| Aielyn said: It'll probably happen. I'm in the camp that says NX is coming in 2017 (there's no way, if it was coming in 2016, that companies like EA and Capcom would still be "considering" making games for it - they'd either be "waiting until launch to decide" or already working on games for it). I anticipate NX to have a first unveiling at E3 2016 with a focus on tech demos and descriptions of how it works - this will not only build a bit of hype amongst fans, but also demonstrate the hype to the third parties, who will be given more reason to develop for the system. Animal Crossing U will probably be the Holiday 2016 "family-friendly" title, to launch alongside Zelda U. Add in whatever became of the "Project Giant Robot" title, Pikmin 4, and a couple more unannounced titles, in addition to the titles already confirmed for 2016, and you have a solid year for Nintendo. Then 2017 will probably feature whatever's left before they release NX some time late in 2017. So I don't think it's such a bold prediction - mine is a little bolder, but even mine isn't exceptionally bold. |
What exactly is the difference between "considering making games" and "waiting until launch to decide?"? Seems like the same thing to me and sure NX likely will encounter some skepticism (deservedly so) from some third parties after the Wii U debacle.
Beyond that Nintendo could simply have instructed third parties to answer vaguely about NX, I don't think they want developers making concrete statements about a platform such as "yes we're making games" that hasn't even been formally unveiled.
I think the "real" Animal Crossing was in development for Wii U at some point ... but Nintendo moved it to NX (portable + console) and that's absolutely 100% the right business move. AC is like Nintendo's 2nd or 3rd largest franchise (portable) in Japan, they can't afford to just "waste" one on Wii U to make a very small part of their fanbase happy when it would sell far, far more on the NX.
It's just not good business, that's really all I think it comes down to. Just pure business logic, nothing personal. Nintendo is a business not a charity or a non-profit organization for their fans. Amiibo Festival is the Animal Crossing that Wii U fans are going to get, they're just going to have to accept that.
If they "waste" an Animal Crossing on Wii U for 2016, that means the next one probably won't be ready until 2019 or so ... and NX needs its heavy hitters much earlier in the console cycle than that. If NX fails, that's basically it for Nintendo as a hardware maker IMO, that means they need more of their big gun IPs early on. Abandoning the Wii U Animal Crossing is absolutely the right move.
In hindsight Zelda: Majora's Mask, Perfect Dark, and Conker should have been moved to the GameCube launch window too ... maybe Nintendo could've beat at least Microsoft that gen and discouraged them from staying in the business, but they let themselves get beat by MS and that gave the XBox division confidence as in "hey if we can beat Nintendo" and that's eventually snowballed to the situation today where Nintendo is basically locked out of the entire core gaming market. Never should have let MS gain that much traction.
