Nintendo is in trouble.  It stays afloat with sales from the Wii U and all of its intellectual properties like Mario, but something has to give it the shot in the arm it needs to really compete in the video gaming world of this decade.  Surely a new version of the console with the NX and a new The Legend of Zelda game can help that, right?   This is what is known about the Nintendo NX and new The Legend of Zelda game with release dates and rumors.

The truth is that Nintendo reported on April 27 that the company has experienced a loss of $296 million for January-March 2016, and much of it is due in part to a 26 percent sales drop compared to the same three-month period of last year, according to The New Daily.   Something very new and innovative needs to happen to Nintendo in order for them to be back on top in the video game world once again, like they were in the late eighties/early nineties and the early days of the Wii. 

So what will that be?  Well, the launch of a new console.  Nintendo confirmed that their code-named NX console will be released in March 2017.  President Tatsumi Kimishima stated that the NX will not only be a successor to the 3DS and Wii U, but would be "made with a new way of thinking". 

So what is this new way of thinking?  One can only speculate, but it is possible that the company is working on some hybrid of the portable and console games, which really makes a lot of sense as a mobile gaming device seems unnecessary in an age of smartphones.  The console market is still going strong, but their days of excess could turn into decline with the dawn of Virtual Reality systems like the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and low-budget alternatives like the Gear VR. 

Some have considered the Wii U a "failure", which means the pressure is on for Nintendo to create an NX that will really compete with what Sony and Microsoft's Xbox are doing now, but what they will be doing in the future. 

It would seem that the fate of Nintendo hinges on Link and The Legend of Zelda Wii U.  The story of this is a sad one, as Nintendo's popular fantasy RPG gaming series was promised a Wii U game in 2015, only to have its fans be given an apology.  After a while, it seemed pretty apparent that the Wii U will not be getting a new Zelda canon game, but it did port Windwaker and Twilight Princess to them to satiate fans. 

According to Wii U Daily, Nintendo has pulled the same move with Twilight Princess, which was delayed on the Game Cube so it could be launched on the Wii.  The popularity of the game is probably the reason why the original Wii was such a success for Nintendo, not to mention that novelty and simplicity of the Wiimotes that really created a family-friendly game console. 

If Nintendo is smart, they will use the spotlight offered at E3 2016, the big gaming show in Los Angeles this summer, to highlight the new features of NX.  That, or it might choose not to show off anything at all, creating even more mystery surrounding the NX. 

The release date of the NX is pretty odd, as most new versions of consoles come out before the holiday season, but at least the NX will be out in tax time where fans can spend their tax return on it.  So far, there hasn't been a specific release date other than March 2017 for the NX and the new Legend of Zelda game.  At this point, Nintendo really needs a miracle to stay in business, otherwise it could go the way of Atari.