Do You Think Nintendo Will Ever Make a M Rated Zelda Game?

[Maikeru]

No, it won't happen, ever. Never ever.

I'd enjoy the game myself. It won't happen though.

 

[Owner828]

I don't think they would make a M rated game for The Legend of Zelda. Imagine killing an enemy and it bursting out in blood falling on the floor still moving... seriously? Also in videos there MIGHT be cussing in it, and I don't believe that fits the series on little bit. When you shot a moblin in the head, its head would literally implode gushing out blood. Also the Legend of Zelda is aimed at all ages, not older people. Wouldn't the puzzles be completely different? If so that would change the game completely.

 

[geek4887]

A Zelda game with an M rating...Hmm, I guess I'd still buy it, but it might upset some of the long time fans. It's a huge risk for Nintendo, I'll say. If they do this, they might get those "hardcore" gamers, who like playing Gears of War, Call of Duty, God of War, etc. but they would lose their loyal fans. I dunno. I don't think that Nintendo goes mainstream (meaning they're not people pleasers), because usually Nintendo ALWAYS proves that they know what we want better that we do. Come on, guys, this is true ESPECIALLY for Wind Waker...

 

[ZeldaOcarina]

As far as an M rated Zelda game goes, we can never be sure. Although Nintendo would be taking a risk, it isn't unheard of to have M-rated games from Nintendo. But, it would take a lot of change to the series for that to happen.

From the ESRB website: Titles in this category may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language.

Okay, so Zelda has a lot of violence. Fantasy violence. Meaning that, so long as we don't have a lot of blood and gore, nobody will notice that we've just killed thousands of villains. Speaking of blood and gore, I don't see the Zelda games making it into an M-rating in this category. How many Zelda games do we see where, after hitting an enemy they bleed, and once you defeat it, the body remains? Exactly. This would change the gameplay drastically. Sexual content... well, I've seen a lot of sexual content in T-rated games, so to make it an M-rating in terms of sexual content would be very difficult. And strong language, well I don't think we'll see any moblins running around throwing out the 'f'-work much.

However, this doesn't mean that Zelda will never make an M-rated game. Perhaps Nintendo will think, since their original fan base (from the NES days) are adults now, maybe they should cater a game specifically to them. However, this would be to exclude their newer fans, which I'm sure wouldn't appeal to Nintendo. Or they'll decide, hey, why not make a game for all these older gamers, who think Nintendo is a 'kiddy' thing? But, of course, Nintendo isn't one to make an M-rated game just to get more players. They certainly aren't lacking in Zelda fans, that's for sure.

But, once again, who knows where Nintendo will take us next? That's just who they are, always surprising fans. If they did create an M-rated Zelda game, yeah, I would buy it. But, with slight skepticism, as I'm sure many would, because they would have to basically change so much about the game to make it so highly rated.

 

[athenian200]

I think that there's a possibility they would, if their market research showed that it would get them more sales. But I really hope they don't. I like the fact that Zelda is a game that people of all ages can enjoy. And I'm also not a fan of excessive gore, sexuality, profanity, and violence. Just because those things are deemed appropriate for adults, doesn't mean I enjoy seeing those things as a result of being an adult. Not to mention that I really enjoyed showing OoT to my half-brothers. I wouldn't have been able to share it with them if it had an M rating.

I feel that trying to create a good story within the confines of a lower rating is a challenge and limitation that forces Nintendo to be creative and make better games. Often, some of the best stories written were originally meant to be children's stories. Alice in Wonderland, Chronicles of Narnia... they're all amazingly creative and filled with symbolism and depth.

There are certainly plenty of adults who play video games. But among those adults, there are those who wouldn't appreciate "adult" themes. On top of that, you also exclude the entire market of younger players. You don't necessarily exclude older players when you target younger ones as well.

I feel that shock value, such as that associated with things that merit an M rating, is often overused in games and movies to add the illusion of reality and meaning to what is actually a poorly-written story with very little humor or plot execution. Certainly, there are situations where it's called for and adds something. But we've all seen movies where they just layer on such things to the point that the movie is all about being shocking/disturbing, and has little else of consequence.

Therefore, I affirm that I want Nintendo to keep Zelda accessible to all ages, and continue making it a creative, unique product amongst several that are not nearly as appealing to people with my mindset.

 

[Ronin]

Not with Shigeru Miyamiro as president, thankfully. He values the series too highly to see it go astray. But under the behest of a different man I'm afraid LoZ might one day become M-rated.