Nintendo has been biding their time preparing to unleash a host of new first-party titles to make the Wii U relevant again as the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 wind down and gamers prepare for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Nintendo president and CEO Satoru Iwata recently sat down with The Guardian to discuss the Wii U and the many games coming to the system, but one game in particular was singled out: the upcoming Legend of Zelda game for the Wii U. While some gamers expected an official reveal of the game around E3 in June, Iwata stated that gamers can expect details about the game fairly soon:
"It is true that Mr. Aonuma's team has been working on a new Zelda title for the Wii U. But the only announcement we have at this time of software which will soon become available is WindWaker HD. But they are actually working on an exclusive new Wii U title in the Zelda franchise and I hope in the not-too-distant future, we will be able to make the relevant announcement," Iwata said.
While Nintendo failed to produce a new Wii U Zelda game during the time around E3, in which they skipped a traditional press conference for hands-on displays of future games along with a Nintendo Direct presentation, Iwata revealed that fans of the company took to the upcoming crop of titles such as Mario Kart 8, Pikmin 3, and Bayonetta 2 very well.
"I'm very happy about the reactions from the visitors: they looked very happy about being able to play those games. And especially because Nintendo could not supply the market with strong software titles, one after the other, in the first half of 2013 and as a result, since we launched the Wii U, we haven't been able to provide any strong titles," he said.
Iwata revealed that, to make up for this earlier lack of quality titles, Nintendo is going all out to bring blockbuster games to the Wii U to build it up around the holiday shopping season.
"That's what we are intending, and that will be the case by the end of this year. Now we are able to demonstrate so many strong software titles which will launch by the end of this year, starting from this summer and, after all, we really needed to energize the momentum of the Wii U, and that's what we are doing. Software sells hardware," said Iwata.
It will be interesting to see if the Wii U can build up a head of steam before the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are released later this year, or if this crop of titles is too little too late for the Wii U.
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