Earlier in the year, at a Nintendo conference, the rumours of a new console were confirmed. The late Satoru Iwata said: “Nintendo is currently developing a dedicated game platform with a brand-new concept under the development codename ‘NX’.” There is a chance that this may not be the successor to the Wii U, but to the 3ds instead, seeing as it will be 5 years old next year which is when Nintendo are going more into detail about the NX. Instead the popular opinion is that it shall replace the underperforming Wii U, unfortunately we are left to speculate for now. Considering how the 3DS is still doing so well it’s hard to see them bring a new portable console while their home console suffers. On top of that Nintendo has big plans for the phone market next year which would only compete with a new portable console.
Square-Enix announced they are thinking about releasing Dragon Quest 10 and 11 on Nintendo’s mysterious NX console. Dragon Quest 10 is already out for several Nintendo consoles and is getting a PS4 release; however, this game has not been released outside of Japan. Dragon Quest 11 on the other hand is set for a worldwide release. Considering these games for a release on something we no little about, suggests there is actually significant progress with the consoles development. It seems the Wii-U will soon be scraped without making much of an impact. There is even less comfort when you remember there is no new information about The Legend of Zelda Wii U until next year, coincidentally when Nintendo is explaining more about the NX. There is a chance this Zelda will be like Twilight Princess and be a launch title of the NX but also released for the Wii-U, its last big game maybe. This is only speculation and even if Nintendo are cutting their losses we were promised a Wii-U Zelda and it is unlikely they will break this, in fear of a mass riot from fans.
If this is the new home console, the Wii-U will be left behind and will forever be a dud. Yes it is highly underpowered, yes it has very few big games and yes most of the time the game-pad screen was pointless. That doesn’t mean it was a complete waste of time purchasing, if Nintendo had managed to release more games it could have easily saved the console. For a console that came out in 2012 there are very few games, yet amongst them are some amazing games, which are definitely worth playing. They are trying to improve the rooster with recent games like Smash Bros, Splatoon and future release, Xenoblade Chronicles X but they alone are not enough. The console holds so much promise and could still be redeemed, unlikely as it seems, if a significant number of major games are released. Seeing Nintendo’s love of virtual console or the love of re-releasing games for new consoles, if you do skip these games for the time being, chances are they will be not far away from the NX’s release.
Just because there is a new console on the way it doesn’t mean it won’t share a similar fate. It’s uncertain what the specs are going to be like, but it’s almost guaranteed to be some distance behind the Xbox One and PS4. There’s also the point that this NX still may be just a portable console. Also take note of it being described with a “brand new concept” of course this can mean anything, the Wii had a brand new concept, and it sold phenomenally but it wasn’t the greatest and was soon overshadowed by Microsoft and Sony’s consoles. To ensure the NX does well they need to have made significant changes to the power, which we all know. Although, to make a real impact it has to have the same major titles PlayStation and Microsoft have, they can then use their exclusives as a decider rather than a dependence.
The way it stands it seems as the Wii-U’s days are numbered, let’s just hope it goes out with a bang, not a whimper.