It’s no secret that Nintendo isn’t doing so well at the moment. The low sales of the Wii U show that Nintendo is on a bit of a downward spiral. The New Nintendo 3DS seems to be doing well so far along with all of the content on it that has been released thus far, but compared to how well Sony and Microsoft are doing with the news of their next-generation content, Nintendo has a long way to go. 2016 simply has to be Nintendo’s year to appeal to fans because if they fail to, all other modern companies are going to wipe Nintendo clean out of business (I’m exaggerating, of course).
Let’s look at the New Nintendo 3DS, the newest platform we have from Nintendo, and Sony/Microsoft’s plans about virtual reality. I’m really not one for comparing Nintendo to Microsoft and Sony, but all three appeal to the same general public of gamers. So, the same people (the general public) have a choice between the New Nintendo 3DS (which is a modified version of last generation’s Nintendo 3DS), and some sort of futuristic virtual reality that we can see as early as next year (according to Microsoft and Sony). Chances are, if you put price aside, people are going to pick virtual reality over the new DS. Nintendo could strike with the Nintendo NX, but based on how little information we have about the system, there’s no way it is going to come out next year.
So, we are left with the Wii U for 2016 to come and save the day. What do we know will come out on the Wii U in 2016? Well, nothing that was planned to come out in 2016, that’s for sure. Zelda Wii U was expected to release this year, but it was instead delayed to 2016, then once again to “TBD,” so 2016 may not even be a factor anymore for Zelda Wii U. The other game that we expected in 2015 that is most likely to now come out in 2016 is Star Fox Zero, which was also recently delayed. So, we really don’t have much more to expect from Nintendo on the Wii U in 2016.
A lot of people will say that Zelda Wii U will be the game that’s going to save the Wii U. Well, if it were a year ago, I would agree with you. Now, however, I think it’s simply too late for the Wii U to be saved. Sure, Zelda Wii U would totally spark up the sales of the Wii U, but there are several problems we are having with the game. The biggest problem of which is that the game is expected to be amazing. Yes, that is actually a problem in this scenario. Zelda Wii U had so much hype in its prime (by that I mean when we were actually getting news about the game) that Nintendo actually became determined to make it as great as it can possibly be. Why would Nintendo waste so much effort on a game whose platform has such low sales? It wouldn’t; the company would probably move on to the next console. This is where the NX comes into play. I personally think that because of this, Zelda Wii U might see a dual release on the Wii U and the NX. If that happens, most people aren’t going to bother buying a Wii U for Zelda Wii U; they’re going to wait for it to come out on the next-generation system. Therefore, if Zelda Wii U sees a dual release like many are suspecting, the Wii U will not be saved.
What can Nintendo do to clean up their act for 2016? People have been speculating a lot, but the truth is that we have no idea what route Nintendo will go down for 2016. We know next to nothing about what Nintendo will be doing next year. In my personal opinion, if Nintendo wants to keep up with the expectations of the general public of gamers, they need to move on from the Wii U as soon as possible and focus on their next platform. It’s as if every other big company is moving on to bigger and better things, while Nintendo is still trying to make the Wii U work somehow.
2016 will either be a hit or miss for nintendo, and right now it’s too early to tell which is more likely. Nintendo is very secretive in regards to upcoming content, so it’s likely that we won’t know what’s going on with Nintendo until an early 2016 Nintendo Direct, or even as late as E3 2016. Who knows, maybe Nintendo is waiting to unveil something big. However, it does look like Nintendo is scrambling a bit, especially with the unfortunate passing of president Satoru Iwata. I think Nintendo will eventually pull through, whether it will be 2016 or some following years. However, based on all the facts we have to work with right now, I think 2016 will either be really good or really bad for Nintendo. We’ll all just have to wait and see what news Nintendo will be bringing us (hopefully within the next couple of months). So, where do you think Nintendo will be going next year with its content? Do you think the Wii U can somehow pull through? Let us know what you think in the comments.
