2015 could’ve been a great year for Nintendo fans and the Wii U.
2015 could’ve been a great year for Nintendo fans and the Wii U. It was originally a year that was going to bring a new Super Mario game, a new Star Fox titlein the form of Star Fox Zero and a new Zelda . Out of those three, the only one that actually managed to make it to store shelves in 2015 is Super Mario Maker , which released last week.
When The Legend of Zelda for Wii U was delayed to 2016months ago, it left a serious gap in Nintendo’s holiday lineup. They were originally going to ease the pain a bit for their fans by finally releasing the long-requested new console entry in the Star Fox series, which would’ve been, but now they’ve announced that the Wii U Star Fox has also slipped out of this year and into 2016.
Shigeru Miyamoto announced the news to the Nintendo faithful through the company’s Facebook page. Read his statement on the matter right here:
“We have been developing Star Fox Zero for Wii U with the aim of releasing it this year. Although we felt that the development had been progressing well, we now believe that we will need a little more time to work on areas such as the unprecedented discovery that we want players to experience in the game by using two screens, and further polishing the level designs and perfecting the tone of the cut scenes.”
Miyamoto admits that Nintendo could’ve still gotten the game released in time for its original release date, but they’ve decided to take more time to polish it and make it the best it can possibly be before launch. Considering Miyamoto is a man that once said, “A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad,” he’d be a hypocrite if he allowed the game to ship knowing it wasn’t living up to its full potential. It’s good to see him sticking to his beliefs, even if it leaves a considerable gap in the Wii U’s already sparse holiday lineup.
Out of the big three console manufacturers, Microsoft is really the only one with a huge exclusive dropping this holiday season now, in the form of Halo 5: Guardians . When Zelda and Uncharted 4 were delayed to 2016, it already left a lot of room for Microsoft to dominate and regain some lost ground with the Xbox One. With no Star Fox Zero this year either, it just makes it even easier for Microsoft to market the Xbox One as the premiere console to own in 2015.
Wii U owners were undoubtedly looking forward to playing Star Fox Zero this holiday. It’s unfortunate that it has been delayed, but it looks like 2016 is shaping up to be incredible for the Wii U, with Star Fox Zero and The Legend of Zelda on the way. With Nintendo reportedly set to reveal the Nintendo NXin 2016, it’s nice to see the Wii U go out with a bang, even if it has struggled throughout its life.
Were you hoping to pick up Star Fox Zero this year for the Wii U? What will you be playing instead?
Star Fox Zero was originally slated to release in late November of this year. The game is now scheduled to drop in Q1 of 2016, but Nintendo has yet to announce a targeted month of release for the highly anticipated Wii U exclusive.
Source: IGN