• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Speculating on Nintendo's WiiU software release strategy in 2014

H

hatchx

Banned
I think 2014 is an interesting year to look at for WiiU. It'll be the real test of whether or not the 'momentum' can keep going.

Right now we have:

Donkey Kong : Tropical Freeze - Feb.2014
Mario Kart 8 - Spring 2014
X - 2014
Smash Bros. WiiU - 2014
Bayonetta 2 - 2014
Yoshi Yarn - TBA
Fire Emblem X Shin Megami Tensei - TBA
Zelda WiiU - TBA
Wii Sports Boxing, Baseball, Golf - TBA

Am I missing anything?

Anyways, it's a solid lineup, but one's gotta wonder how it'll spread out. There are basically zero 3rd party games coming in 2014 worth mentioning, and it's safe to assume there won't be any big surprises in the first half of the year, so every month we can only look to these games.

I also think it's safe speculation that Donkey Kong was delayed for February to fill in the Q1. Mario Kart's spring release could be anywhere from end-of-march to June, so who knows on that.

I think the ideal setup could be as follows:

Feb - Donkey Kong
March - More Wii Sports on eshop + retail release
April - Mario Kart
June - Smash Bros.
August - Yoshi/Bayonetta 2
September - X
Holiday - Zelda + FExSMT + surprise title


Somehow I doubt this circumstance, and see X falling into early 2015 and Smash as the holiday lineup. I think the biggest questions would be:

1. Is Mario Kart's spring release going to be a late spring, holding over the empty summer, or is it going to be an early one. It felt really complete at e3 and from my time with it.

2. Is Yoshi Yarn vaporware or just very far off? They haven't mentioned it in ages, and August might be early for a title like that.

3. X looked far along as early as January 2012, could this be sooner than expected? I know GAF would freak out if it was slated for May or June.

4. How long does it take to make a Smash Bros. game? The engine is there, it looks really far along already, is a summer release even possible?



....I may have thought about this way too much but I feel like 2014 is more critical for WiiU than this holiday is. What say you gaf?
 
O

Omikaru

Member
Bayonetta 2 is out next year too, right? Though I have no idea when exactly it's coming out...

Edit: Beaten by a stealth edit!

Remember, there's also all the stuff at E3. I wouldn't be surprised if there were some unannounced games coming then.
 
C

cw_sasuke

If all DLC came tied to $13 figurines, I'd consider all DLC to be free
Since you already handled the first party output, i`ll try to shed some light on 3rd Party offerings we can expect:
 
K

Kyzer

Banned
I think were in for a lot of Q3 and Q4 surprises, I think Zelda might be shown but wont release until 2015, and Smash and some Pokemin Wii U title will be their holiday games, everything else, im really having a hard time even imagining. Metroid? Custom Robo?
 
W

wrowa

Member
Insert some joke about "Nintendo has no Wii U strategy" here.

Also: There's that new IP and the "secret project" of EAD Tokyo (which might or might not be the same game?). Might be just the kind of thing they need.
 
A

AntMurda

Member
I am sure NIntendo will announce more software early next year. But I think the big games will work something like this.

Donkey Kong Country - Winter
Mario Kart -Late Spring
Wii Sports DX (retail) - Summer
Smash Bros. - Fall

Bayonetta 2, Yoshi, and X will be scattered around.


I don't expect Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem to hit North America this year. I even chuckled when you listed it Nintendo's big November/December game.

They will have 1-2 big surprise games I am sure.
 
Z

Zornack

Member
I don't think Smash is going to be done until Holiday and Zelda won't be until 2015. There's going to be an intense mid year drought for the Wii U next year with no third party support to fill the gap.
 
G

Galang

Banned
I'm expecting Smash for November next year at the earliest. I'd be surprised if it came out before Summer.
 
E

emb

Member
I'm thinking X might be a little sooner than expected. They've had quite a while to work on it. Then again, I thought the same about DK.

For Smash I don't think we're getting it until holiday. Wouldn't be at all surprised if it gets pushed to 2015 even. Zelda I'm almost certain won't be a thing until 2015. I'm expecting summer for Mario Kart, Holiday for Bayo as well. No idea on Yoshi.

I'm sure they'll have other stuff filling in a lot of those gaps, but still a pretty barren release calendar, taking it day by day.
 
M

Majine

Banned
I wonder if they'll do a "2DS" and backtrack on their gimmick in order to get the price down. Like, a Wii U with the pro controller.

And then sell the gamepad seperately to those who want it.
 
L

liquidtmd

Banned
I'll probably pick up a Wii U for a song, take a week of work and enjoy the rock solid stream of great titles that have built up
at the end of 2014
 
S

SporeCrawler

Member
who knows what they have in the cooker. there could be a random title (Last Story 2? Cosmic Walker?) popping up that nobody expects.

I think they will have aside of the games we already know a proper Wii Sports Sequel (a retail version of Wii Karaoke U and Wii Sports HD will of course happen too) and some games from Camelot (Mario Tennis or Mario Golf). I could also see Intelligent Systems having a game that they havent showed yet (hopefully Fire Emblem)
LDAF said:
I have zero faith in Nintendo's ability to keep that schedule we've seen so far. I think DKC can still make it for February, but I think Mario Kart is being pushed to summer or fall. Smash Bros. is 2015 for SURE. Bayonetta 2 I think can make it on time since Platinum is used to HD development.
Click to expand...
Mario Kart 8 was originally going to come out this year. I think it will come out in the first half of 2014
Sakurai already said that this Smash will be not as heavy on fan service as Brawl. Also way less characters. I think that will make the development a lot faster.
 
L

LDAF

Member
I have zero faith in Nintendo's ability to keep that schedule we've seen so far. I think DKC can still make it for February, but I think Mario Kart is being pushed to summer or fall. Smash Bros. is 2015 for SURE. Bayonetta 2 I think can make it on time since Platinum is used to HD development.
 
G

Goldenmoney

Member
I'm thinking since we got Wind Waker HD this year (and ALBW), we likely won't get another Zelda until 2015. Smash Bros. should be their big holiday release next year. Didn't we get a tease for a pokemon fighting game on Wii U? Maybe that comes out around the holidays. I bet there could be a Mario Party game next holiday too.
 
S

SporeCrawler

Member
Goldenmoney said:
I'm thinking since we got Wind Waker HD this year (and ALBW), we likely won't get another Zelda until 2015. Smash Bros. should be their big holiday release next year. Didn't we get a tease for a pokemon fighting game on Wii U? Maybe that comes out around the holidays. I bet there could be a Mario Party game next holiday too.
Click to expand...

I think Zelda WiiU will take some more time. But they can outsource another Zelda HD edition (TP next?). WW apparently only took 6 month to make.

Mario Party 10 is a good bet too.
 
Z

z0m3le

Banned
People keep saying that Smash feels like a late year title for 2014, but it was playable at E3 (IIRC Sakurai actually played a match or two) every daily picture we get is obviously taken during play and I don't think there is much of an issue with polishing the game from that point in a year.

I think it would be in Nintendo's best interest to have their games spread out every 2 months with a big title:

Feb: DKCR:TF

April: Mario Kart 8 (also playable last E3 and certainly far enough along to possibly finish by april)

June: I would put Bayonetta 2 here, as well as Wii Sports Club retail. (Bayonetta 2 was also playable.)

August: Smash

October: Yoshi

December: X

They likely will announce other titles for next year, hopefully in a january direct, just like they did for this year. Personally I don't think the console looks that bad, and I expect minimal support from Activision and Ubisoft, largely dependent on how Wii U performs in the next 3 months.

A lot of Indie games have been making their way to the Wii U too so I expect them to start showing up, certainly the console needs more titles, and hopefully Nintendo has figured that out. I'm picking up a Wii U in 5 weeks, mainly for Mario 3D World but also because I enjoy Nintendo games, I'd like a few more surprises and last January's ND was filled with surprises, so I wouldn't mind another ND like that.
 
S

Sendou

Member
LDAF said:
I have zero faith in Nintendo's ability to keep that schedule we've seen so far. I think DKC can still make it for February, but I think Mario Kart is being pushed to summer or fall. Smash Bros. is 2015 for SURE. Bayonetta 2 I think can make it on time since Platinum is used to HD development.
Click to expand...

Mario Kart is high priority title for Nintendo. I doubt they have the luxury to let it slip. With Smash Bros. I doubt they brought in Namco just to take their fucking time with the title. Bayonetta 2 is also obviously relatively close.

z0m3le said:
Feb: DKCR:TF

April: Mario Kart 8 (also playable last E3 and certainly far enough along to possibly finish by april)

June: I would put Bayonetta 2 here, as well as Wii Sports Club retail. (Bayonetta 2 was also playable.)

August: Smash

October: Yoshi

December: X
Click to expand...

So nothing big for the holidays?
 
L

LiveFromKyoto

Member
hongcha said:
Zelda Wii U probably won't come out until 2015. FExSMT, Bayo 2 and/or X may be pushed to 2015 too.
Click to expand...

They've already stated that Zelda is 2015, no need to speculate there.

Bayo2 was playable at this year's E3, so I seriously doubt it won't hit next year.

Other candidates for announcement:

Kirby
Mario Party
Paper Mario
Metroid
Kid Icarus
F-Zero (?)
Warioware (the last one wasn't really a Warioware game)
 
T

The Dutch Slayer

Member
Smash = Nov 2015 or March 2015
Zelda WiiU = Nov 2015

No way its going to sooner then that.

Also Mario Kart = April that sounds like a good month.
 
Z

Zalman

Member
Smash Bros. won't come out before the holidays at the earliest. I was actually surprised to hear them say 2014. It hasn't been in development that long. And Zelda will probably be a 2015 title.

I'm starting to think they delayed Donkey Kong on purpose because they know they don't have anything for the first half besides Mario Kart. Assuming that is the case, I think Yoshi, Bayonetta, X, Fire Emblem and a few surprise titles will be released in the second half for a solid and consistent lineup. I think next year will be great for them, but I'm not so hot on the first half yet. They definitely need more stuff to fill in the gaps.
 
A

ajjow

Member
im gonna say something wich I expect neogaf to remember..




Wii U is gonna be canceled next year. Iwata will be erased in april and wont be april fools, maybe may 2014.

There wont be a new game console really soon. The death of the system will be slow. They will release the rest of the games and the next zelda will be ps4 game. Call me crazy, but I really expect that.


Please dont bann me, but I really see that happening.
 
K

KoopaTheCasual

Junior Member
As others have said, I highly doubt Zelda Wii U is a 2014 title, given we have absolutely zero information on it right now. Any idea when X will come out? I feel like it's gonna be a Q3/Q4 title

ajjow said:
im gonna say something wich I expect neogaf to remember..




Wii U is gonna be canceled next year. Iwata will be erased in april and wont be april fools, maybe may 2014.

There wont be a new game console really soon. The death of the system will be slow. They will release the rest of the games and the next zelda will be ps4 game. Call me crazy, but I really expect that.


Please dont bann me, but I really see that happening.
Click to expand...

You are crazy.
 
R

Riki

Member
ajjow said:
im gonna say something wich I expect neogaf to remember..




Wii U is gonna be canceled next year. Iwata will be erased in april and wont be april fools, maybe may 2014.

There wont be a new game console really soon. The death of the system will be slow. They will release the rest of the games and the next zelda will be ps4 game. Call me crazy, but I really expect that.


Please dont bann me, but I really see that happening.
Click to expand...
Not happening.
 
T

Tookay

Member
ajjow said:
im gonna say something wich I expect neogaf to remember..




Wii U is gonna be canceled next year. Iwata will be erased in april and wont be april fools, maybe may 2014.

There wont be a new game console really soon. The death of the system will be slow. They will release the rest of the games and the next zelda will be ps4 game. Call me crazy, but I really expect that.


Please dont bann me, but I really see that happening.
Click to expand...

I think you've stumbled onto the wrong forum: http://www.gamefaqs.com/
 
A

Anth0ny

Member
0% chance Zelda is done by the end of 2014. Even 2015 is a maybe.

I don't have high hopes of X, SMTxFE or Bayo 2 making it out by the end of next year either.

Mario Kart will be their big game for the first half of the year, I can see it dropping in March. Smash Bros will be there in November as their big holiday game, assuming it doesn't get delayed... which I can easily see happening. Hopefully Sakurai and that team realizes that Wii U needs games NOW and they chill the fuck out with some of the extraneous stuff. I'm looking at you, overly long and boring single player mode.

Donkey Kong will fill in that gap between Christmas and Mario Kart. Yarn Yoshi will probably drop in August or September. Maybe Mario Party and/or Tennis to fill in some gaps too.
 
N

Napalm_Frank

Member
ajjow said:
im gonna say something wich I expect neogaf to remember..




Wii U is gonna be canceled next year. Iwata will be erased in april and wont be april fools, maybe may 2014.

There wont be a new game console really soon. The death of the system will be slow. They will release the rest of the games and the next zelda will be ps4 game. Call me crazy, but I really expect that.


Please dont bann me, but I really see that happening.
Click to expand...

I can see that happening.

With the exeption of Wii U being cancelled. Also the next Zelda will be for Vita and is called Alundra.
 
G

Ganondolf

Member
Nintendo should try to release one game a month from feb onwards (maybe 2 if they are small wii sports type games).

I don't think Zelda will be ready for next year. we may see a trailer but that's about it.
 
S

Sendou

Member
KoopaTheCasual said:
As others have said, I highly doubt Zelda Wii U is a 2014 title, given we have absolutely zero information on it right now.
Click to expand...

That doesn't tell us anything really. Obviously they wanted the Zelda games releasing this year in the spotlight (Wind Waker HD and A Link Between Worlds). Look at something like Super Mario 3D World. One of their biggest releases this year and it was first mentioned only 10 months before release and shown 5 months before. Pokémon X/Y is another recent example.
 
N

Ninja Scooter

Member
Majine said:
I wonder if they'll do a "2DS" and backtrack on their gimmick in order to get the price down. Like, a Wii U with the pro controller.

And then sell the gamepad seperately to those who want it.
Click to expand...

Not the same thing at all. The 3d was always optional on the 3DS. You could play everygame without it. The Wii U is (to a fault, probably) is built around the gamepad being mandatory.
 
R

Riki

Member
Anth0ny said:
0% chance Zelda is done by the end of 2014. Even 2015 is a maybe.

I don't have high hopes of X, SMTxFE or Bayo 2 making it out by the end of next year either.

Mario Kart will be their big game for the first half of the year, I can see it dropping in March. Smash Bros will be there in November as their big holiday game, assuming it doesn't get delayed... which I can easily see happening. Hopefully Sakurai and that team realizes that Wii U needs games NOW and they chill the fuck out with some of the extraneous stuff. I'm looking at you, overly long and boring single player mode.

Donkey Kong will fill in that gap between Christmas and Mario Kart. Yarn Yoshi will probably drop in August or September. Maybe Mario Party and/or Tennis to fill in some gaps too.
Click to expand...
There is no way X and Bayo 2 aren't next year.
 
V

ViewtifulJC

Banned
hongcha said:
Zelda Wii U probably won't come out until 2015. FExSMT, Bayo 2 and/or X may be pushed to 2015 too.
Click to expand...

They've been working on Bayo2 since at least early 2012, and its been in playable demos for months(which is a lot more than you could say for those other two titles). I'm pretty sure its coming out early next year, probably around Mario Kart.

Smash is gonna be late. Way late, like November(and then delayed in Europe until January, naturally). Zelda aint happening until 2015.

-Secret Miyamoto casual Gamepad-focused IP
-new Intelligent Systems game, perhaps a Paper Mario away from Miyamoto's story-hating influences
-That new Koizumi game they said was gonna get an announcement soon, although I'd bet money its a 3DS title the year after his big console game, similar to 3DLand after Galaxy 2
-METROID DREAD LOLOL

Spread that out through the year, play eshop games during droughts, hope for the best
 
S

SporeCrawler

Member
Fandangox said:
Source?
Click to expand...

Cant digg up all the interviews but some of the stuff I found on Google.

http://www.cubed3.com/news/19047/2/...-characters-will-return-on-wii-u-and-3ds.html


http://www.nintendolife.com/news/20...quences_for_super_smash_bros_on_wii_u_and_3ds
Napalm_Frank said:
I can see that happening.

With the exeption of Wii U being cancelled. Also the next Zelda will be for Vita and is called Alundra.
Click to expand...
ajjow said:
im gonna say something wich I expect neogaf to remember..




Wii U is gonna be canceled next year. Iwata will be erased in april and wont be april fools, maybe may 2014.

There wont be a new game console really soon. The death of the system will be slow. They will release the rest of the games and the next zelda will be ps4 game. Call me crazy, but I really expect that.


Please dont bann me, but I really see that happening.
Click to expand...
yeah that will totally happen. dream on.
 
F

FSLink

Banned
I'm fairly confident in speculating another Pokémon title of some sort will come out on Wii U. No way they aren't riding that train after the hype of X and Y's release.

I'd also be pretty surprised if Smash Bros makes it next year.
 
Y

Yado

Member
Anth0ny said:
0% chance Zelda is done by the end of 2014. Even 2015 is a maybe.

I don't have high hopes of X, SMTxFE or Bayo 2 making it out by the end of next year either.

Mario Kart will be their big game for the first half of the year, I can see it dropping in March. Smash Bros will be there in November as their big holiday game, assuming it doesn't get delayed... which I can easily see happening. Hopefully Sakurai and that team realizes that Wii U needs games NOW and they chill the fuck out with some of the extraneous stuff. I'm looking at you, overly long and boring single player mode.

Donkey Kong will fill in that gap between Christmas and Mario Kart. Yarn Yoshi will probably drop in August or September. Maybe Mario Party and/or Tennis to fill in some gaps too.
Click to expand...


Wasn't Bayonetta 2 playable at E3? Why wouldn't it be done by 2014?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Spain Sales, Week 9 2024 - PS5 10k
0
262
mckmas8808 replied
What games release within the first 6 months of Switch 2?
2
58
2K
ManaByte replied
Famitsu Sales: Week 7, 2024 (Feb 12 - Feb 18)
Sales-Age
18
1K
Thick Thighs Save Lives replied
Nintendo Q3 FY 23/24 Earinings Report: Hardware 6.90m, LTD 139.36M. SMB Wonder 11.96M
Sales-Age 2
86
5K
Oberstein replied
Famitsu Sales: week 8, 2024 (Feb 19 - Feb 25)
Sales-Age
11
1K
Woopah replied
Top Bottom