Fresh Nintendo Patent Shows Handheld Device With "Outward-Facing Linear Image Sensors"

SMB2 Mouser Amiibo confirmed for 2016

To be honest, with all these new Nintendo patents appearing on the Gaf, I've got a feeling that someone somewhere is trolling us hard. Not to say that the patents aren't real, but there sure do seem to be a lot of them floating around at the moment. At this point I think that I'll just wait for the NX specs to be revealed for certain, as no doubt these concepts will be replaced by yet another patent next week.

I'm not sure how this could be used in a non-gimmicky way, but Nintendo could easily suprise me. Big companies often create patents that they don't plan on using soon, so there's not much information we can get from them until we see the NX.

Pulse detection? Not exciting at all. How about releasing small voltage of electricity at the button to shock players for not playing well? This will definitely motivate gamers to play seriously.

I think this is the closest thing to nx so far. However will they continue with the tablet approach after the failure of wiiu

@Nintendian Not good for kids with conductive problems there, m8.

I love the fact they release the patent for the mouse shoulder buttons that we like, and everyone says it's the nx controller. They release this and we hate it and dismiss it.

All these designs may/may not/may a bit/may sort of happen.

If the NX is coming next year than it is an add on for the Wii U.
Why would all these good games be coming out in 2016 for the Wii U if the NX is going to be the next best thing?
Iwata said that Nintendo will give more information on the NX in 2016.
More info does not mean getting rid of the Wii U.
Wii U will win this generation, sorry to all that think otherwise 😊

Welk that's certainly an intriguing patent... Can't wait until NX is revealed! So excited!

Also, a tiny suggestion to the NL staff; maybe it's wise to have someone do some proofreading before articles are published, I love this place and all your content, dearly, but I've seen quite a few spelling- and grammar mistakes on here lately... And I'm not even English.

Nintendo 1DS confirmed!!!!!!!XD

Chances are, (and very good chances too), Nintendo are filing patents for ideas they come up with that could POSSIBLY have some kind of use to them sometime in the future, they're just covering their bases and making sure no-one else comes up with or nicks their ideas.

They've said they won't discuss NX until E3 next year so just like every other patent that has been reported on by you guys and everyone else, its all rumour and speculation and until they do speak I don't believe a word of it.

If any of these recent patents are true then I probably won't be interested in the NX... :/

Ooh curious!

I remember when Sony had those patents for controllers that read your heart beat and such and it sounded amazing. Imagine a horror game that adapts to your heart rate, learning how to scare you. Or an action game that ramps up the pace to keep you on edge! Or I guess what Nintendo would do is create some sort of zen, meditation game

I was slightly disappointed the PS4 Dualshcok didn't utilise it. Really hope Nintendo does.

@Moon All these patents are "true", as in they are real. Doesn't mean they'll use the concept. Companies file patents all the time; to experiment with ideas, to prevent other companies from using the idea or just or just to secure an idea might they ever want to use the concept or sell it. In short, they don't mean anything, it only tells us that Nintendo is experimenting with a lot of ideas.

@MarioWiiU why would they release an add on for a failing system? Not having a go, but that'd be up there with the CD add on for the Atari Jaguar. They might as well flush their money down the toilet.
And I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but they are already down for the count this generation. It's over.
As for the patent.....I have no idea what the point of these features are, seems more like features you would expect in a tablet as opposed to a game controller/handheld gaming system.

If all the recent patents would actually be NX related, that machine would be a mess A monster, but not in a good way. More like the one Dr. Frankenstein was affiliated with.

Maybe its for Quality Of Life. It's still a thing right?

@GraveLordXD Star Fox is guaranteed to come out for Wii U, it's set for Q1, between January and March. Pokkén Tournament and SMTxFE are coming out on the Wii U as well. Zelda U is guaranteed to come out on the Wii U, probably 2016, but a release window isn't confirmed yet. Pikmin 4 is also close to completion, which means they've been developing the game for at least 2 years, they are probably reusing Pikmin 3 assets, so in that case, a 2016 Wii U release is very likely. Project Guard and Project Giant Robot are still in development for Wii U as well. Besides, there's plenty of time left for Nintendo to reveal more games, they've changed their strategy, only revealing games that are ready for release and guaranteed to come out soon; Avoiding delays like we've seen over the last couple of years.

If the NX is set to be released next year, it should boast:

• PS4 like graphics
• A special edition Mario Kart 8, with expanded roster and all the DLC so far, for the same 60 bucks. Or just bump the Zelda game exclusively for the NX, I don't need it for the Wii U.
• Costs no more than 300, with a Pro controller and 250GB HD.

No need for backwards compatibility: just let anyone who purchased and registered any Wii U game to download it for a small fee to the NX.

By the way, I hope that Pikmin 4 is released for the 3DS.

@GraveLordXD
Nintendo should bank on the idea of 90 million Wii users who haven't bought a Wii U. Even if it gets 10MM for the first year, it will be a riot.

Nintendo is not (and should not) indulge its core fans.

@maceng Actually I think the most important feature of the NX would be Amiibo support. And I mean this solely for Nintendo. If they don't have amiibo support they would end up losing so much income it would be insane!

@Octane (@GraveLordXD)

I wouldn't count your chickens until they've hatched. I'll agree that Star Fox, Pokken and SMTxFE will still hit the Wii U as expected (of which I'd like to add, that one was delayed and another was very delayed), but the others could very possibly either become duel releases or just on the NX alone.

There is no point in burning more games on the Wii U. I believe there is plenty of evidence to suggest Zelda will repeat history like Twilight Princess. Pikmin 4 is "almost complete," but that could mean so many things. They could port it to the NX if they want more launch window games. It could really go 50/50 on that one. I can't believe Nintendo would burn a brand new game on a floundering system. Project Guard and Robot? We don't even know if Guard is a thing anymore, and Robot hasn't had much more info given other than saying, "it's coming."

Agreed with the change of approach in announcing games, but isn't it interesting that they've only just now taken this approach? The NX is looming ever closer; I believe it is more likely that they are stacking their games for NX, rather than an actual change in strategy. I'm just saying, the timing is just too coincidental for me to actually believe they've had such a change in heart, just to avoid game delay press.

At Koopa-King:
Amiibo has sold 7MM at USA. At a 5 bucks profit, it means 35MM which is not much. Nintendo needs a game to go with most of them, like an adventure Mario World or something.

I just collect them, since I'ven't bought Smash, Splatoon or Mario Party yet.

But yes, amiibo support should be included.

@MoonKnight7 I don't, but I think it's very likely. Zelda U is confirmed to come to Wii U by the way, that is something we do know. Anyway, everything is based on the speculation that the NX will be 1] The successor to the Wii U and 2] Will release next year. However we don't know anything about NX, apart from the fact that it is a system they are working on. They are going to talk more about the NX in 2016, but that doesn't guarantee a 2016 release either. 2017 is more likely in my opinion.

And I agree that their next system should have a stellar launch line-up, because I think that the lack off was the reason why the Wii U had such a slow start and fell victim to the doom and gloom articles and would eventually lead to the commercial flop that it is today. However do I think that Nintendo should stop supporting the Wii U? No. They should try their best to support it with everything they can. Show the customers that they will support a console no matter how terrible its sales are. That will create a trust that ensures customers that they can safely purchase their next console without the fear that Nintendo might drop support if the sales aren't as expected. Even games like Pikmin 3 apparantly made enough profit to warrant a sequel, if Pikmin 4 sells about the same amount, I don't see how that is wasting a game. Nintendo is apparantly content with any amount of profit, whether that is small or big.

As for Project Guard, Platinum Games is co-developing the game with Nintendo. It's set for a 2015 release window according to their last official update on the Wii U release schedule [July 29 2015], although I think that's unreasonable as we haven't seen anything of that game since E3 last year.

Their changing strategy might be a coincidence. Correlation does not imply causation. We don't know and only time can tell.

@Octane

As evidenced from this last E3, things are definitely slowing down for Wii U. Saying they changed their strategy to announce just upcoming games is a smokescreen if I've ever seen one. A typical corporate spin to hide reality.

A home console is incredibly likely, but yes, it's still speculation. Anyone looking at the sales for it would agree that the Wii U needs to go first, keeping the base happy is irrelevant at this point. It's exactly what happened to the Wii. Having said that, Iwata did state that the successor to both the 3DS and Wii U will have the same OS. That should mean they will be integrated in many ways. We'll see though.

Others have suggested this, and I have to agree, the NX will likely become a platform similar to the DS vs GBA. They'll say they'll support both, but you and I know that the NX will get all the good stuff. The Wii U will probably get things like Project Guard and Robot, if those even happen. Just little experiments already in the works. They'll quietly kill it once the NX takes off.

Yes, Zelda is coming to Wii U, as they've stated, but things have been dreadfully quiet on that front. They definitely hit the breaks on that. There was so much coverage of it, and now it's MIA. Looking at the GameCube, history will likely repeat itself here.

Pikmin 4 suffers from your "correlation does not imply causation" line. No platform was announced for it, and they could have switched it to NX halfway through development, cause as we all know, the Wii U's situation only declined as more time went on. Pikmin 4 would be a waste to burn on Wii U alone. Agreed that 3 must have made a profit, but it couldn't have been much, as it didn't crack 1 million last I heard. I fail to see why it should be placed on Wii U just to keep us happy. Why should they? It would only make a small profit anyway, and those resources would be better spent giving the NX more variety. Pikmin is a small potatoes franchise anyway, and the Wii U already got a great game, so Pikmin fans should be happy as it is.

The Wii U got some great games, and I'm sure Nintendo is proud of that, but they just can't keep it going, just to "keep us happy." Nintendo's resources are incredibly stretched right now, and keeping the current base happy is the last thing on the agenda. First and foremost the NX is where their sights are. As it should be. The Wii U is a stop-gap console, there is no reason to provide real support for it once NX is announced.

@Captain_Gonru
Well, at least they are showing in a patent drawing!!

If there is a profit, it will be very unwise not to pursue them further. There is a lot of potential in amiibo, with Nintendo's incredibly large history of likable characters. Let's not forget about Pokemon: Almost a thousand figures to receive the amiibo treatment!!

@MoonKnight7 Agreed with you on most points. Nintendo fans seem to think that Big N will cater to their every little desire and attend to every single quibble. That doesn't happen anymore.

Look at Apple: the base users were Mac die-hards (an ever 5% market share), and they didn't feel the need to oblige in any matter.

What I don't think that will happen is Zelda coming to the Wii U. It has been absent from shows for the last year, so I'm thinking that they are very busy upping the graphics so no need (it will be unfair, also) to show it running a lesser version on the Wii U.

@maceng

Yeah, that was just going off of one of the Nintendo higher ups (I don't remember who said it though), but yeah it's been so quiet, too quiet really. Just an NX release is a possibility, but for me I feel history will repeat itself, and that the reason we haven't heard anything on the U part, is because they are waiting to announce the NX. I can see both arguments though.

In regards to the rest, I understand @Octane point, but let's face the facts here; there just isn't much of a base to begin with. I love my Wii U, but I can see the reality. There is absolutely not reason to keep supporting it in major ways. Once NX takes off, they'll kill it quietly and put it out of its misery.

@MoonKnight7 The thing is, we don't know if the Wii U is slowing down. It could be a cover-up, or they could've been genuine. We already have a handful of games that are coming in 2016, which is more than just after E3. What if their next home console releases in 2017? Then I see no reason to slow things down for the Wii U in 2016. Again, time will tell, but it's hard to claim to know exactly what Nintendo is going to do in 2016.

And yes, I do agree, once their next home console is out, they will drop support for the Wii U, that's how it's always been, perhaps we get a port, like what happened with TP, but I doubt it's going to be much more than that. I can only see another TP port happening for Zelda U if their next console releases next year. I doubt Zelda is going to be delayed to 2017, and I personally don't think it's likely that NX or whatever will release next year. We know literally nothing about it.

That's true, they could've switched development for another console for Pikmin 4, but since Miyamoto said that it's ''near completion'', I don't think they're making us wait for the game for another year. Reusing the Pikmin 3 and assets, and they're able to create another Pikmin game for less money. It's an easy and cheap solution to release another Wii U game. I'm not arguing for Pikmin 4 because I want another Wii U Pikmin game. Personally I've got plenty of Wii U games, if they ended support for the Wii U tomorrow, I'd be fine. I'm probably going to get their next console day 1, so personally I don't care what platform the games come out on. I just think it's better for them to support the Wii U as long as possible.

Knowing Nintendo, they are going to play it safe. They won't gamble with their current userbase and place all their bets on another console, when that console could be even less successful. Get third party involvement to guarantee a successfull NX launch. Work together with Platinum Games, Square Enix, even Ubisoft or whatever is necessary to draw attention to their new console. Get a solid Mario game out there, another Mario Kart, because that team isn't doing anything else either, and whatever Retro Studios is working on. I think it's possible to support both consoles. They've got plenty of money, I just wish they'd spend some of it.

@MoonKnight7 When I say ''support the Wii U for as long as possible'', I mean until the release of their next home console, not during the NX lifetime. Don't let the console quietly fade out like what happened with the Wii.

"Clickable, shoulder-placed scroll wheels" sounds really cool and different. I find it exciting that Nintendo once again will aim for something different hardwarewise. But this time; can we please have analogue triggers please?

Looks like this will give further interaction to Amiibo. It seems using barcode, this could detect where the Amiibo is facing. See, a board game where you actually use the Amiibo to control your character... or a game where you actually battle using the Amiibo, like what you did as a kid with your toy?

Well, not interested though...

All these articles about patents is proof positive that Nintendo has no real news to report so Nintendo sites are being relegated to looking for patents. Other companies have patents as well but their sites don 't dig through their patent garbage looking for news because they actually have news. As much as I love my wii U there just aren't enough improvements to the core system (the OS) and certainly not enough games and Nintendo doesn't provide enough information for a modern company. Too bad, so sad

@Morph they need to stick with the tablet. The gamepad if the best part of the wii u. The failure of the wii u is down to the fact that the hardware is too similar to the wii.

As a starting point they needed to drop the "Wii" the name was synonymous with junk and gimmick by the end of its life and worth nothing in terms of marketing.

It needed to be new, radically different and shouted loudly about. It wasn't. It was almost a wii, with revolutionary controller.

Re-invent the hardware, refine the controller, you an amazing console to succeed to the wii u

The pulse sensor sounds interesting, but I worry just how much information this will record and send... The status of your internal health is highly personal information, that is normally supposed to be protected by HIPAA standards. Obviously, those legal safeguards don't exist with devices like the Kinect 2.0. (The massive amount of personal data collected through the compulsory use of the Kinect 2.0, then subsequently sold to various data mining companies, was one out of many reasons why the Xboned originally received such a major backlash.) I don't want to see Nintendo go down that route, or else I really won't be getting whatever the device turns out to be.

As for practical uses, I can think of a few ways to use that, but it sounds incredibly fragile and possibly difficult to replace. There's a good reason why most devices have sensors on their front and back, not on their sides- so the user doesn't damage them! Not to mention, where would the memory card go?

I would also be saddened if users could not open this device and tinker/fix it on their own. My 3DS had one firmware error issue which only Nintendo could fix, and another issue where the screens were cracked from an accidental fall with them in my pocket. Those are issues best left to Nintendo to assess. After much use, though, the original R button power strip was cut during regular use. I ordered a new one and replaced it myself, which saved me at least $50. Not being to see the innards and battery of a smartphone is still uncomfortable for me. I don't want Nintendo to design a product in a way that hides the internals from the end user.

The concept of having image sensors on all 4 sides of the device is really cool. This could lead to some truly innovative, if not groundbreaking, gameplay ideas and could change the way we interact with our devices. Additionally, the image sensors won't be visibly "gimmicky" to the naked eye, and the handheld/tablet-controller can still be used normally, without the sensors interacting with the player.

Price would be the only issue, as having four image sensors built into the handheld/controller will be a hefty price to pay, even if the sensors are smaller than they are depicted in the picture on the patent (which they have to be, or where would the L/R/ZL/ZR shoulder buttons, cartridge slot, charging port, volume slider etc. be??).

I have a vague feeling that our Nintendo gaming future is going to be awesome.

These patents mean nothing. I just don't get how people are getting excited or angry about these things. I'd rather wait patiently for the NX unveiling. It's less than a year anyway

Just bring back the snes and have done with it, no need for gimmicks, just solid gameplay. Plus carts should never have been abandoned, just sayin.

Nothing wrong with the features in this patent and these combined with the rolling shoulder buttons and touch screen can give some interesting options. Depending on the accuracy you could have a mini area to do gesture based movements without a wii remote (like kinect but focused around your controller) or sliders for precise in-game adjustments, lining up amiibo on different sides of the controller for different uses. Imagine pulling it up at the right moment to avoid destruction or strategically aligning them in different battle formations.

Cool stuff...

It's a hard argument nowadays to call the GamePad functionality a gimmick with no proper game-enhancing uses. Now that Mario Maker is so successful. (Anyone wish Mario Maker had an analog-stick-only mode?) Now that Splatoon's motion controls are believed by most to be clearly faster, more accurate and intuitive than analog sticks. Now that many pine for uses of the GamePad that the Wii U can't quite pull off performance-wise like Mario Kart two-player with two screens or Splatoon the same way. Then, there's off-TV play, entire games like Affordable Space Adventures. Couch-play with asynchronous gaming is almost uniquely the Wii U's. Sadly, the primary champion of that, Nintendo Land, is packaged in a way that seems to put people off.

And that's the real problem isn't it? The GamePad is a proven enhancer of games and all of its features have been utilized in great ways, but Nintendo didn't get the whole package right. The launch was off, the early third party fall out, the failure of Nintendo Land's style and apparent similarity to games from the maligned mini-game glut on the Wii. The lack of GamePad ingenuity in key games like NSMBU. The lack of advertising educating people about what it was really all about. Maybe even the name. Nintendo's inexperience in development with higher fidelity assets slowing releases. The late decision to go for the core audience again. The lack of performance in the machine to support the great features of the GamePad... and even the uncharacteristic and, in retrospect, unnecessary lack of ergonomics in the GamePad itself.

Bringing this up again just to make the argument that it's not "gimmickry" that made the Wii U fail. Not wii-remotely.

@MoonKnight7 What evidence do you have showing the Zelda U is going to the NX and be a Twilight Princess scenario. I believe it will be a Wii U only release.
My first piece of evidence is that every nintendo home console has had at least one exclusive Zelda game. The GameCube had The Wind Waker already so they ported Twilight Princess over. Skyward Sword didn't get ported to the Wii U since the Wii didn't have an exclusive Zelda game yet. The Wii U dosent currently posses such a title, so naturally the upcoming game will fill that role.
Second of all, Nintendo wanted Twilight Princess Wii to have a completely different feel. They went as far as possible to achieve that by mirroring the game's map and making the controls as different as possible. They could of easily just of kept it the same and just make you use the classic controller, but they chose to make them feel like completely different games. All of the patents for a console that Nintendo and their companions have published all show a reappearance of the gamepad, heavily suggesting the Wii U and NX will have the same or similar controls, meaning if Zelda U was a cross release it would be extremely similar.
Please tell me your rebuttal as I am very interested in your evidence.

@amiiboacid The evidence is slim, but the speculation has merit. The fact that there is a precedent that consumers can accept is noted and helpful from Nintendo's point-of-view. If the NX is a new console releasing by the end of 2016, it would be folly to let such a big franchise go to the old console only, especially with the positive feedback it gained when revealed. On top of this, Nintendo still has the sting of a poor console launch motivating it to bolster the next hardware launch with big games. Those circumstances make it look like a multi-console release of the next Zelda is an action Nintendo would, could and maybe even should take.

You're right to be skeptical, however. There are many unanswered questions about NX — are any answered? Though the Metroid producer seemed to let slip that NX is indeed a console there are many possible scenarios that still support the NX being a shared platform for more than one hardware target. The NX we might see in 2016, for instance, could be a new handheld only. A console that has similar architecture and software could launch later with all of the focus on the handheld as the Wii U wanes. In that scenario, I think every planned Wii U game ends up on the Wii U only. Especially if we are looking at a more standard architecture and set of programming APIs for the NX hardware that deviates from what has been used since the GameCube.

Personally, I want Zelda to be released on a new NX console that is highly performant and not a hybrid handheld device. To me, Zelda and Metroid really benefit from being on hardware that is more current compared to Nintendo's other more heavily stylized games and I'd enjoy seeing them fit into the current landscape more tightly with relevance to core gamers that have written Nintendo off to some degree — well, I'm not that magnanimous, I think I just want them to look really awesome.

Anyway, we'll start to see a clearer picture I think in the next couple of months because Nintendo has to let us into the future of the Wii U a little bit more if it's going to sell any this Holiday season. Maybe a price drop and a big peak at Zelda for Wii U, and a more solid peak at Star Fox. If that doesn't happen, it feels more and more likely that Nintendo might be positioning itself for a very strong NX launch.

@aaronsullivan My pet peeve is people saying that Nintendo needs to 'put the Wii U out of its misery' and release the NX as soon as possible. The NX line up needs to be as solid as a brick wall, but Nintendo stated they will still support the Wii U after the NX release, and they don't really port their games over. Like literally the only time that happened is Twilight Princess. So the later the NX comes out the better. It's not like Nintendo is loosing money from it. Zelda U wouldn't really benefit from porting it over anyways since its cell shaded. Wind Waker didn't look that different on Wii U.

@amiiboacid I can see why it's frustrating, I love my Wii U.

Twilight Princess was unique in that it was visible to the public and released on two consoles but plenty of games were transferred from one platform to another mid-development even if we didn't find out until much later.

Zelda's visuals would benefit tremendously from better hardware being a larger more detailed open world without seams. Geometry still counts in that type of scenario even with a stylized look and the more the better. Would be especially notable when zooming in from a distance as shown in that demo and simulating creatures on the landscape at further distances.

As far as losing money, every game launch on the Wii U is to a fraction of the audience it had on previous consoles yet they have been more expensive to make than ever. This is why Nintendo has had to embrace DLC and other tactics to milk more money out of its games. After repeated attempts to revive console sales the userbase is still growing very slowly.

All those resources on Zelda — gotta pay those developers for all those extra months — are going to sell to one of the smallest number of consoles Nintendo has ever had. That could be a loss.

@amiiboacid Do you think most people who want the Wii U to die a quick death never discovered how great it can be? I do. It's important to note that the Wii U still has at least one more year left it in it and a straggling game or two after that even if the NX really is a Wii U replacement launching at the end of 2016. Also, if the NX is a major architecture change — and it may well not be — the Wii U could be the only place to play many of its great games for a long time to come and it may even get that shiny Dreamcast reputation.

@Captain_Gonru I don't have any link to give you, as I'm sure it's buried somewhere in the internet. But when they had first revealed Amiibo, they not only revealed it to be a platform, but a long-term platform. Stating that it would work with Wii U, 3DS and any future hardware. How far that goes into the future is anyone's guess, but at the very least it will work with the next console/handheld (NX basically). Whether or not ALL of the current amiibo will be functional with the NX is an unknown, but you can bet that Mario and gang, Zelda franchise and few others will certainly be usable. Maybe with the success of Mario Maker, we'll see Nintendo make future games that allow us to use 8-bit versions of all our amiibo (8-bit is certainly faster/easier/cheaper to make for them that 3D models), sure it's not much, but it does give the buyer more reason to be content with his/her purchase of WFT etc.

@amiiboacid

Evidence? Well nothing of course, it is logical speculation based on prior events, just like everything on this site. It's what we do here.

"My first piece of evidence is that every nintendo home console has had at least one exclusive Zelda game. The GameCube had The Wind Waker already so they ported Twilight Princess over. Skyward Sword didn't get ported to the Wii U since the Wii didn't have an exclusive Zelda game yet. The Wii U dosent currently posses such a title, so naturally the upcoming game will fill that role."

If you want my honesty, that's hardly evidence. Who says Nintendo has to follow such a formula? Wind Waker released in 2002-2003. Roughly between a year and a year and a half after the launch of the GameCube, depending on your region. Skyward Sword took way longer to make than expected, thus it's late release. The Wii had nearly 90 million consoles by that point, so why wouldn't you release it on a console with that many potential buyers? Interestingly enough, it didn't sell as well as they had hoped. Ironic huh?

TP was ported due to a lack of sales on the GameCube. They wanted to prop up the Wii as much as possible so TP, which was originally made for GameCube, got ported to Wii. If you ask me, that's a pretty similar sign to what has happened to the Wii U, it just didn't have the blessing of a prior Zelda installment.

Skyward Sword's long development time obviously forced Nintendo to get a late start on Zelda U. It was finally announced when Nintendo really got aggressive with pushing the system in 2014. But between 2014 and 2015, something obviously kicked in that they need to just cut ties on the system and start over. Nintendo realized the Wii U was a lost cause. Zelda then got "delayed" even after that strange video where they talked about Zelda and Star Fox both being on schedule for the Holidays in 2015. I find it too coincidental that Zelda has been MIA for such a long period of time. We've seen absolutely nothing of it since the delay, and they were so confident before. What happened? NX.

Even if Zelda does pull a TP, it still satisfies the "one Zelda per console" rule that is supposedly ironclad. It may not be what they exactly want, but it still fulfills it. If NX does release in 2016 and is a home console (yes I said if, but I feel there are enough signs), it is incredibly stupid to burn Zelda only on Wii U. Nintendo is in a very difficult position with this launch. Doesn't a need to satisfy both NX and Wii U owners sound like the best alternative to keep everyone happy? Makes sense to me, more so than keeping with a one unique Zelda per console rule.

Speaking of which, Nintendo will say that they will support both, but you and I both know, that's about as close to a lie as you can get. I wouldn't expect much once NX gets announced. Nintendo can't even keep up with their Holiday schedule this year, their resources are obviously stretched too thin.

Listen, I love the console, I do, but it's a harsh reality that the Wii U is close to its unfortunate end. I know it's hard to hear that, but there just isn't much left on the system.

@aaronsullivan

I suspect a Dreamcast reverence will be there for the Wii U by the end. We have had so many great games for it. Such a shame it didn't catch on.

@MoonKnight7 Nintendo is one of the few, if not only, gaming companys that don't let business maters like budget and time dictate the creative process. That is way so many of their games get delayed, such as every single 3D Legend of Zelda game. From what I heard was that they first said they are no longer aiming for a 2015 release. That means that it may still come in 2015 or 2016. They then said it will come in 2016 but they never said anything else relating to a release date. It still means it will probably come in early 2015, I speculate Q2, before E3. If the NX is being announced at E3, it will likely be released in 2017, as that is what all console patterns in the past lead to. That would mean that they would have to delay the game a full two years, and all they said is that it may not make it to be released in 2015.

SPLATOON!!!