A lot is happening next year for gaming. Tons of highly anticipated titles will be released (we hope), but the future is ever moving, and things easily change. What might get delayed? What could get announced? What – god forbid – will get canceled all together? What might Nintendo bring to the table? I have a few ideas:
New Console Announcement
You all probably think I’m crazy, but here me out. As many people have cited beforehand, Nintendo’s consoles only run about five years before they produce the next one. Well, the Wii has hit its fifth year, and as everyone can see, it’s running out of steam. It’s no longer as new as it seemed before. Nintendo needs to breathe some fresh air into their home console market. Announcing a new system is just the way to do it.
Sometimes Nintendo doesn’t reveal its systems at E3. There have been occasions that systems are revealed at different conferences or even through press releases. This happened with the Wii (the “Revolution” at the time) and the N64. While details about the systems have been given at E3, their initial announcements took place outside of the expo. A notable exception to this of course, is the 3DS, which saw a full-fledged debuted at E3 2010.
Despite their track record, I think more people are paying closer attention to E3 than ever. What each company shows off during their press conferences goes along way with the consumers’ faith with that company. Especially now that gaming is no longer such a limited user group, Nintendo would need to reach as many people as possible and E3 is the way to do so.
When will they announce it for? My guess is that the Wii can’t hold its own much longer, another year at most. Nintendo originally had a pattern of releasing a home system in the summer, then fall, and so on until the Wii, which was released in the fall after the GameCube was. The earliest I see them announcing it for is holiday 2011, but even that seems really early. Does that leave much room for marketing? Not exactly, but then Nintendo would have something for everyone. The 3DS is still set to launch sometime in March in the US, giving the handheld crowd something to buy while launching their newest system in the back end of the year will make for a perfect Christmas present.
What will the system itself be like? Take a look at a post I wrote up a few months ago on what I think the features of Nintendo’s next system will be.
No Mention of Vitality Sensor
The Wii Vitality Sensor hasn’t been heard of since E3 2009. It failed to wow… just about anyone and still has people puzzled over what exactly it does. If I were you, I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s no mention of the peripheral at E3, GDC, CES, or even Nintendo’s own press shows. Right now the sensor seems to be on the back burner.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword to Release on Both Wii & New Console
Yup, Nintendo is going to pull the same move they did with Twilight Princess. Twilight Princess was set to release near the end of the GameCube’s life cycle and near the launch of the Wii’s. Soon Nintendo decided that the game would instead launch with the Wii and the GameCube version would be pushed back a month.
Skyward Sword is “theoretically” set to launch sometime in early 2011. Considering rumors I’ve heard about how far along the game actually is it would more likely make a summer debut. If the Wii has really run its course, why would Nintendo want to release such a high profile title on a system seeing the end of its glory days? Why not make it the primary focus of their new and shiny console, thereby bringing all of the attention over there? It makes sense marketing wise.
Retro Studios Working on New Star Fox Game
Retro Studios, famous for developing the beloved Metroid Prime games on the Nintendo GameCube, returned to the Wii with Metroid Prime Trilogy and Donkey Kong Country Returns. What could their next project possibly be? Well, I have a guess. As the title above suggests, I believe Retro is developing a brand new Star Fox game.
Here’s why: For starters we haven’t seen or heard of a new Star Fox game since Star Fox: Command was released in 2006 for the DS. The newest piece of information we have on the series is that they’re remaking the N64 game for the 3DS, but that hardly counts as a “new game”. The other reason I have is that Retro is responsible for reviving two of Nintendo’s beloved franchises. Star Fox is also the only other major Nintendo series (besides Pikmin) that has yet to receive a Wii release, and because Nintendo owns Retro, what else are they going to work on?
Now the question of course is whether or not this game will be released for the Wii, or Nintendo’s next system. For me, the same theory on Zelda applies here. Why release a high profile title on a system that is no longer selling when you could announce for the newer system and drive all the attention and marketing there? Nintendo doesn’t need to fight itself, and releasing this game for the next generation console is the easiest way to avoid that.
