Holiday 2015’s Most Anticipated
Nielsen has conducted some research into what gamers are most looking forward to this holiday season. They took a look at awareness, purchase intent, and consumer rating for each game and compared those numbers to the rest of the games on each platform. Eligible titles are those scheduled to be released between October 1, 2015 and December 31, 2015 and only the games that ranked 70% or higher made the list. Overall 4800 gamers were surveyed between August 24 and September 19, 2015.
As one might expect, all of the multiplatform games skip Nintendo systems altogether. This isn’t at all shocking, but it is a bit sad that Nintendo fans are left out of the most anticipated games of the year hitting both Xbox One and PlayStation 4. These games include:
- Call of Duty Black Ops III
- Fallout 4
- Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate
- Need for Speed
- Star Wars: Battlefront
- Rise of the Tomb Raider (this one is questionable since it is exclusive to Xbox platforms for 2015)
- Rock Band 4
The most anticipated Xbox One exclusive game is Halo 5: Guardians whereas the top spot goes to Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection for the PlayStation 4 exclusive.
Now, Nintendo isn’t left off the list. In fact, it has quite a few games that are exclusive to the Wii U and the 3DS that fans are excited about this fall. For Wii U:
- Yoshi’s Woolly World
- Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival
- Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash
- Devil’s Third (what?)
For 3DS these games are on everyone’s Christmas list:
- Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden
- The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes
- Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon
Taking a closer look at the Wii U’s anticipated games, I’m a bit surprised that Animal Crossing is the second most sought-after game of the season. Most people I have spoken with aren’t too keen on having to shell out $59.99 for what appears to be a watered down Mario Party game with Animal Crossing characters thrown in. Granted, two Animal Crossing amiibo come packed in, so maybe the popularity of the figures is propelling this game up the list. The other major surprise is seeing Devil’s Third even mentioned. This game has received no hype whatsoever over the past few months, and indeed many reactions to the game have been negative. This is contrary to Xenoblade Chronicles X, a hardcore RPG that looks amazing and is personally my most-wanted game of the year. I hate being in the minority in this instance.
3DS is also surprising as there is no Yo-Kai Watch. This game has sold millions of copies across Japan, spawning countless toys and tie-ins. Granted, when the surveys were given to the U.S. audience, the cartoon hadn’t yet aired, so most of the people answering the questions probably had no clue what Yo-Kai Watch was going to be. Another absentee is Chibi-Robo: Zip Lash, which is a bit understandable due to the previous games in the series coming in under the radar and failing to reach critical acclaim. Still, there’s a bundle that comes with that sweet amiibo that could have propelled it up the list. Dragon Ball Z taking the top spot is another shocker, but maybe it shouldn’t be. Oftentimes when surveys like this are taken, people gravitate to names that they recognize, especially if they’re indifferent in making a decision.
So, what are your most-wanted holiday games for Wii U and 3DS? Did your games make the list? What surprised you most by these results? Let us know in the comments below, or feel free to send us an e-mail via the Contact Us page.
Craig has been covering the video game industry since 1995. His work has been published across a wide spectrum of media sites. He’s currently the Editor-In-Chief of Nintendo Times and contributes to Gaming Age.
