So guys, I’ve got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that the Nintendo NX is launching worldwide March 2017. The bad news is that Zelda Wii U has been delayed. Again.
The news came as part of Nintendo’s financial results briefing in Japan this morning, where they confirmed the release date for their mysterious new console, and confirmed a long suspected rumour – that Zelda Wii U will indeed be ported to the NX.
Worry not though, Zelda fans; the Wii U version of the game will still make an appearance. Nintendo announced that it’ll launch simultaneously for Wii U and NX.
At this point it’s probably safe to assume that the new Zelda will be a launch title for the NX, which means it (finally) has a rough release date of March 2017.
Nintendo described the NX as a “brand new concept” but announced that we won’t actually be seeing the console at E3 this June. The focus will instead be firmly on The Legend of Zelda – the only playable Nintendo game at E3 2016.
Obviously everyone is excited to get their hands on the first truly open world Zelda game. We’ve seen precious little of the title since it was announced at E3 2014, besides one trailer and some grainy gameplay footage.
The fact it’s being ported the NX means that the Wii U will be the first Nintendo home console not to have an exclusive Zelda game, which is kind of sad (but perhaps proof that Nintendo seriously dropped the ball with the Wii U).
Nintendo did something similar back when the Wii launched. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was intended as a Gamecube release, and was then ported to the Wii. Hopefully Nintendo do enough to justify the new game getting a port.
I don’t know anymore, man. I just really want to play an open world Zelda game. Please don’t delay it again. Please.
Ewan Moore is a journalist at UNILAD Gaming who still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 with a BA in Journalism & Media Studies (thanks for asking), he went on to do some freelance words for various places, including Kotaku, Den of Geek, and TheSixthAxis, before landing a full time gig at UNILAD in 2016.