Nintendo director Eiji Aonuma has put a dagger through the hearts of gamers everywhere. The Wii U Zelda title, originally scheduled for this year, has been delayed until 2016.
As a community, gamers are used to delays especially in these next-gen graphics and gameplay days, but this one stings more than most. Nintendo had come off a stellar 2014 and we were hoping 2015 would be a repeat and Zelda was to be its flagship title.
Aonuma told legions of fans on Friday that the scale of the game - it's to be the first open world Zelda entry in the series - has given them opportunities for gameplay they never considered before. Rather than rush out a subpar project, he has opted to wait and tinker.
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"In these last three months, as the team has experienced firsthand the freedom of exploration that hasn't existed in any Zelda game to date, we have discovered several new possibilities for this game. As we have worked to turn these possibilities into reality, new ideas have continued to spring forth, it now feels like we have the potential to create something that exceeds even my own expectations."
"We are no longer making our 2015 release our number one priority. Instead, our priority is to make it the most complete and ultimate Zelda game," he added. "I hope to use the added time to make The Legend of Zelda for Wii U into a game that will reward you for your patience."
The team is so hard at work that it won't even be shown at E3 this year.
Well, this is not the first time a AAA title has been delayed and it certainly won't be the last. It leaves a gaping hole in Nintendo's 2015 slate, which has already been called into question with the recent merger with mobile developer DeNA.
I guess it won't be the Year of Nintendo after all.
