Minecraft Wii U Edition Is Really Happening, Ratings Board Says

While the Nintendo Direct didn't reveal what a lot of people thought it would reveal – which would be the official announcement of Minecraft on the Wii U – the PEGI ratings board did give indication that the world building game is rated for release on the Wii U.

Over on the official PEGI website, which is the Pan European Game Information database, they revealed that the Microsoft published Minecraft is rated '7' for everyone over the age of seven on the Wii U. They show a tentative date of November 12th, 2015, which would be today, but the game isn't out... yet.

Given that the rating appeared on the website and Nintendo announced that they were having a Nintendo Direct on the same day that the game was labeled as appearing on PEGI, most people assumed the big news during the Nintendo Direct would be the revelation of one of the biggest games ever released in the history of gaming, finally coming to the Wii U. However, that did not come to pass.

Minecraft still could be coming to the Wii U but it's not today and it wasn't announced during the most recent Nintendo Direct.

Instead Nintendo took the opportunity to talk up the upcoming products for the Nintendo 3DS, as well as update gamers about some of the games currently available and coming to the Wii U.

Of course, most gamers were expecting an official announcement for Minecraft. After Microsoft purchased the developer of the game, Mojang, they've been making big bang on the property. Before Microsoft purchased Minecraft there were a lot of talks about Nintendo needing to get in there and get a version of the game released on the Wii U. However it never happened despite the fact that many gamers wanted it to happen, Shigeru Miyamoto wanted it to happen, and everyone thought both Nintendo and Minecraft were a perfect mix for each other. In fact, the Wii U's GamePad is perfectly suited for the building tool aspect of the game, just the same as the 3DS would be perfect for placing down objects and creating things with the stylus.

It's more baffling to think about why the combination hasn't happened yet, and the rating from PEGI is more like gamers going “it's about time” rather than being surprised by the move.

Microsoft could easily clean up big time with a release of the game on both of Nintendo's systems, but they would probably need to move quick before the Nintendo NX is officially unveiled, because it could easily undercut the importance of the release of Minecraft on the Wii U.

Given that the November 12th date has passed and the revelation did not happen, it's now a complete toss-up as to when Nintendo or Microsoft plan to announce that the game is coming to the Wii U.

The latest Nintendo Direct announced that there will be another special Direct for Super Smash Bros in December, but I tend to doubt that they would use that opportunity to announce Minecraft coming to the Wii U.