After last night’s news that The Legend of Zelda for Wii U has been delayed beyond 2015 and that Nintendo have chosen not to show it as part of their E3 2015 presentation, Nintendo of America have confirmed that they will instead “be highlighting games launching in 2015.”
Those on Wii U that the company have currently confirmed for this year include Splatoon, Xenoblade Chronicles X, Art Academy, Mario Maker, Star Fox, Yoshi’s Woolly World, and Shigeru Miyamoto’s Project Giant Robot and Project Guard. We can expect that Nintendo have surprises in store, now needing to slot in a big hitter to spur sales throughout the Christmas period.
“As Mr. Aonuma announced, The Legend of Zelda game for Wii U is no longer targeted as a 2015 release. Rather than sticking to a specific schedule, the team wants to make this the most complete and the best game it can possibly be. The new launch timing has not yet been determined,” a Nintendo of America spokesperson reiterated to IGN.
“Because we’d like to focus on developing the game, we aren’t planning on showing it at this year’s E3, where we will be highlighting games launching in 2015. We will let you know when we’re ready to share more specifics.”
Nintendo’s E3 2015 presentation will be “highlighting games launching in 2015”
For the Wii U… I think that we will come out of e3 with at least three more new Wii U games revealed. We know that Tantalus Media is working on a Wii U port of an “AAA” “next-gen” title which also happens to be their “biggest project ever”, that the next edition of Famitsu will a major announcement for “Nintendo Platforms” that’s teased as being able to move hardware second only to “Mario”, and that there are compelling rumors that Retro is working on a Wii U title. Hopefully Nintendo has a few more curveballs in store for e3 but at least we know that they’ll have some ammunition.
For the 3DS… Nintendo needs to fill up the “New” 3DS release calendar fast and I’m confident that they will deliver. One prediction that I liked came from IGN and that Super Mario Sunshine 3DS. The 3DS really isn’t in trouble, it’s still selling like hotcakes, but it’s library needs to continue to grow in order to maintain hardware sales.