JaxxRaxor

I agree with the consensus that there is almost no chance the Switch succesor will be announced in 2024. It would take away too much attention away from Switch holiday sales. I think Nintendo wants to avoid even a small drop off in hardware sales.

I think late January 2025 is most likely spot for an initial reveal (which I voted for) with a full presentation maybe happening in February 2025.

I think it will release in the first half of the year, late Spring, so either May or June. I don't think the Switch can really last until Fall 2025. I can only see a September or later release happening if Nintendo can't get sufficient stock out.

Releasing in late spring would mean the hard-core Nintendo fans would snap it up first, then a *relative lull in the summer to allow stock to build back up, and then the Fall to get the more casual consumer to snap it up. Would be the best way to maximize both hardware and software profits in my opinion.

I have been watching EVO this weekend, and the Cross Battle top 8 was actually more entertaining than I thought it would.

@Xaessya Since Arc Systems works developed Arcana Heart 3 I would assume that is the most likely franchise joining in. Hyperdimensional Neptunia would require that new sprites be created, which I doubt Arc System Works would want to take the effort in doing. Neptunia does have more exposure in the West than Arcana Heart but ti's still a really niche series here. Arcana Heart series is quite popular in Japan I believe, so that series makes more sense to join CrossBattle.

@Freeon-Leon Yeah that Japanese Mega Man player was really impressive. Nice how he Mega Owned Zero!

A big reason why I love Smash 4, a large majority of the playable characters are considered to be viable at high level play which is what makes watching it interesting.

Unlike Melee in which I generally see only 4 characters (Fox, Falco, Martha, Shiek) with a handful of others, most notably Hungrybox's Jigglypuff.

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.

None of these are surprises thanks to the big leak that happened a few weeks ago. I am hope there are some new characters that weren't in the big leak that is still out there.

While I am happy that Nintnedo is finally making an effort to make the gamepad relevant again, I am nervous that the motion controls are going to be a major issue. But we have to see how it plays out.

Also disappointed that Time leaked this, would have preferred that we see this in the E3 Nintendo Direct but eh...

I'm going to join this tournament as soon as I finish the 50cc speed in grand prix. Either later tonight or a bit tomorrow morning.

My god, my first Wii U game in months will be Mario Kart 8. Getting it from Gamestop tomorrow morning!

I am annoyed that Pokemon Bank has still not been released in America (and for Europe for my friends across the pond here at Nintendo Life). I don't care for anything else at this point from the e shop.

I will definitely get MH4U if it comes out on the Wii U. I'm less enthused about playing it on my 3DS, I don't like the circle pad that much and it isn't really conductive for short sessions like most 3DS games.

In terns of absolute numbers the Wii U sales projections are not that great but you need to compare the projected November sales to the abysmal state that the Wii U was earlier this year.

I think the 9 million estimate is rather foolish, absolute best case scenario is that the Wii U sells 6 million LTD by March 2014, I think it will be close to 5 million by that time. Unless Nintendo decides to release Mario Kart 8 in Q1 but I doubt that, I would guess April at the absolute earliest (Q2).

One given is that the Wii U will sell better this Holiday Season than it has during the abysmal sales during the spring and Summer. I can see it making maybe 1 million in world wide sales for Dec 2013, but no more than that. Super Mario 3D World is not going to be enough to get people to get the system, and the the Wii U doesn't have enough have enough of a catalog for people to get it now.

I think 2014 will be much more important because Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. Wii U, as well as X and Bayonetta to a lesser extent are going to be titles that I see as system sellers, and probably another new Mii type game to attract the casuals. If sales haven't significantly picked up by the end of 2014 then we can start the premonatinos of the Wii U selling worse than the Gamecube but until then we should be surprised if holiday sales are worse than what Nintendo projects.

Of course the 3DS family doesn't really have issues, the releases of Pokemon X and Y and to a lesser extent a Link Between Worlds has sealed Nintendo a good holiday season for their handhelds. That Sony has basically thrown in the towel with the Vita everywhere except Japan pretty much guarantees that Nintendo will at least be successful this gen with the 3DS even if the Wii U does end up being a disappointment (I won't say failure because it has already sold more than the Virtual Boy, which WAS a failure).

@Shadowkiller97 The game is not preinstalled, you get code (I assume on a paper slip) with the code that you enter in to get the game on the E-shop for free.

@SphericalCrusher Don't do that! Give it to a needy child for the holidays ^_^

Well I can't wait till December 27, then I can transfer my Pokemon White teams to my Pokemon X I will have and I can start owning all of my new friends on NintendoLife! ^_^

I'm actually more interested in what the pre-order sales will be in North America (particularly my home country the USA) and Europe. We know that Pokemon is going to do well in Japan, it's everywhere there. The Pokemon hype is much less in the west but for the core games at least are still very popular. I suspect that for the first 24 hours, the USA sales will be about equal to the Japanese sales and the European sales a little less when all is said is done.

I pre-ordered the Blue X & Y model as well as Pokemon X at my local Gamestop on Sept 9, and I picked up the system Sept. 27. I mainly played Pokemon on my DS systems (regular and lite) so I thought that I might as well get a pokemon themed 3DS to compliment my game. I actually love the design on the cover and the 3 starters on the back. It's not as intricate as the Pikachu one but it still looks nice. I only wish that the inside was not simply a bland black.

Also, the x and y systems not being part of a bundle is probably a blessing in disuguise. If this was a bundle it would have been a digital copy, and I simply prefer having a physical copy of my games (I do get digital but only for virtual console, DLCs, and indie games that take up less memory than retail releases).

@Trululu OMG that is a awesome picture you have there.

Interesting that these commercials seem to be featuring teenagers. Clearly Nintendo is trying to target more than just 6-12 crowd.

@BigDaddysPizza I think you mean 10 resistances and 1 immunity?

In terms of what I think, I think the steel resistance changes as well as the fairy type are good in terms of type balance. Steel losing resistance to Ghost and Dark, if the rumor is true, simply makes Steel pokemon a bit easier to deal with while still keeping them as the best overall defensive type. Fairy being Immune, not just resistant, to Dragon is a big deal because a lot of pokemon in the Smogon OU tier are dragon and Draco Meteor and Outrage are nearly broken in terms of power in the hands of a dragon pokemon. Having a type immune pokemon to check this will be very helpful. Fairy being resistant to Fighting, another dominate type, is also helpful.
I do hope that Gamefreak changed the mechanics of auto weather abilities (Drought, Drizzle, Sandstream and Snow Warning) because having permanent weather by simply switching in a pokemon negatively affected the meta game in my opinion.

I'm suprised, I thought the Japanese would love this game. It's probably going to be even worse in Europe and America. There hasn't been any marketing for this game beyond Nintendo direct and it doesn't seem to be the type of game that would appeal to many western audiences. That even Japan isn't interested is worrisome. I guess we have to wait for games that release in Q4 that games around the world will actually have an interest in.

I never played a CoD game so I'm seriously thinking of getting this for my Wii U this holiday season. I do hope that Activision brings out the DLC for the Wii U like they do for the other reasons, there really is no excuse now with Wii U games supporting updates, except maybe laziness. It would be nice if they make this a downscaled port of the PS4/PC/Xbox1 versions and not a port of the 360/PS3 ones but I don't think we are going to get that.

Also nice that Activision isn't s$%Ying all over the Wii U like EA.....

I would accept a fighter roster that was smaller (perhaps even significantly so) than Brawl or even Melee IF the cast was more balanced. A lot of people in the comments section seems to agree with this sentiment.

I've been watching the anime on crunchyroll and while it hews very close to the typical shonen mode, it's still quite a lot of fun.

On the game I would say there is no chance of it coming outside of Japan. Only a handful of manga/anime franchises have enough of a fanbase to justify a release here. Now maybe if there was an Attack on Titan video game.....

I still think the Wii U needs a price cut, and I still think it's happen despite what Reggie said. I will say that the Playstation 4 (and possibly the Xbox One now that Microsoft has announced they are removing a lot of the restrictions gamers were complaining about) are likely to be sold out this holiday season, and if that happens then the Wii U could benefit as the only console with good stock. I still think Nintendo needs to have a good marketing campaign this Holiday Season to get families interested in the Wii U. I mean they need to spend a lot on advertising to clear up the confusion a lot of non-core audiences have with the Wii U.

Reggie forgot to mention that the 3DS got a significant price cut in addition to Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7. I think the Wii U will at least need a $50 price cut for both the basic and deluxe version to be "extremely strong" as Reggie puts it.

I think a price cut for the Wii U is coming, but Nintendo isn't going to announce it until Q4 which is traditionally when sales of video games and consoles are the highest. Doing it now, as we approach the slow summer season doesn't make any sense.

This has the potential to be the best Sonic game since the first Sonic Adventure (I know that game hasn't aged well but when it first came out it was highly regarded, I loved it on my Dreamcast). Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations were good, but not great games, and so Sonic has yet to rub off the stench of bad reputation it has had since the end of the Dreamcast era.

I have to say that making this exclusive to Nintendo Platforms make sense as both Sony and Microsoft are dominated by 1st and 3rd person shooters in North America and Europe to a lesser extent, and RPGs in the Japanese market. Which means I can't see this game being a Wii U system seller but I do see it as a nice option for people who already own Wii U, provided the game is actually good.

If Retro is indeed making a new game and its announced, I hope its a new IP and not just another Metroid. Sony has had a few new IPs over the last few years (including Last of Us, probably their best PS3 exclusive yet).

Each of the Big 3 come in with different expectations. Sony comes in the best shape going into E3, but that's less with what Sony did and more about Microsoft's panned performance and Nintendo's struggles with the Wii U. They need to actually show the PS4, show some nice exclusives, especially the new Infamous game, and explain how Gekai will improve the gaming experience. Also, confirming that they are not doing what Microsoft is doing (i.e. requiring internet every 24 hours and restrictions on used games) will be a big help.

Microsoft really needs to try their best to justify some of the things they are doing if they don't want Sony to steamroll them this upcoming generation. The exclusives (and not just Halo) will be key, and there hopefully won't be a large focus on the non gaming aspects (although it should be mentioned).

Nintendo is in the toughest position, with most 3rd parties having already given up on the Wii U. I agree with everyone that a price drop is necessary especially since it's expected that Xbox1 and PS4 is likely to have at least one SKU each that is less than $400. Having a price advantage will be crucial: $300 for the Deluxe with different pack in games and if the Basic isn't being phased out that should really be $200 as being only $50 cheaper is still kind of a ripoff with only 8GB.

The new 3D Mario game and the Wii U Mario Kart should BOTH be announced for a Holiday release this year, otherwise I'm afraid the Wii U will continune to struggle. More info on the new Zelda and Smash Bros. is a given.

I don't think this will happen, but what would really allow Nintendo to take attention away from Sony and Microsoft would either be a new core IP from Nintendo or a major 3rd party exclusive game for the Wii U. Neither of these should they happen be casual games (although I suspect that a Wii Sports U or Wii Fit U announcement/explanation is key to try to get some of the causal audience back).

Interesting. There is a definite pattern from the Wii RPGs that make up "Operation Rainfall". Xenoblade Chronicles is the best (and one of the best Western reviewed Japanese RPGs in many years), the Last Story is a step below Xenoblade Chronicles, and now Pandora's Tower is step below Last Story. Xenonblade Chronicles was the most prominent game to be featured in Operation Rainfall, and its gotten around 140k in sales in the USA for the first week (despite having launched on a Friday rather than the usual Tuesday or for Nintendo games, Sunday). I have a feeling that Last Story won't do as well in the USA thanks to weaker reviewers and less prominence, which could make a North American release of Pandora's Tower less than certain.

There is no excuse for Nintendo to release a home console that is less powerful than 6-7 year old X-Box 360 and Playstation 3. On the other hand, these developers refuse to reveal themselves so you can't really lend any credibility to them. From what I saw at the last E3 with the tech demos the Wii U is likely to be slightly more powerful than the current gen HD consoles, which will be enough IF Nintendo can convince 3rd parties to work on the console and Nintendo works on having a modern online system. I don't think the gap between the Wii U and Sony and Microsoft's next systems will be as big as the current generation because current top the line computers only look moderately better than the current consoles and the next gen consoles will have to match that in order to stay even fairly affordable. A true big "jump" in graphics would be the point in which video game graphics that look like current pre-rended CGI could be processed in real time, but nothing like that for consumers exist yet.

A big question will be on when the Microsoft and Sony release their new consoles? There was a lot of hype of both them coming in 2013, but with both Microsoft and Sony not showing new consoles at E3 this year it kinda puts a damper on everything. The longer it takes for Microsoft and Sony to release there consoles, the easier it will be to justify having Nintendo merely meet the standards of the current HD consoles because that is more time for developers to work with the Wii U and bring out it's potential.

If Gamefreak really beefs up the story (Black and White's story was the best out of the Pokemon franchise but still not as good as nearly all other eastern RPGs) then it will be worth a purchase for many even if the rest of the game is basically like the 3rd version games of past generations.

I think the poor sales of the Vita in Japan are linked to a severe lack of games that would appeal to the Japanese market on the system. In North America (and by extension Europe) the launch line-up for the Vita seems to be much more appealing than the 3DS's launch line up and almost all of them will appeal to western gamers, so I think Vita's first week will out do what the 3DS did in its first week in the West and thereafter sell more than twice as much in the US and slightly to moderately more in Europe than in Japan. The thing is going to be if the high price and pricey propertiety media will hurt the Vita in the long run, which I think will. The 3DS got a massive jump in sales and has held fast once it got a price drop. I don't think Sony could afford such a move as the Vita is more expensive than the 3DS to produce and they are already losing money on each system sold. It is going to be interesting, this portable war.

I agree with this. Other people can handle the legacy titles like Mario and Zelda, but Nintendo desperately needs some new IPs after having none at all for the current generation. Miyamoto is the best person to help create some new franchises.

With the Wii U likely coming out late this year, the chances are pretty high that Tiger Woods 13 will come out for that system. At the very least, if it doesn't come to a Nintendo system this year, then next years game definitely will. I believe that nearly all "hardcore" games by 3rd parties for Nintendo will gravitate towards the Wii U in terms of development this year.

It's extremely unlikely that this will see release outside of Japan. The main series of Pokemon games have been extremely popular in the USA and Europe but side games (as well as other media like the anime) have generally done poorly. A crossover with an obscure Japanese series guarantees that this won't see the light of day outside of Japan.

In terms of if I would buy it? I would have to try it first as I never played a strategy RPG and I would have to see how I like the play style before I committed to a purchase.

It's about time Miyamoto created a new franchise. Mario and Zelda are great but I want to see some new IPs.

Why are all those darn Europeans getting all the good news?

I fully expect the Wii U to launch during the Q4 of 2012, so October, November, or December, with a early-mid launch in November the most likely in my opinion. I never thought at all that the Wii U would see release in the first half of 2012 because for home consoles that never happens.

My bet is that the new game is either the 3rd version for the current 5th generation (and it will almost certainly be played on the 3DS, although there may be some enhancements if played on the 3DS) or a new Pokemon Battle Revolution/Stadium for either the Wii or Wii U.

Monster Hunter Tri was the most popular Monster Hunter game in the USA/Canada and Europe (substantially more than the previous versions) so I think its a given that Monster Hunter 4 will come out in the west. I'm not sure if Monster Hunter Tri G will because the series isn't popular enough that people would be willing to buy a handheld port. The thing is that western gamers prefer fast paced action so the slow methotical approach that the Monster Hunter Series strives for isn't really appealing. I do hope that Monster Hunter become a decent selling series in the West, but I doubt it will become as popular as Street Fighter or Resident Evil.

@James Why are you talking about Rhythm Heaven when this post is about Xenoblade Chronciles?

I hope this rumor turns out to be true, but I haven't heard of specific store only releases for whole games so it seems pretty dubious.

In the USA at least, if Nintendo wants to sell to the widest possible audience, then $250 is the max. It seems that the Wii U is more along the lines of parity to the 360/PS3 rather than clearly exceeding them in terms of processing and graphical power. It is very likely that both the PS3 and 360 will be $200 for the mid-range SKUs, so Nintendo has to price the Wii U to be competive with that. The extra 50 dollars could easily be justifed by the costs of the new controller. A launch price any higher could potentially cripple Nintendo for the entire generation. $300 dollars would be cheap enough for the Nintendo fanboys and fangirls (like everyone who posts comments on Nintendolife! ^_^) but for hardcore gamers, it will be seen as a waste to spend an extra 100 dollars for the Wii U when they can get similiar quality for 100 dollars cheaper with the PS3 or 360. This will especially be true if the rumours on the Wii U having only a 8 gig flash internal hard drive and a potentially messy online system end up to be true. And hardcore gamers who abandoned Nintendo for Sony or Microsoft? I doubt they would come for the Wii U in any situation but there is no chance if the system is $300 dollars. More than $300 dollars and even NIntendo fanboys/girls will balk at buying the system and you have the potential for a Dreamcast like disaster.

It will be very important for the Wii U to build up an install base after it launches, so that it can compete with Sony and Microsoft's next gen consoles (although how much more powerful those systems will be is still a very open question). If its flailing against the current gen consoles, it will outright fail when Sony and Microsoft release their new systems.

I don't know why Nintendo is wasting money on even a limited release of the newest Pokemon movie in theaters. The core games are still popular in the USA but everything else connected to the franchise has fallen massively since the late 90s when Pokemon first came out. There are going to lose money on this.

On 2nd thought, nice for Nintendo to finally release the V-create Victini, as that's the move that really helps it stand out among the various other fire pokemon. The first Victini was already on Black and White (but required a liberty pass to unlock it) and it didn't have V-Create.

@stromboli Why don't you buy her the Pink 3DS for Christmas as your excuse?

I wish this was on a console rather than a portable, but seeing how much success MH has had on the PSP I guess this isn't a surprise.

@ Kid_A

On Wikipedia it says that Kid Icarus is targeted for a November 2011. Either Nintendo doesn't consider the title a major one like Mario Kart and Super Mario, or they truly are thinking of releasing it next year. But I bet it's simply the former.

@ Highwinter

I don't know about Europe, my British friend, but in North America Dragon Quest has always been a minor series. Final Fantasy is the only JRPG series which is really big in North America. The sucess of Monster Hunter Tri means the MH and DQ series right now are at pariety in NA, although this wasn't true before because pre Tri MH had horrible sales outside of Japan.

I think its great this game has online, but I don't like the required online part of it. I doubt it would have a subscription fee if it was released overseas (which is very likely seeing as how DQ IX was), as DQ is not popular enough that many western players would be willing to pay it. Nearly all franchises that are popular in the West, including Western RPGs, have free online play so it would be a bad business model for Square and Nintendo to do this either for for the Wii or Wii U.

Dragonquest will probably be the Wii's last major title, with Skyward Sword being the Wii's last major title from Nintendo before the release of the Wii U. I'm surprised how long it's been since this game was announced and we haven't seen anything. It's going to be a massive hit in Japan.

Nintendo discontinued the Wii Speak so it will no longer work for future games (although with the Wii U on the horizon, there isn't a lot of them).. The only games that allow the PDF Headset is Black Ops, Conduit 2, and the soon to be released MW3.