Nintendo’s mystery console, dubbed Nintendo ‘NX’ has been catching a lot of attention for a platform that we know nothing about.
Perhaps that is the very reason why it has such a center stage, and if deliberate, it is a clever marketing move by Nintendo to pique everyone’s interests to new heights by the time the console is released.
As of now, Nintendo has promised that the NX will not be a replacement for the Wii U. However, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata quoted that in an interesting manner:
“When NX is launched, there already will be a certain volume of Nintendo 3DS and Wii U hardware widely existing in the market, so from a software business perspective, it would be highly inefficient to stop releasing titles for Nintendo 3DS or Wii U right after the launch of NX.”
This doesn’t actually mean that Nintendo NX will run in parallel with the Wii U, but simply that support for the Wii U platform will not be diminished.
In the end Nintendo NX could well be a successor to the Wii U that starts off at the same level, but gradually forces the Wii U into retirement as a year or two pass by. In order to do that, Nintendo has to make sure that NX has an immediate and strong impact on the market.
They’ve already stated that they expect the Nintendo NX to sell around 20 million copies in its first year, and in order to do that, they’ll need to make sure that Nintendo NX does in fact surpass its predecessors, both in-terms of hardware and the titles it brings.
This is where The Legend of Zelda comes in. Nothing of the next installment in the franchise was shown this E3 despite well-spread knowledge of its existence, and Nintendo interestingly doesn’t have the game’s release date for 2016 on their financial listings.
The idea could possibly be to delay The Legend of Zelda till the release of the NX, and that could result in a lot of benefit for the firm.
The Wii U has struggled in general compared to other Nintendo consoles, and the NX, despite not being the replacement from the get-go, could very well be the heir to the flagship throne.
Releasing a blockbuster title like The Legend of Zelda on the next platform thus makes absolute sense for its success of the forecaster 20 million copies in the first year, especially if the NX is far superior in-terms of hardware and features to the Wii U.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that The Legend of Zelda game will be an exclusive to the NX, because it’s already been confirmed that it will certainly release for the Wii U, but it could be instrumental in boosting and marketing the NX, especially if some exclusive features are restricted to the future platform.
The next Legend of Zelda title is confirmed to be a non-spin-off and an integral addition into the primary set of titles in the series, and if it does come close to being as good as the Ocarina of Time, the NX sales could very well be boosted.
Perhaps this is why the title is being delayed deliberately, to be used as a marketing product for certain NX-exclusive features. This would potentially make way for the NX to take seat on the throne despite a parallel release of the title on the Wii U, albeit with fewer features.
The reputation of the title plus the possible release of the NX next year could mean that things will change for both The Legend of Zelda fans and Nintendo itself.
It isn’t difficult believe that Nintendo may be delaying the title’s release to allow game to propel the NX to new heights and meet their forecasted sales.
