Skyward Sword Should Nintendo Have Waited a Year?

[LinkIRL]

I am SO sorry if posting so many different threads in one category is against the forum rules (I didn't see it in the rules), but I get these thoughts and I just feel compelled to create a thread because I want to know everyone else's thoughts. Also, Merry Christmas to all!

Anyways, Skyward Sword was released last year (2011) in November for the Nintendo Wii. As we all know, the Nintendo Wii does NOT support High-Definition picture. 480p is its best picture on an HDTV. But I feel like Skyward Sword's graphics and art style had so much potential to be shown in HD. Why didn't Nintendo wait a year and release Skyward Sword for the Wii U instead? Is it because a new Zelda game was due ASAP? Was the Wii U still in development? What was it?

And yes I'm aware the game was made for WiiMotion Plus, but they could have easily released the game for the regular Wii as well just like Twilight Princess was released for both GameCube and Wii. I wouldn't have minded waiting another year personally if it meant getting the next title in HD. The game still looks great on the Wii and I love it, but I think I will end up enjoying the game a lot more had Nintendo made it for Wii U HD instead.

What are you thoughts? Do you agree or not? Would you have been able to wait an extra year for SS?

 

[Ventus]

I don't think another year would have benefited Skyward Sword at all; by 2011 we had already been waiting FIVE years for a new Zelda, and with the way SS turned out I think the extra year for HD visuals wouldn't have done anything worth mentioning for the game.

I mean, sure, anti-aliasing looks amazing and SS should've had it. But, is it really worth the extra year?

 

[Curmudgeon]

Five year wait? Welcome to 1998 when OoT came out. That's not a desert I want to wander in again.

 

[JuicieJ]

It most likely would have meant more time to polish the already extremely-polished gameplay, allowing for its ideas to flow together more properly, so it technically would have been worth the wait. But the Wii needed its own original Zelda title, especially since it needed a title to send it off with a bang as it neared the end of its life. Besides, the game we got still wound up being fantastic. While it could have used some improvement in a few areas, it ultimately wound up being one of the most exceptional titles in the series -- a franchise elite, if you will -- and helped set the bar for future titles to follow. Nintendo made the right decision by me.

 

[LinkIRL]

It most likely would have meant more time to polish the already extremely-polished gameplay, allowing for its ideas to flow together more properly, so it technically would have been worth the wait (most likely). But the Wii needed its own original Zelda title, especially since it needed a title to send it off with a bang as it neared the end of its life. Besides, the game we got still wound up being fantastic. While it could have used some improvement in a few areas, it ultimately wound up being one of the most exceptional titles in the series -- a franchise elite, if you will -- and helped set the bar for future titles to follow. Nintendo made the right decision by me.

I respect your opinion, JuicieJ, but I thought Twilight Princess was the Wii's "original" Zelda title. While it was released on the GCN also, I feel like The Wind Waker was the GCN's real "original" title.

 

[JuicieJ]

I respect your opinion, JuicieJ, but I thought Twilight Princess was the Wii's "original" Zelda title. While it was released on the GCN also, I feel like The Wind Waker was the GCN's real "original" title.

"Original" is the same thing as "exclusive" in this case.

 

[LinkIRL]

"Original" is the same thing as "exclusive" in this case.

Ohh, I gotcha. That makes sense.

 

[Blu Ray]

No because Wii lacked an exclusive Zelda title. To not put Skyward Sword beatiful graphical potential to waist, they should recycle It on Wii U first Zelda title to also shorten It's development time and open room for a 2nd and perhaps even 3rd Zelda title on the console. Of course, by recycling It I mean an improved version of the same graphics. Better textures, anti aliasing and better lightning effects are some of the things I'm looking for.

 

[The Wanderer]

I'm not of the opinion Nintendo "should" have waited an extra year to release Skyward Sword. Would it have given them time to hone everything in the game and throw in HD visuals for good measure? Yeah, but it probably would have also driven me insane. I was hanging on every news release of Skyward Sword during most of the five-year development period; being told I had to wait yet another year so they could convert the graphics to HD on the Wii U probably would have been over the top for me. And chances are they wouldn't have patched any of the annoying flaws (empty sky, lackluster sidequests, abundant linearity) in that time. They might have, but I'm under the impression Nintendo was pretty set on their current course.

Besides, Zelda can get HD visuals anyway now that the Wii U is out, so I wouldn't worry about Skyward Sword's release so much. It was one of the Wii's last titles, but somehow I don't think that was what hampered its overall sales primarily.

 

[Random Person]

We Zelda peeps are patient. We don't mind waiting a year if the time is for a reason. Most Zelda peeps, if you ask them, will say they prefer a quality game over time than a bad rushed game. There wasn't much they could do to SS in a year that was worth waiting that long. Those 50% of us that were displeased, I'm sure, would still be displeased, perhaps even moreso because we had to wait a good while.

That's my opinion, however, it is destroyed by the fact that I highly enjoyed TP and some of the things I enjoyed a lot more because they were on the Wii. So the case is, I can't see how a year would've made SS better, but TP is proving that it could've been.

I, myself, saw TP as Zelda-Wii, but a good many others believed (and still believe) it to be a gamecube title. Thus, leaving the Wii without an exclusive title just doesn't seem right.

I am all over the place, but basically I don't think waiting would've been a good idea, or made that much of a difference for that matter.

 

[MW7]

I really think there would have been diminishing returns with respect to Skyward Sword's development especially from my perspective. Another year would have marginally enhanced the game, and almost all of my gripes about the game concern design choices rather than technical flaws. For instance the bug/treasure notifications bothered me a lot and those were something that were intentionally included in the game. I mean maybe having another year would have given someone the idea to give players the ability to turn them off but who knows. They could have added more content to the sky, more sidequests, or more dungeons with another year, but I actually have no idea about whether or not they had the necessary disc space to work with in order to pull that off. More content is usually a good thing.

 

[KawiNinjaZX]

I played SS on my 58'' plasma with composite cables and I thought it looked great (and I play a ton of PS3 in 1080p). The game was awesome and it would have looked better in true HD, but I think it looked excellent in plain old SD.

 

[DarkestLink]

HD would be wasted on SS graphics. It would be pointless. Although the addition of the much needed 2 dungeons would be nice.

 

[JuicieJ]

Although the addition of the much needed 2 dungeons would be nice.

One, how do you know two dungeons would be added? Two, what makes you say those two extra dungeons are needed?

 

[DarkestLink]

One, how do you know two dungeons would be added? Two, what makes you say those two extra dungeons are needed?

1) I don't. But they could have spent the extra time doing it.

2) Because the game was too short and needed an extra two dungeons. Storywise, it's not hard. We could recruit the first two sages to give the sword its power or we could split the Triforce into three dungeons. Regardless, I expect at last 9 dungeons (including final dungeon) from a Zelda game. Especially one that took 5 years.