Tag: News

As most of you are probably aware, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata, in response to poor 3DS sales and in an attempt to reach gamers who are dissatisfied with Nintendo’s online capabilities, has decided to start allowing third party companies to impliment downloadable content. In general, Nintendo is planning to have a much greater focus on catering to the online community while still doing a lot of the same things they’ve been doing all along. Iwata refers to this as making online another “pillar” of Nintendo, and aims to set up a means for third party companies to start selling DLC for the 3DS by the end of the year, as well as making this a staple feature of the Wii U next year.

I’ve been thinking about various different franchises that could benefit from this, and to me, the obvious choice to serve as the poster child for Nintendo’s new online surge is Pokemon. From the very beginning, Pokemon was supposed to be about interacting with other players. Trading Pokemon and engaging friends in Pokemon battles has been a staple of the series since the release of the first generation. With the DS, online battling opened up a whole new world for Pokemon fans, as you were no longer limited to interacting with your friends who lived close by. For the first time, you could play Pokemon with anyone in the world. It was a great moment for the franchise, but it shouldn’t be considered the pinnacle of the franchise’s success, but rather a foundation for a new, better gaming experience. With improved online capabilities on the 3DS, and DLC on the horizon, what can we expect to see from Pokemon in the future? If Game Freak is listening, I have a few suggestions.

We have an ongoing speculation series, and while this is speculation, most here may be surprised (or not surprised as it were) that this is actually my very first theorizing piece ever written at ZI. Does that matter? A little, because in this speculation there are some obvious gaps that can’t really be answered. This is a shot in the dark to explain why the “Siren World” exists at all, as well as why and how we have never seen it in any game before Skyward Sword.

We’ve always wondered since Ocarina of Time what exactly the Sacred Realm contains and looks like. It’s the resting place of the Triforce, and we have sealed Ganondorf there in the past. Is it a heavenly place on earth? Does it contain mystical powers? Or is it simply a world in which things get sealed away?

While the current generation of video game systems saw Nintendo pulling in big sales numbers with the Wii and DS, the general perception of Nintendo as seen by the established video game fan crowd was that Nintendo was not a producer of “hardcore” products. Rather than engage Sony and Microsoft in a battle for the best graphics and online, Nintendo opted for a less powerful, non-HD system with a pretty minimal online experience. Instead, Nintendo focused on producing content at a cheaper price than their competitors, and to a broader demographic than just the typical gaming audience.

Nintendo let the other two companies fight over essentially the same crowd, diving sales almost equally between them, instead targeting a new crowd. Many felt that the Wii, and to some extent the DS as well, was far too “casual”, and Nintendo was no longer a “serious” video game company. Nintendo aims to dispel these notions in the next generation with the already launched 3DS, and the upcoming Wii U. Nintendo may very well succeed in shaking that label, but they are in danger of being branded with something potentially worse than the “casual” label. Read on to see the threat Nintendo faces.

Ever since we first saw the Skyward Sword logo back at E3 2010, I’m sure a lot of you have wondered why the Hylian crest is featured so prominently. Later, of course, it was revealed that Skyward Sword is a precursor to Ocarina of Time, meaning it should shed some light on the flourishing Hylian civilization we see in that game. As I mentioned in my last Tribes of Skyward Sword article, which discussed the various sky peoples throughout the series, there’s also the possibility that we’ll see the “ancestors of the Hylians” mentioned in Twilight Princess – and that the people of Skyloft are these ancestors.

Today I want to focus on one thing in specific, though: the Hylian crest. How does it tie in to Skyward Sword‘s plot? Where does it show up, and how can we compare these appearances to what we’ve seen so far in the other games? There’s not too much to go by right now, but what we have seen is pretty telling. Jump inside for my dissection of the topic.

Shigeru Miyamoto has been the biggest name in gaming for over two decades now. He helped bring the young video game market back from near death with hit titles like Donkey Kong and Super Mario Bros in the early 80s, and from there, he just kept going. Donkey Kong Country, Legend of Zelda, Star Fox, and Pikmin are among his many critically acclaimed and top selling creations. While he has continued to be active in his existing franchises, as well as helping develop and promote new hardware, it’s been eleven years since Miyamoto gave us a new franchise. What can we expect from the video game industry’s greatest mastermind in the future? Read on for some possibilities.

After much anticipation from our forum community, here’s the third installment of our Zelda Informer Timeline series! Today’s timeline is a “balanced split” timeline, brought to us by forum member Voo_Bopo.

For those who aren’t aware, while a Split Timeline beginning with Ocarina of Time and continuing through its sequels has been confirmed by the creators, the nature of how other games relate to the two timelines has not. There are many possibilities for placing the games, but three main ideas have emerged: an adult-heavy approach, which adapts the original games as stories set in the New Hyrule founded after The Wind Waker (as seen in our first timeline by former Bomber Editor Ben Lamoreux), a child-heavy approach which resolves them by placing them in the Old Hyrule stories set after Twilight Princess, and a more balanced timeline that places games more evenly between the two sides.

Today’s article is an example of the last approach, and you’ll get to see the reasoning behind it after the jump.

Oh, hey there! You might remember me from such giveaways as Zelda Informer’s free draw for a copy of Skyward Sword upon release. My name is “Zelda Informer’s Facebook Prize Giveaway”. How do I work you ask, well… You start by liking ZI on Facebook, and when we reach a certain figure – in this case 5000 – we’ll be giving away a Nintendo 3DS along with a 3DS game of your choice.

All you’ll have to do is like us on Facebook, and then comment on the special draw entry status we make. But, the technicalities aren’t a concern yet. All that matters now is reaching that target of 5000, so invite your friends, families, pets – whatever (just not duplicate accounts), and you just might end up the lucky winner of that Nintendo 3DS you haven’t purchased yet along with a shiny new game. Why are you still here even, get on over to Facebook!

I stumbled upon a rumored box shot for the regular edition European release of Skyward Sword on GoNintendo, and while I have no way of confirming its veracity, I can say that it’s freaking gorgeous. While I love the “gold box” representation we’ve typically seen for American releases and in the series in general, I’ve really got to say – why are the other covers always prettier?

Personally I’m leaning towards this perhaps not being the real box-art, not because I don’t think this is what the Europe package would look like – I’ve admitted that I thought this was an iconic enough representation to definitely be a candidate for the cover in a discussion of fan-made boxes a couple weeks back. Find out why I’m so gosh darn skeptical after the jump.

UPDATE: Apparently the European boxart appearing at retailers for the standalone regular edition matches the limited edition art. Looks like this game’s getting a “real” worldwide release!

According to Official Nintendo Magazine, which I’d say is a pretty reputable source for gaming news in the UK, the gold Skyward Sword limited edition bundle we proclaimed to high heavens yesterday is indeed coming to the region.

The gold Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword bundle is coming to the UK and Europe when the game launches in November.

Nintendo Of America announced the gold Zelda bundle yesterday and we are pleased to report that UK fans will also be able to get their hands on this special limited-edition bundle if they pre-order the game before 18 November.

One thing I noticed that differs between this report and the one from Nintendo of America: the bundle is reported as pre-order only. I think it’s safe to assume that this will be the case over here as well, although “limited” bundles tend to overfloweth in the States, so who knows? And yes, early adopters will still be getting that fancy Zelda Symphony CD. It’s looking like a great time to be a Zelda fan worldwide!

UPDATE: Other reports surfacing around the web suggest anybody on the continent should be assured that they’ll be getting the bundle, too. You can see the full quote from Official Nintendo Magazine after the jump.

2:02am US Central time on August 18 2011 and I was reading some article, by some new writer guy, at some fansite. It was then that I thought about which Zelda game is my favorite. It definitely wasn’t Ocarina of Time. A Link to the Past came close, but no cigar. In fact, it wasn’t even Majora’s Mask. Actually, it wasn’t even developed or published by Nintendo!

No – not those Philips CD-I games; how dare you even mention those disgraces of which we speaketh not. The game I speak of is true quality to the max, squared, then multiplied by seven. Yes folks, the game reviewed here and now is the ultimate Legend of Zelda game. I refer, of course, to the 2005 flash game “The Legend of Zelda and the Lampshade of No Real Significance” developed by Super Flash Bros. Seriously, what else would I be referring to?