Nintendo: NX not at E3, Zelda only at E3, March for all.

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Early this morning in the West/late this afternoon in Japan Nintendo dropped a few bombs.

Zelda U is delayed yet again and will be the only playable game at E3.
Zelda U has also been ported to NX.

E3 is all about Zelda U/NX



This is sole piece of official art.

Also NX has been delayed until March 2017 and will launch alongside Zelda globally.

An NX specific event will be held later this year to show it off for launch.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news ... -worldwide


Why is Nintendo skipping E3 for the most part? Well the games they make are a bad fit for E3 and they have been the laughing stock of the industry at E3 for the past decade. Many developers have left E3, including EA this year who is holding a separate event.

Yeah I dont blame them, or others, for leaving E3 behind at this point. I dunno about everyone else here but to me that event is just a joke at this point.

The key gaming sites are enraged over Nintendo leaving to the point it's too much...

NeoGaf nearly crashed on top of it pronouncing the death of Nintendo and NX, because no one reports on video games outside of E3.


I think the negative outcry is far worse of a joke than what E3 has become.

I mean EA is the latest company to pull out and won't be there this year (but have an event down the road instead)

To me E3 is just about snazzy graphics and shooters, because that is what most companies focus on.


The press as a whole should be happy because the gaming press hated covering Nintendo and even said so on social media, the mainstream press though Nintendo was out of place at E3 because it is an adult gaming show.

Now people are actually wondering if NX is near Wii U power level because it Zelda might not get a graphical facelift on NX.

Normally I enjoy massive backlash like this in gaming, but today it went too far overboard.

...."adult gaming show". I'll not try to make a witty comment on that part, it comments on itself.

But yeah, I agree with all of that.

Particularly the bit about the snazzy graphics and shooters. The whole event ends up being utterly worthless for those that ARENT into that genre. You'd think they'd want variety to interest everyone, but no, that's not what it's become these days, bah.

and to think there actually were people who bought WiiUs for zelda expecting it to be released in 2015.

this game better knock my stinky socks right the hell off. when it comes to futire games, i've never been this starved for info. and i'm still curious about link's arrow, blue tunic and the sheikah‐looking book on his belt.

i've never cared much for e3 nor have i followed it.

You should never buy a console for a future game.

More people bought PS3s for FFXIII Vs. only to see the game become FFXV and to release this September.
Plenty of people bought PS3s for The Last Guardian, only to see that be delayed and return as a PS4 game.
Know for those who bought Xbox Ones for Fable Legend are screwed because Microsoft cancelled the game and dissolved the studio.

I really hope they didn't delay Zelda just so they could release it at the same time as the next console >_<



Wonder if these "people" are just trolling, or if they actually did drop out of elementary school.

Somehow I don't seem to have much doubt that they did delay it for that reason. However, I hope they'll do it the way Twilight Princess was handled: As a "crossplatform" release.

I have to admit, it wouldn't surprise me if they might try to make it a console-seller by making it an NX exclusive though. I will be pleasantly surprised if they delayed it to boost the visuals for the NX version as a sales argument without making the Wii U version feel empty and dead though, heh.

However, I'm a bit worried that questionable decisions might become a standard after the death of Satoru Iwata. His ideas were (unfortunately) more or less flops by the end of his career and Nintendo was in the reds (well, that happens). I'm afraid they might attempt to change course too much and into the wrong directions as a reaction to that.

To be honest, I was already less than pleased with the New3DS story, which I suspect might have been attempts to make more money as a result of the financial backlash, and when rumors about the concept of NX's controller showed up on the internet.
I'm honestly afraid to even check if they are true, because I despise touch controls, simply because there is no feedback and because touchscreens seem to hate me by not reacting. Furthermore, I like to have static locations of buttons for uniformity and so I can rest my fingers on them, so that wouldn't be an excuse for me to go the "lazy" way and skip that design process. If that's going to be a thing and there won't be a "classic style" controller with buttons, I might be disqualified as a customer to buy the NX, no matter what games come with it, even if the Zelda title would end up being an NXclusive.

Still, I have to admit I'm curious about the new Zelda title and Link's visuals too. I just hope they won't completely drop his traditional tunic in further titles though, after all it is his trademark dress despite the blue one's gain in popularity as his "original casual wear" in some titles.
There was a presentation about it once showing Epona's new intelligent behaviour, though I have to admit, in some way, the world looked (a bit too) empty at that point yet, but I couldn't put my hands on what gave me that feeling. I wouldn't exclude it could have been because it was still something they were working on and filling with "magic".
A fully open world in itself is no seller for me though, I need atmosphere in my games.

I shall follow the news about that Zelda title though.

PS: I was never that much interested in the E3 fuzz either. All reasons were already mentioned in this thread.

Cant agree with this more.

Really, it's the same reasons why nowadays you should never pre-order something. You're paying for something that DOESNT EXIST. Things could change. Delays could happen. The whole project could be massively altered into a totally different form as happened in those examples.

Never pay for non-existent things, is what I say. It seems like sensible advice to me.

What flops? Nintendo was never in the red, it's Sony and Microsoft who lose money on console sales.



What New3DS story? I must have missed that one.

With the New3DS story, I meant the sole existence of the New3DS.
At first, it was supposed to be a revisited 3DS along the lines of lite versions or XL versions with that bonus C-stick and improved 3D, but then they just decided to make it its own thing by using the hardware changes to make exclusive titles for it and revealed it on a presentation. I own a 3DS XL myself as I bought that special one with A Link Between Worlds included and not even one year after I bought it, they released the New3DS. Needless to say, I see no need in buying that one right now. I already got enough to do with my 3DS XL and the games for it, so I won't bother spending a lot of money on a new one (yet) just for some exclusive titles.
Apart from that I only buy consoles if I see that there is a game lineup for it already released that I'm interested in, the 3DS had that. New3DS doesn't do that for me yet.

About the reds, I'm fairly sure I even read about that in various sources and articles, such as video game magazines.
The 3DS didn't make as much revenues as they have expected, the Wii U wasn't really picked up on either.
To be honest, I suspect that for the Wii U, this could have already been the name choice in itself that gave it a worse start as it might have created wrong expectations. Perhaps Nintendo should also overthink their naming conventions or maybe they're even doing that already with the new console. I'm happy they seem to be going with NX so far for the new console's name as I doubt Wii W (small pun there) would have caught people's attentions. It at least indicates that the console is truly something new now.

You can see a table that shows the financial situation along with a summary on Satoru Iwata's Wikipedia page over here. It was probably the second setback of that kind for Nintendo after the GameCube.

Holy cow, I just had a good laugh at that!
That delay in the arrow is a brilliant touch to it! The original even resembles capital delay letters a bit.

@Sylvastor

Actually Nintendo only reported a small loss in 2013 by taking a write down on the Wii U inventory, which was greater than the income they brought in from everything else and purchasing Yamauchi's control stake in the company (his great grandfather started the company) when he diedthat year. That literally cost them over $1 Billion USD to buy his ~10% stake in the company (he had special voting rights that let him overrule everyone else).
2014 they made a small profit, due to the Japanese Yen been at parity with the USD and Euro (this has the same impact on every Japanese company).

Then 2015, the Japanese Yen stayed as strong the first half of the year, then passed the USD and Euro by in value killing profits for Japanese companies who rely on overseas for sales.


Over the past FY starting in April 2015 to present, the USD rose higher, the Canadian dropped like brick, the Japanese yen went down significantly against the USD, then the British Pound dropped significantly, then the ECB did QE to stimulate Eurzone which gave us a cheap Euro against all the major currencies

With the currency markets the way they are, Nintendo was able to get more profit than they would have, while being able to invest in Eurozone for cheaper.


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As for New 3DS the only new pieces of hardware it has is two new shoulder buttons, new home button, Super Stable 3D and the light sensor.

The CPU just has more cores than the original mode operating a high clock speeds.

Nintendo said the reason why N3DS exists is due to developers pushing Nintendo to release a more powerful handheld with more buttons.
Nintendo also said that consumer feedback from the Western Market demanded more buttons and faster load times.

So Nintendo released N3DS as a stop gap (just like the Gameboy Color) until NX Handheld is ready to launch.
N3DS helped keep sales humming along, while getting 3rd parties to continue supporting it.

Without N3DS 3rd party support would have dried up for the most part and sales would have completely collapsed in the West.

I for one love my N3DS XL, it is so much snappier and better than my o3DSXL.
Many games are vastly improved on it too.

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As for Zelda U/NX

The game started development in 2012, ~1 year after Skyward Sword released.
Zelda team was waiting to see which way everyone would swing on Skyward Sword before making the next Zelda game.

The feedback from Skyward Sword from Zelda team confused them, as they didn't know what would appease the Western markets.

So they decided to reboot Zelda back to the roots while reinventing it at the same time.

In 2013, Zelda Team decided that the New console Zelda should go full open world and be loaded with a variety of main dungeons and mini dungeons.
They said you might not realize you are in a main dungeon because the game won't always tell you like the previous games.
They said did this in response to Westerners always complaining about the game telling them that it is a main dungeon.
They also said this game will be vastly different from all the rest.

In 2014, Zelda Team said they were overwhelmed with responses from gamers asking for many of Majora's Mask features to be added or expanded in the new Zelda.
It literally took 16 years for Majora's Mask to become loved.
Zelda Team said they changed development of the game based on this.

In 2015 Zelda Team announced the game was delayed because development was taking longer than expected on certain aspects on the game.
Nintendo said this game is the most expensive title they ever produced passing the $5 Million U.S. mark.

late in 2015 Zelda Team said that the new Zelda is setting a new convention and template for all future 3D Zeldas to follow going forward. They said this game has completely abandoned the convention and template laid down by Ocarina of Time and used by the previous 3D games.

They said the game is a complete reboot, reinvention, reimaging of Zelda and everyone will essentially playing the new game as if it was their first time with Zelda as in it shares very little gameplay wise with any of the previous titles.
The new games is also supposed to be more cinematic than the previous titles to appeal to the West.

They claim they took a very hard look at all the complaints regarding each 3D Zelda and decided to do something completely utterly new, setting the 3D games on a new path that all will follow going forward.

All we know about the game in 2016 is it will have been in development for at least 5 years before it releases, it will be something paradigm altering, it will be new convention and template for all future 3D Zelda games, it will be more cinematic, and it will be dual launching on NX and Wii U in March.

It will be fully unveiled at E3 and the only playable Nintendo game at E3 (which is solely so Nintendo can keep their two big booths if they decided to return to E3 in 2017).

Though it has been hinted at that Zelda U/NX is the biggest game in the franchise, it should take longer to complete than any previous game, it will be fully open world as possible.

It is also hinted at that it is the nearing $15 Million U.S. in pure development costs.

There are rumors out that is has full voice acting to bring Zelda into the "modern era".

For reference of development time:

Zelda (NES) took about 1.5 years to make
Zelda II (NES) took about 1.5 years to make
ALTTP (SNES) took almost 3 years to make
OOT took almost 5 years to make
MM took almost 3 years to make
WW took 4 years to make (was rushed to market)
TP took 4 years to make
SS took almost 7 years to make (started development in late 2004/early 2005 when Nintendo finished the Wii Remote)
Zelda U almost 5 years to make

The good news is Zelda U/NX runs a new engine (Which one of the major reasons for delay) and future games will use this engine cutting down on development time. This one of the reasons why the game has taken so long and so much money.

I mean I can't wait for the game, though on the other hand I have too much to play until then.



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As for Nintendo as a whole, Iwata's transition plans have been carried out as a whole which has taken almost 5 years to complete the transition to the NX development model. Hi Yamauchi's death (the predecessor to Iwata and holder of the controlling stake in the company) in 2013, followed by Iwata's cancer in late 2014, with his death in summer of 2015 really did a number on the company. Nintendo is very small tight knit company.

They are almost done completing the transition and should be done by the end of the year. They just restructured the company this week to a Western model of management and gave Reggie and Bill more power with decisions.


Though SabbraCadabra is also right.

Microsoft has not made dime on the Xbox Family yet to the point they quit giving number in 2014 to hid how bad it is doing.
Microsoft has already lost over $10 Billion USD operating Xbox and counting.

Sony has lost over $6 Billion which was literally all due to PS3 being so damn expensive to make and being sold at such a huge loss.

PS4 has finally become profitable for Sony this year, but the bulk of their small profits came from selling their real estate holdings, because PS4 alone wasn't enough to turn the whole company profitable.

All of Nintendo's systems have been profitable in the end to date, including Wii U which has been profitable for 2 years now.

Don't worry Nintendo just made $600 Million U.S. Dollars the other day by selling the controlling stake in the Seattle Mariners to the ownership group (the ball team didn't make much money for them and Nintendo wanted out).

Nintendo will report a huge quarterly profit either for the Fall or Winter quarter depending on when the deal is approved by regulators.

They also pretty much doubled the memory and if I recall correctly, that was what allowed them to release Xenoblade Chronicles for New 3DS in the first place. You've mentioned the faster load times, I'm actually surprised that was even an issue at all! I always appreciated its speed to be honest.
Anyway, thanks for your post, I appreciate you took your time to write it and fill it with valuable information as it provides some great insight.
Videogame journalism tends to exaggerate more and more, so it seems, that was once again the case and they made it seem worse than it actually was.

To be honest, I have never understood why MM took so long to get the appreciation it deserved from the beginning. I instantly fell in love with that game.

I have heard the "reboot" claim as well.
Some people wonder if it isn't "just Zelda 1" in 3D with a more in-depth plot and to be honest, I wouldn't mind if this were the case and it would be officially treated as such. For very old titles, reboots can bring them into a new light, expand on them and provide a new perspective and whole new experience and for a franchise like Zelda, which tends to include more and more storyline with each game in contrast to the dungeon-hunting, all-there-in-the-manual feel of the original, it could make sense to do so. But well, I guess E3 will reveal some more about what it really is all about.
In either case, I guess it will be back to figuring out which dungeon you're in as in Zelda 1. I think I accidentally did the third dungeon before the second once on my first playthrough. Quite a while ago by now and I only realized when I finished it.
I'm not sure anymore, perhaps I should replay it again, but I think in Ocarina of Time, you could pick which one of the last two adult dungeons you would do first. Hm, that reminds me, I still need to give the 3DS remakes a go. So much to play yet myself!

Snap, and I want to listen to the Zelda 1 dungeon theme now.

As for Microsoft and the whole XBox business, I think they can afford that.

PS: I never got the chance to see a New 3DS in action to check myself how stable the 3D is compared to my 3DS. Since you own a New 3DS XL, can you provide any insight on it? It's my curiosity and in the end, I just can't check a video, obviously.

It's not a question if Microsoft can afford it or not, it's whether or not management and shareholders see spending over $10 Billion and counting on nothing.

Xbox hasn't delivered on any of it's promises that Bill Gates Claimed when launched it.

Xbox was launched with the following goals:

1) Unify dedicated game development with Windows development
2) Point 1 was supposed to give Microsoft full control of the gaming industry
3) Gain full control of the living room, knocking everyone else
4) Knock out all other hardware makers in gaming
5) Turn the gaming industry into running only Windows merging dedicated hardware with PCs
6) Grow Windows Marketshare and prevent new competitors to Windows
7) Stop other CPU makers, giving Intel full control of the CPU market.
8] Make Microsoft cool to younger crowds

Microsoft has failed on every promise Bill Gates made, turning Xbox into an expensive attempt to save Windows.