We now know that NX is officially coming out March next year, but what about one of the flagship titles — the new Legend of Zelda? As it turns out, we won’t be seeing that in 2016 either.
In a release, Nintendo has said that “the latest instalment in this classic series is scheduled to launch simultaneously” on the Wii U and NX — but it won’t be doing so until next year.
“Because developers need more time to polish the game, it will launch in 2017, but it will be the focus of Nintendo’s presence at E3,” the company added. The Legend of Zelda will be playable on the E3 show floor, but it will be “the only playable game Nintendo presents at the show … to provide attendees complete immersion”.
Nintendo of America also showed off some of the game’s new art just under an hour ago:
The new Legend of #Zelda will be the focus of #E3 2016. It will launch simultaneously on both Wii U and NX in 2017 pic.twitter.com/icfBlybnkm
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) April 27, 2016
It’s rare that a company bets their entire floor space on a single title, although Nintendo will undoubtedly have more to show off at the event. They’ll be talking more about that in the weeks to come, though.
Comments
29 responses to “The New Legend Of Zelda Isn’t Coming Out This Year Either”
Siggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. -_-
Poor Wii U, it is already dead.
Oh ffs Nintendo, get your shit together.
I’d argue this is them getting their shit together. Rather than all these half steps there is obviously going to be a massive refocus and hopefully resurgence by Nintendo.
Or they’re releasing another half and half Zelda. They’re just constantly chasing their tails, if the NX has a shit launch it’ll be WiiU all over again.
Precisely why I’d say they delayed it. Let’s face it, a new Zelda would not save the Wii U now, even if the NX weren’t coming out next year. It makes sense to release on NX at launch to build hype, and throw the Wii U a bone (a la cross-gen PS3/PS4 releases).
I thin k you’e going to be right on the money there. I am disappointed the NX isn’t going to be out by Xmas though.
I guess it gives me an excuse to see what the PS4K is all about.
So they only have one playable game, and it’s not out until next year (and I’d be willing to place bets on a delay too). Seems like Ninty could be in for a rough 12-ish months
I’m sure they’ll phone in a full priced 2D level maker, a mini game collection or a 2d platformer to keep WiiU owners happy between now and then.
What? There one will be one playable game at E3, not at launch. It would be an odd tactic if it weren’t for Nintendo Direct removing the need for a massive showing.
That’s what I was talking about but with the NX launch now set for March 2017 (assuming no delays), that’s just under a year that they still need to keep some money rolling in. With no playable games at E3 (other than something that also won’t be out until 2017), it seems like they might be struggling…
I know they’ve still got Pokemon Sun/Moon coming around christmas at least but I hope they haven’t just pushed everything else back to the NX.
There isn’t really much else to push back to NX is there? That Paper Mario game that no one wants?
It would make sense for them to start really doubling down on getting stuff ready for the NX, there isn’t really anything they can do to boost WiiU sales now, besides the already amazing games already out.
Highly doubt there will be another delay. This game has been pushed back a fair bit, it’s got to be getting close to done. They will pull in other teams if need be to get it out at launch, I’m sure of it.
Quelle surprise.
I’m all for polishing a game before release, but this comes across more as “Screw the Wii U – we need people to buy the NX”, rather than “We want to get this game running as smoothly as possible”. Not to mention it’s now going to be 2 YEARS late. Hardly a world record considering titles like Last Guardian, Final Fantasy XV, Duke Nukem Forever, etc., but not exactly a great result either way.
It is the same as the GameCube with Twilight Princess. It is not a screw anyone. That’s just thinking to far into it dude.
Only one playable title? To provide immersion?
Stop being weird Nintendo you’re scaring me.
(Also inb4 the Wii U version is actually the better version. Again.)
Called it repeatedly over the last couple of years.
Nintendo just spirals. One bad decision after the next.
They have to fix a lot if they’re going to turn it around after the WiiU.
Second Christmas in a row Nintendo doesn’t have a big game to sell. It’s now clear they buried the WiiU years ago. The trickle of mid-sized titles has just been the company releasing ANYTHING as opposed to nothing.
So… they have a game that could be a system seller….. and they’re releasing it on their old system on the same day their new system launches (assuming it’s a launch title).
That seems……. stupid.
It’s also going to be on the new system. It’s not really stupid at all. Look at Twilight Princess.
Spend millions making a massive Zelda game. Only sell it on a console with a very small install base at the end of it’s life. Smart?
wait, people still play let alone expect games to be released for this failure of a console?
The Wii U has a lot of fun games, and for a really long time, more so than the other two consoles (and probably still debatable now). That said, it has never had a system defining game and this was Nintendo’s greatest mistake. The system didn’t launch, or within launch period, with a game that would come to define it. I’m talking about a game that tells a narrative from one of their big franchises. No 3D Mario, Samus, or Zelda. Their latest Starfox is pretty much a rehash. The console’s greatest games are multiplayer experiences or tell stories from years back (Zelda remakes). Nothing wrong with these but as the Wii U has pretty much shown, you cannot rely on these for longevity.
The Wii, for all the rubbish that was on the system, will forever be remembered by the revolutionary and stunning Mario Galaxy, if nothing else (which definitely isn’t the case). The GC had Windwaker, Mario Sunshine, Metroid Prime (first Metroid in 8 years and in glorious 3D) and the list continues. There was no adventure to go on with the Wii U, no new world to explore. One of my primary concerns when they announced, and continued to announce, so many 2D side-scrollers for the system was the possible lack of a proper narrative experience for us to enjoy.
I really don’t blame them for delaying the new Zelda to launch with the NX similar to TP, nor angry at them for it. Nintendo vastly underestimated the difficulties of developing 3D worlds in full HD (again, a fault due to choosing to make the Wii so vastly underpowered compared to its competitors). They’ve been playing catch up. I hope they’ve learnt their lessons. In other news, their DS and 3DS handhelds have probably provided some of my most memorable gaming experiences this past decade and a bit (alongside PC gaming) so its not like Nintendo are incapable of producing good stuff. They just really stuffed up this generation, predominately due to grossly misunderstanding and overestimating the success of the Wii in my opinion.
To summarize your argument. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/KillerApp
I would argue that Splatoon and Mario Kart 8 were their system selling titles this year. Mario Kart 8 was miles ahead of any previous entry, and the extra DLC tracks at minimal cost was DLC done right.
Splatoon is even more of a killer app. Nintendo’s answer to FPS games and it’s completely awesome. The months of free DLC that is still ongoing (although slower), the huge monthly splatfests and the pure fun from this game. Still love playing it.
Smash was pretty big too 🙂
Christ I’m glad I only paid $178 for the MK8 premium wii-u bundle. I’d be super pissed if I paid full price for what’s essentially a glorified virtual console.
but that’s the catch, the console was worth every penny at that price with the quality of games that were on it, but even to this day, the wiiu still has not received an official price cut in Australia to marry the price vs value argument.
That I think was their bigger mistake more so than the software drought.
The audacity to NEVER reduce the value of their first party titles is also wearing thin (short of the mediocre classics collection about to start in Australia…again, too little too late).
for the record though, I really like the wiiu, I have more games on it than my SNES and they are all great games.
Oh definitely, I got the last console from the k-mart price guarantee cockup, and was extremely glad. I sold a PS4 because I couldn’t justify a PS4 and Xbone, they’re just too similar, and used some of that money to buy this Wii-U. For $178 it’s fantastic value, probably worth more than that. But for the, I think at the time $400ish dollars RRP? Nope. Just nope.
Link has an NX on his belt!