Neogaf user Castef posted info from a Japanese blog suggesting that Zelda: Breath of the Wild will not be seeing a Wii U release due to technical complications.
“Wii U version of Zelda : Breath of the Wild cancelled ! Reason is technical problem on developpement. Decision taken by Top Management.”
“Amazon, Biccamera等はWiiU版を削除！
There is also massive cancellation of pre-order from Amazon, Biccamera, Yamada Denki… Game no more listed on homepage.”
A user on the Japanese Blog commented:
“I work for Gamestop, I confirm we have only listed (for the moment) Zelda for Switch.”
This would be surprising news since the project was originally developed for the Wii U and had been apparently demoed on Wii U machines at numerous Nintendo events.
My guess is that Nintendo moved both Breath of the Wild and their upcoming Mario game to the Switch after seeing how poorly the Wii U sold. Perhaps in this transition they altered the game enough that it became increasingly difficult to run on the older/different Wii U hardware.
Although I feel for Wii U owners that have waited years, I feel Nintendo would be smart to focus purely on the Switch and guarantee the strongest Zelda possible. After the commercial failure of their last console, they would be wise to concentrate all efforts on a spectacular launch.
If the Switch releases at the rumored $249/$299 price, it wont be as large of a hurdle for Wii U owners to reach. Nintendo does run the risk of offending Zelda fans expecting to play it on the Wii U, but that’s a relatively small number compared to what they must be hoping to bring on board for the Switch.
If sacrificing the Wii U version allows Nintendo to deliver a large and engaging world that reinvigorates both Zelda as an exciting franchise and a Nintendo console as a must-own, I’m fully on board.
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I'll never buy another Nintendo product of they do this. Just saying I'm sick of how Nintendo treats 3rd party and it's paying customers.
I bought a cheap Wii U used and enjoyed my time with it's few great exclusives before selling it off when the Switch announcement was imminent. If i had bought full price day one I would not be happy with how everything shook out. Nintendo definitely left the console hanging this last year.
This has definitely been the strangest development cycle for a Zelda game. Best-case scenario we get a Zelda that pushes the boundaries and makes use of ditching the Wii U (if the rumour is true).
The last two Zeldas were way too formulaic and the intros were horribly long. I'm hoping for a fresh start.
Thanks for the comment
I just wish they would have either killed the wii u sooner or went with a different name like super wii. Nintendo keeps making bad decisions. Mario Run only on iOS, the Wii U, killing off the wii as soon as the wii u was out to force people to buy new systems. Nintendo needs to learn to treat us better or end up like sega.
Thanks for being awesome :)
Super Wii is a nice throwback but I think a large part of the problem with Wii U was the marketing. People didn't know what the hell it was. In that era of music game peripherals and too many Wii add-ons, the mainstream audience must have thought the Wii U was just another thing to clutter their living room, or even a learning game.
Thanks for the perspective on the Wii being dropped when the Wii U kicked in, I was completely oblivious to that. They just cut off software releases?
Thank you for being awesome as well
They within a month, killed off Nintendo eShop, killed Nintendo rewards, and a lot of things people came to expect from Nintendo in an effort to push the Wii U. The thing was, the Wii was so over-saturated at this point, that was a massive mistake.
Hackers had the Wii U hacked within 24 hours of release, and softmodded with the ability to load Wii U games from ISO so developers shied away from it. Pack in how Nintendo made it hard to code for and the leaks of the PS4 and Xbox One being x86_64 compatible, developers simply bided their time releasing shovelware to Xbox 360 and PS3 until the release of the next gen systems.
Nintendo instead of patching the hack away properly, instead banned people they thought were hackers, so a lot of consoles and Nintendo IDs were banned, but not all of them were hackers, but innocent bystanders got caught in the crossfire, and it was up to them to open tickets and prove they weren't hackers, and Nintendo did not apologize. Of course this was swept under the rug.
Nintendo also knew that the Wii U was doomed from the beginning, and did nothing to stop the demise, because they did not want to pour money into an already failing project, but instead develop the Nintendo Switch. Problem, they pissed off the core Nintendo audience. Makes me weary to even think about the Switch if anything nefarious happens, because I, as an honest customer, get treated like dog shit without an apology or anything.
Hey Chris, thanks for the detailed mini-history, I came late to both Wii consoles and fortunately remained outside the shit bubble.
I bought another Wii U and am super stoked this was just a BS rumour and I'll be able to play Breath of the Wild without plunking down for a Switch right away. I'll hop in during the first price cut or when Mario Odyssey is released if I'm hankering for more of the plumber. Still working my way through both Galaxies at the moment and would like to see a lot more great games announced.
You see yourself getting a Switch in the future?