Zelda | Tag Archive

Latest Gear Live Videos

Subscribe:

YouTube

iTunes High Definition

iTunes Standard Version

RSS

Zelda: A Link To The Past Hits Virtual Console

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Nintendo, Retro, Role Playing Games, Wii,

Zelda A Link To The Past Wii owners in North America should now be able to download the classic Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past via Nintendo’s online store for the virtual console. The title sells for the standard 800 point level set for Super Nintendo games on the service. Link To The Past is one of the high points of the franchise and the gameplay holds up well after all these years; 800 points for this is a bargain.

Nintendo Europe To Offer 36 Virtual Console Titles In Q1

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Release Dates, Retro, Wii,

Zelda: Ocarina of Time A press release from Nintendo of Europe has the Virtual Console receiving 36 new titles in the first quarter of 2007. Nintendo plans on offering 20 new Nintendo titles, 7 from the Turbografx-16, and 9 from the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive. Some of the titles have already hit the US, including Street Fighter II, but gamers in the UK will also see the classic Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. No release date for this game has been revealed for the US, but hopefully gamers in the North American territory will see this as well as Mario Kart 64 and Super Mario World around the same time that the games launch in Europe. Of course, gamers that managed to grab either the Zelda: Master Quest or Zelda: Collector’s Edition for the Gamecube could play those titles now, but the Virtual Console version is a lot cheaper than a trip to eBay to get those releases.

Zelda: Ocarina of Time Coming Soon in 2D

Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Action, Adventure, Mods/Hacks, Nintendo, Rumors,

Ocarina of Time in 2D! Say what you will about Nintendo fans, they (we?) are certainly a persistent bunch. For your consideration we present the work of Daniel Barras, a.k.a. TheRealMethuselah, a fanboy who’s been working on a 2D translation of the N-64 masterpiece The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time. After 3 years, and an obviously huge number of hours of lost productivity, Daniel will be releasing a beta of his work. The game, which probably infringes on just about every patent Nintendo holds, features the entire N-64 game translated into the 2.5-D style used by A Link to the Past for the SNES and Four Swords Adventure for the Gamecube/GBA.

We just can’t wait to get our paws on this one and see how close it is to completion. If the gameplay is anywhere near as good as the screenshots, we should be in for a treat.

Official Media Create Wii Japanese Sales

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, Nintendo, Wii,

Wii Play Japan Japanese entertainment sales tracker Media Create has released their figures for the first two days of the Wii launch in Japan; according to their surveys, the Wii console has sold a little more than 350,000 units in the first two days. In addition, the top four software sales titles were Wii Sports at 176,167 units, Wii Play at 174,297 units, The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess at 139,000, and the latest WarioWare title sold 63,954 units. Overall, the software sales tie rate hit 1.8, much better than the sub-1.0 tie rate of the Playstation 3.

The Japanese audience did not pick up Zelda at the 75% ownership rate in the US, but since the Japanese Wii did not come with a pack-in game like the US console, gamers were probably more split between Zelda and the other titles. Wii Sports would be more compelling for the casual gamer and also costs 4800 Yen ($41) to Zelda’s 6800 Yen ($59). Wii Play sells for 4800 Yen, but comes bundled with an additional Wii Remote, so gamers looking to get an extra controller would find this an attractive option. Still, Nintendo’s first party titles all sold well with the launch of the Wii. Unfortunately for third-party publishers, sales figures drop off significantly after that. Overall, it is hard to see the Wii launch as anything but a massive success for Nintendo in Japan.

Wii Sells 600,000 In Eight Days

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Corporate News, Nintendo, Wii,

Wii Nintendo has released their sales data for the Wii during its first eight days of availability. According to their press release, the company moved over 600,000 consoles, and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess has sold 454,000 copies. Assuming that Nintendo can re-supply retailers quickly enough, the company should easily sell more than a million consoles this holiday season. Certainly, Nintendo has had more success than Sony in filling the retail demand for the console, and early indications are that the console is attracting more non-gamers. It remains to be seen, however, if Nintendo can sustain this momentum and grow their user base.

The full press release continues after the jump.

Click to continue reading Wii Sells 600,000 In Eight Days

Twilight Princess Previews Hit The Web

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Action, Adventure, Nintendo, Role Playing Games, Wii,

Nintendo’s embargo on all things Zelda ended on Friday, and those people who were invited up to Nintendo HQ to preview The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess were finally able to talk about what they saw and experienced. Overall, the tone has been that Nintendo has released another masterpiece in the Zelda series. Some sites were more effusive than others, with some believing that this release is close to being the “greatest Zelda ever.” Some were a little more cautious about their praise, citing such issues as the quality of the graphics and the adjustment needed for the Wii-mote. Most everyone agreed that this should be one of the longest Zelda outings ever, clocking in with at least 50 hours of gameplay. Overall the previews have been very positive, and Twilight Princess looks to be the launch title to have this holiday season. Those gamers looking to avoid spoilers may wish to stay away from some of the previews; Wired’s Game|Life blog does a very good job in avoiding plot points and details over giving an overall impression of the game, and GameSpot contains the majority of their spoilers to a single page within the preview. Other previews, though, seem to sprinkle the plot points through their coverage, so those looking to go into the new Zelda fresh might want to stay away. Still, reading through all of the coverage for any new details of the game will be really hard to resist for fans of the series. The previews are (in alphabetical order):
Read More | 1up
Read More | GameDaily
Read More | Game|Life
Read More | GameSpot
Read More | GoNintendo
Read More | IGN
Read More | Kotaku

Zelda.com Updated With Twilight Princess Info

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Adventure, Nintendo, Role Playing Games, Screenshots, Wii,

Nintendo of America recently updated their Zelda.com site with new information about The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Much of the information has been previously released elsewhere, but the company has also added a bunch of new screenshots of the game, showing off more of the action. The Wii version of the game is scheduled to launch with the console, while the Gamecube version will be released on December 12th in the United States.

Underground Wii Parties Have Started

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Nintendo, Wii,

Nintendo has said that they have been throwing secret underground Wii events across the country, and Siliconera has a couple of links to gamers that have been able to attend a recent party in Los Angeles. People attending the party were lead to a secret location, where they were able to be among the first to play such titles as Wii Sports, Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Rayman Raving Rabbits, Trauma Center: Second Opinion,Excite Truck, and more. Fairly lengthy impressions can be found in the blog and forum posts, but overall it seemed like the general feeling was good about the games presented. All attendees also got a coupon for a free Wii remote when they purchase a system later.

Update: Another Nintendo Underground Party Here

Read More | Nintendo Forums via Siliconera

45 Minutes Across - Is Zelda: Twilight Princess another Wind Waker?

Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Adventure, Nintendo, Nintendo Gamecube, Rumors, Wii,

Zelda Wind Waker Screenshot According to a rumor listed on IGN.com, the world of Zelda: Twilight Princess is going to be big - VERY big. Listed in their Fall 2006 games preview, they state “Twilight Princess will not only be bigger - a horse ride from one side of Hyrule to the next is rumored to take 45 real minutes - but much more ambitious than ever before.” While at first blush this sounds like great news - Nintendo fans have been looking forward to a good long adventure game for a while - it brings up some uncomfortable questions. Could the world of Twilight Princess be as bleak and desolate as Wind Waker was? Will the player be forced to endure hours of trekking to arrive at plot points in the game?

I for one am looking forward to a good long adventure from Nintendo in Twilight Princess, but I’m just hoping that adventure doesn’t mainly consist of wandering aimlessly in an overly huge world.

Zelda: Twilight Princess Sees Wii Control Revamping

Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Action, Nintendo, Rumors, Wii,

Zelda Twilight Princess Box Art After initially worrying about how physical players would have to get while enjoying The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Nintendo has finally decided that sword-swinging motions will be incorporated into the gameplay. At E3, the B trigger button on the Wiimote was originally used for the sword, with the bow&arrow and other weapons being mapped to the D-pad. But as IGN reports:

At E3, players used the B button to swing Link’s sword, with Nintendo explaining at the time that players would likely get tired having to actually swing the controller. “Upon actually playing it, it’s more interesting this way,” said Miyamoto to Nintendo Dream about the new control scheme.

The newly-freed-up B button will now serve as the bow&arrow controls. IGN points out that this makes the use of the bow&arrow much less cumbersome, as gamers don’t have to change their grip to reach the Wiimote’s D-pad. My guess is there’s another reason for this redesign, which Nintendo hasn’t explicitly stated yet. In the E3 version of the control scheme, players were able to perform Link’s spin-attack by simply wiggling the nunchuk attachment, a setup that many players noted would make the game far too easy as one could simply repeat the spin attack quickly over and over again. If Nintendo starts moving all of the sword control to the Wiimote, though, the actions of performing complicated motions like those needed for the spin attack could help to raise the difficulty.

It should be interesting to see how much of an upper-body workout Twilight Princess eventually requires. Maybe we won’t even need that Nintendo diet software after a bout with Zelda.

Welcome, Guest