Crisis averted! Crisis averted! The giant Nintendoom wheel that gaming media have been circulating throughout 2013 and into 2014 turned one crank shaft too many and rolled into its own apocalyptic pit of molten misinformation. That big thing about the Wii U version of Watch Dogs being canceled? Well, it's not canceled... because it was never canceled.
This is the second big rumor to gain traction based on misperception of the Nintendo brand, and the over-eagerness by gaming media to paint the Big 'N' in a doom and gloom state. The first instance was the Nintendo Fusion, a supposedly quick cash-in console that Nintendo was going to release in order to hurriedly succeed the flailing Wii U.
The rumor of a cancellation was debunked by Nintendo Enthusiast when they reached out to GameStop to confirm whether or not Ubisoft's open-world, hack-and-shoot title would be canceled for the Wii U. Here's what GameStop had to say in response...
“Dear Omar,the news was an error.From tomorrow the product will be [pre-orderable] in GameStop Italy storesBest regards”
If that's not confirmation enough, Amazon also sent out confirmation that Watch Dogs is still coming for the Wii U and that the false rumors about the game being canceled were just that... false. An Amazon support rep responded to Nintendo Enthusiast stating...
06:01 PM(GMT) Ashwani(CSA): Omar, We can assure that this item is available for pre-order and you can place the order. We have not received any confirmation from supplier about cancellation.
The false news originally took off like a V8 Challenger in a drag racing challenge, and instead of grabbing any sort of clarification from multiple sources, there was a lot of fumbling around to keep that Nintendoom going, and going strong. A well-oiled machine of negativity, fueled by that insatiable thirst by gaming media to crush the Big 'N' under a giant hoof of mediocrity, 'Muricanism, hamburgers and Call of Duty.
Many sites reported that due to Nintendo's lowered forecasts that Ubisoft was cancelling the open-world action title for the Wii U... that somehow the 5.2 million unit install base was “too small” for Watch Dogs, even though it's still more than the Xbox One's 3 million install base and the PlayStation 4's 4 million install base.
Nintendo, however, refuses to succumb to the armchair mercenaries, the paid bloggers, the console warriors, the misinformed analysts, the scandalous YouTubers and the doom-bringers supporting software stolidness.
Thankfully, Nintendo simply refuses to die.
The Big 'N' is a Terminator of gaming normality and they're bringing the hurt in 2014 to the competition like Adam Sandler movies bring massive hurt to our brains. Yeah, we're talking terminal illness-quality hurt.
The company has already committed to a serious marketing campaign. They have a strong software line-up spaced throughout spring and fall for the Wii U, and the only thing they need to do is flash the goods at E3 to let everyone else know that Iwata means business, Reggie doesn't play for seconds, and Miyamoto is The King.
Watch Dogs is still available for pre-order for the Wii U from GameStop, Amazon and other participating e-tailers and retailers, and will be released whenever it's supposed to be released. I would tell you the specifics, but I don't even think Ubisoft knows.
