Well, the rumors were true. The new The Legend of Zelda game will be released for both Wii U and NX. However, the NX won't be out before March 2017 and this is why we have to wait until then to get the game. It really sounds like they postponed the Wii U version just for the NX release, which is yet another slap in the face for all Wii U owners. Thank you for this, Nintendo!
Earlier this year I made a suggestion that they should release the Wii U version this year for the holidays and then release the NX together with the NX version of Zelda as a launch title in 2017. And apparently that's what they could have done, but they won't, because they want to have it all for the new console. And don't tell me that the game is going to get "better" in this time period. Twilight Princess sure didn't get any better, when they took an entire year to port it to the Wii. The game probably is ready, they just don't want to remove its impact as a launch title. But this way they will also anger all Wii U owners and cement the notion that not every Nintendo system is worth buying.
Anyway, it looks like I'm kind of getting my Zelda Direct wish, because The Legend of Zelda will be THE ONLY GAME on E3. That's crazy. I wonder, if they will still have the Treehouse Live shows. Probably not, after all the public incidents they had with its staff... But they also could just play Zelda all day long, where they probably will show too much of the game.
And I'm afraid that any 30th Anniversary plans have officially died with the release in March 2017, which is when the 30th Anniversary span is already over. The anniversaries are all marketing moves and without any big game release in the background, Nintendo won't invest in that. Maybe they will prove me wrong, but they probably will keep doing the Pokémon Anniversary throughout the year, because there they are actually able to release new games in time. And without Zelda U they probably would have already done it this March, when they had lots of new Zelda stuff available. Twilight Princess HD could have gotten the 30th Anniversary banner.
It also looks weird for the "NX". They are not showing the system at E3, their new big video game system? I guess, I could have been right that they didn't want the Zelda reveal clash with the console reveal, but I wouldn't have suspected that they give the entire E3 to Zelda! Or they are simply not ready to show the new system yet. And that doesn't look good, if they keep it too close to their chests. But at least they seem to be confident in the new Zelda game, if they're willing to wrap an entire E3 around it.
The "good" news for me personally is: I will have enough time to complete Hyrule Warriors: Legends (the last DLC will be out in November) and replay all 3D Zelda games, before the new Zelda hits.
They mentioned the NX being delayed till March, but I didn't see Nintendo being that specific about Zelda's release date. For all we know, the Wii U version of the game could still meet an October/November/December release window.
ReplyDeleteIf you didn't see them say that, you haven't been looking. Just an example:
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/NintendoAmerica/status/725399132450480128
It's also in their newest investor releases, if you don't trust the Twitter:
https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2016/160427_4e.pdf
After hearing about this news, I died a little inside.
ReplyDeleteI just don't feel motivated to get this game anymore. I'm just sick and tired of waiting for a game that should have been out last year. Since when have Zelda games been swan songs for dying consoles instead of Killer Apps for living ones? Zelda games used to come out when the systems were alive and well, but since TP we get nothing but "last hurrah for the departing console" products.
I'll absolutely pass on this game. Now I can focus on getting games that are in REAL development.
But hey, at least we'll also get a Hyrule Warriors NX (Koei Tecmo confirmed today to be developing a game for the NX)!
ReplyDeleteIt makes sense to delay the console until it's ready to be populated with launch titles. Wii U and 3DS both tried to push their launches early for holiday windows, and ended up faltering for months because there weren't any killer apps for them when they went to the market. NX can't afford a faulty launch window.
It does mean that many young people probably won't be able to get the NX immediately since they normally would ask for it for Christmas. It does mean that Christmas 2017 probably will have a lot of NX sales. Nintendo has shown that their best games, even if released earlier in the year, still sell like hotcakes in the holiday season (see Splatoon and Super Mario Maker during last year's relatively quiet season).
It's very frustrating that Zelda U won't be released during the 30th Anniversary of Zelda. I understand why they want to delay it to the NX launch, however: if people have already played it on the Wii U, then there will be less of an incentive to buy an NX to play it. A lot of people who are sick of waiting would buy the Wii U as its cost is slashed (in preparation for the NX launch next spring) and play the game on the Wii U, and then might not even get the NX since that was their key incentive to get an NX. This is likely the same reason Twilight Princess released on Wii before NGC - to incentivise purchasing the new console for that gaming experience. Gamers tend to be bad with the whole patience thing.