The Wii U Is Dead, Long Live The Wii U
The Wii U has been thought of as being on life support almost since the console was first launched by Nintendo. Having said that, it’s hard to know exactly when the company gave up on the Wii U, but industry analysts from every corner of the globe seem to agree that it has indeed given up and is moving on. There hasn’t been a more obvious sign of the certain demise of the Wii U than the announcement that gamers won’t be seeing Legend of Zelda this year after quite a bit of talk that would be out by the fall.
Not only won’t the Wii U’s most anticipated game in years be hitting store shelves in time for the 2015 Holiday season, the game won’t even get a debut at this June’s E3. For some Wii U fans, that news is even more disappointing than not being able to buy the game this year. Considering, as VentureBeat points out, the title has been a centerpiece of the Wii U’s offering since 2013 it also spells quite a bit of trouble for Nintendo.
Considering that Nintendo let it slip that the company is indeed working on a new console, fans of the current one seem to have reason to worry. Obviously, any time a company confirms it’s working on a new project of the scope and scale of a console, it also means it has turn its attention away from what it already has on the market, but Nintendo has been starting to ignore the Wii U for quite a while.
As Wii U Daily points out, the console has more than 380 exclusive titles. The bad sign is that almost all of them were introduced in 2013. Fewer exclusives hit the market in 2014 and there are fewer still due to come out in 2015. Xenoblade Chronicles is now the only game of any real note still due this year. It’s possible, of course, that Nintendo will have some exciting announcements when E3 rolls around. It was that time last year Super Smash Bros., as well as Splatoon were shown off. Most analysts don’t seem that hopeful that the console will bring a ton of really exciting titles this year. On the other hand, there has been almost no mention of the brand new console beyond the confirmation of its existence. That means the Wii U is going to have to carry the company’s water for at least a little bit longer.
[Image via GamesBeat]
