RUMOR : Mario and Metroid Wii, Zelda DS Delayed Until Fall '07

[Gorvi]

According to a story over at CVG (http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=152528?cid=otc-rss&attr=cvg-general-rss&skip=yes), Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3 : Corruption, and Zelda : Phantom Hourglass all won't see release until fall '07. Metroid and Zelda were both originally slated for release this fall, while Mario was said to be out 'a few months after the Wii'.

Reliable sources close to Nintendo have told CVG that Super Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption on Wii, and Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass on DS will not see light of day until Christmas 2007, which could mean anything from October to December.

While I don't totally trust the source, this isn't out of the realm of possibility. Nintendo has had a bad track record over the years delaying key franchises over and over, lets just hope this is only speculation.

[Talltale]

Personally I don't consider this a bad trend. I'd much MUCH rather wait as long as it takes for a polished, complete game, than have it rushed out the door and suck balls.

[NoName]

Personally I don't consider this a bad trend. I'd much MUCH rather wait as long as it takes for a polished, complete game, than have it rushed out the door and suck balls.
While this is something I agree with, it still sucks having to wait. Gamers are impatient ;).

[bakes73]

If this is true, it is the worst news EVER. I agree with Talltale, but sometimes that "extra polish" might just be that. Maybe the games are already developed to a point that it's not cost justified to go back...and they suck. Maybe they are trying to put sprinkles on a pile of poop. I mean, even with sprinkles, its still poop.

[KNOTE]

This would not shock me. MP3 would be the one, if any, to make it before then. That means Wario Ware has to carry the Wii all... year... long...

It better be the most amazing Wario Ware of all time.

[xcalibur]

These rumors are not true. Lame reporting on CVG's part.

-X

[NoName]

If this is true, it is the worst news EVER. I agree with Talltale, but sometimes that "extra polish" might just be that. Maybe the games are already developed to a point that it's not cost justified to go back...and they suck. Maybe they are trying to put sprinkles on a pile of poop. I mean, even with sprinkles, its still poop.
Mmmm.... sprinkles. :o

[Roc Ingersol]

Considering this was how the GC got off on the absolute wrong foot, I think it an awful blow to the Wii (if true).

A dry spell could seriously dampen big N's momentum.

[Heretic Machine]

Wouldn't be surprised in the least. But what it will mean is that the Wii's first year will be quite a bit like the DS' first year... Which is to say: Completely barren and unfun. Another year for the 360, I suppose.

[TempestBlayze]

I remember wanting to buy the Wii because of metroid at release. When I found out it wasnt going to be towards November I was dissapointed, but not. I knew they were going to polish it and put in online Multiplay. If they delay it again I will be pissed.

[Camel]

Being a former Gamecube owner, delays with games were always an issue. Back then it made me somewhat distraught, now it just makes me irritated. I understand that lots of games get delayed, but this ALWAYS seems like an issue with Nintendo. Mario, Metroid, AND a Zelda DS game are all pushed back (and in some of these cases, isn't it the second time they've been pushed back)? Come on now.

Seriously, Nintendo...get your shit together!

[EternalGamer]

I don't mind these being delayed, but they better have at least a few surprises planned if this is the case. Paper Mario 2 shifted to Wii is pretty likely, I'd say. At least toss us some online Mario Sports titles or something.

[NeoSuplex]

Maybe they'll use the extra dev time on Metroid to can the stupid "Use the Nunchuck for Grapple beam" idea and instead use it to let you turn your damn head. I'll never understand why designers think pointing at the edge of the screen to turn (at a slow, unchangeable speed) is reasonable when theres a perfectly good extra accelerometer (could easily offer controllable speed) being wasted to replace buttons.

[Gorvi]

I don't mind these being delayed, but they better have at least a few surprises planned if this is the case. Paper Mario 2 shifted to Wii is pretty likely, I'd say. At least toss us some online Mario Sports titles or something.

Paper Mario 2 (or Super Paper Mario) was originally supposed to come out on the GC in October. Then the Wii in January. Now it's TBA 2007. Nintendo really needs to get their shit together with these releases, if it weren't for them shoe-horning Zelda onto the Wii, there wouldn't be a real great reason to own the thing at all for a while.

[Doctor Setebos]

Hmmm...Nintendo Power has Metroid 3 listed for Jan 07.

Curiouser and curiouser...

[xcalibur]

You guys do realize this is nothing more than rumor....


-X

[Animated X]

I am still pissed they showed Super Paper Mario for GC way back at E3, with a firm release date of fall 06, now its shuffled onto the WII, and has no definate release date, only Q2 07.

Lame.

[Camel]

xcalibur...I hope you're right. But this rumor is all we have to go by. If you don't have any info that counters it, then what do you want us to do?

I'd love to just believe that all these games are coming out pretty soon, but I'd much rather be a pessimistic ass about it and then be pleasantly surprised when the games are released without huge delays.

[Zaro]

It really posible they release Super Paper Mario before Galaxy.
I don't think they'll release two Mario game in the same period.

I hope i'll be able to play Metroid before next summer.

[hideouslywrinkled]

I'm not sure about Metroid... but I would be shocked if Zelda DS and Mario Galaxy didn't ship Christmas 2007.

[Grimgrock]

I hope Metroid and Mario aren't delayed. It would mean the only game I'm interested in on the Wii is one I already own (Zelda).

[DaXIthR]

Pokemon Battle Revolution, Wario Ware...

These are far from top-tier franchises in the west. The really bad news for me is that Smash Bros Brawl get no mention.

How likely is it that Ninty will drop Metroid, Mario, a major Zelda title, and Smash Bros in the same season?

You'll mock me for considering Phantom Hourglass a true and major Zelda title, and I'll laugh at you when Dragon Quest IX teaches you to not underestimate the DS' abilities to do such franchises justice.

Here's hoping Metroid is here by August. And Smash and Mario be the big holiday titles.

[TheFlyingOrc]

I think Metroid will still make it, but I think they need Mario or Smash for the fall.

[OmegaVader]

It seems to me that it's always in a publisher's best interest to save a title till the holiday season, regardless of whether it's actually done or not. Nintendo needs a strong lineup for Holidays 2007, why not save Mario and Metroid for that time and strong arm their way passed competitors? It seems inevitable that at least one of these titles (I'm thinking Mario) will be saved for Fall.

[xcalibur]

xcalibur...I hope you're right. But this rumor is all we have to go by. If you don't have any info that counters it, then what do you want us to do?

I'd love to just believe that all these games are coming out pretty soon, but I'd much rather be a pessimistic ass about it and then be pleasantly surprised when the games are released without huge delays.

Trust me... the delays suggested in this rumor are not true.


-X

[RUSKULL]

Trust Xcalibur damn it! ;)

btw, how's Retro doin' these days? :p

[Hellstorm]

These rumors are not true. Lame reporting on CVG's part.

-X


Hey, you work for Retro. I don't mean that to sound bad, I really do mean you work for Retro right? I remeber you mentioned that a while ago.

[Food Nipple]

There's a ton of big first party titles due out next year, if everything launches next year that means that Nintendo is releasing Mario Galaxy, Phantom Hourglass, Metroid Prime 3, and Smash Brother Brawl all in the same calandar year, in addition to Wario Ware, Super Paper Mario, Batallion Wars 2 and Mario Strikers. Brawl, BW2 and Strikers are all supposed to be online enabled. I seriously don't see how all these titles can be released the same year.

[Camel]

Trust me... the delays suggested in this rumor are not true.


-X
I will trust anyone (it's a good/bad habit of mine). If these games come out without huge delays, and if I remember to do it, I will declare you a great truthspeaker across the EvAv boards. :D

[xcalibur]

Hey, you work for Retro. I don't mean that to sound bad, I really do mean you work for Retro right? I remeber you mentioned that a while ago.

yes.


-X

[Mdot23]

big surprise.

[KNOTE]

yes.


-X

Say hi to JayF and BillV for me. And get crackin' on MP3! :D

[grammatoncleric]

For future reference, whenever Nintendo announces a release date that ISN'T Christmas just round up to the end of the year or at least September and you'll save yourself a lot of headache. I don't even read release dates at this point because I've been playing Nintendo games long enough not to invest myself it the dates given and usually my own estimates are much closer. I would say right now, Metroid in August/September and Mario in November.

Every console needs a big holiday seller. The only other game I can think of near those games in terms of consumer draw is SSMB. Unfortunately I doubt Super Smash Bros. will pull as much weight as either of those two games. Despite the game being great and having great sales, the largest component to it's huge sales numbers was nothing else to compete with it when the system first came out. So everyone bought it even if they didn't like fighting games. And a lot of people from my experience working at EB at launch "didn't get it" or found it too hard. I don't think it will be in Nintendo's best interests to bank their holiday on that game (and I love it but I just question it up against Halo 3 and MGS4 and FFXII).

[Dr.Finger]

For future reference, whenever Nintendo announces a release date that ISN'T Christmas just round up to the end of the year or at least September and you'll save yourself a lot of headache. I don't even read release dates at this point because I've been playing Nintendo games long enough not to invest myself it the dates given and usually my own estimates are much closer. I would say right now, Metroid in August/September and Mario in November.For almost any other company that's true, but Nintendo is very good about spacing their titles out over the year. Wind Waker was released in Jan/Feb. Mario Kart for the Cube was (I believe) April.

[MosBen]

Ok, while I agree that games shouldn't be released in the broken state that they sometimes are, I think I need to disagree that delays of this type, particularly from Nintendo are a good thing. Indeed, it is exactly these types of delays that annoy me more than anything about Nintendo. Well, constantly repackaging the same old version of NES games for exorbitant prices probably gets me more, but I digress.

I have no doubt that all of these first party games will at the very least be passable fun with at least a couple legitimate gems in there. On the other hand, Nintendo sells their consoles on the strength of their original brands and with every launch we're promised games from every one of those brands. Nintendo teases the audience with glimpses of a first party game and announces a launch date that too often ends up being several months, if not whole years, before the actual release date. How many people bought the Wii for Rayman vs the people wanting to play Nintendo's first party games?

Now, I'm know very little about programming, but I find it hard to believe that a game is pushed off by a year for polishing. They're not sitting around killing bugs for a whole year, they're putting lots of work into finishing it. Finishing it more than some companies do? Absolutely, but I just don't believe that those games are *this close* to being done but just need some polish. Nintendo's pulling a bait and switch, luring customers into buying their hardware and then apologizing that they're not going to get all of their premier series out near launch.

Again, I'm sure all these games will be fun, but I sold my Cube because I spent a year not playing it while I waited for the next first party game that I wanted to come out. I hope it doesn't go that way with the Wii, but then I'm not jumping on board this time until there's a substantial library available.

[Phanto]

Atleast they aren't delaying Super Smash Brawl :) .

[Rirath]

If this is true then:

1) Same old Nintendo.
2) Same old fans who feel it's a good thing.
3) The 360 just sold more units.

I will likely not buy a Wii before I have a single game to play on it. (Zelda does not count, it's a GC game.) But I guess I could play a heck of a lot of Wii Sports. Nintendo, I want to like the Wii... but stop punishing the people who buy your stuff by having absolutely nothing available.

[ProfPuppet]

Are any of the Zelda handheld games different from one another? Every one I've seen, from original gameboy up to the DS, all look and play alike. (I'm happy with Castlevania just changing the graphics with each new game, for whatever reason, so take it as you will.)

Was kind of hoping Nintendo would get some good titles out fast, keeping them ahead of Sony for a while.

[grammatoncleric]

For almost any other company that's true, but Nintendo is very good about spacing their titles out over the year. Wind Waker was released in Jan/Feb. Mario Kart for the Cube was (I believe) April.

Oh no doubt about that. Eternal Darkness was June, Mario Sunshine was August, F-Zero I also believe was an August release. Thought Wind Waker was March but don't feel like checking :) Nintendo very rarely bombards you like some other companies do in waiting until that month span of mid-October to mid-November. But I honestly wasn't expecting both of those titles to drop before summer and I'd be surprised still if they do.

Besides, I'm sure I'll pick up Wario Ware and play it until Mario Party comes out, and then play that until which ever one, Mario or Metroid, comes next :p

[Talltale]

I think everyone is forgetting as well... Nintendo doesn't continue to develop the games they've released after they're out.. no patches. I really do prefer they get them right the first time.

[MosBen]

I don't think anyone's forgetting that Nintendo releases solid products. I also think everyone agrees that it's a really good thing. Where I part ways is that I don't think the fact that they release solid, bug-free products forgives their chronic delays. A product isn't delayed for six months because they need to polish it some more. A product is delayed for six moths because either 1) there was some serious flaw that required massive overhauls to fix, or 2) the first release date was never realistic. Now, Nintendo seems to me to be a place full of good ideas for how to make fun games. I'm sure some of their games start to approach the announced release date and they realize that the game just isn't fun and needs retooling. Given the number of games that they push back, however, I think Nintendo is guilty of announcing games with extremely unrealistic release dates. In fact, I'm starting to feel like they're intentionally releasing misleading release dates to string people along into buying their hardware. They get people excited about a product by leading them to believe that the machine will have Mario, Zelda, and Metroid all within a few months of launch when in reality those games will be spread out over a year, if not more.

Solid, bug-free games are great, but I don't like being lied to and I'm starting to feel like that's what Nintendo's doing.

[DaXIthR]

Mario Strikers Charged, Wario Ware, Battalion Wars II....will not move systems. It hardly matters when those titles are released.

But O if the Battalion Wars franchise turned out to be what it was conceptually - Advance Wars for the console...it would be so much different.

I think Nintendo could do Metroid, Mario and Smash in the same year after all - just not in the same season.

Nintendo is completely hands-off Smash Bros development. We can't expect news on the game from them. They created a special studio to work on it called Sora headed by Sakurai. Any news, trailers, bits come from straight from - pretty much. Just because a Smash Bros delay hasn't been thrown into rumor mill with the rest of these internal Nintendo titles, doesn't mean it's not going to happen.

[Doctor Setebos]

Hey, you work for Retro. I don't mean that to sound bad, I really do mean you work for Retro right? I remeber you mentioned that a while ago.yes.

-XI'll trust the word of a Retro dev over "an anonymous source" anyday of the week. :D Thanks, x!

[T-Rex Commando]

I just find it impossible to believe that Metroid will be released next fall. I know that its possible that Nintendo could have been really bullshitting us by saying it would be a launch title, but then why not lie about other games like Mario? MP 3 looks like a game that they were really hoping to get out for launch, but it just wasn't quite ready yet so they held it off for a little bit. So...somewhere around March seems pretty appropriate.

And the Wii being devoid of games for a long time after launch is pretty par for the course with all the consoles being released these days. The DS and 360 took months and months before they had enough quality games for me to justify buying them.

[Evil Avnovice]

CVG called Nintendo about the delays, and was told us: "We never confirmed a date for Super Mario Galaxy, but I can confirm that Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3 and Phantom Hourglass will all release in 2007. We can't confirm an exact release date for any of these titles at this time."

I see nothing wrong with the delays. Unless these games fall off the face of the earth, people should wait until the games are released. If they don't live up to hype/personal expectations, then we'll have a reason to complain.

[Camel]

Atleast they aren't delaying Super Smash Brawl :) .
Since nobody has any clue when it's even being released, I guess it can't be delayed.

Unless people do know when it's being released and I'm just an idiot. I had heard Q1 2007, here's hoping!

[Chameleo]

Given the number of games that they push back, however, I think Nintendo is guilty of announcing games with extremely unrealistic release dates. In fact, I'm starting to feel like they're intentionally releasing misleading release dates to string people along into buying their hardware. They get people excited about a product by leading them to believe that the machine will have Mario, Zelda, and Metroid all within a few months of launch when in reality those games will be spread out over a year, if not more.

Solid, bug-free games are great, but I don't like being lied to and I'm starting to feel like that's what Nintendo's doing.

werd! i totally agree with this.

the gamecube's big problem was delays. everyone bought it for the next "whatever" - and it never came out.... we were told at E3 that paper mario would be out on the GCN by the time the Wii launched. We were told metroid would be there at launch. we were told mario would be there within a couple months of launch.

none of this panned out. I rage against sony for "missing" their "targets" - i'll do the same to nintendo! Hell, Twilight Princess was supposed to come out like a YEAR ago!! it was probably ready to come out as well, but they pushed it back to make it a Wii launch title because they *knew* that they wouldn't be able to reach their goals - yet they went out spouting them anyways at E3 to get people excited about the console. (maybe they didn't outright KNOW it, but they must've had a preeettyy strong hunch.)

MosBen is exactly right about them stringing along the customer with awesome footage, a seemingly unbeatable lineup and a bunch of titles ready right after launch. but then after launch; after everyone's bought a console - they're not there. they get pushed back - spread out over a year - or two.

hell i wouldnt be surprised if we didn't see brawl till 2008.

goddamnit.

not that this makes a difference to me personally - it takes me SO damn long to finish one game they could take all the time in the world - but as a consumer, I'm pissed at being misled/tricked about the release date of so many huge games...

we've seen SO much footage of WarioWare - why the hell wasn't that out at launch?

[KingGorilla]

Whelp this of course means that Super paper Mario is coming out soon, because Nintendo does not want to risk me sending letter bombs.

[Vandenh]

Looks like I am gonna get my Wii next XMas.

[Sayntin]

Fine by me, Ill buy my Wii later in the year when many good titles are out, incentives to buy kick in and Wii's are easier to find. Only fools buy consoles when first released, they just end up with nothing to do 3 months later until software catches up.

[Rogueski]

As long as Metroid is Online Multiplayer they can hold on to it aslong as it needs. Releasing that as a Single Player game at launch would have been worse.