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jarrod on 27 December 2010
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Declan said:
jarrod said:
Declan said:
jarrod said:
Boutros said:

They most likley have started working on games for the Wii 2!

This too.  I still think that's where Pikmin 3 and Wii Relax are headed, it wouldn't surprise me at all if Zelda SS was EAD's final Wii game.

Commercially, I don't think the need for a Wii 2 would exist if the current Wii was being supported with a steady stream of big titles.  Although its sales aren't as strong as in previous years, the Wii's 2010 has still been one of the strongest ever years for sales of a home console.  New titles would enable it to remain a very strong-selling console for quite a while yet, and would also likely generate far more profit than they would on a Wii 2.  As long as the Wii keeps outselling the 360 and PS3, and as long as Wii software sales remain strong, I don't see a Wii 2 being released - it would only serve to kill off a money-printing device for Nintendo and show Sony and Microsoft what they need to trump with their next machines.

Well I don't necessarily disagree Nintendo doesn't need to kill Wii, but that has little to do with EAD.  They won't continue supporting Wii due to commercial viability, they'll move on when they feel they want to... and by large it looks like they've already moved on to 3DS, and I don't doubt some teams are working on preliminary Wii 2 test kits either.  EAD always moves on a year or two before a platform winds down, and Nintendo usually fills the void with games from other teams and 3rd parties... I don't expect Wii to be any different.

As for releasing early, well it never seems to hurt when you're market leader, but launching too late can.  Look at PS2.  Then look at PS3...

Wouldn't Iwata have a say in what Nintendo's teams work on?  Though I would agree that the "Zelda team" wouldn't work on another Wii Zelda title after SS.

I'm struggling to think of examples of market leaders releasing early.  Sega launched the 16-bit gen while the NES was the leader and the 32-bit gen while the SNES led.  The N64 didn't launch until the PS1 was out, and that was the leader when the Sega Dreamcast started the next generation.  PS2 was leading when Microsoft launched the 360.

Iwata's smart enough to know how EAD works, and that they should move on from Wii now anyway.  And I don't mean just the Zelda team (EAD3), I mean EAD at large.  They almost always come in strong early on to establish platforms, but they phase out pretty quickly too, usually the only have one or two projects past year 4-5 on a system.  Looking at their gameography, it's pretty easy to see EAD's already moving on from Wii most likely...

 

NES (1983) includes FDS (1986)

  • Devil World (1984)
  • Excitebike (1984)
  • Super Mario Bros. (1985)
  • Ice Climbers (1985)
  • Super Mario Bros. 2 / The Lost Levels (1986) JP only
  • The Mystery of Murasame Castle (1986) JP only
  • The Legend of Zelda (1986)
  • Dream Factory Doki Doki Panic (1987) JP only
  • Super Mario Bros. 2 / USA (1987)
  • Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (1987)
  • Ice Hockey (1988)
  • Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988)

 

Super NES (1990)

  • Super Mario World (1990)
  • F-Zero (1990)
  • Pilotwings (1990)
  • SimCity (1991)
  • The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (1991)
  • Super Mario Kart (1992)
  • Super Mario All-Stars (1993)
  • Star Fox (1993)
  • Stunt Race FX (1994)
  • Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (1995)

 

Nintendo 64 (1996) includes 64DD (1999)

  • Super Mario 64 (1996)
  • Waverace 64 (1996)
  • Mario Kart 64 (1996)
  • Star Fox 64 (1997)
  • Yoshi's Story (1997)
  • 1080* Snowboarding (1998)
  • F-Zero X (1998)
  • The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)
  • Pokemon Stadium (1998) JP only
  • Pokemon Stadium / 2 (1999)
  • Mario Artist series (1999-2000)
  • F-Zero X: Expansion Kit (2000)
  • The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (2000)
  • Pokemon Stadium 2 / Gold & Silver (2000)
  • Animal Crossing (2001) JP only

 

GameCube (2001)

  • Luigi's Mansion (2001)
  • Pikmin (2001)
  • Animal Crossing (2001)
  • Super Mario Sunshine (2002)
  • The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (2002)
  • Pokemon Box: Ruby & Sapphire (2003)
  • Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (2003)
  • Pac-Man Vs. (2003)
  • The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (2004)
  • Pikmin 2 (2004)
  • Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat (2005)
  • The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (2006)

 

Nintendo DS (2004) includes DSiWare (2008)

  • Super Mario 64 DS (2004)
  • Yoshi: Touch & Go! (2005)
  • Big Brain Academy (2005)
  • Nintendogs (2005)
  • Mario Kart DS (2005)
  • Animal Crossing: Wild World (2005)
  • New Super Mario Bros. (2006)
  • The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (2007)
  • Flipnote Studio (2008)
  • The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (2009)
  • Do it Yourself: Nintendo DS Guide (2010) JP only?

 

Wii (2006)

  • Wii Sports (2006)
  • The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (2006)
  • Wii Play (2006)
  • Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree (2007)
  • Link's Crossbow Training (2007)
  • Super Mario Galaxy (2007)
  • Wii Fit (2007)
  • Mario Kart Wii (2008)
  • Wii Music (2008)
  • Animal Crossing: City Folk (2008)
  • New Play Control! Pikmin (2008)
  • New Play Control! Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (2008)
  • New Play Control! Pikmin 2 (2009)
  • Wii Sports Resort (2009)
  • Wii Fit Plus (2009)
  • New super Mario Bros. Wii (2009)
  • Super Mario Galaxy 2 (2010)
  • The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (2011)

 

Nintendo 3DS (2011)

  • Nintendogs plus Cats (2011)
  • Pilotwings Resort (2011)
  • Steel Diver (2011)
  • The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (2011)
  • Animal Crossing (TBA)
  • Mario Kart (TBA)
  • Star Fox 64 3D (TBA)


...I think at best we'll still see Pikmin 3 and/or Wii Relax show up, but Zelda SS could easily be "it" for Wii.

As for launching early, the only example of a market leader doing that I can think of is PS2, and it enjoyed universal market dominance to a degree almost unseen previously.  SNES, N64 and PS3 all launched alongside or after their core competitors, and they all suffered for it.  No market leader has ever launched early though, and performed worse as a result... Nintendo's best window really is end of 2011/early 2012, especially if they plan to do just a single "generational leap" in chipset spec.