I've heard rumblings that some think the writing's on the wall for the Wii U after StarFox Zero. Should we take Nintendo's "close to the chest" approach for this year's E3 as them just being secretive as usual, or do you think they really don't have much more Wii U stuff after this year?

I'm hoping they were just being overly cautious, because the Wii U still feels like a pretty young system. It's only been out for 2 years and 8 months--it should be hitting its stride by this point! By comparison, here's where other Nintendo consoles were after about 2.5 years post-release...

NES: It was 1987. Super Mario Bros. TWO hadn't come out yet, much less Mario 3. Contra 1 wasn't out yet. Zelda 2, Lolo 1, Ninja Turtles 1 were pretty far away. Dr. Mario, Kirby's Adventure, Dragon Warrior 2 and Castlevania 3 weren't even close! Mega Man ONE had just come out.

SNES: It was 1993/early 1994. Super Metroid, Final Fantasy VI, the first DKC, Chrono Trigger, EarthBound, Kirby Super Star were all in the future.

N64: 1999. No Majora's Mask, Perfect Dark, Banjo-Tooie, Paper Mario, Conker, Harvest Moon 64.

GCN: 2004. Hadn't yet gotten...uh, Prime 2 and Resident Evil 4? Okay, GCN's last couple years were pretty lame.

Wii: 2009. A good year that included stuff like Little King's Story and Rune Factory Frontier. On the horizon was Galaxy 2, Red Steel 2, Monster Hunter Tri, GoldenEye, DKC Returns, and Kirby's Epic Yarn. And Other M!

The point is, it's too early for this system to keel over and whimper out! I don't want to see NX in 2016--a four-year cycle is painfully short for new hardware, and I like my Wii U. Do you think the end is approaching for Nintendo's all-too-young system?

I'm still not sure what a roundtable is.

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@Hinph

The other thing to remember too was that that generation was coming to an end. E3 2005 had Sony and Nintendo both talk about the Revolution and the PS3 so we knew it was coming to an end for all major players and MS was just going to be the first to market with a new device. Now though I can't imagine Sony or MS are anywhere near ready to even think about ending this generation. Those machines have a lot of life left in them I think.

I just hope they get around to releasing Zero Mission on the VC before it's all over. The Wii U is a great VC machine since it can be played on the TV or on the tablet. I'd also like to see more DS games released, Dawn of Sorrow please.

@deathly_hallows

Zero Mission is already on the VC

I think it's winding down for sure, judging by E3. Depending on the NX reveal, I'm fine with that. I think they've provided us with enough fun for these four years. Why not take the next real shot at success, rather than throwing amazing games down a hole?

Still, they should at least throw the fanbase a bone by localizing previously unavailable Wii games. Particularly Zangeki No fucking Reginleiv! Or even GBA games like Mother 3.

@Shadowlink
Not in Reggie-town, it doesn't meet his standards apparently.

@Anand
I'd buy the Another Code sequel if it was available, it's already been translated too because it was released in EU. Love Cing. <3

@deathly_hallows
R.I.P. Cing.

You know, there was another console, at this point in it's life cycle that was sucking in sales and it looked like the end. It was called the Sony PS3. Sony wanted the console to succeed. They knew it couldn't win the console war, but the drastically changed the direction it was heading...by taking out all the unnecessary expensive crap, like the PS2 innards, all the extra usb ports ect, Sony was able to drop the price and become more competitive. Hmmm....Is there something Nintendo could drop from the Wii U, something that, even though I like it and you may like it, but in most cases, 99% of the games don't even use it. Yes, the gamepad. I know its been debated here on NW and everywhere else, but instead of just killing the Wii U off early, HELL, GIVE IT A CHANCE, NINTENDO! DROP THE FUCKING GAMEPAD, REDUCE THE PRICE, REPACKAGE AND REMARKET THE CONSOLE. A $199.99 Wi U will sell much quicker than a $299.99 Wii U. The gamepad actually costs Nintendo around $80 to manufacturer. Now, sure, Nintendo could sell the gamepad separately for those who would still like to own one, if not now, then later on down the road. The whole argument about splitting the userbase is complete nonsense since 99% of the Wii U games don't even use the gamepad in any important ways.

I'll be honest, Nintendo's reputation right now sucks so hard, just ditching the Wii U and coming out with a different console isn't going to change the public's or the hardcore gamer's opinion on Nintendo. Nintendo has a loyal fanbase, but it has dwindled greatly. Yes, Nintendo needs third party support, but it needs exclusive games from third parties, not just the same ole games that one can find on the ps4/xboxone. Nintendo needs to woo these companies and make whatever deals it takes to get third parties back.

I can promise you this, whatever Nintendo does next, it will either make or break them. I guarantee. Sure, Nintendo has alot of money to keep them going for years, so its not like they'll close shop in the foreseeable future, but whatever they do next, has to be a success, a very big success. As a long time Nintendo fanboy, I want them to succeed, I really do, but they have a huge mountain to overcome. I know they can, but I have my doubts as well.

I'm pretty sure the Wii U is finished after this year, for all intents and purposes. It'll still get Zelda, but I think it's likely that it will also come to NX.

It stinks, because Nintendo hasn't come close to squeezing the most potential out of the Wii U, but they've dug themselves a big hole that they need to dig themselves out of. Throwing strong support behind the Wii U for 2016 and beyond only digs a deeper hole.

I think budget stop-gap titles like we saw at E3, in addition to the already announced games like Xenoblade and Zelda, is going to be the last hurrah.

@gamewizard65

And render any and all gamepad reliant games utterly unplayable.

Good call.

Some of the best 2015 games on the system have actually been using the Gamepad in a proper manner as well. It's excellent in Splatoon, essential in Super Mario Maker, and Star Fox Zero is at least being designed with it in mind. The Gamepad was clearly a mistake, as it has failed to resonate with many people or make them excited enough to buy this console, and Nintendo would be wise to not bet everything on such an expensive feature in the future (unless it's really good)... but I still think the Wii U is better off with it than without it considering that would make it nothing but a PS3/360 grade console. I don't think these things are going to exactly start flying off shelves even if the price does go down.

@Shadowlink

Early in the console's life I brought up the possibility of a Gamepad-less SKU of the Wii U, since very few games were really requiring the use of it. But I think it's too far gone, now. They'd be better off bringing the NX to market sooner than trying some kind of stop gap by dropping the Game Pad.

@gamewizard65 @Shadowlink @kriswright Yeahhhh this isn't quite like dropping the 3D from the 3DS. A lot of games depend on the GamePad, and even the ones that only use it for maps and such have that built into the code. There is probably some way to design hardware to just ignore calls to the GamePad and such but it would get complicated and messy. It's too late to pull out the GamePad at this point.

And though the PS3 did struggle for a couple of years, I think being higher priced than the competition was the one main reason. It still got most of the same 3rd party support as the 360 from day one, and once the price started coming down closer to the 360 it gained a lot of momentum. The Wii U isn't really in that position.

Its rumored to not even sniff PS4 graphically which would be sad....UNLESS they do my current dream and thats Handheld, console and pc all run off the same OS and have scaleable graphics so you have your awesome graphics on pc, creative controller on affordable console, or being able to take your game on the go with the portable

@Shadowlink
I just looked the other day...only saw Fusion?

@Wellsy529

He meant in PAL.

@Jargon oh.

@Wellsy529

Sorry Wellsy, was messing with DH's 'America is the centre of the gaming world' POV .

I'm sure it will be there eventually. I honestly hope it is. I've got an RGC planned.

@Shadowlink
I want to play Zero Mission so I think "America" is the center of the world? Interesting. I don't feel that way if I see someone in EU or somewhere posting they hope "game X" comes to VC.... am I missing something? Am I not thinking antagonistically enough?

@deathly_hallows

Well when you:

- Constantly quote sales figures for consoles in NA only
- Complain constantly about what Reggie is or is not doing in the NA market
- Characterise Zero mission as 'Not on VC' when in actual fact it is....

You don't think you've got a bit of narrow focus on NA going on? It's understandable to an extent- That's where you are of course. Just remember the rest of us exist too.

@Shadowlink
Uh, context? I live in the United States... of course I post about what's going on in this country because that's what effects me the most. If I lived in Australia I'd post about what's going on in Australia. For example, if you posted "I wish game X was on VC", I would just know that you meant in your region, I wouldn't take offense, because... context, it's a thing.

Also, when talking about sales, I find it helpful to specify what region you're talking about because the markets are drastically different. I can't even tally the number of times I've mentioned what's going on in Japan in terms of sales because I find it fascinating that handhelds are so popular. Does that mean I think Japan is the center of the world? No.