It’s not looking too good for our friend the Wii U. Nintendo announced this morning that it’s cut its annual sales forecast for the system from 9 million to 2.8 million. In turn, its annual predictions changed from a profit of 55 billion yen to a loss of 25 billion yen. Obviously, that’s not good. It’s not ‘is this the end of Nintendo?’ bad by any means, but it’s looking increasingly likely that the system itself will go down as a failure.
Still, the company has the chance to come out (and potentially go down) fighting with the HD system in 2014 and beyond. Impressive games like Super Mario 3D World haven’t managed to shift quite as many consoles as Nintendo might have hoped, but the company has a huge stash of cherished IP that could bring more people in. With the likes of Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros on the way, there’s still time for things to pick up.
But what other games could be waiting in the wings? We thought we’d stick together a quick list of titles that could help resuscitate the struggling system.
[alert type=alert-blue]F-Zero[/alert]
F-Zero has been in the pit stop for far too long. We haven’t seen a true entry in this hardcore futuristic racer since the days of the Gamecube. Sure it all looks a little niche, but consider that Sony closed the studio behind its acclaimed Wipeout series a while back and there’s a gap in the market here. F-Zero is a series about brutal, lightning-paced racing, and we’d love to see Nintendo revamp it.
[alert type=alert-blue]Metroid[/alert]
Metroid may not have been missing in action for as long as our last entrant, but its absence is much more noticeable. The series has created some of the best entries on every Nintendo system since the start (bar the Metroid-less N64), and it’s long past time Samus suited up for another isolated adventure. Whether it’s another Retro-made Prime title or another attempt to experiment with the franchise in the hands of a third-party developer, we need this series to finally be realised in HD.
[alert type=alert-blue]Super Mario Galaxy 3[/alert]
In 2009 Nintendo surprised everyone by announcing the first ever direct sequel to a 3D Mario game, Super Mario Galaxy 2, which went on to be the Wii’s most critically-acclaimed game. What could make for an even bigger surprise? Another sequel, this time harnessing the power of the Wii U. Sure, Super Mario 3D World wowed critics and fans alike but we’re all still waiting for a true 3D entry from everybody’s favourite plumber. If not Galaxy 3, then at least something new.
[alert type=alert-blue]The Legend of Zelda[/alert]
This is about as obvious as it gets. Nintendo generates an enormous amount of buzz every time it releases a console-based Zelda game. But the chance to see the series in HD for the first time? That gets us going. The world could be three time the size of the past games, with stunning detail and deep dungeons to lose hours of our lives in. It’s not a matter of if but when, and we’re hoping that’s sooner rather than later.
[alert type=alert-blue]Zombie U 2[/alert]
Ubisoft has confirmed that it won’t be making a sequel to its strangely brilliant Wii U launch title. That’s a shame, because ZombiU remains one of the system’s most unique and enjoyable games. It was one of the few titles to use the system’s GamePad intuitively at launch, with inventive mechanics to aid you against the zombie hordes. With a slight bit of tweaking, it could be something very special indeed.
