, we're simply disappointed that one of the year's most thrilling releases won't be coming for a while longer. There is positivity, though - let's take Eiji Aonuma at his word that the delay is to "make it the ultimate and most complete Zelda game"; it could be something truly special when it eventually arrives.
In the meantime, and despite our fears, we'll keep the faith that 2015 can still be a successful year for the Wii U.
Comments 237
Hopefully Nintendo has got another unannounced title slated for this year.
It's rather worrying that this game isn't coming this year - as much as I love both titles, I doubt that either Splatoon or Xenoblade X will be strong enough to push a noticeable amount of WiiU's this year.
On the other hand, this clearly dismantles the (ridiculous) ssumption that this "NX" would be a WiiU successor. I'll just wait for E3 and see if they got anything previously unannounced to fill the gap.
The problem is now there's no good time in 2016 to start talking about NX without making people think "Ooh, maybe I'll wait for that rather than buying a a Wii U-Zelda bundle"
I just heard that Nintendo have made an announcement that this year's E3 will be focused on games coming out this year. Now that doesn't mean no new surprise announcements, but it also doesn't sound too promising of any big fillers to full the whole left by Zelda.
"As Mr. Aonuma announced, The Legend of Zelda game for Wii U is no longer targeted as a 2015 release. Rather than sticking to a specific schedule, the team wants to make this the most complete and the best game it can possibly be. The new launch timing has not yet been determined. Because we’d like to focus on developing the game, we aren’t planning on showing it at this year’s E3, where we will be highlighting games launching in 2015. We will let you know when we’re ready to share more specifics." — Nintendo
http://www.gamnesia.com/news/nintendos-e3-lineup-will-focus-on-games-launching-in-2015#.VRbvA_NFDqA
All they need is a bundle with Smash Bros and a $50 price cut, because $$$ are really what parents are looking at around the holidays.
Quick question. Has there ever been a 3D Zelda game that HASN'T been delayed???
There was no reason for this article. Clickbait garbage...
Without Zelda being released before the holidays, Nintendo could suffer quite badly in terms of sales. Hopefully they've got something else planned.
The major concern with the delay for me is the fact that if it's not being shown at E3 this year you can bet it will be shown at E3 2016. We will also get our first look at the NX that same E3 which will immediately put off anyone buying a wii u. Essentially Nintendo seem to have killed any momentum and any chance the wii u had to succeed.
Nintendo haven't really pushed their own hardware and made a truly groundbreaking experiance on the wii u to date and now it looks like the one game that could do that will come at the end of the consoles life. Not good enough for me.
I think it's too early to form such bold statements like "omg Wii U is dead now that it will not have Zelda this year" when E3 is almost upon us and tons of new stuff will be announced there. Maybe even a big game that can be release on the holidays. Just like Super Mario 3D World was revealed at E3 2013 and released on november without any problems.
Even an HD remake will do the trick! If there's one company that knows how to make remakes right, is Nintendo. Wind Waker HD was fantastic and it sold relatively well. I don't understand why they haven't done more HD remasters on Wii U...
StarFox to save the day.
...an odd u-turn considering the confidence Nintendo had previously shown.
U-turn... *chuckles
Or if they could announce it for early 2016 and have some really good bundles for holiday season, it could be enough of a carrot to save Christmas/holiday season. Spend the holidays playing Splatoon & MK8 and know that come January, there'll be Zelda to cover the usually dry post-holiday season.
That's the only way I can conceivably see them rescuing this. Frankly, Xenoblade, Star Fox and Metroid are unlikely to sell systems outside existing Nintendo fandom
I'd be super down for Animal Crossing on Wii U. I've gotten back into New Leaf lately and am reminded why I love this series so much. But it does suck that Zelda is now pushed back, as that was one of the main reasons for me getting a Wii U in the first place. I'm fine with waiting for it though, as I'll take a delayed game over a broken one anyway. But Nintendo is going to have to pull something big to keep the Wii U relevant this holiday season.
@kensredemption lol so Nintendo delaying their biggest release of the year isn't grim. We may be fine with waiting, but that doesn't really matter as our patience doesn't sell systems unlike a new Zelda game which would do huge numbers this holiday. I assume you must not be very exposed to clickbait if this is what you perceive as being it.
@Boxmonkey First off, they never said NX will be shown at next year's E3. It could very easily be revealed beforehand (both the PS4 and XB1 were revealed prior to E3). Second, we don't know if they will actually reveal it. They said they'll share more information, which for we all know could mean a few details from Iwata and not an official reveal at all. Third, we don't know what NX is. It may very well be a next gen handheld to replace the 3DS family. Of course, it will kill off the Wii U's momentum in the mean time as the media keeps assuming it's a Wii U successor.
@Boxmonkey You are assuming the NX will be a sucessor to the Wii U, it probably is the next handheld.
The problem is, they can't just snap their fingers and have that big game. My feeling is Xenoblade Chronicles will be the Q4 game. Now I'm sure that will be a great game and be well reviewed, but it's not going to be a big seller and certainly not a system seller.
The other option is Star Fox. At last years E3 all they had was a prototype. Star Fox 64 code using assets from a cancelled Wii Star Fox. That means they'd not even properly started working on the Wii U game. If it's out this year, then with such a short dev cycle it will be on rails, about 40 mins in length, almost another retread of Star Fox and Star Fox 64 but with gamepad controls. Could still be a good game but probably not your holiday blockbuster.
So I'm guessing StarFox means nothing?
@Takerkaneanite6 Majora's Mask 3D?
But yeah, if you're excluding remakes, no there haven't. Every single one of them, since Ocarina of Time, has been delayed to the following year (most to the following HOLIDAY, which doesn't bode well for a early 2016 release here).
They need a flurry of 1st party titles for the holiday season, and a lot of new stuff at E3. If not, their in trouble.
Very true the NX could be anything but anyone sitting on the fence about the wii u will be much more likely to give it a miss if they believe a new home console is on the horizon.
Nintendo's message is very confused these days and that's been the problem form day one with the wii u.
Maybe I'm just expecting to much form nintendo I've been a day one buyer from back in the early 90's. Nintendo used to push boundaries with the game they released on new consoles, these days they don't seem very capable at creating something truly breath taking. Four years into the wii u's life for the type of game nintendo should be making in year one of a new system.
@NaturalGus
But they never confirmed it 100% for 2015.
I wonder if people will think a rushed game is bad for ever an example would be Sonic Boom.
This extra is a great thing, because it will make it a great game.
@Peach64 I'd imagine Xenoblade has a better chance at selling systems than Star Fox. Star Fox I think will be a $40 budget title. If Xenoblade is the big holiday game now, then that means they'll push marketing for it. Meaning it can sell better. Great for Xenoblade sales wise. Though if the game was originally meant to release at the end of summer, then I have to wait even longer to get my hands on it...
People are overreacting over nothing..
Nintendo is putting their effort this year on mobile games, Wii U is left to rot. It's sad but that's the truth, you have to go where the money is... Nintendo has learnt their lesson the hard way.
I have a feeling that they have a few unannounced games, specifically the vaguely mentioned Metroid game they are working on (who knows, perhaps for both the 3DS and Wii U). I get the feeling that Nintendo has heard the message loud and clear that people want more games, which is why we have seen a shift to some (outstanding) $40 games like Captain Toad where they can have many smaller projects going on. This lets them launch many games which eases the "drought" everyone complains about and simultaneously gives them some breathing room from rushing their main games out (they can also see what people like and expand on the popular titles with DLC, which I suspect might be on its way for Captain Toad and others).
I predict that they will have a number of smaller games take the place of Zelda along the lines of a Captain Toad type $40 game, and that when Zelda does come out it will be heavily integrated into Amiibo and the hinted at Amiibo ability to unlock previous games in a series making it "the most complete Zelda experience" (like the original Zelda game and SNES version are included, etc).
My only fear is that they have spent so much money into this new Zelda that they don't write off the Wii U and delay this game until they can achieve a simultaneous release on it and the NX.
Just my thoughts.
@Nintendian They're not doing that at all. The mobile games won't detract from Wii U/3DS/NX development. Iwata stressed that the partnership with DeNA is constructed specifically to make sure mobile development won't detract from development on their dedicated platforms.
I always thought Zelda would eat a lot of Xenoblade X's sales if they were released too close together. But to me I would guess the game just isn't far enough finished. I guess if Xenoblade, Starfox, and a third (probably platform based) game are released October to December, that will fill partially fill the big Zelda space.
But should we be that desperate for Zelda? Both the Gamecube and the Wii used a Zelda game as a sort of full stop to end the first party support for each system.
I'm fully expecting at least 1 or 2 games to be announced at/before E3 for release this year on the Wii U. The article mentioned Captain Toad, but Nintendo has done quick releases on bigger titles, too, like Donkey Kong Country Returns, Kirby's Epic Yarn, and even Super Mario 3D World. I wouldn't be at all surprised if they announced a new Metroid, 3rd party exclusive, or some other major title, and then released it within 6 months.
Side-note: I'd love to see Animal Crossing U get announced.
Nintendo have a secret up their sleeve.
What have Retro been doing whilst working on and finishing Donkey Kong...
Metroid announcement at E3 anybody? No? Maybe? Can we dream?
You sound like a bunch of business men - all of you.
"A blockbuster-sized gap"? Yeah, right. You've got a 300+ hour, massive scale, open world RPG coming this year called XENOBLADE X. Play that.
I'm sure that there'll be something this holiday season...hopefully.
Hopefully they have HD remakes of TP and SS as a bundle pack for release this Christmas as backup for not having Zelda ready this year.
Yes very overdramatic article there's still starfox and xenoblade to look forward to this year
@IceClimbers Selling systems?Brother if Smash bros and Mario Kart 8 can't sell systems,what makes you think Xenoblade Chronicles X will? The Wiiu is failure,they can leave the console or keep going with it.But going with this won't help them in the long run.
This holiday we're all getting just dance 2 ultimate.
Start saving, me mateys!
One thing I remember from that rewards show was the guy stating emphatically that Starfox would release before Zelda, but I don't recall him saying what year. So Starfox may not even be ready before Christmas.
One good thing about Zelda though, I don't think its sales will fluctuate that much w/ it's release date. I really thought a game like Captain Toad had to be out before the holiday, it seemed like a kids gift present, but Zelda should sell well whenever it releases.
As for helping Wii U sales, I'm not sure that will matter much either. The system isn't going to sell w/o a $100 price drop for the holidays regardless of games. And most Zelda U fans have probably already purchased a Wii U. The sad thing is a casual game like Wii Music would probably sell more consoles than Zelda U.
2 months until E3, so I'll wait and see.
@King_Stannis Erm, ok...
Anyhoo, it'll be interesting to see what else is coming to the Wii U that we don't know about; as I said in the article, Captain Toad was shown at E3 last year and arrived in 2014, and like many others I suspect a Direct is very close. There'll still be surprises, so that's exciting.
In any case I've aimed to be balanced. I thought Zelda would have been a big play for Nintendo in the Holiday season, but now it'll have to focus its Wii U marketing efforts elsewhere. It'll be interesting!
Release Mario Sunshine HD and Luigi's Mansion (GameCube,) HD! Also Path of Radiance HD along with Radiant Dawn Wii VC!
@Nintendo_Ninja you're right about that. The conversation between anouma and miyamoto made it sound like they said StarFox was coming in 2015 before Zelda. I hope e3 brings some StarFox news though.
@Gamecubed I was thinking the same thing. A metroid release this year and zelda next year would be just fine by me.
@kensredemption Yes because telling people the Wiiu has lost a huge title this holiday season or this entire year!Is click bait.And don't say Xenoblade Chronicles X.Yeah i wonder what game has a bigger name Zelda or Xenoblade chronicles?I'll give you hint it starts with the letter Z.
Animal Crossing Wii U would totally save the day and might be even more of a system-seller than Zelda.
No it doesn't, there's Xeno and Starfox what the fronk?
Nintendo fans *who.
@kereke12 agreed
@TwilightAngel I was talking about Xenoblade in comparison to Star Fox. Obviously neither will sell systems the way Smash would. As you said, the Wii U is a failure at this point. That's why it doesn't matter that Zelda is delayed - it wasn't going to save an already failed console as it is, so might as well delay it to make it as great of a game as possible.
With Zelda delayed, that leaves Star Fox or Xenoblade as the big holiday title unless they have something big up their sleeves (Animal Crossing is the only likely one - Metroid is a 2016 game if it's happening on Wii U, as it may be pushed as an NX (assuming it's a home console) launch title instead).
"Perhaps Nintendo's beyond being concerned about numbers for the Wii U and is simply using the system to hone its HD development and work on exciting games."
Totally in agreement with this statement. I think Nintendo has decided to cut their losses, to some degree, with Wii U. They are resigned to the fact that it is not going to move even 20 million units lifetime, and they just need to keep putting out software for it at a steady, deliberate pace, until the NX is ready, probably in 2017. There is no longer any point in banking on killer titles making a big boost in Wii U sales — Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U failed to move the needle in any meaningful way.
The Wii U is clearly halfway through its lifespan, and an incredible Zelda game as its grand finale could be a great springboard into whatever is next from NX.
@TwilightAngel Why do you look down on other titles just because of brand-name and popularity? Why do you give so much a poopitypooppoop about what's more mainstream and what's not? Xenoblade X has all the quality of a Zelda game, so it means very little if it's not as popular.
I thought they said a new Mario game would be coming soon. (I think a 3D one)
@ThomasBW84 Yeah I'm hoping for at least one game akin to Captain Toad shown off at E3. I'm fairly sure Nintendo has something up their sleeve, since they play their cards so close to their chest.
Get rid of the butt fugly cell shading for chrissakes.
Look at Wind Waker sales you dolts.
Consumers HATE cell shading.
I have to agree that this is very worrying for marketing and sales. There's very few games in Nintendo's repertoire that can grab the kind of attention that Zelda can. As far as potential replacements go, I'm doubtful that they can adequately replace it because most of the bigger games we end up seeing more than a year before they release. If we get a Metroid announcement this year, for instance, it will probably also be a late 2016 release or even 2017. I don't see any of the remaining IPs like Animal Crossing or Paper Mario driving sales either, the Wii U's highest selling games aside from Zelda are likely behind it with the big names like Mario, Mario Kart, and Smash already having games for it.
Since the Wii U isn't going to be making the big bucks anyway, I'd like to see them take the time work on some of their remaining franchises and experiment a bit, most of what we've gotten so far basically cashes in on nostalgia and tried and true formulas and it feels a bit too safe for Nintendo. I want to see something that really blows me away.
I think Nintendo's "big" title that will release in November is something that will be announced at E3. Metroid will probably be shown off for 2016. There will also probably be a Mario and Sonic title for this holiday season. I don't see Star Fox being Nintendo's "big" title.
@Bolt_Strike Xenoblade X. Also, you sound like a business man. Are you sure you're not more interested in Wii U sales over actually playing great games?
@PokeMario As if the popularity of a game dictates its quality. Xenoblade X isn't as popular as Zelda yet it has the same quality of a Zelda game. Start looking at the contents of a game and less at whether it's some kind of "juggernaught" for the holiday season.
@Jholdz When the hell did i look down upon Xenoblade Chronicles X? I said a fact,and i'll say it again just to piss you off even more!Zelda is a bigger name in the industry then Xenoblade Chronicles X! And i care about which game sells more,and that's Zelda don't come here and try to shove the game in everyone's face!
@Jholdz Xenoblade is somewhat of a niche title, I don't see it grabbing attention and sales.
As for sales vs. good games, I'm looking at it from both sides. From a business perspective, the biggest thing they have is Mario Maker, which is probably going to sell decently simply because it's Mario, but I don't think it will be that strong, while Yoshi and Xenoblade are probably not going to do that well.
From a personal POV, I'm not very excited for this lineup either. Mario Maker is a neat little gimmick, but probably not something I'll play that much. Yoshi's Woolly World is literally just Yoshi's Island meets Kirby's Epic Yarn, which isn't too exciting. And the only thing Xenoblade has going for it is its size, in terms of its gameplay it's not the most exciting game in the world.
Maybe Nintendo's got a game already made sitting on a shelf somewhere waiting for the instal base to grow!
Please be nice to others
I think Xenoblade X is that other huge title, and we still don't have a release date, but without Zelda its true there is a huge gap, hopefully there is a plan, for all our sakes.
@Bolt_Strike In Japan, the Xenoblade X Wii U bundle and also the game alone is still in the top 10 on Amazon. It's also been grabbing a lot of attention, too. It's also at number 11 on in the COMG! chart which is really, really good for a Wii U game. Still, if you don't like the series then I can't expect you to give a fair observation. It's got a lot more going for it than just its size. Ridiculous statement.
Xenoblade X! But that translation work tho...
There is only 1 thing that can fill this gap...metroid.
First off. I'm confused to how this article is click-bait. Every large piece of news like this has had a Talking Point article, so there's that.
Anyhoo, I don't think Nintendo is that clueless as to delay a big holiday game without something taking its place. I'm still of the mind that a surprise game or two is coming, most likely in the form of Metroid (yes, I'm sticking to my prediction from yesterday). Or perhaps we'll get some remastered Gamecube games. I mean afterall, we do have these GC adapters hanging around. Heck, they could decide to remaster Twilight Princess.
If anything, a nice little price drop/bundle could also do the trick to get more units in people's hands over the holiday. Whatever the case, I'm sure there's some type of plan in place. You don't do something like this without looking long and hard at the effects it would have in the term. Of course this is Nintendo we're talking about, so you never know.
@Donutman I would definitely like to see a Metroid game announced soon, but sales wise it's not going to make up for no Zelda. Also, several of the large scale exploration based games usually don't release in the same year they're announced (Xenoblade and Zelda being good examples). If they announce a Metroid game this year, it's probably going to be a 2016 or 2017 release.
@Donutman Someone give me a hell yeah!
them not showing it at E3 this year tells me that this could be what twilight princess was. like this about it, they said that they'll talk about the NX in 2016 so it will most likely be a cross platform between Wii U and NX. It will be a good launch title for it so this might be what they are thinking.
This isn't just any ordinary delay, this was the single most important piece of Wii U software for 2015. Now that its delayed, I'm not sure anything can fill that gap (in fact I'm positive nothing can) Even a new 3D Mario game cant save the Wii U this year I'm afraid, and i can't help but feel that Nintendo doesnt really care anymore. I'm pretty down about the Zelda delay, it was always the one thing stopping me from selling off my Wii U.........
I'm bummed, but I understand.
On a side note, when did these forums become so angry? Seems like every topic ends in a bickering match.
They needed some resource to split for making mobile games announced for this year since new deal is on. I think its simple as that. Thou i always hoped for first trailer about Link and giant spider fighting would at some point be game but seems was only commercial for WiiU.
Guys, Xenoblade will never sell better than Zelda.
Nintendo has one hell of a balancing act to pull off. Sounds like a company on the verge of spreading itself too thin, but we'll see.
There have been some references to F Zero in some Wii U games, so I am hoping there will be an FZ announcement either in a direct or E3
@kensredemption No, this is pretty bad news, Star fox and Xenoblade aren't nearly as large heavy hitters than Legend of Zelda, so unless Nintendo somehow has another head-turning game lined up already (If so, why haven't they announced anything yet?), they will have a gaping hole where a system-selling holiday title should be.
No, Xenoblade will never be able to fully replace Zelda or sell more. However, it's the best option to replace it as the big holiday title. Star Fox is likely a $40 budget title because of how short its dev cycle is and Mario Maker I'm willing to bet will be an eShop-only release. If Mario Maker gets a physical release, it will be a $30 title.
Xenoblade is now their biggest game for this year. Star Fox might be more well known, but an on-rails only shooter like SF64 that's released as a budget title won't be seen as a big holiday exclusive.
If Star Fox isn't a budget title, it will be delayed to next year.
So Xenoblade is their only option as the big holiday exclusive unless they pull Animal Crossing out of the hat, and even then I wouldn't expect it to have the same presence as New Leaf because it's not portable.
@kensredemption That's basically what I was going to say. I'm a huge Zelda fan, but acting like it sells systems or even nearly as much as people imply it does is a little silly. It's also fairly inaccurate unless you're talking about MM, which wasn't a system seller when it was new, only when it was put on a portable they just launched. NL really needs to stop being dramatic about some things.
I have the feeling Devil's Third will be this year's blockbuster for Nintendo in lieu of Zelda.
Yes, a delay is not very good point, especially for players who have been waiting since the official announcement, but we must understand that a game like this requires development time and Nintendo ought not to have made that proposal dated knowing how the game had shown up date. In this level/generation de videogames, games like this are very expensive, need whole developent time and may times, perform poorly (talk about of profits), then, We both players and companies must understand that it is important to set a good game, no matter how long it takes, but of course this, not be much.
Now, the plan B?, it's difficult, because, if they had a "secret" game in developent, and is an attractive game, then, good for all; but, if not; well, to my idea, we should be content with what we will have at the moment; or receive bad made games to cover the delay of a greta game and keep us "as happy".
I'd rather wait a little more and see what else there will, in the end, the game will come! ^.^
If they feel like Zelda will be ready for their February release they could always sell Deluxe Wii U's with a Zelda eShop code as a holiday push for sales. MK8 / Smash Wii U bundle with a code for Zelda would probably get them dame sales as last holiday.
It does concern me with the timing of all this news. I hope a direct and the E3 info help clarify where Nintendo is heading as a gaming company.
Now I only have 3 games I really want this year which is better on my budget though.
I think Wii U and the 3DS will be my last Nintendo systems until they revolutionize how they do stuff.
They need cloud saves and unified systems. They need cross buy. They need to hear their customer requests and act on them. They should stay unique. Not sure if it will ever happen though.
@AJ_Lethal I guess that could make sense in the form of Nintendo trying to entice the Sony/Microsoft crowd as it looks like that kind of game. Combine that with their smartphone games enticing the smartphone crowd and they could be getting huge profits.
I'm really hoping Star Fox will make it this year. Fingers crossed!
@Zach777 That's what the DeNa membership service is for, and that's coming this year. Iwata already said before that the next systems will be account based. Now they are implementing it on Wii U and 3DS.
This is exactly what I was worried about. Hopefully we'll see Animal Crossing Wii U (though I seriously doubt it) or a new game TBA at E3 2015 this holiday season.
If this new Zelda become a sort of Skyrim, i'm cool with that!
@Zach777 same here.
Or, the Wii U successor will become my secondary system in tandem with a 'primary' Xbox or PS successor or current gen system. This may hinge on what exactly Nintendo unveils regarding the Wii U successor. If the hardware doesn't impress (nor the scope or ambition of the launch games), I'm moving passed them.
this proves the new system is closer than we think
I'd like to see the gap filled by some kind of Skylanders-like game that utilizes the amiibo in the same manner, so long as every one of them could play side-by-side against some new enemy, so I could pair, say, Bowser and Kirby or Marth and Pac-Man for couch co-op.
I'm kind of happy that this is delayed because it gives me confidence that this game will blow my mind and also now I can invest my time in xenoblade chronicles x (when it eventually releases)
It's fine.. Now I can fully enjoy Star Fox, Xenoblade Chronicles 3D, Etrian Mystery Dungeon and Xenoblade Chronicles X alongside Bloodborne, Final Fantasy Type-0/FF15, Metal Gear Solid 5 and Persona 5.. I may throw Persona 4 Dancing All Night in there just because I'm an Atlus fanboy/hopeful future employee..
Speculation games: Metriod for both systems, Dragon Quest 10 for both systems, Fzero good but it won't sell but will fill the gap. Earthbound U a stretch but so what, Pokemon U with Amibos support. Fried chicken. I'm just hungry now.
I really dont think that Zelda is getting delayed so it can be for the next system. and as for the holiday gap, did any of you guys ever see the news about the big new wii u title that will be revealed by famitsu? the only hint that they gave as too what it could be is that it has system selling power only second to mario. that could be what solves the christmas gap.
Nintendo is gonna need something good this holiday season. Guess we will see what happens at E3. I'm just hoping it's not a remake game.
With Xenoblade Chronicles X, Yoshi's Woolly World, Mario Maker, Star Fox and hopefully SMT x FE, I think they could be alright. Keep in mind they still have e3 to get some new games announced.
I get the feeling the project guard and giant robot stuff is being incorporated into starfox to try n boost the length of the game beyond budget title status.
From a gameplay point of view the only thing I can see being as adventurous and immersive as zelda would be a new Metroid although it wouldn't do zelda like numbers ,I'm sure xenoblade will be great but as folk have said its niche and while am excited for endless levels of smw I can't see a creation tool like mario maker really being seen as a "blockbuster game".
Also even if there Is a new dragon quest game who's to say it'll get released outside Japan?.Hopefully we get info before I start dreaming of shenmue 3 being a wii u exclusive.
The DQ games were already released in Japan .
Ok can we stop with the NX will be shown next year rumours. There will be more information on NX but I doubt very much that NX will be on show next year. I believe it will be shown in 2017 and will launch then as well.
What NX is, is another discussion. I don't think it's a new home console in a traditional sense. I believe this gen is the last of the stand alone consoles. I think it will be a set top box which will stream games and media. NX could even be a streaming service for Wii U, 3DS, PC and mobile.
No matter what we as Nintendo fans think about the delay, it's bad news for the Wii U. It needed Zelda to sell consoles this Christmas, and now it's left with Xenoblade, which releases in early summer, Splatoon which is unlikely to sell consoles and Starfox, our only hope. That is if Starfox gets a 2015 release.
I hope Ninty have something big up their sleeve for E3.
@McoobabWATP I agree with you. Nintendo's console shifter was going to be Zelda and now that is delayed I can't see another game that will take that role.
@Videogamer123 It could be another Dragon Quest.
@jord I'm about to buy a Wii U again to run alongside my PC and 3DS. I'm skipping Xbox One and PS4, nothing out there.
First off, this is a strategic delay by Nintendo.
Sure, the whole "this open world thing is harder than expected" would be plausible. However the whole past year Nintendo has been nothing but the utmost confident in Zelda Wii U; gloating about it in fact. Then, all of a sudden a delay AND E3 no show? Something is amiss here.
I would not doubt after seeing both MK8 and Smash do little to nothing to revive the Wii U this past year (among other factors) Nintendo has internally "written off" the console in a sense. Not canning it entirely but basically giving it the GameCube treatment as they prepare their next Wii, if you will.
I wouldn't be shocked if behind closed doors Nintendo is putting NX in the fast lane for 2016 and Zelda U ends up being one of the launch titles. When Wii launched with Wii Sports and TP it was a home run from day 1.
Lastly, "A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad".
That damn antiquated quote needs to die. It's 2015, Miyamoto. They're called "updates" and "patches".
Sorry, I'm still bitter Splatoon won't have voice chat. Such a Nintendo move...
Just give me Advance Wars!
I'm predicting Dragon Quest not a Nintendo IP but still viable.
Is anyone surprised? Has any major new console Zelda title in the last 10 years launched on time?
My guess is that a Metroid Prime successor will be announced in Zelda's place for holiday 2015 and developed by Next Level Games w/h assistance from Retro. NLG have been working on a 'top secret' project since October 2012. That would make the development to release time frame 3 years this October. They've been on record last year saying that Nintendo keep giving them better and better IP to work with, and what could be bigger than Luigi's mansion that isn't mainline Mario or Zelda?
@gatorboi352 "They're called "updates" and "patches".
That doesn't stop fundmental problems in the game design. A patch is just a bandaid on the finished product made by only a small proportion of the dev team. It might improve performance or remove glitches, slight rebalances but it'd be rare to see a patch turn a bad game into good one or a good game into a great one.
With this delay it's likely still being worked on by the whole team until they they produce the end product that they want to create and lets them change or redesign the game a lot more than patch can.
It's certainly better than knowingly(it's ok if it's uknowingly and a patch is needed to fix an oversight or a bug only found after release) releasing a game they're not actually happy with the intention just to fix it "later" with a patch. I think that kind of mindset of "we can just patch it later" a lot of publishers have as an excuse to rush out a game for a holiday season or whatever is terrible. It just disrespects the customer and makes the developers and the game series look really bad.
@HansBrickface It's not 2003 anymore, everybody is fine with cel-shading. You're stuck in the past if you actually think that way.
Anyway, Splattoon will fill the Spring, Xenoblade will fill the Summer, Mario Maker will probably fill the Fall, and Yoshi's Wolly World will probably fill the Winter. There is no gap, There are plenty of games already filling each season. You're making a mountain out of a molehill.
Super Mario Sunshine HD
Do it.
If this turns out to be the spiritual sequel to OOT, then it will pay off to take their time with it. Just don't wait until the end of Wii-U's life.
lol people think Xenoblade is a console mover. lolololol
@Monkeyofthefunk so you think that nintendo have revealed a new project (NX) but won't show us anymore until 2 years and three months from now 😱
30th aniversery collectors edition bundles.
You kinda have to believe that if nintendo is pushing this back, then they know theirs a title they can release for the holidays, and we'll hear about it this E3.
Time for the 2nd tier franchises to step up.
I don't care what impact this has on the company, as long as the game is good.
I am truly crestfallen. I was looking forward to paying full price to play an unfinished game that was rushed out the door to meet an arbitrary deadline. I guess now I'll have to wait a little longer to play a polished masterpiece that is the best it can possibly be. What do they expect me to do in the meantime, carry on with life and tackle the backlog of unfinished games I have? Totally outrageous, this flies in the face of my sense of entitlement.
@KillScottKill It has a better chance than the rest of the lineup. With Zelda delayed, Xenoblade is now their best choice as the big holiday exclusive. No other game can possibly come even close. If Metroid is coming for Wii U, it won't be this year. Star Fox is very likely a budget title given its short dev cycle, if not, then it will be delayed too.
Besides, at this point it's about having a big holiday exclusive for the sake of it, not about moving systems.
@Ichiban : it's hard not to give into the temptation to toss the Wii U aside and just focus on PC, PS4, and the XBox one. I actually don't think Nintendo has anything of worth to announce for the rest of the year. They've let long dormant franchises rot. My favorite example is Eternal Darkness. Geez, what an awesome game. Its like they don't want to take chances. If they announce another Mario game at E3, I'm gonna be sick.
I have a question: WHY does everyone think the NX is a home console? Wouldn't it be more likely to be a 3ds successor?
@kereke12 But pushing back a game for a whole YEAR is something. I agree, this sounds outrageous, but I wonder if this is anything like amazon packages. When they tell you the package will take 5 days to arrive, they really mean 3, and this lets you be more confident in their delivery. So I would guess Loz Wii u, could release in early December.
@Cyberbotv2 With PC you can pretty much ignore the PS4 and XB1. It strips them of multiplats and brings it down to exclusives, in which case the XB1 is even worse off than the Wii U as most XB1 "exclusives" are available on PC. PS4 literally only has 1 exclusive that's worthwhile at this point: Bloodborne.
Some purchace a system based on what their friends have. I spend more time online with friends on x-box. If they where into pc i'd go with that option. I get good times out of wiiu&ps3, but sometimes I need a break from gaming with strangers or myself.
people keep mentioning NX but I REALLY don't think NX is going to be a successor to the Wii U, I think it's either going to be a successor to the 3DS or a third platform. Here is to hoping a bunch of lesser franchises (F-Zero, Kid Icarus ect) get the much needed love they deserve in place of zelda for the holidays.
@CAM290 it is hard to believe that the NX will be a successor handheld when they just went through all the trouble for the New 3DS.
The only games large enough to fill the void left by a Mario, Metroid, or Zelda title... is a Mario, Metroid, or Zelda title (I'm talking main franchise, here - Mario Maker doesn't cut the mustard).
Once my mind settled on the sad reality that I wouldn't be playing Zelda this holiday, the gravity of that thought settled onto Nintendo's already precarious sales situation with the Wii U.
Let's hope that "Fatal Frame" gets localized, and that both "Star Fox" and "Devil's Third" actually make it to retail this year.
@theBluntKnight
It's a slap in the face, I tell you! They ruined our childhoods 😉
@TwilightAngel Actually, Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. have shifted a lot of consoles, and I have heard many people who aren't massive nintendo fans showing an interest in Splatoon and Xenoblade X, the latter especially because of Shulk's inclusion in Smash. I'd like to remain optimistic about the Wii U's future.
@Link506 Yay for optimism!
"Okay team, how quickly can we make Super Mario Sunshine HD?"
There is no way to fill the gap. Xenoblade X is an astounding game but has a limited audience. RPGs are NOT for everyone, specially JRPGs these days. I believe it will have great sales considering the original was a massive hit during the last days of Wii. But once again, it doesn't even come closer to what a new Zelda would mean to Wii U this year. You can't put any other game, system or feature to replace a Zelda title release.
I hope they don't find out too late.
Why does Nintendo need a plan B? They clearly have no interest in salvaging the Wii U, and the delay of Zelda U may indicate one of two other possible scenarios--they may be delaying it because there is almost literally nothing else coming to the Wii U in 2016 and they need a "filler" before the NX platform launches (a bit like how Majora's Mask launched at the absolute lowest point for the N64 when it was practically needed as filler), or they may be prepping it in case it needs to be shuffled over to NX, the way Twilight Princess found it's way to the Wii.
The coffin is all but buried for the Wii U, I'm afraid. It was gimped hardware-wise, so that dug the grave. It was over-priced and contained a controller consumers hated, so that was one foot in the grave. The third parties jumped ship in record time, so that was the other foot in the grave. And then Nintendo announced the NX early, so that closed the coffin lid. The only thing left to do is shovel dirt on the Wii U, and since Nintendo will need to reallocate resources to begin development of software for NX, that will be happening over the next year.
At this point, Zelda U could be the best game ever made, and it won't sell the Wii U--it barely had the chance to do that this year (almost everyone who wants it already has the console), and it certainly won't do it next year.
@Vineleaf
Why not Mario Sunshine HD + Luigi's Mansion HD together? maybe Eternal Darkness HD and Path of Radiance HD for the hardcore.
@Quorthon They need a plan B for their big holiday exclusive. Not to move consoles (that ship sailed a long time ago), but to have something for the sake of it and to please current owners, even if they're not interested in the game. Not having a big holiday exclusive reflects badly.
No game will be able to fully fill that void, but Xenoblade is their best option. Star Fox is a budget title given how short its dev cycle is. If it's not a budget title, it'll be delayed as well. A budget title won't fly as the big holiday exclusive, regardless of how well known the franchise is.
@Quorthon Sad but true. The writing is on the wall.
..the thing with Ninty. Then can still slap you with some amazing stuff on E3 (or Nintendo Directs at that time). Nothing, nothing, nothing, you watch ND and BAM. You are poopitypooping you pants when you realise it's something mindblowning Nintygames are on their way and fast!
I mean, LBW was bit surprise. MM release fast after official announcement. I mean, E3 is in June, they have plenty of time to once again, catch us all pants down (and sceam at our screens OMGOMGOMGOMG! )
I love Ninty. I love their non-buggy games. I watch gameglitches on youtube and wonder why I don't see the funny stuff in my games, but it's Nintendo.
Okay fine, AC III and IV, but the first one is so buggy that I don't know if it's even funny.
There would have been a "Blockbuster-Sized Gap" in release dates of noteworthy games on the Wii U even if LoZ Wii U was coming out in 2015, because the Wii U STILL has no 3rd party support. And people who think any console or gaming platform "doesn't need 3rd party support" are delusional.
@DarkKirby The gap refers to the lack of a major exclusive, not 3rd parties. That's another topic entirely. Zelda was the big holiday exclusive. Now there's a gap. Same goes for the PS4 - it has no big holiday exclusive either. And no, 3rd parties do not soften that blow as people can get those games on the Xbox One.
Edit: Also, anybody that thinks 3rd party support will sell the NX is delusional. Does Nintendo need them? Yes. Will it help them? No.
More Nintendo from Nintendo.
I'll bet their stalling to line the architecture up with their 'new platform' so they can re-release 'Legend if Zelda NX' with minimal effort.
Creativity at Nintendo has been dead for a decade, they're all about the cash flow.
Is this clickbait?
To me it's called an opinion piece
Wait, wasn't a Mario game in development from the same team that made SMG 1 & 2? It could be done by christmas
@gatorboi352
"Sorry, I'm still bitter Splatoon won't have voice chat. Such a Nintendo move..."
This is probably the one issue that will stop me from buying that game. Even playing MK8 without voice chat is horrible. How do I know I am playing against real people? They may as well all be bots as there is no ability to communicate with each other. It really detracts from the experience.
@Quorthon Very valid point. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if most of the games padding the rest of the Wii U's life are more of the same "blah" mediocre to average $40-50 releases we've been getting for the last 4 months. Stuff like Mario Party 10, or Kirby and the Rainbow Curse, or Captain Toad. Stuff that takes little development resources and little time, so that Nintendo can give us "filler" while focusing their main development on NX.
I would even argue that's the smart thing to do, since the Wii U's terrible install base makes it downright foolish to develop any more significant AAA titles for it. Games of that caliber can't save this console from dying the horrible death it deserves - not even Zelda U.
I don't put much stock in Nintendo's ability to make rational conclusions about things, but hopefully they learned a few things from this console and won't repeat the dozens of mistakes they've made with it. This gen, they had the money to blow. But if they botch another console, I think we'll be seeing a much more financially desperate Nintendo than we are now.
The 3DS family is a money machine an they can do whatever they want with the Wii U, even delay a much anticipated and awaited Zelda title
Anyone who remembers Twilight Princess is not surprised. Considering a final title for the game hadn't even been revealed, this was expected.
It's no surprise as every Zelda game gets delayed!!! But this does indeed make a once optimistic 2015 look rather empty and it will probably be solved by delaying others games to make the gap look smaller...But here's hoping e3 brings some surprises...Yeah it's a long shot but you never know!
"As you can see in the video update itself, below, Aonuma-san makes clear that pushing the game back is in order to ensure the best experience, with new ideas and creativity taking the lead."
And because you continue using this line, why would any developer ever claim anything otherwise? What are they going to say? "Oh sorry, we just told you a time we knew was too early to make it look like we had a good release plan for the Wii U". Giving the excuse of "Oh we want it to be as good as possible" means nothing.
I think if Ninty were delaying this to coincide with release of NX (albeit no mug knows what NX is), it would a very long delay (early 2017). Also if this were the case, that would mean the Wii U would be the only Ninty Console (not inc. VB) without a Zelda Game released specifically to that Console.
It's delayed to make it better IMO
At least it shows how much Nintendo care about quality - speaks volumes that they would avert the juicy holiday cash grab.
But Miyamotos quote stands - look at sonic boom and the damage it has done to the brand and sega....
Well look at a vast number of 3D sonics you might say! Though prior to Boom they had regaine some credibility with Colours and Generations.
This neew Zelda will be worth the asking price of the Wii U it seems so let's sit tight and anticipate
to me the fact that people are defending this and saying "its not a big deal" " i can wait longer" umm yeah it kinda is a big deal as many have been waiting for this game!?!? while true they are adding more things and yes it could end up a better game the fact that they arent even showing any footage is what is bothering many of us and the fact that they really dont have much going for them this year is disappointing.... oh yeah and how they seem to almost be pushing to show why we should be on our edge to buy the game soon this year then to suddenly say " oh nope nvm sit back down it will take a while" is that not odd to you?
but i hope start fox proves us wrong or something cuz i doubt they are going to say they have been working on metriod then show footage of that >.>
If they advertise like nothing before, offer a price cut on the system, or a really good bundle with some extra goodies at the same price as the console is right now, they could help themselves out with people purchasing the Wii U over the holiday season, but with PS4 and XONE getting their exclusives finally out, Wii U still will not sell as much as they'd probably be hoping for. No matter what, and yes, I'm a nintendo fan, the Wii U is not going to dominate, and it's still going to be a disappointment for nintendo. It'll have it's wonderful and incredible games on it, it will still be a great system to fans and myself, but that's all it will be known for. It'll be one of those systems that 10 years down the line, will be bought at old-game dealers for expensive prices. I love the Wii U, but I'm hoping that nintendo has much more games to be released for the system than what they have planned (Star Fox, Splatoon, Devil's Third, Mario Maker and Yoshi)...that's just a few titles and who knows if Xenoblade will come out this year or not, and who knows what's in store for the following year. I really hope nintendo pulls out the bigs guns.
Whatever. The Wii U sales-wise is un-savable. If games like Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. can't save a console from floundering, then nothing can.
@Ootfan98 You could argue the 3DS is in the same position. Yes, A Link Between Worlds has differences from A Link to the Past (the main one being the merging into walls mechanics) but it also has a lot of identical things. For a significant amount of the game I felt like I was basically playing a remake which allowed me to change my dungeon order by means of the rental shop. I'm not saying that's a bad thing as I thoroughly enjoyed ALBW but it is very close to a remake.
I think Nintendo will be fine delaying Zelda in order to make an amazing game. people just need to learn patience. does anybody want Zelda to end up like AC Unity.
people are also forgetting Tantalus' port project. they are claiming it's a big AAA title. I think Nintendo's game release schedule will be fine, plus Nintendo always has a few surprises. Xenoblade, Star Fox and whatever Tantalus is working on should be fine.
as for Wii U sales, they really need a big price cut. they should start pricing the Wii U as a secondary console, which means it shouldn't be more than $199. parents will be more apt to buy that.
If Zelda U is another 10/10 then I am happy to feed off the scraps in the meantime. If the scraps include Starfox and any other HD remake from N64/GC era then I will be happy enough to not buy another console.
I think it's quite obvious that it's going to be a similar play like last year's Xmas season. We will have a big release, like Smash Bros. and a small sort of stocking stuffer like Captain Toad. Just this time I believe the big game to be Star Fox. These next few days a crucial if Star Fox is also delayed, otherwise, I believe it will fill the role. Star Fox certainly isn't a Zelda, but hey, it's something, especially if it has great gameplay. Their marketing could push it's uniqueness. From what I've heard so far, it sounds amazing.
@outburst I'd love a remake of those two Fire Emblem games in HD as a bundle. Fire Emblem is my favourite series and those games are meant to be played back to back.
@Grumblevolcano I get your point, and yes, we are still lacking a 3DS Zelda that is new from the ground up. But I think it is different enough not to be in the same category as OOT, MM, and WW
@Ootfan98 A link Between Worlds says hi
@Faruko In my own opinion, I think ALBW is different enough to not to be categorised as a remake
My personal wish list for surprise game announcement at E3 are; Metroid 3ds in 2D, Metroid in some form for Wii U, an Amiibo based RPG a la Paper Mario or Super Mario RPG, Papa Mario series game (I'm hoping for Paper Luigi, Paper Wario, Paper Bowser, Paper Princess Peach etc... change the formula a bit), big 3 Mario Game, either a new F-Zero or a remake of the GX/AX game, Mario Sunshine HD, as mentioned above a Fire Emblem HD bundle remake of the GA and Wii games, tones of VC announced, GC VC, Wii VC, new Punchout, any surprise 3rd party announcements and finally where the heck is Fire Emblem x Shin Megami Tensei? I'm certain this entire list will not come true but take your pick of 4 or 5 of them and I'd be frothing at the mouth.
I don't think it's that big a deal. I want a Zelda game that is packed with quality content. I loved Skyward Sword to death, and this game is worth the wait. Besides, lots of games are still coming out this year that we can look forward to!
On a side note, if Nintendo announces a new console and says it's only available for that, I swear I will leave Nintendo for Sony. That would be the last straw.
There are a lot of opinions on both sides of this argument, but this delay will hurt overall sales for the WiiU this holiday season. Xenoblade is not a well known game and won't boost sales the way Zelda could. The rest of Nintendo's "known" lineup isn't strong either and really won't help them move WiiU off shelves. While I understand the need for the delay to make sure the finished product is good, Nintendo has to know that this is likely the last holiday season for WiiU before stores start clearancing go them off. PS4 and Xbox One are selling so well that most consumers are writing off the WiiU unless it is for their kids. It is a tough pill to swallow but the WiiU is so far the worst console they have ever developed. I would take a GameCube or N64 over it anyday. It will be the last Nintendo console I buy at launch as I don't want to get burned again.
@gatorboi352 "Sorry, I'm still bitter Splatoon won't have voice chat. Such a Nintendo move..."
Boy, that has a lot to do with Zelda, I'm still mad that Mario Kart didn't have online play!
@Faruko ALBW was definitely a remake, there was nothing different between it and ALttP, nothing at all. The way you get items is the same, all of the characters are the same. Lorule is the same, it's just all so similar!
I don't mind the ability to have played at least halfways through Xenoblade before Zelda is out. My problem is that there have been no major releases since Smash Bros.
@JamesCoote Early 2016? If so then we would have got something significant to show this E3.
They'll force some other game into early release just to appease the 'blockbuster need'. Which is annoying, considering the zelda favortism.
I think it is safe to say that they'll port Pokken fighter to consoles by the end of this year.
Nintendo doesn't want our money. Nor do they care for our excitement. I'm afraid of this particular Zelda title because it seems heavily reliable on the bow and the game pad mechanic. Something totally useless like motion is probably what's holding them back.
I wouldn't be surprised if they release this game on the Nintendo Nx and the Wii U.
This is maybe the dumbest article I saw here so far. What fear? What problems?
If you write articles, write something useful and not such garbage as this.
Zelda Wii U is evolving!!!
Zelda Wii U evolved into Zelda NX.
This is the only reason, and the best reason for this strategic delay. Zelda wii u was a 2015 certainty. NX as early as 2016/2017 changes that. Why release your biggest game in 5 years on the older of two consoles When you are about to really push the new?
I am 100% behind NX and have been hoping for rumblings like this for the last 12 months when wii u's failure to grab mass market appeal was clear.
Wii u is still best format ever, but NX has the real possibility to change EVERYTHING for the next decade
this is so so so bad, everything is over.
"the sky is falling.
my life must be ending next.
theres no way this doesnt affect everything about my entire life."
geez, its not like its cancelled ya'll.
i mean, how did u not see this coming, its like tradition
@King_Stannis There was no reason for your post. Comment garbage.
People, it's not about boosting Wii U sales anymore. Nothing will do that, not even Zelda. It's too late for that. Quit thinking about system sales people.
Finding a new big holiday exclusive is not for sales. It's for the sake of having one. Not having a big holiday exclusive reflects badly towards the owners of the system and in the industry. Sony is currently set to have two holiday seasons in a row now without a big holiday exclusive now that Uncharted has been delayed. That will reflect badly on them in the eyes of PS4 owners.
Xenoblade is really the only game Nintendo has coming that can work as the big holiday exclusive. The first one was only niche because Nintendo made it niche. This time there are people paying attention to it, and that is in no small part due to comparisons with Final Fantasy XV. The 80 minutes of gameplay we got at E3 helped too (though unfortunately Nintendo only uploaded the first 40 minutes to Youtube).
If Nintendo uses Xenoblade as the big holiday exclusive, then they will give it a good marketing push.
To anyone who thinks this article is garbage, it's not! I enjoy reading Nintendolife's speculative articles like this!
In Europe, besides from Captain Toad in January and Mario Party 10, Nintendo has left the Wii U mostly absent. They deliberately delayed Kirby and the rainbow paintbrush when it should of been released considering the gap. Releasing Wii titles on Wii U eShop just doesn't fill the gap. The same goes for VC.
However, for me it doesn't matter as recently until 15th June i'm not spending a lot of time playing games as i'm revising for my GCSE exams. I'm in year 11. As soon as it's 15th June (last exam) I'm getting Splatoon and Zelda Majora's Mask 3d. Also, other recently released games soon after. And Iv'e got so many eShop games to play that I got when they were at discount but haven't played yet.
Then Xenoblade Chronicles X. Iv'e got plenty to keep me busy for this summer. Then in winter hopefully Starfox Wii U will be released.
@CharlyDunst So the Wiiu that's a sinking ship losing one of it's biggest games this year,isn't something to fear about?And it's a hint to something almost everyone thought,the Wiiu's life span is beginning to end.Oh damn even Nintendo is abandoning this system.
@IceClimbers The difference being that PS4 and Xbox One still have plenty of holiday games from their third parties. Nintendo does not have any third parties at all. If Xenoblade is Nintendo's only headlining holiday release, it reflects poorly on Nintendo anyway, because there's still a significant lack of games in general.
Let's be fair though and assume that Nintendo has some tricks up their sleeve for E3. I'll be extremely generous with them. Say they reveal maybe one extremely impressive out of left field AAA game and 3 smaller titles to come out by the end of this year (small titles like Kirby and the Rainbow Curse or Captain Toad or Mario Party or Mario Maker). That's still, what, 0-1 games a month for the rest of the year? And most of them are in the half-AAA category, "filler" AAA games that don't have enough content to even garner a $60 price tag!
You can go after Sony and Uncharted all you want, but as a PS4 and a Wii U owner, I don't care whether the games are exclusives, I just care that there are games. And I can almost guarantee Sony and Microsoft will have more high quality holiday releases than Nintendo will this year, AAA or not.
@IceClimbers Although not particularly helpful to most, the 2nd Xenoblade Chronicles X portion is still on their twitch channel (3 hours and 55 minutes into the day 3 stream). Looking at their E3 youtube playlist, that 2nd portion was accidentally selected as a private video given it's the only part of their E3 streams not available for everyone to watch.
@FlaygletheBagel While true, the lack of a big holiday exclusive does hurt Sony in the eyes of most PS4 owners. 3rd party games may soften the blow in comparison to Nintendo, but they certainly do not in comparison to the Xbox One, as it has those games too and a big holiday exclusive (Halo 5).
Also, the significant lack of games in general was going to reflect poorly on Nintendo even if Zelda was releasing this year. Zelda wasn't going to change that.
Also, you're quite right about most of them not garnering a $60 price tag. The only games coming in the second half of the year that can justify that price tag are Yoshi, Xenoblade, and Devil's Third. Star Fox I honestly think is a $40-$50 budget title.
@Grumblevolcano Ahh, good to know. Thank you.
This is definitely a sizeable blow to the Wii U's lineup this year so I can only hope that Nintendo has something amazing in store and will surprise us at this years E3.
@IceClimbers I don't know where you're getting the information that it hurts Sony in the eyes of most PS4 owners. I own the console and am just as content waiting for Uncharted as everyone here is content waiting for Zelda. Doesn't hurt Sony in my eyes at all. There will be plenty of third parties and indies to keep me busy while I wait. Which is something I can't say nearly as much for Nintendo.
I also never mentioned that a 2015 Zelda would've stopped Nintendo from being viewed in a poor light. Obviously Zelda being released this year doesn't fix Nintendo's sparse release schedule (though it would've helped). My point was that holiday exclusives are not the biggest factors that determine a console's reputation for the year, which seemed to be what you were hinting at. I'm going to be glad to own a PS4 this holiday season because I know there will be plenty of games available. Exclusive or not.
Glad we agree on how sparse Nintendo's games have been content-wise lately though. They keep putting out these budget titles and there's nothing in the $60 dollar realm besides Zelda and maybe Xenoblade that has my attention. I want to see more games with meat on their bones, but all we get is mini-helpings. That's a trend I'm almost positive will continue until the Wii U dies and the NX launches, because why bother getting your devs to work on a huge game on a dying console when you could just put those developers to work on the next hardware (which might sell better)?
Good article.
So... Star Fox, Shigeru Miyamoto's pair of experimental games becoming $40 games? Animal Crossing? There are some options.
As much as I'd like Nintendo to reveal some awesome looking Metroid game for Wii U 2015. That seems highly unlikely to me. Still: do want.
I'm wondering if this change could divert some resources to Star Fox to amp it up a bit. It's interesting to think about what that game will be like, but Miyamoto has stated there won't be too much story, right? That and his expectation that it could be finished in a year and a half even with the gameplay still being worked out means we are probably getting a smaller game. Perhaps much of the assets were being worked on before that was finalized, but that's a fast turn around no matter what. Time for a all-hands-on-deck boost to the game?
You know I'm almost more sad I won't see more Zelda at this E3 than I am about it not hitting the end-of-year target.
As far as business goes, Nintendo needs to make some awesome bundles and a significant price drop. Mario Kart 8 and Smash Bros and Mario are still a powerful combination on a second console at the right price.
@IceClimbers I'm not convinced Halo 5 will release this year either. 343 have been spending so much time trying to fix MCC and in addition promising ODST for it. I could see something happening at E3 like Halo 5 coming in 2016 but while you're waiting you can play Halo Reach and Halo Wars for MCC.
@FlaygletheBagel Ok, that was poor wording on my part. I think what I was getting at is that some PS4 owners might feel that their purchase isn't justified over the XB1. Without comparing it to anything though, you're definitely right that there are games to play. MGS V and Star Wars Battlefront are two big examples (hopefully the latter is good).
Yeah, the budget title trend will definitely continue throughout the last of the system's life cycle. With those titles, I'm sure some of them are great, and I'm certainly not going to bash Nintendo for giving games a lower price that aren't worth $60 (which other companies could honestly take note of, such as Ready at Dawn with The Order 1886), but there definitely could be some more meaty games as well, though they are better suited for the NX at this point (assuming the NX is a home console of course). As previously mentioned, Zelda, Xenoblade, Yoshi, and Devil's Third are the only ones that justify a $60 price tag. There's also Splatoon, though I don't know if that one is $60 or not. For all we know, Yoshi could be a $50 title like Tropical Freeze was.
For me, Xenoblade will take up what little time I'll have for gaming anyway, so the lack of releases won't be too much of a problem.
@Grumblevolcano That's a good point. If that happens, then MGS V will definitely win GOTY (it probably was going to anyway), while Arkham Knight, The Witcher 3, Bloodborne, and Xenoblade Chronicles X are nominated. There's also No Man's Sky, but I have my doubts with that game. It's promises remind me that of Spore's.
That would also set up 2016 to be pretty solid: Street Fighter V, Final Fantasy XV, Mass Effect 4, Quantum Break, Uncharted 4, Halo 5, Zelda U, etc.
Does anybody know what NX is? No, thought not.
If it is a home console it will follow the trend and sell badly. The reason? Nintendo is not fashionable. People argue over PS4 & Xbox One like they do over their Android & iPhones. Nintendo has a kiddy tag. We know it's not true but that's the tag.
The only way for Nintendo to shake that tag is for them to throw their standards out of the window and develop a console to match/beat the rest. They must also court devs like Rockstar, EA, Activision etc with the offer of a system powerful enough to run their new engines and with a marketing campaign that's alien to Nintendo's current colorful, family friendly approach.
Personally I hope they don't because I'm bored of grey games, but financially they may need to do just that.
@Monkeyofthefunk I don't understand this logic of how Nintendo will somehow throw their standards out the door by courting Western Third-Party developers and having a system that is equal to its rivals.
Did the SNES lose its soul when it allowed blood in Mortal Kombat II and games like Doom on its system? Mario games can exist alongside games like Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Call of Duty, and other Western franchises. Nintendo does not lose their standards by getting those games on their systems!
Using the SNES as an example again, Nintendo used to be the king of censorship back in the 80's and early 90's. This dated stance eventually bit them in the behind when Sega allowed uncensored ports of Mortal Kombat on their platforms with the blood and gore intact. Nintendo's version of Mortal Kombat was outsold by Sega's versions by a wide margin.
So, what did Nintendo do? They got with the times and started allowing uncensored content on their systems. Mortal Kombat II on the SNES outsold the Genesis version, and Nintendo even created their own fighting game in Killer Instinct to compete.
You could make the same argument with the marketing of the SNES, where Nintendo eventally introduced the "Play it Loud" campaign to compete with Sega's brash and aggressive ads.
Now, did Nintendo lose their "standards" by allowing Blood and putting out more aggressive ads to help the SNES?
No, because the games that still defined Nintendo were still there. Mario was still Mario, Kirby was still Kirby. The only difference was that Nintendo realized how dated their polices were and adjusted accordingly.
People also seem to forget that up through the Gamecube, Nintendo's hardware was comparable to its rivals. They did not adopt this "older hardware with a gimmick." approach until the Wii.
I guess my point is this, how is letting Rockstar, EA, Activision, Betheseda, and other developers create their games for Nintendo's platforms a bad thing? If you don't like having Call of Duty on the system, then ignore it. But having a FPS shooter on the NX is not going to crush Nintendo's soul.
It's not like we are going to get a Mario game with adult humor and blood or a Zelda game where Princess Zelda has a nude scene.
But what we will get is a Nintendo platform that can finally compete on equal footing with its rivals, just like they had back on the SNES.
Nintendo needs third-party support, and they need it badly. And just getting games like what Nintendo puts out is not the answer. They need the big western IPs and they need to be more then throwaway ports.
Nintendo won't lose their standards by getting those kinds of games or building the hardware that can support them.
They did not lose their standards when they allowed Blood in Mortal Kombat II back on the SNES.
Why would they lose it now?
This isn't news. I couldn't fathom the Zelda game being ready in 2015. They pull out all the stops for Zelda when it comes to quality. These games always take a long time to get to market. Now with the additional development time for a giant HD world there was never much of a chance that it would come out this year. An announcement that the game would be delayed past 2015 was a certainty. I am excited to see this game in 2016 or 2017. It will probably be a masterpiece.
@Caryslan I think he means that they'd have to throw their standards out the door and lose their soul in order for the console to sell - the kiddy stigma prevents it from selling well regardless of 3rd party support and on par hardware.
In a way, he might be right. 3rd parties won't stay if their games don't sell on the NX. Where there's no demand, there's no supply. Basic economics. Nintendo has to get Xbox/PS gamers to switch. Looking at it from an Xbox/PS gamer's point of view, there's no way in hell I'd switch over from the platforms I've been on for the past 10-20 years to Nintendo's system just because they have multiplats - you know, games I can already get on Xbox/PS. I imagine this applies to the majority of gamers.
I honestly think the stigma around their home consoles will prevent them from being able to fully fix their situation.
@ThomasBW84 You might want to take a look at this:
Following the news of Zelda's delay, Game Informer conducted a poll asking fans what their most anticipated release for the Wii U in 2015 is now. Here's the results:
As you can see, Xenoblade Chronicles X actually came out on top by a fairly wide margin, with Star Fox as runner up and Splatoon in 3rd.
So far, Xenoblade Chronicles X is the big game I'm looking forward too, but I really hope to hear Star Fox coming near Xmas time, and some sort of surprise game (either a Metroid game or Bandai making the announcement of a Tales of game coming to the Wii U) around Xmas time will make the wait for Zelda in 2016 at least more bearable, but the fact that the Wii U's third party support is not there, and there isn't a lot of other announced games yet makes me very worried.
@IceClimbers yay I agree with you and the poll, Xenoblade Chronicles is a HUGE draw in to the system, but mainly for bigger fans of Nintendo, Zelda has always been that series that really sold Nintendo systems since Ocarina of Time on the N64.
@Grumblevolcano Well, Microsoft just announced Halo 5's release date - October 27th.
Based on game development cycles, from the size, scope and pure ambition of this Zelda title it's probably being reworked as a release title for the new NX platform. All huge AAA sandbox games of this magnitude take 3-5 years to develop (GTA V took 5 years alone for the PS3/XBOX360), If NX is going to be released in 2017-2018 that will give them 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 years (considering we're already half way through 2015), so they are going to have to start working on NX material now.
@Quorthon that is the best and truest comment about Wii U I've ever read.
I think we all knew this was going to happen, so no need for an excuse. We will wait just as patiently as we were when we rolled our eyes at a 2015 release date and mumbled under our breaths 'yeah right.'
@IceClimbers Exactly. As long as Mario, Zelda and the rest are the faces of Nintendo's new console at launch, it will never be taken seriously.
@Caryslan That's not a valid point. The N64 was around in a different era.
Nowadays as long as Mario, Zelda and the rest are the faces of Nintendo's new console, they will never win over gamers from other consoles. They are used to Master Chief, Nathan Drake Etc.
Nintendo are unique and I love them for that, I love their games and characters, but financially it's not working for them. I hope that changes very soon.
@gatorboi352 I'm sick of rushed broken games that require big patches. I don't want NIntendo to follow the MS EA Ubisoft route, its one of the things that keeps Nintendo the #1 - stuff that actually works.
@Monkeyofthefunk If Nintendo become another maker of Master Drake clones, there will be no point to NIntendo any more.
@IceClimbers That's promising and I think Xbox One could make a sales comeback if Halo 5 is properly working at launch given that Uncharted 4 is delayed to 2016. MCC probably burnt a lot of Xbox One customers hence why only "could".
@MadAdam81 That's why Nintendo have to find a way to stay true to their values whilst selling more home console.
I'm going to be honest. Who the hells really know what is preparing for this year?, we know a few things for a few games, but really who was waiting that this year to get MM before the direct.. Everybody knew that the game was to being releasing someday.. but they announced just one month before it got out, So in fact we don't know if a new game is going to be announced for this year
@Monkeyofthefunk
That isn't even the least bit true. People actually do still love Nintendo's games, if you haven't noticed, their handhelds' success is due in large part to their 1st party games.
People still love Mario, Zelda, and all the rest, the problem is their image, their design choices, and especially the fact that they're missing pretty much everthing else out there. As much as they might want Mario or Zelda its basically them vs. everything else and obviously Nintendo is losing.
Did you know only 4/10 of Sony's games are successful? Same is true for Microsoft, what else besides Halo and Forza do people care about? What do people care about? Those so called "grey games". @Caryslan's point was indeed valid by the way, it was the 3rd-party games that made people jump ship.
It is funny how everyone screams at Nintendo for third party games and that ONLY those games can save Nintendo. But as so many people here already mention, so less third party games are useful. Look at Shadows of Modor, Assassin's Creed and all those CoD games; buggy and flat as a sheet of paper. I agree that the plot of Mario and Zelda are no Oscar Nominees, but at least the gameplay is acceptable. Twilight Princess was a great game, 3D Word brought a new wind since you could play with Peach as character again. The last game was Super Princess Peach and before that SMB2.
Quality over Quantity... and yes, even Nintendo made horrible games here and then, I totally agree with that.
@Kaze_Memaryu How does the delay of Zelda U translate into project 'NX' NOT being Ninteboes next home console?
@IceClimbers
Actually (replying to your comment about Uncharted 4 being delayed), Uncharted 4's delay doesn't bother me or reflect badly as a PS4 owner for a key reason--there will be plenty of other games to play.
The same is not true of the Wii U, unless we also see delays of XCX and StarFox to fill the void. When we talked about Zelda U as "important for Nintendo's 2015 holiday", it was because we all pretty much knew there was nothing else joining it.
As I've noted before, the PS4 has more games coming to it than literally any other game console or portable this year, so while it sucks a bit that Uncharted 4 is being delayed, it's really not going to hurt anything. The PS4 is still selling like mad, and there are still boatloads of games in the pipeline.
I'm personally not bothered by it. After all, I still need to finish Far Cry 4 and Bloodborne.
@CharlyDunst
Shadow of Mordor averaged an 84% on Metacritic (PS4 version) and the newest Call of Duty averaged 83%. "Buggy and flat as a sheet of paper?" No, you clearly have no idea what you're talking about and have never played the games you're criticizing. I have actually played Advanced Warfare, quite a bit online. It's pretty solid.
Your quality over quantity comment is utterly absurd, as I've pointed out before--Nintendo fans cannot keep flying by this bullsh*t if you want to look rational.
Nintendo has not only made bad games, they've published utter crap--Wii Play, FlingSmash, Wii Music, Pokemon Rumble U, pretty much every Mario Party game, pretty much every thing with "Wii" and many with "U" or "Wii U" in the title.
This is particularly stupid when you realize that the competition has both quality and quantity. You're just championing far less quality. That is literally what you're defending. "Wii U has overall less quality, and for some reason, that's good."
For instance, the PS4 has 81 titles (some of them add-ons) averaging 80 or higher on Metacritic. The Wii U has 50 titles averaging 80 or higher on Metacritc--and has been out a year longer.
"Quality over quantity" is utter nonsense when the competition has both "quantity and quality."
@FlaygletheBagel
To add to your point, I've long grown tired of Nintendo fans who attempted to champion failure by noting that Nintendo has "cash in the bank" and can "fail for another 10 years and be fine." That is not remotely part of reality.
When any entity--particularly a major corporation like Nintendo--starts hemorrhaging money and falling in the red, no matter what, it will cost more money to get back. Look at Sony. The company has been losing money for the better part of a decade and despite the success of the PS4, they've still had to make some drastic measures--selling the PC division, selling a massive office building, selling Sony Online Entertainment, selling their stock in Square-Enix. Sony's plan now is to return to profitability by 2018--because the longer you struggle, the more struggling and spending that must happen to get back to a clean state.
The longer Nintendo spends hovering around this perceived industry irrelevance, the longer it's going to take for them to return to form--suffice to say, they cannot fail forever. Eventually, they will just flat-out fail.
Sony went into overdrive repairing the PS3 and rebuilding their brand, as well as rebuilding consumer and developer confidence. They took their embarrassing misstep console (the PS3) and shored it up and made it strong again. That so boosted confidence that when the PS4 was revealed, Sony had almost won out of the gate.
Nintendo not shoring up the Wii U means the NX (whatever) will not be welcomed like the PS4--instead, it's more likely to be a "last hurrah" like the Dreamcast. That's considering it's a home console, or the oft-rumored combo device. It's strange that the 3DS should be replaced first, but the hints we hear from Nintendo--like Miyamoto's "next Mario, next console" comments--seem to indicate that they are expecting a new console sooner.
True, the NX is going to be a "third tier," but we all know Nintendo struggles to support two tiers and has another third element already going (Quality of Life), making the NX a kind of "4th tier". Nintendo cannot support all this stuff by themselves, and that's blatantly clear. NX is going to be a replacement for something--if, if it succeeds at all.
@Zombie_Barioth It wasn't the lack of 3rd party devs why "gamers" jumped ship. The reason was the Wii. Yes it's sales were amazing but a lot of people were put off by the crazy amount of mini and party games.
The Wii U has had to fight the stigma created by the casual Wii. That's the reason the bulk of Wii U sales are to fans of Nintendo. I'm a massive Nintendo fan, currently my only consoles are new 3DS & a Wii U, but my mates prefer the other 2. They never got into Nintendo and not because of the lack of 3rd party games.
Even 3rd party games wouldn't give the Wii U a boost, it's just how people perceive Nintendo.
Yes the 3DS has sold very well but it's not a saturated market.
My wife and daughter have 3ds consoles but not because they love Nintendo, it's because they like mobile games.
The Wii U is a great console but it can't compete on sales with the PS4 & Xbox One.
@Quorthon Couldn't have said it better myself. People seem to forget that Nintendo isn't just hoarding all their Wii money in a vault somewhere. They have thousands of salaried employees - game developers, customer service reps, translators, writers, PR, advertising (granted, not much of it, but it's still there), website technicians, repair technicians, etc. etc. Nintendo is a big company with millions and millions of dollars in salaries to pay, investments to make, buildings to maintain, and so on. So yeah, three years of pitiful hardware and software sales will - and has hurt them. They can't make losses every year and keep riding on the coattails of the Wii's success for long.
Its 3 years late as it is. This should have been made for release with the U in 2012. The U would have been a smash hit if it had. Instead of making that horrible Skyward Sword, they should have been working on the next-gen Zelda at that time. Its just sad to see such poor planning by management. I don't begrudge Aonuma making this game as great as it can be, its just a reflection of bad planning. These "discoveries" of how to make the game cool should have been made in 2011.
@FlaygletheBagel
Indeed, and I think Nintendo was banking on the success of the Wii, while somehow totally not understanding why the Wii dropped in sales so sharply after it's peak in 2008~2009, while the X360 and PS3 seemed to move forward with new and renewed momentum.
I really hope they've got a good plan in order for all this stuff they're aiming for, but at the same time, it's a lot of stuff, and almost all of it is highly questionable.
Well, let's just hope Retro is up for something really BIG this year, cos that's indeed a huge hole in their line-up... Xenoblade and anything Fire Emblem related will please Nintendo fans, and a new Metroid Prime would certainly be huge news and a great addition for the same people, but all these games won't attract many new customers outside the hardcore Nintendo fanbase...
In fact, with Mario Kart and Smash Bros already out, i don't know what could save Wii U in 2015, with the exception of an incredible new 3D Mario in the vein of the two Galaxys... but the new Zelda in 2016? Well, it will be too late, and chances are it will (already) be the Wii U swan song, and that's quite sad after only three years on the market...
@akaDv8R Simple: The Legend of Zelda is the WiiU's last potential blockbuster game Nintendo has currently announced, and now it's almost definitely going to be finished in early 2016. At that point, its' release would be inevitably overlapping with NX, which also supposed to launch at the beginning of 2016, and if it was the WiiU's successor, it'd obviously have further negative impact on the already mediocre sales figures of the WiiU. Nintendo wouldn't just risk that with what is probably their most highly-anticipated WiiU title of all, especially when looking at how much the media fawn over the NX concept.
@Kaze_Memaryu Nintendo have said nothing of the kind about Project NX launching 2016. They said we will find out more at E3, but I, and many other sites predict a mid to late 2017 launch.
Nintendo have traditionally launched a new home console every 5 years. Why they would break with this trend is not apparent.
Please reference the article for me, which says NX is launching next year.
@Quorthon Pray tell, of the many many so called next gen games on both Xbox and PS4, how many have lived up to the hype? Maybe 1 or 2. Sony maybe leading the console sales, but their biggest worry at the moment is their newly planned Playstation Now TV Service. Unless that takes off, just like the PS4, Sony are in big trouble.
Someone mentioned that the 3DS market doesn't count, as it is a singular market. Well, last time I looked, Sony had the Vita, so hardly a singular market.
People are so quick to jump on the "Let's bash Nintendo" bandwagon. Personally, and many others think the same. I will leave it to Nintendo to work out, and carry on enjoying great games that last more than 5 hours (The Order). Apart from Iwata, Miyamoto and a few other top execs, nobody knows what Nintendo is planning, and we likely will not find out any more until E3.
Like I said in another topic, Xenoblade Chronicles X will be more than enough of a blockbuster this year, as long as Nintendo markets it appropriately. Combined with all the other games mentioned, there's some good stuff on tap this year. No one likes to see a franchise such as Zelda be delayed, but honestly, I don't know of too many blockbusters set for 2016, so "something" had to slide to that year. All I know is I'll just take it all in stride, no worries, it'll all work out
In fact, I forgot about Fire Emblem for 3DS likely due in the west this year. Oh yeah, Nintendo fans are more than covered this year.
1986 - 2016
A Link to Celebrate!
@akaDv8R Like the Wii? Never rely on "traditions" unless there's official confirmation to a schedule.
As for the year: 2016 is all we have for the "NX" right now, so it's also the only thing that can be related to the NX in general, and the E3 2016 reveal is the closest thing to a release we have. Nintendo never even mentioned 2017 in relation to that, so these "predictions" are as reliable as fortune cookies.
Generally speaking, even the E3 2016 will inevitably be too close to the Zelda release window and has vast potential to diminish the games' impact on WiiU sales considerably.
@Kaze_Memaryu
"NX, which also supposed to launch at the beginning of 2016"
Eh?
@Kaze_Memaryu I thought that they said that there would be more information about NX next year, not launching next year. Or have I dropped a b#llock?
They should have never shown that video with Miyamoto. Too many people assumed it was a near release build. Hide the game until it's ready to promote commercially.
Xenoblade X will get people to buy Wii U's.
@outburst
I'm with you. Release a couple of good GameCube games (Sunshine, Luigi and Paper Mario are all good choices, IMHO), along with a couple of Wii games (The Conduit I y II, or Mario Sports Mix with Mario Sluggers included!!).
Pad it a bit releasing some more DLC for Mario Kart, a couple of characters for Smash Bros, some Splatoon amiibos and some more Game Boy Advance goodness, and we are all set!!
Also, promise some sort of DLC levels for Star Fox to keep people interested.
@Monkeyofthefunk
Ok, your not making too much sense here. First you claim @Carylan's points were invalid because the N64 was in a whole different generation, and when I point out why they are you jump to the Wii.
Nintendo's problems go back way farther than just the Wii. Yes, they got the casual gamers on-board which only bit them in the end, but they've had those aforementioned issues since the N64 days. People jumped ship from the SNES because of games like FFVII and Tome Raider, which Nintendo didn't have, and those games went to Playstation due to Nintendo's design choices.
As for the 3DS, it sold 50mil. worldwide, much of those sales were due to 1st-party content. That's a good chunk of what's available. Your only basing your claim on anecdotal evidence. If people didn't still like Nintendo games, they simply wouldn't sell, it sure as heck isn't Atlus or XSEED games making the system sell like that.
In short, it isn't Nintendo's games that are the issue, its them and their console's image, and a severe lack of 3rd-party games. The latter probably won't make a difference anymore, but they could at least try.
@Zombie_Barioth So at last you agree with my initial point. It's Nintendo's image, the family friendly, almost childish image that holding them back but it's an image that makes them different, that makes them the alternative in a world of grey and brown games. I hope they don't change but for their financial security, they made need to.
@Monkeyofthefunk
No, I only agreed with the former, their image is holding them back but its not the only thing, and those things are what caused their image problem in the first place. What I most certainly do not agree with is your opinion of those so-called "grey and brown games". If they aren't your cup of tea that's fine, but dismissing them as such makes you no better than those who dismiss Nintendo's games for being kiddie. Both are equally naive and ignorant viewpoints.
Their existence doesn't deminish the spirit of Nintendo's own games either, so them being on the console doesn't harm your experience or that of anybody else who dislikes them.
@Zombie_Barioth Their image was tarnished by the Wii. You have to take into account that console gaming is bigger than ever and a lot of the younger gamers who have more time on their hands, grew up in the Wii era, so their image of Nintendo is influenced by that console.
As for grey games, I play them on my PC and they are becoming repetitive and unimaginative. I know there can be a balance but is there currently a platform that offers that?
Nintendo offers an alternative to PS4, Xbox and PC. There's nothing wrong with bringing third party games to the Wii U, but it won't change people's perceptions of Nintendo's home console.
Nintendo have to go all in, or stick, when it comes to grabbing the COD, Fifa and BF crowd.
The 3DS has sold well, so you stated people still like Nintendo games. So why aren't those people buying the Wii U?
@Monkeyofthefunk
Once again, yes it was, but not just the Wii. The casual/kiddie image us old hat, its been with them since the N64 and Gamecube. The Wii just made things even worse.
I don't think there's much Nintendo can do, besides just relaxing their standards a bit and focusing on including the modern-day features people have come to expect. Maybe revive their old 90's style marketing, just not quite so in your face.
As for 3DS fans not buying a Wii U, they probably don't feel they need one. The 3DS has them covered for most of their Nintendo games, and many probably also have an Xbox, Playstation, or PC for other games too. It could also be they don't like the hardware, or the perception that its dead/deing/ect. and will be abandoned early.
Lets not forget they still make some of the highest-rated games, and many people keep wanting them to go 3rd-party to some degree. If people no longer cared about Nintendo, why would that be, huh?
Hmmm i think they may have something else in that release window, i REALLY hope its a new Metroid title! They could surprise us by announcing it on there E3 video! I can only hope though.
I'm a [email protected] genius!!
Almost all predictions came thru:
DLC for Mario Kart, check.
A couple of characters for Smash Bros, check.
Some Splatoon amiibos, check.
GameCube, Wii and some more Game Boy Advance goodness, close, we got N64 and DS games instead!!
The good thing is that when Nintendo delays games, it's to increase their awesome, not to create more Day One DLC.
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