Nintendo NX Launches March 2017, Legend of Zelda Delayed
During a financial report reporting the operational results of Nintendo, the company announced that the Nintendo NX will be launched worldwide in March 2017. The PDF document also stated that the “features, price, software at launch and other details [would] be announced by the end of the year.”
This is contrary to earlier reports that had expected the console to release in 2016 and means that it will miss the holiday period. This could possibly be detrimental to its early sales performance.
Despite the fact that Nintendo has been working on the NX for a number of years, very little is known about the console. Speculation continues to grow that it may be some sort of hybrid between a handheld and a traditional home console but no concrete information has made its way to the public. Considering the launch is less than a year away, it is likely that Nintendo will have some sort of conference to introduce the world to the NX later in the year.
Meanwhile, the Japanese company has also revealed that The Legend of Zelda has been delayed until 2017. Citing the need to improve the quality of the title, they have now decided to spend extra time on development and will now release the game simultaneously on the Nintendo NX and Wii U.
The game, which currently has a placeholder name and is the next entry in the franchise following Skyward Sword in 2011, was originally due to launch in 2015. Both Shigeru Miyamoto and Eiji Aonuma gave assurances the title would release that year on the Wii U. However, after the development team “discovered several new possibilities for the game,” it was delayed to allow them to implement these ideas.
The delay will likely mean that The Legend of Zelda will be a launch title for the Nintendo NX, possibly giving it a huge initial boost given the popularity of the franchise.