November 21st is the official release date for Super Smash Bros. on the Wii U, which is what the original leak hinted at in the first place. The game will mark the next big AAA exclusive from Nintendo that's expected to help the console move pretty big units this holiday season. And if Mario Kart 8 was anything to go by, Nintendo could be looking at the dollar signs pile up for them this fall.
The Wii U version of Super Smash Bros. follows on the Nintendo 3DS release, which dropped just last week in North America, following a very, very successful launch in Japan. In fact, Nintendo made it known in the press release that the 3DS rendition of the game has already managed to sell more than 2.8 million copies, which is extremely impressive for only being on the market for a few weeks. It's likely that the game will hit 5 million copies sold before the year is out if it maintains a similar pace (and if Nintendo keeps the marketing team pumping out promo material to spread the word around).
Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of the sales and marketing department, commented in the press release about the release date of Super Smash Bros. on the Wii U, saying...
“Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS is already in the hands of more than 2.8 million people worldwide, and the road ahead looks great,” .... “Nintendo’s holiday software lineup is more than impressive, and our amiibo figures start a new chapter in the world of Nintendo interactive entertainment. With so many great experiences available, this holiday season is going to be an amazing time to be a Nintendo fan.”
I'm actually in agreement with Moffitt. Nintendo seems to be the only one with an exclusive line-up of must-have games, from Mario Kart 8 and Hyrule Warriors, to Bayonetta 2 and Super Smash Bros., there's a nice variety of exclusive games – not including all their eShop titles and indie games – that will likely keep gamers busy throughout the holiday season and into early 2015.
Now this isn't to take away anything from the PS4's amazing line-up of games. Out of the three eighth generation consoles the PS4 has the largest library of diverse games, given that they managed to get a ton of PC developers on board, which expands the system's software offerings exponentially. The Xbox One has Halo: The Master Chief Collection that will likely spur sales, but outside of that the exclusives are looking a little paper thin.
However, Nintendo lacks the third-party support of the other two systems and it's one of the things holding back the system from looking as appealing to the wider market as it could. Unfortunately there doesn't appear to be anyway for Nintendo to fix their third-party problem just short of releasing an x86 console for around $200 that 100 million people purchase. As it stands right now the Wii U's architecture and more focused demographic keeps the big publishers from pumping out cash-in ports that sell well. In fact, the cash-in ports aren't being picked up by Wii U gamers and they're expecting third-party publishers to put the same level of quality into their games that Nintendo pours into theirs. That doesn't seem like it's going to happen, hence the lack of Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed and other games not appearing on the Wii U this year.
Even still, if you want quality games for the Wii U you just have to look no further than Nintendo's own wheelhouse and some of the indie devs, like Shin'en Entertainment. You can grab Super Smash Bros. on the Wii U starting November 21st. For more information feel free to visit the official website.
