'Legend of Zelda' Wii U release date news update: Game given 2017 launch window

Nintendo has made a lot of changes in the release date for the fantasy action/adventure video game "Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" on Wii U. The Japanese video game company initially set it for a 2015 release, then moved it to 2016. It made yet another change, this time to a merely "possible" outing in March of 2017.

Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto, who has long been designing games for the company, shared with Kotaku the pressure of having to announce a release date for the game, saying he preferred not to do so. Eiji Aonuma, the game series' producer, chose to look at the delay in terms of the company's dedication to bring a higher quality of gameplay now being developed. So with this in mind, Nintendo has finally settled for a wider release window in 2017, possibly keeping the game status under wraps until the time it is finally ready.

So fans may expect "Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" on Wii U to turn up not later than next year then. Many though may find it hard to wait for the game, especially when they have already had a taste of its gameplay possibilities at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2016 in June.

The first glimpse of the upcoming video game showed a distinct deviation from the gameplay norms found in other games. It will see Link, the multiple incarnations of "The Legend of Zelda" series protagonist, freely exploring a vast open world, unlike other games that Nintendo introduced in the past. The game will have Link largely relying on his surroundings in order to stay alive.

The protagonist, Link, who can be played as a child, a teenager, or an adult, is the focal point of the game series. His prime task is the rescue of Princess Zelda and the kingdom of Hyrule. The principal antagonist that Link usually goes up against is Ganon. Other tasks though as well as different settings and antagonists have come up in earlier titles of the game.

For this new game title, however, nothing much is known as yet regarding the storyline. Meanwhile, Nintendo announced that the upcoming "Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" shall only be deemed successful if it reaches at least two million copies in terms of sales.