Japanese gaming company Nintendo may have dampened the spirits of fans and gamers of “The Legend of Zelda” when it did not specifically mention in its latest quarterly financial report the release date of the game on the Wii U.
Instead of putting 2016 on the release date column for “The Legend of Zelda,” Nintendo put instead TBD which means To Be Decided. Reports are already rife on the internet that the game will be released on Wii U, the company’s GamePad-focused gaming console, next year.
In March this year, Nintendo announced that it will not be releasing “The Legend of Zelda” on Wii U this year. Accordingly, the release of the widely-anticipated “The Legend of Zelda” video game will be delayed from late this year to next year which according to Nintendo is meant to buy itself more time to make it the most complete and ultimate Zelda game.
However, when Nintendo put TBD on the release date column of “The Legend of Zelda” on Wii U in its latest quarterly financial report, it certainly had some of its fans freaking out because it could mean that the company may delay the official roll out of the game further, notes Forbes.
Becoming totally irrelevant in an outdated gaming platform
However, keen observers note that it may not be a cause for major concern because “The Legend of Zelda” on Wii U appears to be in a constant state of flux in its current form. What TBD means is that Nintendo will almost have to release the game in 2016 or risk “The Legend of Zelda” becoming totally irrelevant because its Wii U is way past its prime.
With the emergence of the new generation Nintendo 3DS gaming console, the sales of its Wii U gaming platform has considerably slipped. Obviously, the 3DS is the Japanese gaming company’s way of keeping up with the next generation gaming consoles of Sony’s PlayStation 4 and Microsoft’s Xbox One.
Reports have it that Nintendo is planning to phase out the Wii U very soon because it has outlived its trend. But to give the gaming console its perfect swan song, Nintendo is planning to roll out the action-adventure game “The Legend of Zelda” on the Wii U, in addition to the 3DS.
However, given the huge potentials and the wide anticipation on “The Legend of Zelda” by gamers, many are saying that the upcoming video game may actually perk up the sales of Wii U and thus saved the console from being phased out soon enough.
Nintendo stayed true to its word
According to Wired, the TBD in the release date column across “The Legend of Zelda” on Wii U means absolutely nothing.
The release schedules of games in Nintendo’s earnings reports simply indicate what the company has already announced. So if a game is slated for 2016 on the list, that means that Nintendo has already stated publicly that it intends to release it in 2016. But if a game indicates TBD, that means that the company has not officially said anything publicly about its release date.
That is actually true in a way because Nintendo did not actually make any announcement on the release date of “The Legend of Zelda” on Wii U at E3 2015. It also did not officially say that it will release the game next year.
It could be remembered that sometime in March, Nintendo announced that “The Legend of Zelda” on Wii U will not be released in 2015. The following month, the company disclosed that a new dedicated gaming platform, which it codenamed as NX, was already in development. The new gaming platform, according to the company, is a partnership with a still undisclosed entity, as Nintendo prepares to break ground into the mobile gaming market too.
The two major Nintendo events set off speculations that “The Legend of Zelda” will no longer be made available to Wii U, as the GamePad is already way past its prime.
Despite the age of Wii U, there are still plenty of gamers who are in possession of the GamePad-focused gaming console and have yet to migrate to the 3DS.