As we write this some parts of the world have already welcomed in the New Year, while some of us are getting ready to celebrate the occasion; this writer is preparing to sign-off for Hogmanay, which is the Scottish term for the occasion.
Perhaps it's time, then, for a final reflection; it seems apt that the final word therefore goes to you, our readers. For our part we've shared 'Year in Development' features, picked our game of the year as you also selected yours, contemplated the role of the New Nintendo 3DS and reflected on a year of new, old and peculiar releases. Pretty soon the focus will shift to 2016 and its myriad possibilities.
And so we end 2015 with a chance for you to give a thumbs up or down to Nintendo's efforts of the past year. It brought tragedy with the passing of Satoru Iwata, and an E3 that had some positive moments but also proved to be divisive. We've adjusted to life with Tatsumi Kimishima leading the company, and seen further evolution in the eShop, DLC and 'games as platforms'. We even had a hardware release with the New 3DS, an occasion that even managed controversy of its own courtesy of Nintendo of America only launching with the XL model.
We hand the floor over to you, in any case. Click some buttons in the polls below and get into the nitty gritty in the comments; we'll see you in 2016!
Comments 172
It wasn't great, but wasn't bad either. Next year is going to be better, with NX and a lot of JRPGs for the 3DS!
I gave it overall a pretty good. Especially since Splatoon is the best game I've played in a long time. That release alone was enough to leave a good taste in my mouth for the overall year.
Pretty good, ZeldaU/StarFox/FireEmblemFates will make 2016 the best year, though.
So based on the poll, the consensus seems to be that Ninty's 2015 was good, but not great.
I can agree with that.
I went for "Erm, I'm not sure" with most of the categories because looking back everything was so positive up until the E3 digital event but there was a lot of negative things from then onwards. I think I'd be more negative about the overall if it wasn't for NoE's fantastic approach to VC as well as the DLC for Smash and MK8.
Outside of everything to do with NX and mobile, I'm excited for 2016.
I feel Wii U had a bad year. Three big games, none of which appealed to me personally, and then a few lower tier games. Too many droughts with the Wii U. And the virtual console is abysmal.
I thought this year was very disappointing.
Splatoon, SM Maker, and MK8 DLC alone mean a good year for Nintron.
I'm surprised that in North America we did not get the Virtual Console games that Europe got. Nintendo of America needs to step up their game with these Virtual Console releases.
Here's the thing, I gave the Wii U's output an outstanding souly because while there weren't many games to come out, the main ones that did (Splatoon and Mario Maker) consumed soooo much of time. Not to mention there's some extra points for how freaking creative Splatoon is. And Wooly World is great, just as good as Island.
I was honestly very dissapointed overall with Nintendo in 2015. Some reasons:
-Long game droughts both on Wii U and 3DS and several games launched being awful low quality spin-offs such as Mario Tennis and AC amiibo party that is nothing but a cash grab to buy amiibo. Something EXTREMELY unusual coming from a 1st party Nintendo game.
Delays delays and more delays. Star Fox, Zelda U and heck even their mobile games since it was supposed to launch before the end of this year it was now pushed to March.
I just wish Nintendo the best of luck in 2016... they are REALLY gonna need it.
Too much of the second half of the year seemed to be Nintendo desperate to produce content. I have faith that they'll learn from it.
As much flak as commenters here get for being negative the good on the poll is clearly the strong winner.
Overall I was pretty disappointed. Mario Maker, Splatoon and Xenoblade are great, but a disastrous E3 and the Zelda delay really crushed my spirits this year. I also had a personal experience with Nintendo that left me far less a fan and very disappointed in their service. I own a small portion of blame for it, but Nintendo's supervisors overwhelming refusal to work with me was horribly saddening.
3DS wasn't so hot but that's because the handheld is winding down. And for me, that's a good thing. I have more time to dedicate to consoles now, so I don't really want to use my 3DS all that much anyway.
And not too much Wii U stuff, but what we did get has been fantastic! Woolly World, Mario Maker, and Splatoon are all fantastic games, and I will continue to play the last two for quite some time!
Glad to see people largely agreed with my perspective (as of course they should).
Good Wii U, poor 3DS.
I think Splatoon, Mario Maker and Xenoblade X were 3 of the best games to come out on any platform this year.
The only good games on 3DS were Monster Hunter 4, MM 3D and Xenoblade 3D. All of which came out at roughly the same time!
It was good for me. Plenty to play on both 3DS and Wii U.
This year for Nintendo was god awful and worst in years. The biggest news for them was Bayonetta on Smash gaming related. E3 was really bad, barely any support for N3DS, amiibo fiasco, barely any games worth mentioning... It's disappointing to say the least.
Just a nice solid year. MH4U for 3DS made it automatically a good year there. WiiU has Splatoon, Mario Maker, XCX and both systems had plenty of good eshop games.
Nothing crazy, but good.
out of all my systems the wii u got the most play add it with 3ds play many many hours, ps4 had a few games i played, and some i played and dropped after a day or so. Witcher 3 mgs. metal gear was oh the story is filler now... ok, witcher was combat to clunky for me to enjoy.
It was a decent year, but nothing exactly memorable for me. So I say it was mixed all in all.
on Nintendo side Yoshi was fun but him making sound for every movement feels worse than baby mario at times. xenoblade i sunk many hours into so far not finished just beat the game at 100 hour mark now to go for 100%!
Splatoon just keeps pulling me back in, and super mario maker the same way. there's loads more but there ones i'm still playing ps4... yeah got nothing at the minute other than ff14 heavensward i guess.
It feels like other than Splatoon nothing really happened.
That and localization controversies.
If only they made more ads about Fatal Frame, Xenoblade Chronicles X and Devil's Third it would of been better than just getting the usual Mario and Zelda ads.
Pretty disappointing year, in my opinion. But its understandable given how its all but assumed that they are gearing up for the NX.
Eh, no main Pokemon, Zelda or Fire Emblem= 0/10
Splatoon, Yoshi's Wooly World, Super Mario Maker, Xenoblade, Paper Jam & Monster Hunter= 9/10
One of those two. Depends on how I'm feeling when I'm asked the question.
What I will mostly remember for 2015 with Nintendo is the debacle about the censorship of some tiny stuff that should not be censored or removed completely.
Alright, let's go through this: Everything was off to a good start at the beginning of the year. We got Splatoon, which is a great new ip; MM 3D and Xenoblade Chronicles 3D were great; Smash Bros dlc (I was extremely happy when Lucas was announced), and while Kirby and the Rainbow Curse and Codename STEAM were a bit...frustrating, I'm at least a little glad that I tried them out. Really, the only thing that upset me was the amiibo stock, which was just plain HORRIBLE. But, as @GrumbleVolcano said, E3 was where things went downhill...and I mean the presentation itself. Before that Nintendo was doing great with the Smash Bros presentation (which would've been better if everything wasn't leaked the day before it!), the Nintendo World Championship, and Earthbound Beginnings (Which was my favorite part E3, btw.). Even at the beginning of the presentation, everything was great. We got Starfox, and I can't help but love the puppets (it's from the guys that do the Muppets, for crying out loud!)...but then everything goes downhill with Amiibo Festival (that trailer trolled me in the most painful way possible), Federation Force (which I think CAN be good, but they definitely should've presented it better), the segment on Wooly World which was completely pointless, the Skylanders bit felt like it went on longer than it should've, and it just felt rushed. It felt as though they only cared about getting the job done instead of making it good, and if they had just saved some things for it (ie Earthbound Beginnings) and mentioned some other things(ie the Nindies @ Home event), and maybe did something like actually EXPLAIN a couple of the games that needed an explanation (ie Federation Force), as opposed to wasting it on Wooly World with stuff that was completely pointless, it could've been better!(Reggie basically doing damage-control didn't help either). Heck, form what I heard, they HAD footage of Zelda U ready, but then scratched that because they wanted to focus on games coming out in the near future (yet they had Xenoblade Chronicles X, which was shown 3 E3s in a row now.)Alright, what happened after E3? Well, there's the whole Devil's Third debacle, and the fact that Reggie said earlier in the year that more classic games were coming to the 3DS...and nothing happened. Speaking of the 3DS, this year felt very underwhelming for it to me. Aside from MM, Xenoblade 3D and Monster Hunter, there wasn't anything that particularly interested me this year. Oh, and then there's the New 3DS, which Nintendo has barely done anything with. That's not to say there was SOME good to happen afterwards. Super Mario Maker, Xenoblade Chronicles X and Wooly World were great games, and the amiibo stock has been getting better (though I'm still having troubles finding certain figures. Still have to give them credit for ditching the store exclusive bs for certain figures, though.). But then there's other issues, like Chibi-Robo Zip-Lash potentially killing the series, and both Zelda U and Starfox Zero getting delayed, which I understand. They just need some more time. However, this definitely severely hurt their Holiday offerings. Oh, and don't think I've forgotten about what they had to offer! TriForce Heroes I think is a fun game, but because of how clunky the single-player works in it, multiplayer is essentially MANDATORY. Then there's Amiibo Festival and Ultra Smash, which I can't really say anything on, since I didn't buy either of them, but I haven't exactly heard nice things about them (Seriously. I expect better from you, Nintendo). Anyways, let's just hope that 2016 goes a bit smoother. (PS sorry about the wall of text.)
we got splatoon and xenoblade chronicles x.thats a verry big deal.most important titles on whatever console in long time.thevrest was well...not bad...just whatever
I think the only games I was all that interested in for 3DS this year were both remakes.
It was a good year.
It's been pretty good all around for me. The update, support, and dlc they had for some games after release have been good with games like SSB, Splatoon, Mario Maker, Codename STEAM, Pokemon Shuffle, Triforce Heroes, etc. which is different from the past years complete and done (minus a limited few). amiibo supplies and game support got better in the later half of the year, had the first (hopefully not last) Humble Nindie Bundle, and a good amount of Nintendo games I brought this year got me playing them for 90+ hours each according to my play log.
I think it it had a ridiculously good year.
Relatively consider what it has to work with:
An inferior graphical power set-up
A small user base
No third party support
A skeleton crew of first party support as the teams are split to develop for NX launch titles too
A devastating loss of Iwata.
Significant internal restructuring.
What ended up being output on the Wii u is phenomenal. If this was Sega all over again we would almost have seen nothing this year. Nintendo have worked hard with what they have at their disposal and produced some huge quality games.
Makes me really look forward to 2016(Q3) - 2017(Q4)
Decent year with some good releases here and there VC only 4-5 good weeks out of the 52. E3 was a big disappointment that left me depressed and after that only Super Mario Maker and Xenoblade was good, NoA could've made the 2nd half of 2015 better with better VC releases but nope. Nintendo seriously needs to make a great comeback otherwise I'm not shelling out money for another disappointing console.
2015 was good for the Wii U, not so good for the 3DS. Not sure how I feel about it overall.
Nintendo had a really strange year in 2015. It was going great at the start, the new 3DS launched with the terrific MH4, and for Wii U Splatoon was a great success, and it finally looked like Nintendo was going to turn things around (as much as realistically possible, I mean). Then E3 happened, and it was nothing short of disastrous. No future vision, amiibos running rampant, and the rather insulting AC:aF and Federation Force. Both would have been fine if there were prior announcements for their respected franchises, but without any word for either, what was left was disingenuous. I can't believe Nintendo did not see how that was going to backfire.
Zelda was MIA for most of the year, and I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to figure out what Nintendo is doing there, i.e. Why do you think Twilight Princess HD suddenly showed up as a temporary replacement?
NoA literally had no hope for Fatal Frame, and given how many people complained about buying it digitally, I'm sure it flopped hard. I wouldn't expect to see the franchise again in the west folks. While we're speaking of flops, I am incredibly disappointed that more people didn't give Code Name Steam a chance either, as that was one of my favorite games this year. Yes, I had some issues with it, but I found the story campy and enjoyable, like a Saturday morning cartoon. I looked forward to sequels to fix the technical issues. Sadly, we won't ever see a sequel. No one bought it. My GameStop sold two copies, and one of them was mine. I partially blame Nintendo for this, cause they should have released it with the new 3DS to give it a decent shot, but people were too busy playing Zelda for the thousandth time.
Last but not least, their Xmas lineup was hilariously laughable, but hey, at least we finally got Xenoblade by December.
All said and done, I had to vote "erm I don't know." We had some great games sure, but there was just too much of "wtf Nintendo" this year. I certainly hope next year is better for Wii U, but I doubt it. There's so much riding on the NX now.
Also, R.I.P. Mr. Iwata. No one should pass away that young.
Splatoon and Xenoblade X saved this year. Next year I put my hope in Starfox and Zelda
3DS side was a bit weak for me with the only big things really being Codename Steam and Steamworld Heist. Luckily there was also lots of great Smash DLC. I know there was MH4U, but I never got it.
Wii U side was much stronger. Xenoblade X, Fast Racing Neo, Splatoon, Mario Maker, and I'm still planning on getting Yoshi's Wooly World. Overall I'm a bit dissatisfied with the 3DS's 2015 lineup, but the Wii U's made up for it in full.
Well, I think it's definitely safe to say that this wasn't Nintendo's best year, regardless of whether you think the year was good or not. The issues have already been addressed above: delays, an underwhelming E3, a couple of forgettable titles, but most important of all, the loss of Satoru Iwata. However you want to argue about Nintendo's future, here's hoping to a brighter 2016.
On a personal note, I enjoyed what this year had to offer. I got to play Splatoon which is just so amazing, create my stages (as well as play other stages) in Mario Maker, and finally get to play the fantastic Fast Racing Neo. I also got to play some titles I missed back then such as Shovel Knight, Code Name STEAM, Skyward Sword, and even Mother 3. There's even more than the mentioned titles for me to play and complete (well into 2016), so I can definitely say I did enjoy my gaming side of 2015. Can't wait for Star Fox Zero next year, though.
I think I'm happy overall with what I've played this year on Wii U and 3DS. I can see a few titles for next year that I'm looking forward to as well. There are a some things that I'm concerned about for next year though.
Some of the offerings for this year were below usual quality. Wouldn't like that to continue and I hope the "changing directions" policy isn't going to mean more of the same (amiibo Festival, Tri Force Heroes single-player)
amiibo were a great success and the paid dlc in Smash was impressive, but they do indicate a trend to make consumers pay more than just the initial purchase price to enjoy a game to the full. Microtransctions in the free2play games also illustrate this.
Nintendo Account announcement was short on details. Will this give us the unified account requested that is not tied to consoles? Or is it going to remain restrictive?
There's a bit too much uncertainty in the air over the mobile deals. The MiiTomo announcement was exactly lauded.
Regional catalogue differences are really beginning to show.
Overall, it boils down to future vision not being clearly communicated and that creates a feeling of uncertainity. For me, I hope to be able to experience fun Nintendo games in the future, but I'm less certain about delivery than I was at this time last year.
@Miss_Dark "DK tropical freeze. Out-stan-ding games"
DKC:TF was outstanding, in Feb 2014, no matter where you live. Kind of puts a different light on Wii U's 2015 doesn't it?
I think I'll just forget about 2015...2016 is where it's at!
Zelda & Star Fox in the same year plus a new console is more exciting than the last 3 years combined.
I'm content with this year. Still hoping next year will have a better outcome
Pretty bad year, but expected and typical considering Nintendo usually (especially NoA) starts to sort of give up on their consoles in the last two years of life. A final Zelda game usually signals the end of their home consoles or at least the end of any decent effort from them while their portables are left to fade into the night. Even if sales for the handhelds stay strong.
Great year. I for one am more excited for next year, not even mentioning NX, we've got Federation Force, which I'm sure will be fantastic, Platinum Games are one of my favorite third party developers so needless to say Starfox has me excited. Also... am I forgetting something? I feel like there's a long forgotten memory of a certain franchise that hasn't had a new adventure on the WiiU yet.... Oh well. It'll come back to me when the Hero is born.
@ericthecheese Yeah I think it hit everyone right after E3 NX is the primary focus now. Noting that most the games announced were very unimpressive and really nothing big
Pretty good for Nintendo.
Great for the Amiibo toy collectors
Best year for 3d
Poor for the serious Nintendo gamer
Disastrous for the third party gamer
A decent year, I would not consider it bad. Splatoon being a solid game. The N3DS was a good move with a faster processor and better 3D for those who constantly got ghosted to the point of not using 3d on 3DS, but they need to capitalize on the system with more crowd drawing exclusive games. If they could do that, it would be great.
2015 saw Nintendo at their very best, and their very worst.
Splatoon is not only my GOTY but game of the generation, it may be the best game I've played for ten years. There was also SMM, XCX, Yoshi & even Project Zero.
However, the 3DS was treated badly, only a Zelda remake, a new version of the 3DS and a new IP, which although is very good didn't impress sales wise. And then there was the diabolical AC Amiibo nonsense and half a game in Mario Tennis, while delaying SFZero and Zelda.
Ultimately the positives out way the negatives but boy, those negatives were bad.
Xenoblade Chronicles X + Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam = HEAVENNNNNNNN
Nintendo has a make a decision when they realized the console was going to fail in sales compared to Wii and the xbone and ps4.
The decision they made was to hold over several ip's games until a new console is released.
I am NOT discounting the great games that they did produce, but they left so many opportunities on the table because there is simply not enough installed base to justify development of certain games.
So to me it was a very disappointing year when I realize that Nintendo was going to phone it in for the last year or two of the consoles life. I mean it is just sick what they did for the holidays this year.
I think it's fair to say that 2015 was a transitional year for Nintendo; if only for the sad passing of Satoru Iwata. Not too many triple A releases but being on a very tight budget i don't mind too much. And what they did release was really excellent. Splatoon is absolutely my Game of the Year. The fact that it has been developed by Nintendo's young guns gives me great confidence that the company will continue to bring fresh and exciting new games for many years to come. You taught them well, Miyamoto-San
I think while the year had it's up and downs, the good made up enough for the bad for me. I'd like to think this year will help Nintendo in the future by allowing them to set up a new IP, possibly a new series of games, an imported IP that could possibly be a big success in the future, as well as give upcoming games the development time they need to be truly great, instead of just good like this year was.
I hope they get that reward system out quickly though as I missed collecting free rewards for supporting their products since Club Nintendo went down. Thanks to my own error I didn't even get my gift for reaching Gold, but I'm not too upset about that as it was my own misunderstanding. I do have high hopes for this year for Nintendo, although I'm not quite sure what to expect yet.
This year for Nintendo was terrible. The only good that came out of this year was XCX, Stella Glow, MH4U, and maybe Super Mario Maker and Splatoon really. Everything else about it was utterly terrible, Iwata even died during this year! It couldn't possible get any worse than this year.
I've spent more time this year playing 3DS and Wii-U than any of my other systems, PC, Android & PS4 and I've played MGS5, Bloodborne & Fallout 4 quite a lot.
My point is regardless of announcements and the amount of games released, I still found myself more drawn to Nintendo than any other.
Keep releasing those amazing games Nintendo.
Great intentions but overall a damp squib when considered in the context of 2015
Think of 2015 as a prologue to 2016, however and it's been an amazing year!
Wow, I'm stunned by some of the responses here.. Nintendo releases is practically nonexistent compared to the ps4 and xbone ( in quantity)
I realize many Nintendo games are great quality...
But I miss other games that did not get made for the Wii U.
This is the year where I seriously considered giving up on Nintendo's console approach. I mean, I still love my 3ds, and I have a ton of good JRPG's for it, plus some Zelda games, and Pokemon. I love it and I'm definitely picking up the next version of the 3ds.
But this was also the year where Zelda Wii U was delayed. Star Fox was delayed. SMT x FE delayed. That guy who was fired from Nintendo Treehouse showed the true state of NoA's localization efforts, digital only version of Fatal Frame, no marketing for Devil's Third (not that I care about that game, but it IS a game during a game drought) and next to no marketing for Xenoblade Chronicles X. This is also the year where NoA gave up on decent Virtual Console games for 3ds and Wii U, and Amiibo became a hard to find collector's item (still looking for Lucina).
I don't want to sound ungrateful, because it's true, Nintendo doesn't owe me anything. But if I'm complaining it's because I feel like Nintendo is so much better than what they've been of late. I'm going to see if NX is region free, but if not then just Nintendo handhelds for me.
btw, Splatoon and Xenoblade Chronicles is amazing.
actually, I'm editing my review. I'm not disappointed with Nintendo. I love Nintendo. I'm disappointed with Nintendo of America.
Wiiu wise I'm happy this year with Splatoon and Super Mario Maker being highlights. 3ds wise was more meh. Don't get me wrong there were good games released this year on 3ds just none that made me yell out "Yes this is why I own this system!". Thankfully the 3ds has had enough support in the past where one meh year is not bad and 2016 starting out with all those rpgs (like Fire Emblem Fates) makes me sure the 3ds still has tons of life in it.
@andrea987 agreed
Wii U: Kirby and the Rainbow Curse, Super Mario Maker and Yoshi's Woolly World are great. Also, Affordable Space Adventures and the Humble Nindie Bundle.
3DS: Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, Yokai Watch, BOXBOY!! and Pokemon Picross are great.
That's all the time I have to play games anyway so I'm satisfied.
Definitely a mixed year for both systems. Lots of filler and support titles - and that's the case for even the third party games released on 3DS this year, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate aside. Wii U had Splatoon, SMM, and XCX as the tentpole releases, and then the rest was filler and support titles of varying quality. 3DS was a Zelda remake, MH4U, and then tons of filler and support titles.
To sum it up, it was very much a transitional year for them, and that was further emphasized by Iwata-san's unfortunate passing.
Not Nintendo's best year, but still better than anything Sony or Xbox have come up with yet.
No White New 3DS for North America = NOT A GOOD YEAR.
(The Animal Crossing bundle doesn't count, because you can't buy plain white faceplates separately.)
A year with a new Yoshi, Kirby games plus Mario Maker, Xeno X, Fatal Frame you can't be disappointed being a Nintendo fan and most importantly 2015 introduced a brand new IP called Splatoon not a bad year overall for me.
For a year assumed to be its last hurrah, 2016 seems to be a better hear overall for the Wii U (my main concerns being Starfox, Pokkén, Zelda and Yooka Laylee). I don't see the NX appearing 2016, but if it's a hybrid then perhaps they can afford to seeing as it would blend all resources into the one platform instead of two (and would neatly compensate for a lack of 3rds if they don't budge). I can't wait to see how it unfolds in any case.
The year started off nice, but got more disappointing later on. Overall, this year was kinda meh to me. I at least hope Nintendo does better next year, especially since I've started to drift away from Nintendo a little and play more PC/Sony stuff.
in summary-the year where I played my PS4 more than my Nintendo machines and bought an Xbox One. To be fair, some high points but a very thin year by Nintendo standards. Only to be expected though, it was obvious over a year ago Wii U was never going to sell and they would be treading water until they could get a successor out. So while not excusable, what happened thus year was understandable.
Next year feels huge. Nintendo need to get NX launched and launched well, keep Wii U and 3DS software strong enough to give them a good sendoff and keep fans (potential NX purchasers) happy, launch the new Account system and make the first steps into mobile gaming. How they do all these things as well as how they handle Amiibo, micro-transactions etc. will not only decide their future in terms of the mass markrt but also how their relationship with many long-term fans develops.
Nintendo is about 85% of my gaming. My pc/ps4 is for the other 15.
Who is so positive about Wii U? I only bought two games all year on it...
I thought 2015 was quite disappointing for Nintendo. They had a terrible E3, they suffered from big games like Zelda and Star Fox being delayed, and there was uproar when spinoffs like Federation Force and Amiibo Festival was announced instead of main series games.
Still, it's not all bad. I've spent many hours on Splatoon and Mario Maker, and I'm starting to get into Xenoblade. Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate has kept me very busy on my 3DS. 2015 was the year I bought a Wii U, though I waited until it was on sale.
Next year will be interesting. There's no way to know yet how people will react to the NX and whether Nintendo will have a good or bad year.
Far too few games that interest me lately. Infinitely playable stuff like Splatoon and MH4 are the only saving graces.
Kind of disappointed i was expecting more vc for the 3DS and more rpgs.
I put Pretty Good Nothing super huge but...eh....good year!
Well, we got Splatoon, so it's automatically a good year!
Seriously though, this year wasn't the worst, but not the best... just meh. The Wii U did pretty well actually, with Splatoon, Mario Maker, and X being the gems this year, in my opinion; but the 3DS... not so hot. Especially in NA, with Paper Jam having a later release date in 2016. I've yet to play Majora's Mask 3D, but I know that's a great game! If you count the badge arcade as a game, then it turned out well, too. Those are all the games for the 3DS that really interested me this year. I might get Yokai-Watch in the future though.
Next year should be great, though! I already have three games I want: both versions of Mario & Sonic at the Rio Olympic games, and Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam. Off to a great start!
Let's hope the NX won't disappoint!
-3DS: Despite the choice that irritated some to not initially bring the normal new 3ds stateside the system had a strong run. It dominated in Japan and was shaking its money maker out West. A lot of new games of various genres from multiple developers kept things interesting. Without the 3DS success, Nintendo would be in dire straights.
-Amiibo: Nintendo's decision to release these puppies especially with poor shipment quantities made them a must have toy that earned Nintendo heaps of money. They've been on of their biggest success stories. Sadly though now that most Amiibo are no longer rare it seems the craze is dying down considerably and their recent attempts to milk it with Animal Crossing amiibo/game/cards was a total flop. If they don't come up with some creative ways to utilize these, they'll wind up being a one year wonder.
-Wii U: Though several popular games came out, the system was a gigantic bomb. The sales in every region were vastly below the competition and the software sales with few exceptions have continued to suck. What is worse is they made a lot of moves that irritated gamers such as digital only Fatal Frame, giving American gamers the middle finger when talking about collectors editions of titles, releasing games missing key features such as no online play with Mario Party, and then the long hiatus between big releases leading to the ultra depressing end of the year filler releases most of which bombed horribly in every way. Lets not forget the continued failure to reduce the price of the Wii U when its competitors are all near the same price point! Oh and their marketing for it and most of the games were total poop (aside from Splatoon/MMaker).
So not a horrible year at all from Nintendo thanks to the 3ds support and hit with Amiibo which helped them see profits, but sad to see how underwhelming and poorly handled the Wii U was once again. Continuously handling consoles and affiliated games poorly yields many concerns heading toward the NX era. Sure it might have cool features, but we have seen many handhelds/consoles with Nintendo that have cool features that are often under utilized and go to waste. Can Nintendo market the NX? Does it have enough juice to compete with the Xbox/PS4? Can they finally attract 3rd party developers? Can they remember the value of online play and match the servers of Live/PSN? Can they make a controller people actually want to use? Can they release more than a couple must have titles a year?
@andrea987 Don't forget Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem.
Disappointing year across the board. VC/eShop in NA remains completely underused and underdeveloped. A decline in AAA companies is apparent.
Yoshi, Splatoon, Mario Maker, Kirby, Xenoblade, MP10.... All pretty cool games- some excellent.
I can't rate any year as positive in which Satoru Iwata died. I know this was supposed to just rate the games but the way the last question was worded sounded like it was rating Nintendo as a whole this year and Nintendo is more than just games, it's people too.
Decent at best. Really feels like they are saving alot of resources to make NX as good as possible
Anyone calling it a great year are rampant fanboys.
Here's to a better 2016!
On the one hand, I've really enjoyed the Wii U and 3DS games I've played this year more than anything on PS4/XB1. On the other, the releases have been fairly thin on the ground and Nintendo's E3 showing was abysmal so I have to say overall a disappointing year.
I will say this though...Xenoblade Chronicles X and Mario Maker are outstanding. 2 reasons alone to get a Wii U this year if you haven't already.
This year was pretty decent, not the best nor the worst. In my opinion the Wii U and 3DS had a pretty good list of games, although the Wii U's list of games was a little lacking, but with games such as Mario Party 10, Super Mario Maker as well as the updates for the game's and the console itself, I say Wii U was pretty close this year from what 2014 was. As for the 3DS, I had some difficult times with it. But there was some good ones. I received a New 3DS XL as a birthday gift in August, then some issues with my Super Smash Bros game for 3DS being chewed up by my dog in mid October, then my New Nintendo 3DS XL was not working right in early November. But then on Christmas morning, it suddenly started working again. But Christmas was a great time for me in terms of video games. With receiving Super Smash Bros for Nintendo 3DS, $10, $20 in eShop credit, another New Nintendo 3DS XL, Mewtwo, Super Mario Bros 30th Anniversary, Zelda, Amiibo figurines, and Super Mario Maker. The rest of it was a board game (Super Mario Checkers), one pair of clothes (Under Armour underwear). And that would be it. Next year however, will probably top this year, with games such Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam (January 22nd), last batch of Smash Bros DLC (February 2016), More amiibo (March 18, 2016), the E3 Nintendo NX announcement, and others, I'm pretty sure 2016 will launch with a bang the first 6 months. Raises glass of sparkling grape juice Here's to 2016 everybody!
in 2015 Great, Classic games were released: Splatoon shook the world, SMM fulfilled long dreamt dreams, Yoshis WW was a return to form, Kirbys RC presentation and gameplay wowed, Captain Toad TT charmed pants off (depending on region it was 2015,) and my personal fave XCX is continually blowing my mind...and thats just some of the Wii Us gems.
also, there was that thing called amiibo which went into overdrive in 2015 (say-about-them/do-with-them what you will, but i personally kinda luv 'em.)
There were missteps with the new3DS re: options and exclusives imho, but guess who bought the MM special ed anyway and has no regrets. Super Stable 3D FTW!!!
3DS finally got the Badge Arcade and it couldnt be more awesome! seriously. GD that little pink rabbit MH4U and Zelda MM happened, need i say more. and i never in a million years expected to play Xenoblade on a handheld: godsend!
personally i heartily enjoyed the E3 presentation and the muppets really struck an emotional chord with me. you could tell they were 'smaller' games that they previewed but given who they're coming from it didn't make them seem any less compelling. i was stoked and the muppets were EVERYTHING!
boarded no hate-train about Metroid FF and think it has potential to be Ninty's RocketLeague.
We lost Iwata a true groundbreaker and visionary. it was a heartbreaking and unexpected moment as we all felt like we 'knew' him ;(
all in all 2015 wasn't as bad as the haters wanted it to be. the VC still leaves things to be desired but some good games finally came out for it. Thanks again Nintendo for producing unforgettable timeless/ageless experiences.
The idea that DQ 7, 8, 11, a new 'trio' of FE games, Pokemon, Zelda and Starfox are all coming next year is future comfort guaranteed.
and who the f*#@ evn knows what the NX is or what it will usher in.
that's all i got off da top o my head.
o, and
#salesdontequalgoodthatisforbusinessmen
This year was horrible for Nintendo because Iwata died.
This year was horrible for Nintendo because Iwata died.
This year was horrible for Nintendo because Iwata died.
Nintendo only released big games this year (not including games already out in Japan ***FIRE EMBLEM***) and one of the games was a remake... Very disappointing year overall. I only used my Wii U primarily for Smash and Splatoon and my 3DS hasn't seen the light of day in a long time.
@darthllama While I completely agree with everything you've said, I'm going to have to go against your opinion on the 3DS support (just my opinion on it). Overall I'd say Nintendo completely neglected the 3DS this year. Though people will argue that it had a slew of games, it only has TWO big ones, Majora's Mask and Xenoblade 3D, but still those were both remakes/ports. Let's face it, Tri Force Heroes, AC Happy Home Designer, and Codename Steam just didn't do it for me and many other people. And as for the New 3DS, Nintendo went against their promise of exclusives with the only two games for the handheld being Xenoblade and The Binding of Isaac.
@NintendoFan64 I couldn't agree with you more, you explained Nintendo's year perfectly! Except that whole part about hearing nice thing for Ultra Smash and Amiibo Festival... I've heard absolutely no praise for the games, just bitter hatred.
It was a bad year. I haven't bought anything for my Wii U since Guacamelee back in February. Iwata passing away, and the poor E3 showing put me over the edge as a Nintendo loyalist. So I bought an Xbox One, something I never thought I would do. Nintendo lacked clarity after Iwata passed. The support of the Wii U was forced to rely on two games in Mario Maker and Splatoon. That's N64 hard. I really hope whatever the NX is, that it manages to satisfy every classic Nintendo gamer, and future ones to come.
@NintendoHistory I said that I HAVEN'T heard nice things about them.
I thought this year was decent. It's no 2013 or 2014, but it is a rather decent year for me. And personally, e3 2015 was okay for me, but the NDirect months after that was only marginally better for me.
The Wii U had games that I thought ranged between SUPER AWESOME!!!!111 to...well, just okay. Super Mario Maker, Yoshi's Woolly World, Splatoon, Runbow, Plague of Shadows...they're all amazing for me. Mario Party 10 was okay, Mincraft Wii U is decent, and Fast Racing Neo was...not bad. Additionally, Smash 4 DLC was amazing for the most part whereas Mario Kart 8 DLC Pack 2 was...okay. Sadly, I had to pass up on Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash and Xenoblade Chronicles X due to my budgets. Overall, while the Wii U wasn't at its best, it definitely did a bit better than the last two years.
The 3DS, however, was rather a disappointment for me. Aside from the standard New 3DS finally being released here in the US and The Legend of Dark Witch Episode 2, everything else was...not amazing. Happy Home Designer was good for what it was, Etrian Mystery Dungeon was good for the amount of time I spent on it, and Chibi-Robo: Zip Lash was bleh. Gunman Clive 2 was good for one playthrough while 3D Sonic 2 was good. But, because I felt the Wii U needed more focus this year (and hopefully, the next), I'll let this slide.
Overall, again, Nintendo had a decent year for me. The only disappointment this year for me was the Smash Bros Final Presentation. Aside from Corrin and the Midgar Stage (though needs more songs), everything else about it left me very disappointed. I mean, I was hoping we get a DLC that is not characters, stages, Mii Costumes (School Uniform costumes for Miis, please?), and balance patches (Custom Specials for DLC characters, at the very least), but...nope. We just got the usual like we always did in the last four waves, though I will understand how tired Sakurai is from doing all this DLC thing and I'll commend him for the effort, regardless.
Edit: If this was truly Nintendo's worst year, then I'd rather take a vacation in 2015 than in 2005 or 2008. Now, those years...oh my goodness, they were the absolute worst years for me. shudders
Overall, disappointing year for Nintendo. They could've done better, however I am slightly satisfied to some extent.
It was a bit of both,but excited to finally hear real news about the NX in 2016
It was mediocre to decent, everything was good up until E3 and then just died down.
E3 was terrible. There was no denying that. It almost makes it look like Nintendo has a very bad year. Yes E3 has really put Nintendo in a more negative light with it's fans. At the same time we received three awesome trendsetting games in XCX, SMM, and Splatoon, as well as quality side-scrollers in YWW and KRC.
3DS objectively wasn't that great. Outside MH4, two 3D versions of classic games were the only real standouts.
There were a few bright moments but overall not good. Gaps of no releases were too far apart and if it wasn't for the decent indie support, there wouldn't have been too much going on with wii u. And instead of filling the gaps between major new releases by blasting us with VC content- that didn't happen at all either with the 1 vc game a week pace happening almost all year long!! Terrible! When they launched the DS and N64 vc support I thought maybe then things would get rolling but nope!!
Even today Europe got wave race 64 and 1080 but NOA in their infinite wisdom felt that 1080 for America was good enough for America today!! And no indie games today either!! Oh 1.....big whoop!!
Xenoblade Chronicles X and Splatoon are both perfection and I'll be playing them for years to come. The only 3DS game I bought this year was Codename STEAM, and nothing else on it really appealed to me. That being said it wasn't necessarily a bad year for the 3DS as much as not for me. For those that like Animal Crossing, have people to play Triforce Heroes with, haven't played MM yet and are Japanese enough to like Yokai Watch, it was a great year I suppose.
It was unquesionably poor, but not embarrasing. The NX has me remarkably excited
Mixed bag for sure. Highs: Mario Maker, Spaltoon, Xenobalde, Majora's Mask remake
Lows: Chibi Robo, Mario Tennis, Amiibo Party and lackluster E3 with filler titles.
Hopefully 2016 is much better.
It was a combo of fantastic and horrible. But the good outweighed the bad.
This has been the worst year I've had owning Nintendo products in probably a decade. I did not buy a single Wii U or 3DS retail game this year... Looking forward to Zelda Wii U, FF Explorers, and a Stella Glow price drop in 2016, and hoping that there a still a few games I might like left in the Wii U and 3DS's life with NX being announced and replacing one or even both of those systems.
This year came out way better than what I expected. Splatoon emerged as a surprise hit, Amiibos took the market by storm, we ended up with XCX in the west, and a refreshing Mario game that received huge accolades. I think what makes everyone forget is that 3ds stayed stagnant even with a "New" system released. Also we leave the year with dismal Wii U sales, NX on everyone's lips, and an unclear future.
The 3DS sucked this year to be honest. For the first time owning a handheld from Nintendo, there wasn't any game that interested me enough to ultimately own. Admittedly, I may get Majora's Mask 3D at some point in the new year, but regardless, it's the worst year for a Nintendo handheld that I've experienced. Next year will be better though. We've got Hyrule Warriors Legends and Metroid Prime Federation Force at least.
Most of my Wii U experience for 2015 hasn't been too noteworthy either; however, the console finished the year strong in my opinion. Starting with Super Mario Maker, I have ended up playing three 2015 Wii U releases so far: Super Mario Maker, Mario Tennis Ultra Smash and Xenoblade Chronicles X. I also decided to pick up Yoshi's Woolly World, though I've yet to sit down with that one. Again, the year had a strong finish I feel, after spending most of the year with Smash U's DLC updates occasionally. I'm not sure what the Wii U will see in 2016, I just know that I want to play Pokken and Zelda U on it.
2015 is a horrible year for Nintendo, with the passing of Iwata and they were busy focusing on NX and mobile games: Wii U and 3DS games in 2015 were mediocre at best. Seems like Nintendo is putting all focus on future platform, with Zelda and Starfox delayed because they can't be bothered with current generation.
I honestly think that the new Starfox was original made for 3DS, which explains the dull graphics. They don't have time to port it so it was delayed. It will eventually be released on 3DS, flying shooter looks best in 3d. Zelda for Wii U was announced to get people buying that console, it's a marketing scam.
2015 is like 2005, the year before Wii was launched. Nintendo practically gave up on the Gamecube and focusing on the new console, even delaying Twilight Princess for the Wii.
in 2015 I was waiting for the 2016 to start 'cause this year is going to be AWESOME for all nintendo fans!
You know, maybe I'm not as happy this year, but Nintendo has managed to keep me enticed since I was probably 6 years old. I used to love hearing news in Nintendo power magazine, and now I check nintendo life and YouTube for news as much as most people do Facebook. I love Nintendo, and probably always will
I mean sure nintendo didn't release the most amount of games this year and some of it was half baked, but honestly I feel less is more, even with such "few" releases there was way more than I or most people (who aren't unemployed hermit crabs) could have time to play, thus actually having the time to enjoy and appreciate some of the hidden gems this year, and dare I say maybe even some backlogged stuff.
@JPjosh
in 2014, we were waiting for 2015, in 2015, some of us are waiting for 2016 and hoping the NX will save our jumping ship. My feet are already in the water. I spent roughly $400 from mid November to now on home console video games and none of them were on Nintendo. My money this holiday all went to Sony.
Happy New Year to everyone!
I would say that overall, 2015 was was in between 2013, which was quite disastrous and 2014, which was incredible. For the Wii U, we had 3 big games in my view, Splatoon, Super Mario Maker, and Xenoblade Chronicles. Splatoon is obviously the stand out, being the first major new Nintendo IP. I think that had the content not been so slim at launch, it could have made an even bigger impact, especially in the west. Super Mario Maker and Xenoblade Chronicles X were more niche titles. Super Mario Maker did great among older gamers (25 years+) but didn't really have any appeal to those who didn't grow up with Super Mario. Xenoblade Chronicles was even more of a niche title. It actually sold quite well (for a Wii U game) it's first week in the United States (about 232k according to VG Chartz, more than twice of that in Japan and Europe) but it collapsed the second week, only selling about 30K.
Nothing compared to the impact Mario Kart 8, Super Smash Bros 4 and to a lesser extent Bayonetta had in 2014.
What is the most disappointing is that 2015 is the year in which it became clear that the Wii U wasn't going to complete with Xbone and PS4 and that it is destined to replace the Gamecube as Nintendo's least financially successful main console.
Still it was a good 2015, but 2016 and the NX will be clearly important for Nintendo's future in my opinion.
B- overall.
It was ok, really good games though they were few and far between. 2016 will be a deciding year for Nintendo. The NX reveal at E3 is something Nintendo must do correct.
It wasn't a "wow" year by any means, but still a good year for software overall I feel
One positive about Nintendo's year was it helped me make a dent in my backlog.
1 word, 3 letters:
Meh.
3DS was above average. Wii U was below average. I thought both systems had some of the better games of this year but I felt 3DS was definitely the strong pillar.
3DS had more games to play that you just couldn't play anywhere else and had the benefit of a hardware revision that brings in a pretty good number of new features to reinvigorate interest. Wii U on the other hand, while there were some solid titles released both physically and digitally, the physical releases were way too few and far between, North America got shafted with no physical version of Fatal Frame and an extremely limited print of Devil's Third, the system never got that price drop it sorely needed, and feature wise Wii U has stagnated.
Amiibo's success has helped Nintendo but the supply issues and lack of good implementation in games have hurt Nintendo. The NX announcement and DeNA announcement have been really great and sparked all sorts of rumors and speculation. Though the Nintendo World Championships left many people feeling like kids again, Nintendo's E3 showing left many fans underwhelmed and wondering about Wii U. Nintendo's Creator's Program left a lot of people split with many different opinions on it. Mr. Iwata's unfortunate passing brought the industry together like I've never seen but left a hole in Nintendo that was so deep, it put them on radio silence for several months.
Ultimately, I didn't think this was Nintendo's worst year, I also didn't think it was their best year either. However, this year definitely goes to Nintendo when talking about exclusive games, breakout hits, headlining news, disappointing choices, and emotional moments.... Nintendo was a big roller coaster this year with some really high high's and some really low low's.
Considering Nintendo was transitioning to NX this year, not to mention managing with the unfortunate passing of Iwata, I thought things were alright. While communications with fans was shockingly weak - especially when compared to Sony/MS, I found the output of quality content was a success considering the amount of risks taken. Overall I feel Nintendo has been off track for about five years, and while things are looking bright financially, I'm worried their regressing franchises will never return to the prime era which in my mind is the GameCube and late N64.
@MoonKnight7 I thought I was alone with that thought of Twilight Princess HD. Yes, it is being used as a stopgap for users with a Wii U to buy it to appease their need of another Zelda adventure on their consoles while they further delay Zelda U to almost coincide with the release of the NX, so I'd say that they will release it by november 2016.
Also, it is sad about code name steam, developed by the geniuses of intelligent systems, but this is the new nintendo we're talking about, it's the nintendo where if the IP is not named Mario or Zelda, it doesn't deserve any publicity or attention (with an special exception being Splatoon)
@ikki5 I'm seriously considering buying a PS4 instead of a Wii U right now or even an NX when it hits shelves.
I fear the first has only a little over a year of lifespan and I fear that if I buy the latter, I am gonna end regretting it instead of taking the Sony route, when Nintendo once again promises things that won't come at all.
Hell, a lot of people I know have taken the route of buying sony consoles but nintendo handhelds.
It's hard to say that Nintendo did an amazing job for 2015, even with Splatoon and Super Mario Maker, mostly because of the games that were delayed, but also for an underwhelming E3 presentation, and in NoA's case another slow year of trickle-fed Virtual Console releases.
I feel like 2016 will be a much better year for Nintendo, with Hyrule Warriors Legends, Twilight Princess HD and Zelda U, Star Fox Zero, and Fire Emblem Fates on the horizon, along with the much-anticipated Metroid Prime: Federation Force, Nintendo has a solid list of games to release for its existing systems.
Beyond that, there's also the NX, and Nintendo's entry into the mobile gaming market. There's a lot to look forward to this year, so here's hoping for a successful 2016 for Nintendo!
...Maybe NoA can make their New Year's resolution to release VC games that other countries got last year...
Very poor IMO. There was nothing particularly good on the 3DS this year, while Splatoon was great, it doesn't make up for there being so little else. The year was dominated by games that were quick to make and felt like things we'd played before.
Looking forward to 2016 a lot though. Fire Emblem, Dragon Quest and Zelda for a start. Pretty sure we'll be playing the NX by this time next year too.
Total output was low this year, but quality was as high as it gets.
And keep in mind Nintendo's output is actually really high, it's just that they're trying to support 2 entire platforms by themselves. So I can't really blame Nintendo for not releasing enough games because they're actually crankin' em out like a machine. For supporting an entire home console platform solo while also supporting a handheld platform, I'd say they're doing pretty good. Ya, releases are sparse but they're singlehandedly keeping Wii U alive, and with some absolutely top-notch games at that.
2015 brought me Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, and Xenoblade Chronicles X- my 2 favorite games this generation on any platform, and even among my favorites of all time. It also brought me Splatoon, Xenoblade Chronicles 3D, Super Mario Maker, Yoshi's Wooly World and Stella Glow- all excellent titles.
@ikki5
I bought my fair share of PS4 games this year, and at least 4 games for X1 which is only for exclusives. It was a decent year- MGSV, Fallout 4, Witcher 3 and Divinity Original Sin being the main ones (there was squat for PS4 exclusives worth buying this year though aside from the Uncharted Collection). And some decent mid-tier titles like Dragon Quest Heroes, Tales of Zesteria and some good remasters like Dishonored and Dark Souls 2. It was a solid year.
But I was never waiting for 2015 and I'm not waiting for 2016 now either. There was great games to play last year, and there's great games to play right now. Xenoblade Chronicles X and Splatoon are 2 of the best games Nintendo has ever released. This is about as good as it gets- if those ain't doin nothing for you, Nintendo may not be your thing. I mean, Yoshi's Wooly World was easily the 2nd best platformer this gen (only behind DKC Tropical Freeze), and I don't know how anyone could not have a blast with Super Mario Maker. We also got Fatal Frame- a which was a solid entry, and Kirby Rainbow Curse which really was a breath of fresh air. It's so nice playing a game that's different once in a while. Oh, and I have to mention Fast Racing Neo because any F-Zero fan should be able to appreciate that one.
So ya, it was a thin year but there are games to play, some of them absolutely excellent too. Idk why anyone would be waiting for next year when we've got such great games to play right now. Next year will take care of itself- and when it comes I'll likely still be playing games from this year (namely, Xenoblade X and Splatoon, maybe a little Mario Maker here and there).
If you count them, I think you'll find Nintendo releases far more games every year than any other developer. The only reason the lineup is thin is because Wii U doesn't get all those multiplats that PS4/X1 gets. But even if it did, we're already buying those games on PS so it still wouldn't net us any more Wii U games to play. It's like my X1- it's got all the multiplats PS4 has and yet I still only bought 4 games for it all year. So it may as well not have them at all. Same goes for Wii U- just like X1, I'm still only going to buy exclusives. So it really doesn't matter if it's missing all those multiplats- not gonna buy a game twice.
I polled for "disapointed". I would have polled for "very disapointing, a huge letdown" if it wasnt for the incredible Xenoblade chronicles X. That game is quite literally the only outstanding thing thats happened for Nintendo this year. Unfortunately I feel 2016 willbemuch the same, with Zelda Wii U being the only saving grace for the system and more than likely being a swan song for the wii u.
It's clear from the polls thus far that Nintendo didn't have a great year. 2016 promises to be just as bad if not worse, at least until the NX arrives.
@JaxxRaxor
When you say 2013 was a disaster, do you mean sales-wise? Because if was a great year for actual releases.
Great for wiiu, poor for 3ds. Even bought a vita, now I know the true meaning of disappointment:)
Loving my PSP metal gear peace walker though.
Kirby, xenoblade x, capt toad, project zero, devils third and great Indies like affordable space, fast racing and curve digital games.
And finally getting stuck into Mario maker this holiday, been great fun.
Wtf is with amiibo festival though?
Oh and yoshi was better than.I expected
Wii U? It was D.O.A. from the beginning. So in this year, it is finally time we move on.
Hope, NX will have a better marketing and more support from 3rd party, not only indie games. Good luck!
I only bought Splatoon and Xenoblade Chronicles X on WiiU and Majoras Mask 3D and Monster Hunter 4 on 3DS. This is a new low in terms of games that interested me on a Nintendo platform. So overall, I think 2015 was a bad year for Nintendo (especially E3, I will never forget how terrible that was).
BUT, 2016 is looking to fantastic again, so I'm not even mad or anything. There are so many goodlooking promising games coming to both, 3DS and WiiU, that it makes more than up for the lackluster 2015.
Edit: There were some fantastic Indie games on the WiiU eshop, so my WiiU still got some action in 2015
@andrea987 Awesome avatar. (o; I just got a Moriarty (and Sherlock) cel the other day.
Based on most of the comments here it seems like Nintendo had a fair enough year, but could also been better in many ways.
I would say my take on Nintendo's 2015 would be that I liked many of the releases, but in terms of big wows could have been better in terms of releases, still I am satisfied anyway as I got Triforce Heroes which I really enjoy a lot .
I do think Nintendo's 2016 look a lot more promising in terms of Nintendo getting more back in the mainstream like with Miitomo and the other app, and of course the reveal of the NX ^^.
Either way, I don't think we can complain too much about Nintendo's 2015 as we got a fair amount of good releases and I think many of us has enjoyed them a lot, even if they wasn't the games we wanted the most like Zelda U :+).
@FRANKLIN_BADGE
Haha, nope, you are not alone. It was my immediate first thought, even when the rumor was running around. It is very similar to the Wind Waker HD scenerio. That game was made to appease Zelda fans while they waited for the new one. An appetizer if you will. Now it's obvious that because of the delay, and weirdly not saying a word about Zelda U for almost a whole year, that Twilight Princess is Nintendo's apology.
November 2016 is likely. Get it out by Black Friday, that's always the rule every year. We'll see how much it lines up with the NX release, but I do think at some point Zelda U will come over to NX, be it immediately or soon after. We'll see.
In regards to Code Name Steam, yeah, a complete shame. It's a wonderful game, and I was looking forward to improvements with sequels and whatnot. Your line about Mario and Zelda is completely accurate. If they aren't on the box, then it doesn't deserve marketing. This is something I wish Nintendo would change, and hopefully with Splatoon's recent marketing efforts, they might have more confidence in their other franchises. If they continue to rely on Mario and Zelda, then that's what feeds the narrative of, "Nintendo just makes the same games over, and over again." We know that that isn't completely accurate, but how would the average customer know that when they continue to get a broad brush or their marketing efforts?
Don't get me wrong, Mario and Zelda are, and should be important to their marketing efforts, but I feel like they could do so much more justice to their other franchises and it would help their company image overall. Why not do a little advertising for Xenoblade, Fatal Frame and Code Name Steam to round out Nintendo's image? For all three of those games, the only marketing I saw was for Xenoblade in a magazine (and quite honestly, except for me, who reads a magazine?? Lol). No TV spots and nothing on websites, that I saw anyway. Instead, we were continuously beat over the head that Majora's Mask was out on the 3DS.
Only letdown has been the vitual console. First couple of years were good for Wii U but 2015 has been downhill. I'll admit I haven't given the DS games a chance but I just don't see the point of playing DS games on the Wii U (that and I already have all the DS games I desire). N64 games seem dark and not as vivid as I think they should be. Also DK64 not able to do wide screen on gamepad?
3DS virtual console shouldn't have been abanded but oh well I suppose. I just don't understand Nintendo's decisions as of recently when it comes to the VC.
Still I'm looking forward to next year with Twilight Princess HD, Star Fox Zero, and at some point I will probable catch up with the games that have already been released that I haven't tried yet. 3DS will be getting Hyrule Warriors Legends and some Dragon Quest games so there's plenty of gaming to go around. I just wish the VC was as stellar as is was on the Wii.
Splatoon, Mario Maker and XCX made 2015 worthwhile for the Wii U.
Splatoon was good enough for me on the Wii U, but wasn't as good as previous years.
It was filled with both good and bad. I didn't actually buy THAT many games in 2015. I've just counted my 3DS count and it was just 4 games. Two of them were brilliant (MM and Xenoblade) the other two...not so much. Triforce Heroes and Mario & Luigi. I mean, M&L isn't a bad game...it's just not moving upwards in terms of quality for the series.
The overall feeling of 2015 was frustration. Zelda and Star Fox both delayed into this year and usual high quality games like Triforce Heroes and Mario Tennis being handled badly left a sour taste in my mouth. I'm just thankful Xenoblade X didn't get pushed back too.
@JaxonH The problem I have is I love Nintendo games but Nintendo just doesn't seem to want to care. It is either little option with a small library to choose from or an enormous library with a lot of support which I will still be able to find the games that are just as fun as Nintendo and more.
I am slightly disappointed with 2015 for both platforms. There was a notable drop in the number of quality releases from late 2013 and 2014, made worse by the delay of games like Star Fox. Not to mention the weird lack of coordination between NoA and NoE meant that some games have been released latter than preferable.
It was not awful; Splatoon and Super Mario Maker exceeded my expectations, and the 3DS got both a nice new update and ports/remakes worth playing. But there simply wasn't much variety. Even a slightly early release of Twilight Princess HD might have helped.
Both the Wii U's and 3DS' latest releases were kinda disappointing but combining their best releases (Mario Maker, Splatoon, Majora, etc.), it was a pretty good year with a lot of filler titles.
I think 2016 will be much better though. We're off to a good start with Paper Jam. I can't wait!
Xenoblade came out in 2015...that's good enough for me.
Though Nintendo still needs to up the quantity of quality games as well. I probably bought 3 times as many games on PC this year. Not necessarily because I liked them more than games like Xenoblade or Splatoon, but just because there are so many games at good prices. Nintendo could definitely sell the games if they'd just make the games
Started the year playing Smash bros and MK8. I played through Mario 64. Played a crazy amount of Splatoon. Then played through Xenoblade on VC (OMG!!!)during the summer. Erm ended the year playing SMM and XenobladeX. I also completed Metroid, Super Metroid, Super Castlevania, Super Ghosts and Goblins, Super Contra and Deus Ex and after I have typed this I am going to play some Waverace. I have had a good year. Thanks Niintendo
2015 is the year I got Smash, Super Mario Maker, Xenoblade Chronicles X, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, DK: Tropical Freeze, Batman: Arkham City, Indie Humble Bundle, and Earthbound Zero. So for me it was a good year, but for Nintendo it was a down one led by the horrible handling of the Virtual Console and poor marketing of games.
Overall it was a disappointing year for me from Nintendo. Too many multiplayer games released or announced (Splatoon, Zelda Triforce Heroes, Federation Heroes) and too many games delayed (Zelda, Yoikai Watch, StarFox).
I didn't get much enjoyment out of Super Mario Maker either, it's still too limiting in features and while there are some good levels out there, finding them is impossible amongst all the auto-playing levels and stupidly difficult ones.
I can't say either of the other console manufacturers fared any better this year though. Overall it was a very dull year.
@BoomtownFox Likewise
very underwhelming year for Nintendo. I was disappointed a lot this year.
very underwhelming year for Nintendo. I was disappointed a lot this year.
Very disappointed with Nintendo this year. Other then Splatoon, Super Mario Maker, and Xenoblade X there wasn't enough to make me take the plunge and buy a Wii U. The other consoles are bringing out so many big game in a year while Nintendo only had one every three to four months, definitely not enough. Hoping 2016 will see a change from them, and nx will bring the Nintendo I love back.
It's been a great year for WiiU and Nintendo capped it off right at the end with both great retail and eshop games but the problem with Nintendo is they are simply just not doing enough to promote or make the wiiu accessible especially in UK , The wiiu was selling for around £240 with a game around xmas , PS4 and xb1 were selling for slightly more but then you also got a few games included in most bundles . 3DS apart from a few quality eshop releases has been very slow and average for games and unless you wanted remakes or spinoffs their has not been much variety and quality at all , Nintendo have seemingly turned the 3DS into an RPG and platform console. The mobile reveal was almost a joke , nobody really cared for mobile and when we did because of nintendo they made us care even less . Overall very mixed and i think they need to either reveal the NX soon or make bigger steps to release more games on their consoles which generate hype or else they are riding a sinking ship into 2016.
To me the 3DS hasn't had a bad year since it came out and it still has enough steam to keep on rolling 2 or even 3 more years since they did upgrade it. I've been real disappointed with Wii-U but I'm just an old fart looking for Xenoblade and RPG type releases. To younger people or families the WII-U might be just fine. My kids are all moved out and on their own but they play the Evil XboxOne I thought I might have picked up my last system with Wii-U but I'm re-thinking that whole statement since I'm interested to see what the NX is. I hope Nintendo will stick with 3D with its handhelds. But I cannot wait to see what the NX is. Nintendo is doing fine I'm sure but I'm worried about the Eshop itself. It just seems to me that indie Dev's could make better money in the Apple Store or Android Market and might start to abandon the Eshop. The Eshop prices are Higher than the other stores for a reason and I'm pretty sure it's because Dev's are making up for losses that they may not have in other shops. It frustrates me to no end seeing a game for 2.99 in the android and apple market for 10 bucks in the Eshop.
To me was the worst Nintendo year since the last year of the Wii. It was really bad, to the Wii U was expected, but for the 3ds is a rare thing.
@Frank90 Agree, 100%. Other than the last years of the Wii, I can't remember the last time Nintendo had such a dismal and overly forgetable year.
Splatoon and what else?
Xenoblade failed to meet series expectations (even compared to Xenosaga Ep 2), Yoshi was pretty but pedestrian, Mario Maker is wonderful in it's depth of content but it's just another Mario game at the end of the day. Toad was only in EU this year because of a pointless delay. Fatal Frame and Devil's Third were both shadows of their promise.
I can't name a single new 3DS game worth purchasing that wasn't already available in another, better game.
Yokai Watch? Pokemon clone with more linearity (how is that possible?). MH4? This is the 2nd of 4 that are out in Japan. EOU2? Another pointless remaster (on a non-HD system, is there any real point?) for 40-50$.
I can barely think of 10 games for each system that was even remotely worth considering.
This had to have been Nintendo's lowest rated year of the generation.
Versus two consoles, seeing their first real breakthrough, while PC and mobile gaming is stronger than ever.
There were more DLC upgrades than new games. By far. And you paid out of your backsides for them. I downloaded 30 pieces of FREE DLC for the Witcher 3. When Taken King released, Bungie basically doubled the game for newcomers (even if I hate the idea of Destiny, the bundle price for the new expansion was very reasonable).
Nintendo proved, quite clearly, they will never offer their fans that sort of deal. And all the fanboys that rant about season passes will just keep accepting that.
Story: Battlefront costs 80$ in Canada. The DLC costs 70$. 150$ for the 'full game'. And then 5-10$ a month for Plus or Live just to sign in.
That is a future Nintendo wants.
They've made that clear enough.
And when they fail with their late 80s / early 90s philosophies, they'll be lucky to have years like this.
By 2018, Nintendo and Konami will both be near bankruptcy, trying to keep people interested in their terrible mobile games.
People are going to hate my comment anyways, so let's just go there.
When Nintendo was founded, in the 19th century, and they had a year like this, like the last 3, Iwata would have performed seppuku long before the tumor killed him.
And that's an incredibly sad thought to have.
Because before Nintendo went public, they had a spine and took chances. And now they're as feeble as Kimishima and fading fast. The stockholders are killing Nintendo and the people making games are acting like they want it to happen.
Biggest disappointment was the 3DS XL support, yeah the stability was great, I was able to keep a horse since it was so reliable but the lack of games was rather a letdown
Nintendo surely did alright this year, but for me, this year was disappointing.
For the WiiU, just so much unfulfilled promise. No real must-have games for me. Splatoon I would buy in an instant, if it allowed two people to play online at the same time. However, the local option just didn't seem meaty enough to justify buying on it's own. It's a shame that the option to buy a second gamepad and play with two people never materialized. Super Mario Maker just isn't my thing. I would like to pick up wooly world at some point, but it's just not high enough on my priorities list given my backlog. Xenoblade I know I just won't have time for. At least I've been super busy otherwise this year, so the lack of games doesn't really matter to me. The only games I'm looking forward to in 2016 are star fox and zelda, but I'm looking forward to those a lot at least.
3ds was also a meh for me. Probably will pick up Paper Jam, but otherwise there's not really a whole lot I'm interested in.
VC was pretty crappy too all around. I'd love to buy more games to play on the gamepad and on the 3ds, but ninty doesn't want to give me any more (and neither to many third parties either, unfortunately).
Overall, unfulfilled promise and wasted potential was the name of the game in 2015...hopefully NX will sell enough to live up to it's potential when it releases.
2015 didn't have many good 1st party and even 3rd party Wii U and 3DS games... Sees like all the good stuff is coming in 2016.
I hope Nintendo fixes their online gaming for NX and also finally have party chat.
Online gaming in games like Splatoon, Mario Kart 8 and Smash Bros doesn't work when using wifi with local operator's routers. Wired connection can be fixed by calling to operator and opening port 4 but there is no ethernet port in Wii U so playing those games is a lot harder than it should be. Especially when there is no problem with multiplatform games ported for Wii U and all PS4 and Xbox One games work fine.
@SahashraLA Well while was an awful year to me, Xenoblade, Yoshi and the future are all more brighting on my view. I really liked Yoshi (no it's not outstanding), and I'm loving Xenoblade.
On 3ds front, Devil Survivor 2, MH4U and Yokai Watch make the year at least tolerable. But 2016 already looks better, Fire Emblem Fates, ProjectXZone 2, Bravely Default, Star Fox, Zelda U, Pokkén Tournament, Final Fantasy Exploreres and maybe NX.
Hell even the first 3 months will get more games than last year on the 3ds.
So, while 2015 was bad, really bad, 2016 is gonna be way better
While 2015 hasn't been Nintendo's best year, I had a bunch of fun with Codename: S.T.E.A.M, MH4U, Splatoon and Mario Maker. (Soon Xenoblade Chronicles X as well) There was also some good eshop releases this year like Runbow, Steamworld Heist and Fast Racing NEO. I could care less about "droughts" since I'm not made out of money and it gives me time to finish some games on my backlog like games I got from Steam sales.
I don't know why people are crying about the Zelda and Star Fox delays. Would you rather they released both games below par? NO.
Anyways you had the chance to support Xenoblade and Indies. . Plus I've had the chance to start completing my backlog!
@SahashraLA "People are going to hate my comment anyways, so let's just go there. When Nintendo was founded, in the 19th century, and they had a year like this, like the last 3, Iwata would have performed seppuku long before the tumor killed him."
This year has seen Nintendo return to profit , announce new initiatives to utilise their multitude of IPs , launch a successful new IP and sell more Wii Us in Japan than last year. They have released more games than any other first party developer / platform provider. Also , there wasn't much of a market for consoles and games in the 19th century.
"Because before Nintendo went public, they had a spine and took chances"
Care to provide any examples of Nintendo showing their spine and taking chances ? Bearing in mind that Nintendo went public in 1962. So unless you were following Nintendo before that and was a massive fan of playing cards , your comment is ridiculous at best.
On topic game wise , although overall it wasn't the best year there were a few highlights with Splatoon , Xenoblade , Mario Maker and Wooly World at retail. Some decent eShop releases as well this year including Fast Racing Neo , Year Walk , Runbow and Metroid Trilogy.
@JaxonH Hey Jax, Happy New Year! My wife requested I ask you if the teeny tiny XCX fonts give you a hard time. She won't shut up about them. Ever. And she asked me to ask you by name. We are playing games 6' from a 52" 1080p TV and we can't read the missions. Or the level numbers over the monsters very well. Or some other menu items. We make my 13 year old get up off the couch and go read stuff aloud to us. She's quite frustrated. I just don't do missions I can't read. I moved the TV 3" and the sofa 3", hoping the extra half foot helps. Somebody also suggested I change the res to 720p, which I'm going to try later.
Good luck with ikki.
@rjejr
Hey! Happy 2016 bud.
So I have a solution for the small text. Back in the 90's Sega made this GameGear magnifier that locked onto the handheld. And ya know...... yup, yup. I bet it would be a perfect fit for the gamepad
Honestly, my recliner is oh, Idk, I'd say it's about 4-5 feet from the TV. It's kinda close, but I like it that way. I'm only using a 42" though. Anyways, the text is JUST big enough for me to see. Sometimes I lean in a bit if I have to, but I've pretty much memorized where everything is now anyways.
Maybe you could scoot your couch in just until you beat the game. Thats what I would do. Honestly, that's the only real solution there is- can always scoot it back next month
If Nintendo was much more generous about releasing VC games, then 2015 would have been more tolerable. I hope they go all out on NX this year. I bought the Wii U so that I could play Nintendo software as well as the big third party releases--I don't want to have to buy multiple consoles.
@JaxonH "Sometimes I lean in a bit if I have to,"
That was pretty much all I needed to hear. Played around w/ the settings a bunch this afternoon and finally decided if I set the TV to "Standard" rather than "Game" it brightens the white letters just enough to read. I'm not really sure if I could even tell the difference between 720p and 1080p but I'm leaving it on 1080p just b/c I do think their outlines are a little smoother, no jaggies. And the extra 6" I do think helped. It really is just the mission info that's almost impossible to read. The list on the left is ok, it's that big box on the right with all the details that befuddles us. Find 5 couch rings? Conch rings? Cold rings? Kill four xtnrel smitts? Good thing the game is awesome or I'd quit playing. Favorite part so far - some raging simian siting on a tree stump eating berries. Or bloody meat, something bright red was flowing from his chomping mouth. Now that's detail. And Lin teasing Tatsuo, I'm all about the witty banter.
Thanks for the info, catch ya later. Oh, and it may be more like 3 months for me, not 1, and the kids need the space to play w/ all their NFC toys, we use them, not just display them on shelves. And my kids have friends over, and they jump around a bit, kids will be kids. Will survive. Even if I can't read anything the game is really good about the big green pop-up exclamation points. If an indigen has one of those, I kill it, no questions asked.
This year was straight up abysmal for the Wii U. It stuns me that so many here think otherwise. Splatoon, Mario Maker, and Xenoblade. Maybe Yoshi, I guess? That seems to be the consensus. If that's all the stuff of note that came out this year, that's a pretty sad year. Meanwhile Nintendo's competitors have had a kickass year with WAY more high quality games, and they're gearing up for an even stronger one.
Nintendo's E3 presentation was what really made me appalled though. Starfox was shown, and boy, was it ugly. A Metroid was announced that wasn't Metroid, an Animal Crossing was announced that wasn't Animal Crossing, and a Paper Mario was announced that wasn't really Paper Mario. Yay!!!
Nintendo has a near-insurmountable hill of obstacles to overcome in 2016. Sans Zelda, there are no more AAA games left coming to the Wii U. Nintendo is now releasing a new console at a time when their competitors' consoles will be hitting their strides. And if Nintendo doesn't nail it, and I mean absolutely nail it, with third party support and all, they are going to find it very challenging to stay in the console business any longer.
I have to say bad, I bought one 2015 game for wii U and none for 3ds! I got a few great things for my non nintendo consoles. Usually it is the other way around.
The stuff that I got in 2015 - Mk8 DLC, Splatoon, Mario Maker and Xenoblade Chronicles X are all amazing, Mario Maker especially, it's genius. However it was let down by the VC side of things which is really important for me as I've been playing Nintendo games since the early 90s and I think there's still so much great stuff we haven't seen yet.
Splatoon and SMM are masterpiece games at the moment. We also got additional content for 2 other Wii U exclusive masterpieces that released last year. It's been a good year for Wii U.
@FlaygletheBagel
I don't think anyone here is saying the total volume of output on Wii U was satisfactory, what I think most people are saying is they are satisfied because of the extremely high quality of the select games we did receive.
There were only a handful of games worth buying on Wii U this year, but, they were absolutely exceptional. Splatoon is regarded by many as the freshest and funnest shooter to date and I have to agree- Splatoon is the funnest shooter I've ever played (that's coming from a PS4/X1 owner with every Halo, Gears and CoD to date).
Xenoblade X I just beat last night actually, although I'm not even close to being done playing. And having played the game to completion now, I can safely say XCX is the best RPG I've ever played- even better than The Witcher 3 and Dragon Age Inquisition, which was my reason for buying a PS4 (and both Game of the Year winners). Don't get me wrong I absolutely LOVE those games to death, but Xenoblade X is the best I've ever played. Games like that don't come around often.
And Mario Maker is really a dream come true for many, if not most Nintendo fans. I've fatasized about making Mario levels for the better part of my life. So Mario Maker is a an absolutely priceless release, and such a perfect fit with the gamepad too. It's one of those rare gems that will go down in gaming history.
To even get one of those 3 games in a generation is cause for celebration, but to get 3 such timeless classics on one console, in a single calendar year, well, that's a year to remember there!
And it would be remiss of me to not mention Yoshi's Wooly World- a game often overlooked under the shadow of those 3 giants. YWW was the Yoshi's Island game we've been wanting for 20 years, and exceeded all expectations. And it was so creative and charming... aside from DKC Tropical Freeze, I'd rank Wooly World as the best platformer on Wii U, and Wii U has one of the best platformer libraries to date.
And there were a few other great games this year too- notably Kirby Rainbow Curse (so nice to get a game like this once in a while- games that are truly different and bring a little diversity to the table, and it was actually a really fun game), Fatal Frame V, Fast Racing Neo, and despite being short on content, Mario Tennis Ultra Smash was a pretty fun.
So ya, it was an incredibly sparse year for Wii U releases, without a doubt. But there were 3 games released that are arguably some of the greatest of all time, and all 3 provided countless hours of play time. I know I've ticked over 100 hours in Splatoon (some people here I know are going on 400-500 hours), I've sunk well more than 120 hours in Mario Maker, and my in-game timer for XCX says 230 hours (granted I left on pause overnight a few times). So we got a lot of bang for our buck, so to speak. Those 3 games gave us a lot of mileage this year.
As for X1, I agree it was an exceptional year. I got Rare Replay, Gears Ultimate, Halo 5, Rise of the Tomb Raider and Ori & the Blind Forest (about as many games as I got for Wii U, because both are for exclusives only). And a few BC 360 titles like Fallout 3, Mirror's Edge, Halo REACH and Portal.
For PS4 I got Witcher 3, Borderlands Handsome, Final Fantasy X/Type 0, RE Revelations 2, CoD BO 3, MGSV, Batman Arkham Knight, Dark Souls 2, Tales of Zesteria, Divinity Original Sin, Dragon Quest Heroes, Fallout 4, Darksiders 2, Dishonored Remastered, Transformers Devastation, God of War 3, The Order 1886 (waste of $$$), Tearaway Unfolded and Uncharted Collection.
A massive list for PS4, granted 3 of those 1st party releases were remasters/ports and the 4th was an atrocity better left unmentioned. And besides those 3 Sony remasters/ports, another 6 are 3rd party remasters/ports. Leaving just 10 as actual new games released. Which is not that much more than the 6 actual, new games released on Wii U this year that are worth talking about.
For me, Nintendo is the definition of bad marketing and bad decisions. As a bussines manager you can take a look at Nintendo, make even a case study of it. It.s impressive how you can have a big box of gold and sell it like you are selling hotdogs.
Not the best Nintendo year for sure but it had quite a few small and bigger titles. OK, maybe not so many huge titles as in Xenoblade Chronicles X huge, but that one is more than enough for me (I have played it for only about 5 hours for now). Zelda Tri Force heroes finally gave that co-op Zelda experience I've been waiting since Four Sword Adventures, Majora's Mask 3D was great remake, Splatoon was an awesome IP, FAST Racing Neo is like F-Zero, Yoshi's Woolly World was very... woolly, Super Mario Maker brought easy to use tools for level creation, MK8 and Smash DLC added more value to the game, M & L Paper Jam continued the tradition of solid Mario RPG's and then there's Xenoblade Chronicles X (spoilers: it's huge).
So I did enjoy last year's offerings and didn't really mind the Zelda or Starfox delay. It just gave me more time to enjoy games I just mentioned.
Poor year for me from Nintendo.
Think I only bought one Wii U and 3DS game in all of 2015. There's not much announced either that grabs my attention and their focus has been on Amiibo and games I'm not interested in (Happy Home Designer, Amiibo Festival etc).
Their E3 was terrible imo and they didn't even have a holiday sale on eshop! I hope the Nintendo of old rises from Iwata's ashes.
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