Zelda Wii has to be revolutionary

Do you remember the time, where the Zelda games were some of the most influential and revolutionary video games? That was back in the 90s. Since then we got ten more Zelda games, which just sustained what Ocarina of Time and the other classics had created. Of course each game got its own big twist, which they have added to the classic Zelda formula, but none of it was something fundamental. The most influential things the Zelda series did in the last ten years were probably the cell shading style of The Wind Waker and the touch screen controls of the Nintendo DS Zelda games, which inspired multiple other Nintendo DS games to feature similar controls. But that's it and Zelda isn't on the pinnacle of gaming anymore.

What made Ocarina of Time so great was that it influenced 3D gaming unlike any other game at its time. It's not only the controls and Z-Targeting, but the overall presentation of a 3D world. The looks, the feel and the atmosphere were unprecedented, the game was an unforgetable experience full of fresh ideas. What the Zelda series needs is a second Ocarina of Time. And with that I don't mean a game, that just tries hard to be like Ocarina of Time. We already got our "Ocarina of Time 2" with Twilight Princess, but no one would call this game revolutionary. What I want is a game, that is as revolutionay and influential as Ocarina of Time was, a game that just makes you marvel in it's own way. You can't do that anymore by simply pushing the graphics and making larger worlds. Graphics in video games became already so good and so realistic, that you can't impress anyone anymore with visual presentation alone. So, how can Zelda ever be revolutionary again?

The key is MotionPlus.

The two best motion control games right now are still Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort. And those are mere demos of what's possible with the Wii. No one tried to get the full potential out of the system yet, not even Nintendo. All Mario needs is a d-pad or a control stick and two buttons. This is where Zelda comes in, Zelda can be different. A game that fully immerses you into its adventure world just by letting you hold sword and shield in your own hands. Wii Sports Resort was already quite fun, but you can do so much more. If they do it right, Zelda Wii could become the most amazing and fun gaming experience in a while.

That's also why you can easily dismiss the rumors about Zelda Wii lately as fakes. None of them say anything real about the gameplay except for the already known fact, that it's going to use MotionPlus. But how does it play? How does it feel like? We wanna know! Instead they talk about bullshit like the Hero of Time coming back or the timeline placement. Only diehard Zelda fans care about something like that, but not the average customer. Games like New Super Mario Bros. don't sell twenty million copies because of their not so awesome story. New Super Mario sells, because it's a great platforming game. Good games sell because of good gameplay and the content related to its gameplay. And Zelda Wii will sell because of its hopefully awesome motion control gameplay and the content that comes with it. The idea of taking sword and shield into your own hands. Fighting monsters with your own hands. Twilight Princess didn't really deliver that with its gimmicky controls, but Zelda Wii can.

And of course Zelda itself has to change, too. Aren't we tired by getting a Forest, Fire and Water Temple again and again? And why does it even has to be always "temples"? Aren't we tired of empty fields and oceans that we simply cross with a horse, a boat or a train? Aren't we tired of getting the same puzzles all the time? Aren't we tired of getting essentially the same game again? The Gorons are actually a nice example that illustrates this problem. They were introduced in Ocarina of Time among lots of other races. And everyone loved them, because they something new and strange, something we had never seen in any game before. It was exciting and it was great. But then we got Gorons in every new Zelda game with the exception of Four Swords. Does anyone still get excited about the Gorons in games like Spirit Tracks? No? I didn't think so. And the Gorons are just one example of how stale the Zelda series has become over the last years.

What Nintendo wants to do right now to bring some fresh air into the overall Zelda formula by changing the overworld-dungeon-overworld mechanics. I'm guessing something more like Metroid Prime and that Retro Studios had some big influence here. But it's one step in the right direction. Zelda Wii should be fresh and should be able to surprise us with unique ideas. Again the fake informations don't talk about this. They are mentioning the change of the dungeon-field-dungeon gameplay and that there will be lots of new ideas, but they don't go into detail. How does the world structure in Zelda Wii actually change? What are those new ideas? If you really want to trick someone with rumors about Zelda Wii, make sure you talk about how the motion controls play out and what new ideas the game actually delivers instead of listing trivias.

Zelda Wii has the chance of becoming a revolutionary game that brings Zelda back to the zenith of gaming. A game, where everyone talks about it and where everyone wants to play it. Being the first game, that makes extensive use motion controls to immerse the player into its world, and some fresh air in the Zelda franchise are the key.