It's not funny when you put it like that.  Way to ruin a good joke, tbone51.  I hope your cat gets an STD, you fun-ruiner.

I'm not sure if this is a marketing move or they actually need more time for development.
It's bad for Nintendo to announce delays at the moment considering the months long drought there's been, it shows incompetence during a time Nintendo needs to prove itself.
On the other hand, they will have a big enough line-up during Christmas (specially in the platform department) for them to hold back Donkey Kong to keep the momentum going past the holidays. There are also no big exclusives for PS4 or XBone in December yet there is Infamous in February (the new DK release month).

I'm more worried actually, not on the impression that it will cause among the fans, but rather on the financial impact this will have. Half of the year has gone through already today, and Nintendo promised and operating profit of 100 billion yen, not simply profit, Iwata explicitly said operating profit, and thus far, with the Q1 results in, Nintendo is at a loss and having lowered Wii U's price, how do they even plan to achieve that?

Iwata might have to resign, he committed the company to that and it's not going to happen with one of the games not making it to the busiest time of the year sales wise.

I was confirmed by Iwata himself today in the latest Nintendo Direct. I'll add it to the OP.

what is the wiiu holiday lineup now?

• • The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD: Launches Sept. 20 (downloadable) and Oct. 4 (packaged) at a suggested retail price of $49.99.
• • Wii Party U: Launches Oct. 25 bundled with a Wii Remote Plus controller and stand at a suggested retail price of $49.99.
• • Super Mario 3D World: Launches Nov. 22 at a suggested retail price of $59.99. 
• • Wii Fit U: Launches this holiday season. Further details, including launch date, pricing and bundling information, will be revealed at a later date.
• • Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games™: Launches this holiday season. Further details, including launch date and pricing, will be revealed at a later date.
• • Third-party titles: Previously announced titles on the way from Nintendo's publishing partners include: Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure (Sept. 24) and LEGO Marvel Super Heroes (Fall) from Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment; Skylanders SWAP Force (Oct. 13) and Call of Duty: Ghosts (Nov. 5) from Activision Publishing; Sonic Lost World (Oct. 22) from SEGA; and Rayman Legends (Sept. 3), Just Dance 2014 (Oct. 8), Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag (Oct. 29) and Watch_Dogs (Nov. 19) from Ubisoft

I think it was more a strategic move rather than it needing extra time. Mario Kart most likely wont be ready until April so they pushed this back to Feb to prevent another drought. This is what next year could look like

Q1-DKC Tropical Freeze
Q2-Mario Kart 8
Q3-Smash Bros
Q4-Zelda

Games like Yarn Yoshi, Bayonetta, SMTxFE and X can be mixed in between the big releases.

Darn. There goes all of its Wii U Game of the Year awards.

Whether this is a marketing strategy or a quality/completion issue, I'll be far too busy enjoying SM3DW this holiday to care about the Tropical Freeze delay.

Also helps to fill that first quarter '14 void until Mario Kart 8 arrives.

it's a good business move to ensure that wiiU doesn't go months without a release right after the holiday.


it's disappointing that this is a good business move.