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Going into this year, it seemed as if Nintendo had enough titles on the slate to cover their calenendar and avoid the "droughts" that have haunted them almost indefinitely on home consoles since the SNES -- with the Wii U's first two years being a prime example. The question is: three months into the year, when are they going to start the steady flow of titles? 

We knew things were off to a less than desireable start when Nintendo moved "Captain Toad" back to January in Europe, presumably to bridge the income gap until they started releasing their 2015 titles worldwide. Then we got the news that "Kirby: Rainbow Curse" would be pushed to May in Europe -- again, presumably to cover the gap left by Splatoon being (rumored to be) bumped back into later in the year in that region. 

Now, sitting mid-March, we have "Mario Party 10" launching today in Japan (more regions to come on the 20th) with no other strong dates for games in the United States or Europe. Splatoon is set for some time in May and "Xenoblade X" is hitting Japan on April 29th.

Is Nintendo's release strategy to place one launch - anywhere in the world - per month, and are they not concerned with having releases in each region monthly? Does that mean that "Xenoblade" in Japan will be the only release in April? Will "Splatoon", pushed back in Europe, be the only release in June? If you think this is the case, what does it mean for the rest of the year?

It seems to me like they have several titles that have to be ready to move(Yoshi and Mario Maker can't be that intense of a development process). Assuming that they're going to give "Xenoblade", "Star Fox", and "Zelda" August through November releases, are they trying to place "Mario Maker" and "Yoshi" back to back during the summer, following "Splatoon"? I honestly figured we'd have dates (spring/early summer) for those games by now.

At this point, I also figured we'd be given a (late summer/early autumn) date for "Xenoblade", especially if "Devil's Third" actually makes it out for their traditional "Mature" October title.  "Star Fox" seems perfect for either summer or September, but - if all of those "serious" games land in the fall - will "Yoshi" and "Mario Maker" (both platformers) be enough for the spring/summer schedule with only "Splatoon" to hold down the fort as a AAA mainstay?

What does everyone think?  

*Edit: Hoping that they pad the summer with a localization of "Fatal Frame"*



Retro Tech Select - My Youtube channel. Covers throwback consumer electronics with a focus on "vid'ya games."

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