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[Axass]

There's a huge debate with Nintendo and release dates lately: people wondering if Zelda will be delayed, angry at some vastly different release dates for EU/US games (Kirby I'm looking at you), lots of guesswork about Star Fox and Xenoblade, meanwhile 2016 is a complete unknown. I tried to bring some facts to the table and give my interpretation of what's going to happen, based on what we know (please do correct me if I made any mistake). I'm gonna keep it mostly Nintendo first party and physical only, listing digital games and third party games only when they're big titles or very famous.

So the point of the thread is trying to guess what Nintendo is going to release and when, not giving a personal wishlist of games.

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NINTENDO 3DS

Let's start from what we know:

- FEBRUARY -

The 13th the New 3DS comes out in Europe and the New 3DS XL comes out in Europe and NA. The same day the 3DS is getting Majora's Mask 3D (Grezzo), Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate (Capcom). Finally in February Pokémon Shuffle (Genius Sonority) will be available to download for free.

- MARCH -

An exact month later (the 13th) Code Name S.T.E.A.M (IntSys) sees the light in NA. On the downloadable side we have Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars (NST), arriving the 5th in NA, a little later, the 20th, in EU. On the contrary, the 20th NA gets Fossil Fighters: Frontier (Red/Chunsoft). On the third party exclusives front we've got Story of Seasons (Marvelous) coming the 10th of the month in NA (probably never in EU ;_.

- APRIL -

The big N3DS exclusive, Xenoblade Chronicles 3D (Monster), is coming this month worldwide, in particular it's scheduled for the 2nd in EU. Etrian Mystery Dungeon (Chunsoft) is coming to NA the 7th. As far as I know there are no other Nintendo exclusives set for April in Europe, however I'd say it's highly likely we're getting the other Chunsoft game, Fossil Fighters: Frontier, which is currently TBA 2015: it's probably late due to translation woes, just like many other european titles, but they should manage to make it in time for April, so as to plug the hole in european releases.

- MAY -

In May both NA and the EU get Puzzle & Dragons Z (GungHo), with the added Mario themed version. The 15th marks the day Code Name S.T.E.A.M comes to Europe. This could also very well be the month the Smash for 3DS DLC hits, with the already announced Mewtwo and who knows what else (if anything): six months after the Wii U version came out, just like with MK8, but still Spring (the current release window for Mewtwo).

From here on it's all speculation:

- JUNE -

E-fucking-3 time, the moment we're going to learn everything about what's coming out for the rest of the year. There could be a few surprise announcements, just like about every E3, especially on the New 3DS front: they've got to promote that hardware revision somehow, don't they? Maybe not: the DSi had no real Nintendo exclusives on it IIRC, I think they're going to sell it through improved 3D, faceplates and additional features, better graphics for non-exclusive games. Moreover the 3DS is on its way out, with the new handheld possibly announced at E3 2016 and released in early 2017. So I don't see that many titles being announced, one or two max, after all that's what happened at last year's E3, where only S.T.E.A.M was announced.

- JULY / AUGUST -

I think that Nintendo is known for not releasing games in July, so I wouldn't count on anything big, if anything at all. As for August I can see a localization of an old japanese 3DS game (last year NA had Prof Layton vs Ace Attorney in August and Fantasy Life in October), possibly Yo-Kai Watch: Level 5 said they're planning to bring it to the west this year, since we heard nothing about it in the last Spring direct, I guess it's going to be at best a Summer game. I think August is also going to be the month Theatrhythm Dragon Quest (Square Enix) comes to the west, if it ever does; I'm basing this on the past entries of the series, Theatrhythm FF and Curtain Call, which both premiered in the west exactly five months after the original japanese release (March 26th).

- SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER -

Pokémon games have a history of being released in the Fall, especially September and November (X/Y was October though), now they also do worldwide releases and they're basically an annual franchise; so I'd say it's a given that, if we're getting a new game in the franchise, we're going to get it around this period. Possibly Pokémon Z, since another remake is out the question, just like a whole new generation already, while a sequel (like B&W2) is doubtful but could happen. Anyway, if it's going to happen we should hear about it around E3 time at worst.

- NOVEMBER / DECEMBER -

Metroid 3DS. BOOM. To be announced at E3, developed by Retro, 2.5D style, inspired by Super Metroid but with a few innovations. There's a bunch of reasons for which I think this could happen:

• First of all we don't know what Retro has been up to after DKC:TF, but we know that whatever it is, they started working on it ever since November 2013, so November 2015 would mean two years of development (which is basically the usual time they need to develop something).
• They began hiring around May 2014, for projects slated on "Wii U / 3DS", whatever that means.
• Miyamoto said "I definitely think it's a franchise that we value and we certainly want to see what we can do with it in the future. And, obviously, Retro is a very high priority in terms of the potential team that would be considered for working on a Metroid game" (September 2013), just a few months before Retro started their new project.
• The infamous E3 quote: "Shinya Takahashi: So it has been a while since we released the last one and we're having discussions internally about what we can do next. So at this point we have two different types of Metroid games. We have the Prime style of Metroid game and we have the more traditional style of Metroid game. We feel that we do need to take care of both of these styles of play. And the hope is that at some point in the near future we'll be able to share something about them".
• The Trilogy is getting a re-release this year in NA on Wii U.
• If it's not released this year, it's going to be the second biggest gap between releases in the series (6 years!), second only to the huge Super Metroid-Metroid Prime gap (8 years!!).
• Last but not least there's the Nintendo site screw up, right after the January Direct and right after Retro started a twitter account, maybe it was supposed to be revealed in the direct but they changed their minds later on.

- 2016 -

What does the future bring? I'd say we'll get Rhythm Heaven in 2016 if the game comes out this year in Japan (Summer?): we always get it around one year later, I just hope we get it at all. Dai Gyakuten Saiban: Naruhodo Ryunosuke no Boken, the new Ace Attorney game coming out this year in Japan, is also a good candidate for 2016 localization. Fire Emblem If, supposedly coming out this Summer in Japan, is almost surely an early 2016 release, Awakening already set a precedent, being one year late; there was some hope for 2015 after the direct, but it was quickly crushed. There's the Great Detective Pikachu game published by The Pokémon Company, announced as a project last year in tv, we never heard anything more about it, I'd say it's either a 2016 title or outright cancelled, especially if we don't hear about it at this E3. Bravely Second could be another possibility, given what happened with the first game (we got it after more than a year) and Square Enix track record on localizations, we aren't getting it this year, however we should get it someday, I think the first game did more than ok worldwide. Dragon Quest VII: I doubt it's coming 3 years after Japan, but we never know *cue Let It Go*.

 

[Axass]

NINTENDO WII U

Let's start from what we know:

- FEBRUARY / MARCH -

The schedule starts with Kirby and the Rainbow Curse (HAL), slated to come out the 20th in NA I'm not going to bother trying to figure out when it comes to EU, because fuck you NoE (generic 2nd half 2015 by the way); nothing else in February, at least nothing big: you can already see that the Wii U's lineup is much more barren than the 3DS one, mostly due to the lack of big third paty games. Exactly one month later (03/20), this time both NA and EU, get Mario Party 10 (Nd cube), while Nintendo's first crossplay title, Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars, comes out March 5th in NA and the 20th in EU.

- APRIL -

April is a big empty void in Nintendo's lineup, aside from Rodea the Sky Soldier (Prope), that's coming out the 2nd, which is however only Japan-bound at the moment, and frankly looks a little underwhelming, given the last showing. That said not all hope is lost, in fact if bi-monthly Global Directs are becoming a thing again, and it sure seems so, there's going to be a Direct in March, probably at the end of the month so to better bridge the gap to the E3 presentation in June; obviously we're going to get some release dates for the games still scheduled as "1st half" of 2015, unless plans changed for those games. Out of the remaining three, Mario Maker (EAD 4) seemed the one closest to completion at E3, the fact they didn't hand out a date or show a video in the January Direct means little, in fact they mostly focused on February/March stuff, with just a Splatoon video and the Fire Emblem announcement thrown in; they're probably thinking that it's better to give it one big marketing push right before it comes out, besides I doubt they still have much new stuff to show in videos, so having two showings instead of one would change little. All of this to say that I think Mario Maker could still come out in April, to fill the Wii U schedule void.

- MAY -

In May we're blessed with Splatoon (EAD 2), but we're also getting the second part of the MK8 DLC. Speaking of DLC, this could also very well be the month the Smash for Wii U DLC hits, as I said in the 3DS section, possibly announced in full during the March Direct.

From here on it's all speculation:

- JUNE -

This is the only month left for Yoshi's Woolly World (Good-Feel) if Nintendo wants to honour the "1st half" of 2015 release date, I can see it happening, but I can also see it being slightly delayed. The other game supposed to release in the first half of the year is Project Giant Robot, incidentally June is also the month of E3; this is kind of a stretch, but I could see it released right after Nintendo's presentation as a digital only title: Nintendo has done this already with digital first party games (Steel Diver: Sub Wars), they'd be able to market it through the online presentation and through the members of the press attending at E3, after all it seems like a small project that wouldn't warrant a big marketing campaign. They said it's a project born to show the potentialities of the gamepad, so a digital release may be the case, hope I'm wrong on this one though, I'd like it to be a full retail title with lots of content, with some of that Miyamoto magic. Speaking of E3, I doubt we're getting the now usual surprise announcement for the Fall (3DWorld / Captain Toad), simply because we already have the big Fall title announced and the schedule is already packed.

- JULY / AUGUST -

Xenoblade Chronicles X (Monolith) is set to release April 29th in Japan: a release so early in the year gives me hope that we're going to see it soon as well; remember that in a first moment they intended to release the game in Fall 2014, that means the game was nearing completion already, so it's not that surprising to see an April japanese release. Another positive factor is the N3DS remake's release window, which is April worldwide, showing that now Nintendo does care about making the series available in every region in a timely manner; of course, the localization for the remake is already done, however it's still a good sign: a Summer release for NA wouldn't be out of the question in my opinion (still an optimistic guess), EU may prove a tad more difficult, due to the many different subs and to the current woes of NoE, maybe we'll finally get Kirby and the Rainbow Curse instead. Itagaki says his new game's almost done, yet we heard nothing about it in the January Direct and it wasn't slated as “1st half” in Nintendo's last release schedule, so I'll put Devil's Third (Valhalla) as coming out early in the 2nd half of the year, during the Summer.

- SEPTEMBER -

Star Fox is supposed to come out before Zelda, that his for certain, however we have yet to see one second of the game and reports from the press, who saw the game at E3, say the game was clearly nowhere near completion, Miyamoto himself stated they were searching for an external studio to help the development. Moreover Nintendo said there's going to be a playable demo at this year's E3: that means the release window shrinks to more or less July-October, personally I'm betting on September. Project Guard doesn't seem something that can be expanded in a full game frankly, it could very well be folded in the Star Fox game because: (a) there were Star Fox flags in the E3 demo, (b) it doesn't have a more precise release window, unlike Project Giant Robot, (c) Miyamoto alluded to a possible merger of the two projects into one ("So maybe Project Guard is the TV series of Star Fox that runs late at night, and the main missions of Star Fox are the TV series that runs in primetime").

- OCTOBER -

If it's localized at all, I think October is the right moment for Fatal Frame V: Oracle of the Sodden Raven (Koei Tecmo): in 2015 there should be an Hollywood movie based on the series coming (even though almost nothing is known about it, only that's from the producer of the Resident Evil adaptations), and in fact in Japan the game came out at the same time of a live action adaptation; besides Halloween would be the perfect moment to maximize the western sales of the game, if not in NA (Reggie basically said no already) I can see it at least coming to EU. The fact that Project Treasure (Bandai Namco) was announced with a very brief teaser containing no footage, and that we know basically nothing about how it works, makes me doubtful we'll see it before Fall 2015, I'm betting on the last months of the year, possibly October or November. If you wanna be pessimistic, this could also very well be the month of Xenoblade Chronicles X.

- NOVEMBER / DECEMBER -

The Legend of Zelda (EAD 3), of course. I know it's currently highly debated whether it's going to be delayed, but to me the many affirmations Nintendo has made about the game coming out this year are proof enough they're committed to that release date, Miyamoto and Aonuma even joked about it at the awards, making it a race to the finish: they seemed too relaxed about it. Besides, even the 2014 Fall lineup seemed too packed to many (Hyrule Warriors, Bayonetta, Smash), there was plenty of people crying about the fact Smash was going to slip in 2015, but that wasn't the case. However if there's one game that's going to be delayed among the whole 2015 Nintendo lineup, rest assured it's going to be Zelda, not Star Fox or Xenoblade. If Nintendo plans to follow the 6 months scheme of MK8, we could see a second batch of Smash for Wii U DLC.

- 2016 -

Let's start with something that's actually officially confirmed to exist: Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem (Atlus/IntSys). The game was announced in the January 2013 Direct, that's the first and last time we saw it, since that day the game's always been present in the release schedules of the financial meetings as TBA, and it was aknowledged once at E3, during the S.T.E.A.M press event, when Hitoshi Yamagami said the game was still on schedule. Seeing as we didn't even see a glimpse of it in two whole years, I doubt everything's going fine, however, if the game's going to actually release, I'm gonna bet on a re-reveal at this year's E3 with a release date in 2016.

I'm actually betting on this one: Animal Crossing U (EAD 2) announced at E3. The series is a multi-million seller, it could give a good bump to the system sales, there have been hints at a possible announcement this year (the Plaza closing, opening of the Miiverse series community), but I doubt it's going to release in 2015: the titles in the series were all released 3-4 years from one another, besides the release schedule for the 2nd half of 2015 is already packed, with Zelda, Star Fox and Xenoblade.

Another game I could possibly see announced at E3 is Pokkén Tournament (Bandai Namco) for Wii U, or should I say Pokkén Fighters? After all The Pokémon Company trademarked both names, that could mean the console port may feature some changes, enough to make it stand out from the original arcade; but I digress, I personally see it as an early 2016 title. Let's see what's happening with Tekken 7, the latest fighting game project from Harada: the arcade location testing began October 3rd-5th, the game is scheduled to come out in arcades February 18th, so about 4 months and a half of gap. Pokkén location testing begins January 30th-February 2nd, so the game could easily see a Summer release, if the gap is about the same it could happen in early June. There's no reason to think otherwise, since the game has been in development for a very long time and in the NicoNico presentation it appeared mostly done and working. Now, with the arcade out in early June, I could see Nintendo announcing it in mid-June for Wii U, during their E3 presentation; the game could easily come out anytime from February to June 2016 (8 to 12 months after the original arcade release), that way it wouldn't even take out momentum from Smash DLC, which would end in November at the worst any way you slice it.

Now onto the less obvious stuff, Punch-Out!! (Next Level Games) for Wii U could happen: the first one sold quite well, NLG are MIA since the release of Luigi's Mansion in early 2013, they publicly stated they're now working exclusively for Nintendo, and there's this. It's weird that Punch-Out!! is present in all lists, despite each list having a clear direction: the NA features two of the most critically praised games on Wii U, the EU one games released very late in the system's life, plus a sequel to a cult game that never reached the continent in the N64 age, in the Japaneses one Punch-Out especially stands out, since the rest of the list is composed of games made by Japanese developers, with a very japanese and anime-like style.

I can see Pikmin 4 (EAD 4) launched as a Fall 2016 game; there's the weirdly timed demo, the recently made shorts and we've had confirmation twice from Miyamoto about the series going forward here and here: "Continually launching campaigns after the release of software will lay the groundwork for the next iteration of Pikmin in the future. And needless to say, we want it to be one of the motivations for potential consumers to purchase Wii U " and "I still have a lot of ideas about what I want to do with Pikmin, but nothing is decided yet in terms of anything else, but of course we will continue to make Pikmin games". Most importantly Nintendo had several problems adapting to HD development, which brought delays and a barren release schedule, moreover the quality of their production isn't rewarded with high system sales. Now though they're employing a very smart strategy to get over this by: re-using engines and assets (Captain Toad, NSLU), prolonging the games' life through DLC (MK8, Pikmin 3, Smash, Hyrule Warriors), quickly producing projects with smaller budgets (Splatoon, Mario Maker, Project Guard, Project Giant Robot). A Pikmin sequel would be perfect in this situation, they've got a solid base to start with, both technical and conceptual, the development wouldn't be as hard and wouldn't cost as much as starting from scratch on other series, plus DLC is perfectly compatible with the IP.

Then there's the really out there stuff, like Metroid (Retro) and Diddy Kong Racing 2 (Monster): I've gone into detail in the 3DS section about the former on 3DS, the same could apply to Metroid Wii U, which would adopt Prime's control scheme and tropes, while you can read about the former here and here; we have confirmation about Monster working on the Xenoblade Chronicles N3DS port, but if what's in that article has any truth, I'd say Nintendo is more than interested in making a sequel: Monster might have just put the project on hold, MK8 has still DLC to offer in 2015, maybe 2016 will be the year of the DKR series relaunch.

Finally there's a bunch of rumours talking about Nintendo working on some HD remasters, while also saving yet another game from cancellation by publishing it and funding it (a Bayonetta 2/Devil's Third situation); however there's nothing concrete about these rumours so far.

 

[DJIzana]

Well... one thing I do know is Iwata says they aren't done with the Wii U one bit.

http://www.gonintendo.com/s/246098-...over-multiple-unannounced-titles-in-the-works

 

[Hale-XF11]

February is also getting Ironfall and Flipnote Studio 3D. Can't wait for next month.

 

[suaveric]

There's no way they're going to wait until 2017 for a new handheld. The 3DS is falling off a cliff, they can't afford to wait that long. But I guess this is Nintendo..

 

[Kouriozan]

I really hope we'll get Mario Maker soon, before Splatoon (May) would be awesome, but as long as it's 1H, I'm happy. It was never confirmed 1H in Europe.
Ridiculously hyped about that game.

 

[Chrom]

Just speculation, but I imagine that Nintendo will localize Box Boy sometime this year. It's a 3DS eShop title developed by HAL Laboratory that they released in Japan earlier this month.

 

[AmyS]

Next Gen Nintendo handheld: most likely at some point in 2016

Next Gen Nintendo console: probably Fall 2017, giving Nintendo at least two full years (perhaps 3 years) before Microsoft and Sony release their next consoles.

 

[maxcriden]

I really hope we'll get Mario Maker soon, before Splatoon (May) would be awesome, but as long as it's 1H, I'm happy.
Ridiculously hyped about that game.

Can't wait for both, but I am skeptical we'll still see MM or Yoshi before June given that we just got retail windows through May in the last Direct. Not that it couldn't happen, just not counting on it just yet. Especially with Kirby and Yoshi seemingly switching release windows, in Yoshi's case. Same might've happened for MM and MVDK to an extent.

 

[Roo]

Well... one thing I do know is Iwata says they aren't done with the Wii U one bit.

http://www.gonintendo.com/s/246098-...over-multiple-unannounced-titles-in-the-works

Hopefully Metroid is one of those unnanounced games ;_;

 

[Hero of Legend]

Well... one thing I do know is Iwata says they aren't done with the Wii U one bit.

http://www.gonintendo.com/s/246098-...over-multiple-unannounced-titles-in-the-works

How about at least one teaser tonight/tomorrow? You know, like in Jan 2010 and Jan 2011!

Preferably one never seen before and not just Star Fox.

... though that wouldn't be so bad either, same goes for SMT X FE, remember that Iwata?

 

[emb]

Well... one thing I do know is Iwata says they aren't done with the Wii U one bit.

http://www.gonintendo.com/s/246098-...over-multiple-unannounced-titles-in-the-works

Well, they have to say that until the next system is announced. Not that I necessarily think he's lying. I don't think we'll see Wii U abandoned until 2017, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it go a little early.

 

[Hiltz]

Yeah, there is some interesting evidence for Metroid's inevitable return, but I don't think the game(s) will be released this year.Well, at least not for Wii U. However, they could be potentially announced at E3. Nintendo already has 10 confirmed games for Wii U, including Mario vs. DK eshop release. We're still waiting for potential news on Fire Emblem X Shin Megami Tensei. Miyamoto mentioned Wii U having more spin-off titles in 2015, but he could have been referring to Fire Emblem X SMT as one of them. I doubt we'll see Fatal Frame 5 localized. Also, Nintendo teased us about sharing future news on Animal Crossing Wii U, so we could get an announcement and potential release this year to accompany Zelda Wii U as a fall holiday- scheduled title , otherwise it could slip into 2016 for all we know.

2016 could see the localization of Pokken Tournament as well as Retro Studios game and perhaps a Mario Sports title too (Wii U is kind of due for one of those, isn't it?). It will probably be a smaller software schedule for Wii U than in 2015, but we could see some other surprise games like another cross over Dynasty Warriors title. Perhaps one based off of Fire Emblem, a series that did well on the 3DS both in Japan and overseas. Hyrule Warriors recent news of selling a million copies ( think that update came out earlier today) must be good news for Tecmo Koei and Nintendo, and given the short development time of Hyrule Warriors, Tecmo could churn out another Dynasty Warriors cross over by next year.

 

[kittens]

I'm fully expecting Star Fox to be episodic.

 

[jimi_dini]

Hopefully Metroid is one of those unnanounced games ;_;

Yep, I hope it is

 

[Stove]

giving Nintendo at least two full years (perhaps 3 years) before Microsoft and Sony release their next consoles.

Is that a good idea? It will just bring us to the same spot again 5 to 6 years from now where they are in 3rd place sales wise, have no 3rd party support, and have an underpowered console compared to Sony/Microsoft.

 

[PreyingShark]

- MARCH -

An exact month later (the 13th) Code Name S.T.E.A.M (IntSys) sees the light in NA. On the downloadable side we have Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars (NST), arriving the 5th in NA, a little later, the 20th, in EU. On the contrary, the 20th NA gets Fossil Fighters: Frontier (Red/Chunsoft). On the thir party exclusives front we've got Story of Seasons (Marvelous) coming the 10th of the month in NA (probably never in EU ;_.

Damn, I never fully realized how much better this March is for NA 3DS owners compared to EU 3DS owners...

 

[kittens]

Is that a good idea? It will just bring us to the same spot again 5 to 6 years from now where they are in 3rd place sales wise, have no 3rd party support, and have an underpowered console compared to Sony/Microsoft.

They gotta do something. The Wii U's situation is pretty hopeless unless the can somehow put out a mega hit. If Mario Kart and Smash isn't gonna save the system, the chances of something else doing so are slim.

 

[DJIzana]

Well, they have to say that until the next system is announced. Not that I necessarily think he's lying. I don't think we'll see Wii U abandoned until 2017, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it go a little early.

You're probably right it's just PR talk but I think maybe might be something more. The praise for the quality of titles on the currently available Wii U might drive them to push out more titles or something or get new partners or pay for more exclusives etc.

 

[Plinko]

I think we're getting Animal Crossing this year.

I also expect some Nintendo RPG using Amiibo for Holiday 2016.

 

[Stove]

They gotta do something. The Wii U's situation is pretty hopeless unless the can somehow put out a mega hit. If Mario Kart and Smash isn't gonna save the system, the chances of something else doing so are slim.

Or they could bite the bullet and wait it out a few years to gain more parity with the PS5/X4. Putting out another console destined for 3rd doesn't help Nintendo in the long run.

 

[MagnesD3]

I'm fully expecting Star Fox to be episodic.

As long as its freaking good.

 

[AdanVC]

Great info recopilation! God damn this year is shaping to be packaged for Wii U wich is awesummmm. I'm especially excited for Splatoon and Mario Maker. Even more with Mario Maker since this year is the 30th anniversary of SMB release and I'm looking forward the stuff they will announce to celebrate with It's-A-Me-Maker ahah

 

[Anth0ny]

Wii U 2015-

Everything that's already announced.

Wii U 2016-

 

[kittens]

Or they could bite the bullet and wait it out a few years to gain more parity with the PS5/X4. Putting out another console destined for 3rd doesn't help Nintendo in the long run.

Nintendo's been saying they want to create a unified account system and focus more on cross-platform games. And haven't they specifically praised the adaptability of the iPhone / iPad, which allows games to be played across older and newer devices? Maybe they're gonna aim for something like that. Also, if I'm remembering any of these statements wrong, someone please correct me!

 

[JB2448]

(please do correct me if I made any mistake)

The 28th Pokémon Shuffle (GameFreak) will be available to download for free.

Shuffle is being developed by Genius Sonority, not Game Freak (two words, not "GameFreak".)

On the thir party exclusives front we've got Story of Seasons (Marvelous) coming the 10th of the month in NA (probably never in EU ;_.

third*

I think August is also going to be the month Theatrhythm Dragon Quest (Square-Enix) comes to the west, if it ever does;

"Square Enix" doesn't have a hyphen in its name.

There's the Great Detective Pikachu game from GameFreak, announced as a project last year in tv, we never heard anything more about it, I'd say it's either a 2016 title or outright cancelled, especially if we don't hear about it at this E3.

It might not be Game Freak developing it. All we know is that The Pokémon Company will definitely be involved in its publishing (maybe Nintendo as well, but it might be a Pokkén situation where it's strictly The Pokémon Company/Bandai Namco).

StarFox is supposed to come out before Zelda, that his for certain,

Star Fox is two words, not one phrase with the F being capitalized.

If it's localized at all, I think October is the right moment for Fatal Frame V: Oracle of the Sodden Raven (Tecmo Koei): in 2015 there should be an Hollywood movie based on the series coming (even though almost nothing is known about it, only that's from the producer of the Resident Evil adaptations), and in fact in Japan the game came out at the same time of a live action adaptation; besides Halloween would be the perfect moment to maximize the western sales of the game, if not in NA (Reggie basically said no already) I can see it at leasr coming to EU.

It's Koei Tecmo, not Tecmo Koei. Also, least*.

The fact that Project Treasure (Namco Bandai) was announced with a very brief teaser containing no footage, and that we know basically nothing about how it works, makes me doubtful we'll see it before Fall 2015

It's Bandai Namco, not Namco Bandai.

The Legend of Zelda (EAD 3), of course. I know it's currently highly debated wheter it's going to be delayed

whether*

Sorry if this comes off as too critical or nitpicky. This is a good topic of discussion, and I want to see its OP as accurate as possible. Good job on making it!

 

[Stove]

Nintendo's been saying they want to create a unified account system and focus more on cross-platform games. And haven't they specifically praised the adaptability of the iPhone / iPad, which allows games to be played across older and newer devices? Maybe they're gonna aim for something like that. Also, if I'm remembering any of these statements wrong, someone please correct me!

Oh, I completely agree with you that they are going to reiterate soon and move in that direction. I'm just not sure if it's a good idea

 

[Danthrax]

Great OP, Axass. I agree with most of it. Your predictions are a lot more reasonable and realistic than many of the ones I see bandied about.

I've been of the opinion that NA won't get Devil's Third and Fatal Frame 5 until 2016, but I could be wrong. I have that opinion because 2015 already has a pretty strong lineup, and these two titles would help fill out the 2016 release schedule. (And I really hope NA finally localizes a damn Fatal Frame for once.)

I really think Pokkén Tournament will hit Japanese stores at the end of 2015 and in the West in summer 2016. Makes too much sense not to happen.

SMTxFE definitely is a 2016 title. We've heard too little about it and there's too much stuff releasing in 2015. Project Treasure from Namco also is a 2016 game, in my opinion. Very few details announced and no gameplay shown, so it's probably still pretty far out.

One possible game I didn't see you mention is the rumored "Nintendo pays for exclusivity to save it from the dead" title. Basically a third case of Bayonetta 2 and Devil's Third. Very vague and no sure thing at all, but I can see it happening (not sure with what, though) and it's another possibility for the 2016 lineup.

There's no way they're going to wait until 2017 for a new handheld. The 3DS is falling off a cliff, they can't afford to wait that long. But I guess this is Nintendo..

As long as software sales are still strong, and they are, it doesn't matter a whole lot whether hardware sales wither. If the userbase is still engaged, Nintendo can stretch bringing a successor until 2017.

 

[Wowfunhappy]

There's no way they're going to wait until 2017 for a new handheld. The 3DS is falling off a cliff, they can't afford to wait that long. But I guess this is Nintendo..

They're about to release a New 3DS. No, it's not terribly more powerful or anything, but do we really think that lack of power is what's holding the console back? It's not as though the Vita is selling terribly well.

Nintendo tends to release new handhelds when there's absolutely no way the previous generation's hardware is going to cut it. I suppose some people will argue that we're almost at that point, but... well, I don't agree at all.

 

[Hibiki Kurosawa]

Yep, it might be a while but Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem in 2016 will happen (if not somehow sooner) and quite frankly that's all that year needs to give Wii U a phenomenal year!

The absence of anything else that year for Wii U could just mean Nintendo is focusing on this year's games, but could also be a sign of their next console in 2016. They seem adamant on getting Star Fox and Zelda out this year. Maybe Retro next year for Wii U ot next console?

 

[gamergirly]

I'm fully expecting Star Fox to be episodic.

I hope not. That's opening a can of worms for NINTENDO

You're probably right it's just PR talk but I think maybe might be something more. The praise for the quality of titles on the currently available Wii U might drive them to push out more titles or something or get new partners or pay for more exclusives etc.

With no price drop yet for the system and so many major announced and potentially unannounced games, 2016 for a Wii U successor announcement doesn't make sense right now. Not until after E3 and this holiday season with a price cut.

3DS on the other hand, definitely.

 

[-Horizon-]

I still say the rest of the world will get Fire Emblem in 2015 as well.

 

[EndlessFloydian]

Well... one thing I do know is Iwata says they aren't done with the Wii U one bit.

http://www.gonintendo.com/s/246098-...over-multiple-unannounced-titles-in-the-works

Good.

I wonder if that 3D Kirby title is being worked on yet.

I also hope Mario Sunshine HD is near.

And Metroid.

And...whatever else.

 

[kittens]

I hope not. That's opening a can of worms for NINTENDO

Yeah, I'm not a fan of the idea either. I just don't see how else they're going to put out a seemingly so incomplete game so soon.

 

[shouamabane]

OP, you mixed up former and latter in the second post. Thanks for putting this stuff together.

 

[Hibiki Kurosawa]

I still say the rest of the world will get Fire Emblem in 2015 as well.

I can honestly see that, but knowing Fire Emblem: Awakening did really well in January/February, I still see them releasing it then more likely than this year with Bravely Second getting a little later release in say March.

 

[vinnygambini]

Star Fox will definitely be episodic content via download.

This is what I think the schedule for Wii U will look like for 2015:

April - Mario Maker
May - Super Smash & Mario Kart DLC + Splatoon
June/July/August - Yoshi's Woolly World + Devil's Third (announced as F2P)
September/October - Xenoblade X, Kid Icarus HD, Fatal Frame (Eng sub - downloadable only), Star Fox (episodic content)
November/December - Zelda, Super Mario Sunshine HD, Unannounced title (Pokken Tournament or Animal Crossing - Amiibo centered), Star Fox (episodic content 2)

 

[redcrayon]

EU finally gets Shantae and the Pirate's curse on both WiiU and 3DS next Fri: I'm looking forward to that.

 

[Axass]

There's no way they're going to wait until 2017 for a new handheld. The 3DS is falling off a cliff, they can't afford to wait that long. But I guess this is Nintendo..

I think it's a matter of whether and how much they want their systems to be connected to each other: if they really plan some sort of dual system, working as both handheld and home console, or if the connection between the two runs very deep, they have no choice but to launch them together. That said, 2016 would be just too soon for the Wii U successor IMO, so...

Just speculation, but I imagine that Nintendo will localize Box Boy sometime this year. It's a 3DS eShop title developed by HAL Laboratory that they released in Japan earlier this month.

I hope so, however we never got the downloadable horse betting game, NA never got Calciobit, EU never got Rusty's Real Deal Baseball; their eshop localization output is really weird.

Damn, I never fully realized how much better this March is for NA 3DS owners compared to EU 3DS owners...

This year we're getting the short end of the stick in general.

I think we're getting Animal Crossing this year.

I also expect some Nintendo RPG using Amiibo for Holiday 2016.

I thought about a Fall release as well, but the release schedule is already packed and it'd be a first for to titles in the series to release so soon to each-other.

 

[MCN]

Have we not learned by now that just because Nintendo hasn't announced anything, it doesn't mean there's not going to be anything? Nintendo tend to have a relatively short time between announcement and release these days for most games.

 

[Hibiki Kurosawa]

Have we not learned by now that just because Nintendo hasn't announced anything, it doesn't mean there's not going to be anything? Nintendo tend to have a relatively short time between announcement and release these days for most games.

Excluding January 2013, right?

 

[JoeM86]

Great compilation, and knowing that more's coming is exciting.

(please do correct me if I made any mistake).

The 28th Pokémon Shuffle (GameFreak) will be available to download for free.

Pokémon Shuffle hasn't been dated beyond "February" yet, and as stated isn't Game Freak

 

[Enforced]

I'm really excited for Splatoon and Mario kart 8 2nd DLC.

Well... one thing I do know is Iwata says they aren't done with the Wii U one bit.

http://www.gonintendo.com/s/246098-...over-multiple-unannounced-titles-in-the-works

I really hope Nintendo announce Kirby Air Ride 2 someday. I love that game on gamecube.

 

[Trevelyan]

Fire emblem will definitely be this year, they even said it in the direct if I recall correctly.

 

[Hibiki Kurosawa]

Fire emblem will definitely be this year, they even said it in the direct if I recall correctly.

No, not in the NA Direct. They said Summer 2015 in the Japanese Direct, though.

 

[Muchi Muchi Pink]

Is that a good idea? It will just bring us to the same spot again 5 to 6 years from now where they are in 3rd place sales wise, have no 3rd party support, and have an underpowered console compared to Sony/Microsoft.

Not sure how "underpowered" console equals third place. The Wii destroyed xbox 360 and ps3 in the beginning for quite a while. DS and 3DS sold/is selling better than Sony's handhelds.

The only thing that I give you is having similar specs helps getting third party support.
Wii U had more problems than being underpowered, but it didn't help either.

 

[Maggots]

I can see A new handheld releasing 2016 new console 2017 (depending on the state of the Wii U in a year or 2)

Honestly I expect to hear some mention of a new handheld by the end of this year... Looking to the past the 3DS came out about 2 years after the DSi came out nearly a year and some months after the DSi XL released... (the last iteration of the DS family)... But the DS was still doing very well (though showing it's age)

I can also see Nintendo releasing the smaller unit for New 3DS later this year to spawn some holiday sales one last time before officially transitioning over to next generation hype.

I can realistically see this same thing happening with the 3DS but at a faster pace being as the device has never had the same success as DS...

announcement or trickle of information this year 2015, release date 2016, New Console announce 2016, release 2017, Would give Wii U a nice 5 year lifecycle from launch to launch.
(Even with the two systems being so closely tied together, architecturally speaking, I can still see them staggering launches of hanheld and console cause it's hard enough launching one device and supporting it let alone 2)

that's my guess.

 

[Pancakes R Us]

Wow, OP. I'm a little surprised you think the next handheld will be for 2017. IMO, there is no way Nintendo can ride it out that long. IMO, they should have aimed for late this year or early next at the latest. They've released practically all the big guns. Unless they want to continue with smaller and smaller sales numbers for the next two years, because Wii U isn't going anywhere.

Re. Retro Studios, they usually take 3 years to make a game, this was from an interview around the time of DKCTF release. thougu one would hope that with they're experienced enough in game development to pump out a 3DS game faster. I need a new Metroid fix.

 

[MagnesD3]

Yeah, I'm not a fan of the idea either. I just don't see how else they're going to put out a seemingly so incomplete game so soon.

I think Ill cry if it costs like $10 dollars for 3 levels or something retarded like that

 

[leroidys]

I'm realllly hoping that we'll get some MK8 style DLC for Smash this year.