Ever since the launch of the Wii U, Nintendo fans have been anxiously awaiting the latest from one of the most successful video game franchises of all time: The Legend of Zelda. With the release of the Wii U came the announcement that there would not be another Legend of Zelda game until 2015, but a recent announcement has revealed that the game will be delayed until 2016, possibly even 2017.
According to Engadget, the producer of the upcoming Legend of Zelda game, Eiji Aonuma, made a video where he announced that "we are no longer making a 2015 release our number one priority". That means at least a delay until 2016, but Aonuma added: "Instead, our priority is to make it the most complete and ultimate Zelda game. I hope to use the added time to make The Legend of Zelda for Wii U into a game that will reward you for your patience, so thank you for your continued support."
It stands to reason that a 2016 delay could make a better game, but this is a disappointment to Nintendo fans who really wanted to see that new Zelda game this year. I'm going to say that the 2016 delay will be used to its full advantage, meaning that the new Legend of Zelda game will be made available for the 2016 holiday season.
Even worse is that the game might not see the light of sales until 2017, according to Design and Trend. They report that the Amazon pre-order email stating that the estimated arrival date is January 4, 2017. Chances are, this is Amazon's way of saying that the game will arrive sometime in 2016, because many anticipated video games like Final Fantasy XV have Amazon pre-order pages giving a release date before December 31, 2015. It could be that Amazon automatically adjusted the date, while making fans' dreams delayed even more.
According to The Geek Church, it has been suggested that Nintendo's days have been numbered since the release of the Wii U, which was not nearly as embraced by customers as the formerly crowd-pleasing original Wii. Fortunately, the Wii U has had some hits thanks to successful reboots of franchises like Super Smash Brothers and Mario Kart. Nintendo clearly needs to have more hits like that in order to compete with the Sony PlayStation 4 and the Microsoft Xbox One, and they really needed a new Legend of Zelda game to boost sales for the Wii U.
For those that want some Legend of Zelda action could purchase Hyrule Warriors for the Wii U. This isn't really an adventure-style RPG like the series is known for, but it is a fighting game that brings back many characters established in the Zelda universe. It is also possible to purchase The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, a refurbished game based on the GameCube classic. However, it is a real shame that Nintendo isn't going to make their deadline, and it could cause more fans to turn from the Wii U. Hopefully, the game really is worth the wait, as the shown-off gameplay looked good at the Video Game Awards.
