Tag: News

We at Zelda Informer have made a few major false starts on what would have otherwise been big news (the Zordiana fiasco comes to mind). Yeah, we know, we’re not perfect – but here’s some food for thought: no one is. Today I’d like to focus on a more positive subject: predictions or comments we’ve made about either Skyward Sword or the future of the series in general that are now confirmed.

The idea for this article came from an offhand comment made in a staff Skype chat and quickly evolved when we realized just how scarily accurate some of our predictions actually were. A lot of these things I don’t remember writing, which makes it even creepier. (The first one on my list, for example, came about in 2008.) Jump inside for a reminder of just how awesome we can be when we’re on top of our game.

Skyward Sword was playable for Londoners this past weekend at the local Comic Con, and Official Nintendo Magazine was there to gather all of the public impressions they could. As far as I can tell, this is the first time that fan impressions have taken the center-stage in any online publication, so I was eager to take a look and compare what others had to say to my own impressions from E3 2011. Reception is mostly positive, with particular praise given to the game’s visuals, sound, music, and new features like the stamina meter and inventory wheel setup, though there are some gripes about the Wii Motion Plus controls:

Having finally played it, I was able to appreciate the new graphics. The new art style complemented the orchestrated soundtrack and effects perfectly, adding to the core value and fantasy element of the Zelda series.

Despite what others have been saying however, the controls seemed to be the weak point for me: the new MotionPlus occasionally didn’t pick up all of the swings I was taking, the movement didn’t maintain the same smoothness that Twilight Princess offered, and having to constantly flip between the A and B buttons to use one item was annoying. I’m sure with a bit more work, they can perfect this before release, otherwise everything else was fine.

As I said before, it’s not all bad. You can see what others had to say after the jump.

In light of the upcoming holiday season, several industry a analysts have put in their two-cents concerning this year’s line-up.

Both the 3DS and Skyward Sword were mentioned. If Nintendo’s upcoming 3DS software can deliver, analysts think the system should start to pick up, but the iPhone and the PSVita will start cutting into the 3DS’s potential sales market. The comments related to Skyward Sword were not so positive.

More inside.

Operation Moonfall has been a pretty big success so far in terms of gathering a rather large amount of fans, but what has been happening so far is really only just the beginning. At the time of this post the petition has gathered over 22,000 signatures, 11,500+ fans on facebook, and over 1,000 follwers on twitter. Still, this isn’t enough to move on with what was originally Phase 2, and now will become Phase 3.

Three great topics, one epic news post. We’ve really dropped the ball this weekend, but more importantly is that we’ve really dropped our Zelda coverage the last week in Alex Plant’s noted absence due to real life issues. It’s unacceptable behavior and I do not blame anyone who has ventured elsewhere to find the Zelda coverage they crave.

Of course, we have thousands of loyal fans who aren’t even aware there was coverage out there. After all, if ZI didn’t post it than likely there was nothing to discuss. This isn’t exactly true, as I bring 2 missed topics and 1 new one to light.

The concept of a Zelda MMO use to be a pretty popular topic among many a Zelda fan. The idea of thousands of Links running around, a couple thousand Gorons, all beating the crap out of each other sure does sound like a fun time. Then again, Zelda has never been a game that truly would function properly in the MMO format.

Now, some of this can be changed by exploring a era in Zelda that involves a massive War – I am sure you all know what era that is. Whether or not you believe x game was the true war or not, none of us have actually ever fought in it. So, a MMO built around a period of time where good and evil were in a massive war seems like a great setting for a Zelda MMO.

The other day we launched our official Nintendo Wiki, and spent a little time telling you the goals of the project and how it’s different than everything else. I just wanted to stress again the Wiki’s actual potential for ZI, and why all of you should consider contributing to what we hope becomes the future of ZI.

While the wiki will do what wiki’s usually do (provide factual information about Zelda, Mario, Nintendo, and all that jazz), it’s really going to be so much more. Think of it like a giant database of winning. The goal is to make the wiki become a full extension of the site, with guides, and extensions on top of the news we post.

Of course, this isn’t possible without you. We need you. Have you ever wanted to work for ZI but didn’t make it through the normal process? Now is your time to shine. Now is everyone’s time to shine. This wiki is for you. So what are you waiting for, go contribute right now! Registration is required.

This has been one of ZI’s best kept secrets, but it’s reaching the point that we are going as far as our limited staff can on our own, which means it’s time to bring ZIpedia, aka Zelda Informer’s official Nintendo Wiki, to the public. We’ve been working on the wiki itself for awhile and of course we have some experience with our work on Zelda Wiki and of course our creation of Metroid Wiki.

ZIpedia’s goal, in general, is to provide a comprehensive wiki on all matters of Nintendo, with a special Zelda focus. It also aims to bring our game content to a broader audience, and fully endorse and instill theorizing as a mainstay among the regular articles.

We posted a snippet from Official Nintendo Magazine‘s August issue interview with Yoshiaki Koizumi about Super Mario 3D Land that talked about introducing more familiar suits besides the Tanooki Suit, but now we’ve got a lot more of the interview to dissect. Apparently Mario‘s taking a leaf out of Zelda‘s book and going “back to basics” with its next installment. With Skyward Sword, this means a more active focus on combat and exploration, and judging by Koizumi’s description Mario‘s going to focus on creating a more streamlined 3D experience that focuses on the traditional mechanics.

I would say that Mario at its core has a very simple, very pop aesthetic and a very functional notion informing it and we may have started to drift from that in some of the Mario console games which are very large and occasionally very complex.

The portable Mario gives us the chance to get back to the very simple basics of the Mario universe.

Of course, returning Mario to his roots involves more than just the core mechanics and traditional Mushroom Kingdom aesthetic – it extends all the way to the way the story is presented. Jump inside for more details regarding the game’s development.

Look, I enjoy IGN time to time. I also get very frustrated with them time to time. As an example of my most recent frustration with them, check out what they had to say in regards to Nintendo and their “platform games”:

The company that is truly bucking the trend is Nintendo. What other company still charges full price for a classic platformer experience? In the last couple of years we’ve had New Super Mario Bros., DKC Returns and Kirby’s Epic Yarn to name a few. These titles are obviously Nintendo’s bread and butter, but it does put the company at odds with the rest of the industry.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Mario, Donkey Kong and Kirby as much as the next guy, but it can’t be denied that these games are selling gameplay that hasn’t necessarily evolved since the NES and SNES eras, at five times the price of new and original games being released on PSN, Steam and XBLA. These titles don’t have the added bonuses of HD graphics, online play, leaderboards, true 5.1 sound and the potential for DLC expansions. So why is Nintendo the platform for platformers? Is the company capitalising on the ‘retro fad’? Is it reaching out to the customers it lost at the end of the SNES era, only to regain in the motion era? One thing’s for sure; Nintendo didn’t have this kind of support for the genre on the Nintendo 64 or Gamecube.

That’s just the start, folks. Hop inside.