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Nintendo reaffirms Star Fox, Zelda Wii U coming 2015 — Miyamoto's 'Project' games also debuting next year


Publishers like Ubisoft and Electronic Arts are dropping support for the Wii U, but Nintendo is trying to convince gamers that the system is still getting plenty of new software.

Wii U games

Above: A list of upcoming Wii U titles.

Image Credit: Nintendo

Earlier today, Nintendo of America released a list of Wii U games that are due out between now and the end of 2015. The publisher is also confirming that the starship shooter Star Fox and action-adventure game Zelda Wii U will debut next year. Both titles were in early stages of development when the company debuted them at the Electronic Entertainment Expo tradeshow in June, but Nintendo claims it will have them ready for fans before New Year’s Day 2016. In addition to Star Fox and Zelda, Nintendo is also claiming that Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto’s Project Guard and Project Giant Robot will also release for Wii U in 2015. With fewer and fewer third-party companies producing games for the home console, Nintendo realizes that it needs to step up and deliver the experiences that customers want. The company has also consistently failed to reach profitability over its last few quarters, and it’ll need most of these titles to make their tentative release to generate plenty of revenue through next year.

Zelda Wii U, as fans are calling the game, only debuted briefly in video form during Nintendo’s E3 online special presentation. Despite the limited footage and no hands-on time for the press, Zelda is already one of the most anticipated Wii U titles. While Nintendo is saying the game will hit the system next year, that seems like an aggressive development schedule — especially for a series that Nintendo is notorious for taking its time on.

Nintendo first started talking about the last Zelda game, Skyward Sword, in 2008. That project didn’t finally hit the Wii until 2011.

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Why Star Fox, Project Guard, and Project Giant Robot are important

Star Fox, Project Guard, and Project Giant Robot were all in very early stages when Nintendo showed them off at E3. Nintendo gave Guard and Giant Robot the “Project” prefix because it wanted to make clear that these were just tech demonstrations. And Star Fox didn’t even have a presence on the show floor.

The publisher came into E3 this year with the goal of proving why the Wii U needs the Gamepad tablet-like controller, which sports a large touchscreen. Star Fox and the Project games were a big part of that. Star Fox has players controlling a ship on the screen just like in the previous entries in the series, but — with this version — players can look down at the Gamepad to look around the ship to fire precision shots at enemies.

Project Giant Robot has players using the touchscreen to build robots that they can then take online to fight other people’s creations. During battles, like in Star Fox, players can look around with the Gamepad to fire attacks.

Project Guard is Nintendo’s new take on a party game. On the TV screen, people in the room can see 12 different security cameras that track enemies. On the Gamepad, the player must listen to the advice of their friends, and click on the right camera to eliminate the waves of invading opponents.

The fact that Nintendo is already planning to release these games in 2015 — games that were only prototypes as recently as June — suggests that the company really wants fans to understand the potential of the Gamepad.

Maintaining momentum without third-party support

The Wii U stumbled out to a sluggish start in 2012, and it didn’t really start picking up in performance until Mario Kart 8 went on sale in May. That racer has sold more than 2 million copies worldwide, and Nintendo sold 500,000 Wii Us during the month that Mario Kart 8 debuted. The company’s problem now is that it needs to maintain that momentum with very little support from publishers like Electronic Arts, Activision, and Ubisoft — which are all making some of the biggest releases for Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

Nintendo lost $229 million over its fiscal 2014, which ended March 31. For fiscal 2015, the company is anticipating that it will generate a profit of $394 million. The company also said it would sell 3.6 million Wii U systems.

Between now and the end of its fiscal year, Nintendo only has a handful of Wii U games (on top of the handheld 3DS and its releases) to accomplish its goal. That includes the Zelda-themed action title Hyrule Warriors, which is due out Sept. 26, the exclusive action shooter Bayonetta 2 in October, and Sega’s Sonic Boom platformer in November. Additionally, the company plans on releasing puzzler Captain Toad’s Treasure Tracker and the hotly anticipated four-player fighter Super Smash Bros. for Wii U this “holiday” — although it still hasn’t even set a month for the release of either game.

If Nintendo delivers on the list of 2015 games it provided today, the system could maintain and even improve on its Mario Kart momentum through the release of Zelda Wii U.

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