Audience of The Wind Waker

[basement24]

I don't think the target audience was any different than any other Zelda title. The assumption is by most that because it comes in a cute package it is therefore not for adults. Animation is not all about children anymore. You can go to any cartoon specialty network after 9pm to witness that this is not the case.

WW gave us a very deep story that was probably the most significant one to date. I mean, flooding the entire kingdom and starting over again? That's some pretty serious stuff going on. Granted, we didn't see that happening first-hand, but it's a grim concept to base an alleged kids game around.

I think maybe people were basing the story off that of MM where it was a bit more doom and gloom based. It was a first-hand experience of the end of the world, so it was a lot darker by nature. Making the style more cartoony and not being as harsh in what you actually see on the screen for the plot details made it seem more light hearted.

I didn't find there was any lack of elements here from previous titles either that I would find a bit more creepy. There were redeads that chewed on your head, ghosts, creepy ghost ships, and to top it all off a sword burried in the forehead of a humanoid character. If anything, some of those elements make it darker than previous titles.

I really honestly wouldn't say it's any more kiddy than the majority of the series, save maybe MM for it's doom-based experiences, and TP for it's sad plot level combined with more realistic visuals.

[Alex_Da_Great]

I think that Wind Waker was the first game to introduce Zelda to little children but with the action-packed gameplay that adults still want. So basically it's an all age game.

Nintendo just wanted their audience to spread to more people without taking out anything of the game.

[DesertDweller]

I think the story is the primary aspect that is a little above the comprehension level of a child. I honestly don't think the graphics had much to do with it except mislead people into thinking the game was less serious than previous Zelda games.

I had a similar experience too recently with a friend my family watches after she gets out of school for a couple of hours. I let her try out WW, thinking that it was somewhat of a kid's game (she's 8 if my memory doesn't fail me), and she enjoyed it for a while. She loved going in and out of houses, collecting rupees, etc., to no end. She didn't get anywhere.

Then a couple of days later, her mom asked that she not play that particular game of Zelda because she had had nightmares of the little kid with snot hanging 6 inches down from his nose...not sure if that would happen to anyone else but maybe it could?!