The Legend of Zelda
The first image release of the next Legend of Zelda game Nintendo

Nintendo of America's executive vice president of sales and marketing, Scott Moffitt, has said delayed RPG The Legend Of Zelda on Wii U will be released "when it's ready". He also spoke about the Metroid series and fans' concerns about the future of the series.

"We confirmed that a Zelda game, a new Zelda experience is in development for the Wii U and we have our team hard at work on that," Moffitt told iDigitalTimes. "We want that to be the best Zelda experience. Fans have been waiting for and deserve a game when it's ready, when it's fully featured and when it can live up to what we would like to deliver."

The Legend Of Zelda has been seen twice publicly: first at the E3 2014 trade show, where it was announced during Nintendo's digital event online broadcast, and then at the Game Awards in December of the same year where gameplay was shown off for the first time.

It was delayed earlier in 2015, prompting speculation that it may be moving to Nintendo's next piece of dedicated gaming hardware, codenamed NX.

The existence of the NX has apparently put a buffer on Nintendo's current plans, leading to a disappointing showing at E3 2015 in June. The disappointment and anger among some fans was focused on Metroid Prime: Federation Force – the 3DS shooter announced during the show and the first Metroid title for five years.

The game does not star series icon Samus Aran and is a departure from previous games in the series – focusing on multiplayer co-op and a competitive ball game. Fans petitioned Nintendo to cancel the game and failed, but their annoyance at the lack of a "true" new Metroid game remains.

"Metroid is really up to our game developers to decide how best to create new and different experiences," said Moffitt. "This Metroid experience [Federation Force] offers a local multiplayer feature that could be a lot of fun for game fans and we hope fans try it out and come to their own conclusions. I have nothing more to announce about a Metroid game for Wii U but let's be happy for what we have. We've got something and let's experience it and hope fans will enjoy."

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