It’s finally 2016, the year Nintendo is expected to unzip their lips and tell us what they’ve got going on. At the very top of everyone’s waiting list is the NX, the new system that will supposedly bridge console and mobile gaming. In 2015, its development was admitted by the company followed by a statement that there would be no real news until 2016. Now, the common consensus is an official reveal this summer and a release either around the holidays or sometime in 2017. The key factor in its arrival is how quickly Nintendo wants to cement itself in the mobile world. The sooner they release NX, the sooner the doors open up in earnest.
Moving down from the new console to the new games, Legend of Zelda Wii U’s advent is more uncertain. having had no tangible information before, it’s still impossible to predict where the game is in development. This is where Nintendo needs to begin doling out the goods. Can we expect this game soon or not? How close to the NX’s release will it come? The longer Nintendo waits to give us anything, the less likely it will be for it to hit shelves within a reasonable amount of time this year. However, given that it’s been in development this long, another major delay without any updates seems unlikely, especially considering expected projections for the NX.
Star Fox Zero, at least, has been given a release date for April 22. But, again, we don’t know much about the game other than the gyroscopic controls, the re-made Corneria stage, and the new mechs. With only a few months until release, if we don’t hear something soon, one has to question what’s going on behind the curtains. Though the given release date is a good indication that SFZ in on track and going smoothly.
Like I said, now that it’s 2016, Nintendo should begin to answer some of our questions and give us closer looks at what they’ve been up to. It’s possible there’ll be another Direct sometime soon. Pokken Tournament is revealing another fighter on the 15th; perhaps there’ll be some other news as well. So while the lack of any information would bode ill, odds are that such won’t be the case.
