If an article posted on Japanese website Nikkei is to be believed, and they’d be a good place to start, that’s exactly what is going down this year.  In the same article, they also say that the NX will be unveiled this year.  Whether or not the system goes on sale this year, they don’t say, but it’s definitely a possibility, and even more so now if this turns out to be true.

It’s an unfortunate thing, especially for us Nintendo fans, but economically, it makes plenty of sense.  The Wii U has been almost a disaster for Nintendo since its debut and nothing they’ve done has made this a must own system for anyone other than the hardest of hardcore fans.

 

 

When the system launched in November of 2012, it sold pretty well, but after that, there was nothing to really be happy about.  Everyone guessed (and some expected) that when major series games and mainstream franchises finally hit the system it’d bounce back and be a hit.  Sadly, that never happened.  Super Mario 3D World was announced and released to decent sales, but it didn’t move the system enough to matter.  Then we all moved on thinking it’d be Mario Kart to push it forward.  May 2014 came and, yes, while Mario Kart 8 has a ridiculous attach rate (over 50% of Wii U owners bought the game), it didn’t make systems fly off the shelves.  OK, fine, but Super Smash Bros. 4 would surely spark a revival, right?  Nope.  Smash Bros. for Wii U sold well, but, again, didn’t move units.  Splatoon was a surprise hit to everyone, but it is not a system seller.  Neither was Super Mario Maker.  All wonderful games, but all games that don’t drive consoles sales this time around.  Nintendo’s made some big mistakes this go ’round, and since I am truly not here to bash the company I’ve loved or 30+ years, I’ll let you find those out on your own if you don’t already know.

It may be difficult for some die hards to accept, but cutting your loses as soon as you can, especially if close to your new system’s launch, can only help Nintendo out.  They won’t be  continuing to waste time, money, and resources on a console that, while great, did nothing to move the company forward like the Wii did.  In fact, it probably hurt it.  I doubt you’ll hear The Big N echo that sentiment, but if you’re even paying a little attention, you can see the writing on the wall pretty clearly. It was there for a while.

Nikkei article

 

I had to.  It was just too funny not to.