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[brau]

I hope it releases when its ready.

2015 makes me really uncomfortable looking at the short demo that was shown. Game needs a lot of work. Unless they showed a very early build, and they are trying to keep everything under wraps.

 

[Kriken]

Mainly because Sakurai pushed himself and the team beyond normal development cycles to get both games out. Plus we also saw way more of Smash 10 months before release than Zelda.

The reason we think this is because Donkey Kong and Xenoblade X both got delayed.

Looking at Wii U for 2014, I think they delayed Donkey Kong so that their schedule wouldn't be MORE barren at the beginning. Tropical Freeze wasn't needed in 2013 imo, they could afford to delay it

 

[Molemitts]

I'm expecting 2015. I just wouldn't be surprised if it was delayed.

 

[Jakoo]

I don't expect it this year. I think they'll announce Animal Crossing at E3 for a Holiday 2015 release. They'll position that and Mario Maker as their big 2015 Holiday titles, with Star Fox and Xenoblade Chronicles X as their big games for the core.

One of those four games alone wouldn't be a big fall release but having all four of them within a month of each other makes their lineup look pretty solid.

Mind you, I didn't think Zelda would get delayed before the last Direct but seeing as how we pretty much know the lineup until June, I don't see Nintendo dropping every other announced 2015 within the last six months. Many of those games would have no chance to sell at all.

This is my expectation as well. The seemingly random Animal Crossing DLC in Mario Kart to be released in the spring, to me, can only coincide with a Wii U edition of Animal Crossing being announced. Given the strength of the AC brand, I suspect they will try to have it out during the holidays as it's primary title.

Maybe Zelda will be out by 2015, but, I wouldn't be too miffed if it slipped. It can only improve the overall quality and depth of the game.

 

[benjammin]

I'm cautiously optimistic, but my money is on a spring 16 release

 

[Stereogatari]

You have never been through a console Zelda release cycle then

I'm 50 50 at this point. To be honest Skyward Sword had more information about it out 1.5 years out than this game does

I would rather they delay the game into 2016 because I really would be pissed if they skimp on content with the size of that world.

Maybe they're holding back releasing too much info. on purpose after the reception Skyward Sword got for not being as 1:1 motion mapped as previous demos indicated.

 

[axisofweevils]

In December, Miyamoto and Aonuma appeared on video at the TGAs, stating Zelda was 2015. As they were confident enough to do that, I have no reason to doubt them.

 

[metalmachine]

Just walk out of Gamestop and was able to preorder Zelda Majora's Mask edition 3ds. Apparently they opened up some more pre orders so if you want it, go into store and do it as soon as possible.

 

[Astral Dog]

I don't know, it would not be surprising if it comes out next year, but at the same time Nintendo could have it ready, Xenoblade X and Star Fox are not enough for the holidays.

We haven't seen much of this game to know at what stage its at the moment.

 

[Herne]

If it releases this year, as I expect it to, it will have been in development for four years. Nintendo traditionally keeps their cards close to their chest so there is plenty of time left in the year to show off more of the game, especially at E3. When it was first announced, they said it would release in 2015. At E3 2014, they said it would release in 2015. Obviously they've been keeping an eye on what people have been saying because they felt the need again to confirm that it would be releasing in 2015. They even had Miyamoto saying that Star Fox would release before it this year, and we have yet to see a single screenshot of that game outside of the blurred nothing we got when Miyamoto turned around in his chair to talk to us at E3 last year.

I see no reason, given all of that, that it won't release this year.

 

[Spieler Eins]

Looking at Wii U for 2014, I think they delayed Donkey Kong so that their schedule wouldn't be MORE barren at the beginning. Tropical Freeze wasn't needed in 2013 imo, they could afford to delay it

Yet the drought they had to cover up with some 2D platformer is just another sign that they are far from ready to get big HD productions out, certainly not right in time anyway. And now they have a barren first half of the year for the third time in the row, most ,,early 2015'' titles already vanished. Prepare for the delayed games instead of Zelda in the holidays, in particular Mario Maker as the ,,compensating'' big title.

 

[phanphare]

I hope you are right. However Zelda usually has a history of delays hasn't it?

yes it does

however those games weren't on the Wii U

 

[Arkam]

what else do they have?

Thats not how things work. Cannot make a game be done simply cuz you have a potential vacuum in your calender. (and there are a few gems already)

That nonsense aside...YES
They have been working on the game for a few years and likely started from the Skyward Sword code base(not sure was ever stated one way or the other but is the logical thing to do) so they have had enough time. While the game did look a little rough in the off-screen demo in the Direct, it didnt look too far from release. Add on 3-4 months of crunch time work hours and we are there with plenty of time for localization, promotion and a holiday 2015 release.

 

[RPGCrazied]

Didn't they say they have been working on this game for 3 years now? Its really possible it could come out by year end. So I guess E3 is where will see a lot of stuff for it.

 

[clem84]

Pretty self explanatory - do you really think Zelda U is coming by this holiday? Why, or why not?

Personally, without having seen any dungeons or towns, I'm skeptical. I totally believe Nintendo is going open world, but I feel like there are too many traditional Zelda elements that Nintendo will not want to neglect and this will result in additional development time.

We don't even have a subtitle yet, or much of anything really.

So what are your thoughts Gaf? Is it a tease, or is Zelda 2015 the real deal?

That's not much to go on honestly. We don't know how far along development really is. E3 will be very telling. If they show a near final build of the game with villages and dungeons and at least part of the worldmap accessible, and they reiterate a holiday 2015 release date, then yeah it's coming this year.

As far as right now is concerned, they said 3 times holiday 2015 and we have no reasons to doubt it.

 

[Spieler Eins]

yes it does

however those games weren't on the Wii U

True, the other games weren't on a platform that might have just had the most frequent droughts and delays in Nintendo history (including tons of smaller titles), while it also makes absolutely no financial sense to waste a project of this scope solely on a dead platform, whose miniscule userbase isn't even buying the flagship titles in previous amounts anymore, which also is the official reason why Amiibo was ported over to 3DS quickly.
TP all over again incoming, alongside their 2016 hardware. And Mario Maker to cash in on the remaining userbase one last time this holiday.

 

[phanphare]

True, the other games weren't on a platform that might have just had the most frequent droughts and delays in Nintendo history (including tons of smaller titles), while it also makes absolutely no financial sense to waste a project of this scope solely on a dead platform, whose miniscule userbase isn't even buying the flagship titles in previous amounts anymore, which also is the official reason why Amiibo was ported over to 3DS quickly.
TP all over again incoming, alongside their 2016 hardware.

hahahahahaha

 

[thomasmahler]

Didn't they say they have been working on this game for 3 years now? Its really possible it could come out by year end. So I guess E3 is where will see a lot of stuff for it.

I think none of that really matters. From what we've seen so far, I really don't think there's any chance in hell that they're going to just release it this year and magically create all the content that we haven't seen at all yet.

I guess it's gonna be very interesting what they're gonna show at E3, but from that point on, they'd have like 2-3 months to wrap the game, so that they can make CERT / Gold and ship before the end of the year.

This is just basic software development. Even if they decide to put another 100 developers on it, it might help a little, but even 9 women can't make a baby in a month. It's a creative product, it'll have to go through the same process every product goes and if they'd actually be in a state where they could ship it within the year, the demo we would've seen so far would've been WAY further ahead and they would've used it to market the WiiU a lot more.

So anyway, from a 'I'm a reasonable developer' perspective, I just don't see this game ship in 2015 at all. If I'd have to make a bet, I'd guess for Q1 2016 at the earliest and I'd say it's far more likely that it'll slip to Q4 2016. If they're smart, they'll go the TP route and turn it into a launch game for their next-gen hardware.

 

[NickFire]

I hope it launches this year, but I am skeptical. Not sure why, but my expectations are that big name Nintendo games are going to be delayed. Delayed for the better, but delayed none the less.

 

[Holy Order Sol]

2015 unless announced otherwise, your theories don't matter.

 

[Ramsiege]

I expect it this year. By the end of the year it'll have been 4 years since SS was released, and they mentioned that they almost showed it at E3 2013. Just because the demo they showed didn't have much in it doesn't mean they showed everything that they have worked on. Nintendo has always played it's cards close to it's chest.

 

[crooked spin]

Core game comes out in late 2015, content DLC packs are released every 3-4 months afterwards for a year.

 

[FamousAspect]

I think it will be 2016

 

[Empty]

i want them to delay it tbh. make sure it's properly polished, really allow the designers time to adapt to the new gameplay approach, it'll be ages till the next new 3d zelda make it worth it. also if it's delayed it gives xenoblade tons of 'why you wait for zelda this scratches your itch' exposure and me more time to dig into it.

 

[Neko Godot]

People say that Animal Crossing could be used to fill in the Holiday 2015 gap if Zelda is delayed, but isn't the Animal Crossing team working on Splatoon at the moment? I could be mistaken on that.

 

[Triggerhappytel]

Nah, I reckon it will slip into early 2016. I think Nintendo are going to take a long time getting this one ready, and as it's their first (I think?) attempt at a proper open world it will take longer than expected to get up to speed.

 

[Spieler Eins]

hahahahahaha

I almost wish I could look forward to the tears at the announcement of the delay, but WiiU defenders have been denying certain realities for over 2 years, so at the point of the delay, there's probably already gonna be some other displacing narrative ready, acting as if this discourse never happened. As usual.

 

[MR ARCADE FOREVER]

yes it does

however those games weren't on the Wii U

That's right. Honestly I would not mind if Zelda gets delayed the more they polish the game the better it will be. Also, there's plenty of games for 2015 (I also own a ps4)

 

[Peltz]

I think none of that really matters. From what we've seen so far, I really don't think there's any chance in hell that they're going to just release it this year and magically create all the content that we haven't seen at all yet.

This... this right here. I'm truly struggling to understand this.

Why would they show us all of the content in the game when the whole purpose of the game is to explore the large environment? How much more do you expect to see 10-11 months away from release? Why do you think that something doesn't exist just because they haven't shown it to us yet?

Nintendo has always been secretive about stuff.

 

[Armigr]

I almost wish I could look forward to the tears at the announcement of the delay, but WiiU defenders have been denying certain realities for over 2 years, so at the point of the delay, there's probably already gonna be some other displacing narrative ready, acting as if this discourse never happened. As usual.

Jesus Christ

 

[Kriken]

I almost wish I could look forward to the tears at the announcement of the delay

 

[Skellig Gra]

Yes, because they stated it multiple times. Pretty straightforward.

 

[TheAngryMonkey]

Nope I expect a delay to Spring 2016

I fully expect a delay as well. It wouldn't bother me in the least.

 

[Frodo]

As a long term Zelda fan I'm conditioned to never wait for it. Even when it gets a release date.

 

[MR ARCADE FOREVER]

Spieler Eins you are coming across as a WiiU hater. Just saying...!!

 

[so1337]

I almost wish I could look forward to the tears at the announcement of the delay, but WiiU defenders have been denying certain realities for over 2 years, so at the point of the delay, there's probably already gonna be some other displacing narrative ready, acting as if this discourse never happened. As usual.

It's the only thing that makes me feel alive anymore...

 

[marc^o^]

Oh man, I loved this gif and thread.

 

[Calamari41]

Plus, we already know that this much of the game world is already rendered:

So unless you have some reason to believe that everything has just been smoke and mirrors thus far, I really don't know where people are coming from.

Look at how "quickly" Xenoblade Chronicles X is being developed. Chances are, that game is larger than Zelda. And Zelda may have been in development longer and likely has a far larger budget as well.

This is a great point. Nintendo doesn't do "vertical slice" marketing demos, and this shot is from almost a year ago. They didn't quickly "finish up" this vista and this vista alone in order to show it at E3. The game is very far along. Maybe this was the vista that looked best at the time, but it's not like if the camera panned around to show the area behind link it would be all wire frames or something.

 

[Spieler Eins]

Yes, because they stated it multiple times. Pretty straightforward.

Until late into last year, they've also still stated Xenoblade would be 2014. During WiiU launch, they said all E3 games would come out in the launch window until March, yet only Lego barely made it out and some other titles took until like the end of 2013. Then they've stated, the drought wouldn't repeat itself in the beginning of 2014. Yet it did and now it does again for 2015 (despite the suspiciously decent amount of ,,early 2015'' games announced just a few months earlier). So, what Nintendo PR says isn't exactly trustworthy.

 

[Andrew J.]

Nintendo's confirmed they plan to release it this year...

...but hard-earned experience has taught me to never be surprised by Zelda delays.

 

[TheDarkTriforce]

How many times do they have to reconfirm it? They said 2015 like 3 times

This!!!

 

[Insaniac]

Pretty self explanatory - do you really think Zelda U is coming by this holiday? Why, or why not?

Personally, without having seen any dungeons or towns, I'm skeptical. I totally believe Nintendo is going open world, but I feel like there are too many traditional Zelda elements that Nintendo will not want to neglect and this will result in additional development time.

We don't even have a subtitle yet, or much of anything really.

So what are your thoughts Gaf? Is it a tease, or is Zelda 2015 the real deal?

I'll expect it until they tell us its delayed. They aren't going to show much at all I expect they're holding their cards close until e3 which will be a big reveal on more of the game

 

[LegendofLex]

Until late into last year, they've also still stated Xenoblade would be 2014.

Was "they" the producer and front-runner for the game, or just the quarterly release schedule which doesn't ever get updated unless official announcements are made?

 

[phanphare]

I almost wish I could look forward to the tears at the announcement of the delay, but WiiU defenders have been denying certain realities for over 2 years, so at the point of the delay, there's probably already gonna be some other displacing narrative ready, acting as if this discourse never happened. As usual.

you live a very sad life

a life where the tears of fans make you more happy than a game like 3D World

I'll pour one out for you and your humanity

 

[thomasmahler]

they said 3 times holiday 2015 and we have no reasons to doubt it.

How many times has Iwata said "Please Understand"?

 

[E-phonk]

TP all over again incoming, alongside their 2016 hardware.

Delay is one thing, but there won't be a new console in 2016. (there will be a handheld, but console will be '17).

Funny that you proclaim nintendo to be a company that doesn't get it's software done in time, but at the same time expect it to launch both a handheld (which needs it a lot more than wii u) and console by next year, when the console didn't even get an official pricecut since mid'13 and nothing points to WiiU getting a successor that soon.

 

[Devilinthiscity]

I could see it coming out late 2015. They will probably show a new trailer + gameplay at their E3 Nintendo Direct. Miyamoto said the new Star Fox would be out before it, but who knows how far along that thing is.

 

[ReyVGM]

This is a great point. Nintendo doesn't do "vertical slice" marketing demos, and this shot is from almost a year ago. They didn't quickly "finish up" this vista and this vista alone in order to show it at E3. The game is very far along. Maybe this was the vista that looked best at the time, but it's not like if the camera panned around to show the area behind link it would be all wire frames or something.

Everyone is worried about the graphics. Nintendo usually adds all the details near the end of the dev cycle.

The reason I want the game to be delayed is to make sure the game has enough varied content and enough polish to make it one of the best games ever.
I'm still playing Skyward Sword, and after the Lanayru Sand Sea area, I can tell Nintendo started padding the game and it has become somewhat boring to be honest. Hopefully the game picks up again after that amazing desert area.

 

[Timeaisis]

I think none of that really matters. From what we've seen so far, I really don't think there's any chance in hell that they're going to just release it this year and magically create all the content that we haven't seen at all yet.

I guess it's gonna be very interesting what they're gonna show at E3, but from that point on, they'd have like 2-3 months to wrap the game, so that they can make CERT / Gold and ship before the end of the year.

This is just basic software development. Even if they decide to put another 100 developers on it, it might help a little, but even 9 women can't make a baby in a month. It's a creative product, it'll have to go through the same process every product goes and if they'd actually be in a state where they could ship it within the year, the demo we would've seen so far would've been WAY further ahead and they would've used it to market the WiiU a lot more.

So anyway, from a 'I'm a reasonable developer' perspective, I just don't see this game ship in 2015 at all. If I'd have to make a bet, I'd guess for Q1 2016 at the earliest and I'd say it's far more likely that it'll slip to Q4 2016. If they're smart, they'll go the TP route and turn it into a launch game for their next-gen hardware.

Sure, but you have to consider:
1) They are first party, so the "time to gold" is much, much different from your average third-party developer.
and
2) We have no idea how how long what they have shown has been done.

Your basing your entire estimates on what we've seen so far. This isn't a great way to estimate, especially for Nintendo. We saw Mario 3D World 6 months before it shipped. Think about it like that. We have no idea how much of this game they have done, we just know what they have shown us.

If it's true it's been in development for 3 years, then, surely 2015 looks a lot more realistic, considering the time and manpower they are putting into it.

My guess is Q4 2015 or Q1 2016. If we're considering Nintendo first party, and what their software divisions are working on, there isn't much in the tube apart from Zelda U and Starfox.

 

[Muffdraul]

Over the last few years I've learned that the jaded cynical burnouts too often turn out to be right on these matters, but this time I'm pretty sure Nintendo meant it when they said 2015.