We can't help feeling a little sorry for the Wii U - as amazing as some of its games might be, its poor sales figures and subsequently small library of games kind of scuppered its chances from the start. And now, with between few and no new games on the horizon, even Nintendo seem to be starting to give up on it, moving on to greener pastures and gearing up for the release of its successor, the NX, a console we know naught about but the code name. As such, speculation and rumours have been running fairly wild in the games industry of late, about what exactly Nintendo's next box of tricks will do. The latest? A potential launch title or two. Get your salt ready guys - it's about to get wild!
Donkey Kong likes his NX rumours...
Based on a couple of tweets from a Tokyo-based industry analyst, Dr. Serkan Toto, Japanese studio Bandai Namco are currently working on several NX titles - including a Smash Bros game as a launch title. While we mostly associate the company with colourful Japanese role-playing games like Ni No Kuni and the Tales of series, it's worth noting that they did do the bulk of the work on the recent Wii U and 3DS Smash Bros too, so there may be a grain of truth in the rumour there. According to our Dr. Toto, he's not sure if it's a completely new Smash Bros game or not, and the fact he has to specify makes us think there's a strong chance it's not going to be an all new instalment, which is more than a little disappointing.
But if that's the case, what kind of Smash Bros can we expect on the NX? Well, the most recent Smash Bros for the Wii U and 3DS was unique in how a whole raft of extra downloadable characters have been added since launch - so it's fairly feasible that the NX could be getting an enhanced all-extras-included port instead. That said, if it is a totally new Smash Bros game, that would certainly help shift NX consoles early on, with the Wii U version selling a fairly impressive 4 million copies to date. When you consider there's only around 10 million Wii Us out there, that means almost half of all Wii U owners have a copy of Smash Bros - although that's not quite as good as Mario Kart 8, which has sold nearer 6 million.
[Mario Kart doesn't let you drop a bowling ball on that smug red plumber's head though, does it?
Given Nintendo's usual emphasis on simple, local multiplayer fun, it wouldn't be too big a surprise to see one of their heavy hitting games as a launch title - and as avid Smash Bros players ourselves, often dabbling in a few brawls on a Friday evening, it's certainly something we'd be interested in, should the rumour be true. Hopefully things will be a little clearer on the NX front at this summer's E3, where the console is likely to be officially unveiled!
