Got Tears of the Kingdom Keychain + Zelda Playing Cards

Here are some more goodies from the My Nintendo Store. The first one is a glow-in-the-dark keychain for Tears of the Kingdom, certainly useful for whenever you might travel into the Depths. It was recently available for 600 Platinum Points and it looks really nice, where this was the main reason for my order. But I didn't want to pay full postal charges just for this, so I also ordered something else in addition, where there was just recently another Zelda item made available the store.

This set of playing cards was originally available in Japan only for the 25th Anniversary, but now it made it somehow to us. The instruction paper inside is even entirely in Japanese, still. Anyway, you can now easily buy it in the My Nintendo Store for 17.50€, which is quite the price...

And I wouldn't say it's worth it. A lot of the motives look quite cheap, where they didn't even bother with using official art. Like, the Makar who you can see above is actually a cutout of his 3D ingame model... It also only makes use of four Zelda games and not of the entire bandwidth of the games up to the 25th Anniversary.

• Spades: The Legend of Zelda
  
• Diamonds: Ocarina of Time
  
• Hearts: The Wind Waker
• Clubs: Skyward Sword
  

The idea isn't entirely terrible, but it all looks a bit busy. There is some funny stuff, though, like having Tingle as the joker.

Zelda eShop cards

So, yesterday I've made a trip to Berlin visiting a friend and on my way I finally got the Zelda themed eShop cards at a Gamestop. It seems like Gamestop is one of very few shops in Germany, where you can buy these cards. I couldn't get the cards anywhere in my town and you can't order them online. Well, Gamestop had plenty of them and I bought one of each version. That's 45€, probably enough for all Virtual Console games I'm going to download in the future.

Here are the cards:

I already downloaded Link's Awakening DX, since I buy all available Zelda games for all my systems - for the collection. Virtual Console games now have a nice save state option, which works like quick saves in every common emulator. While the save state has a nice screenshot on the touchscreen, showing you where you were, there's only one save state per game. Well, but it's better than nothing and can be used to save before bosses.

On the downside I think that the visuals aren't that great, I was hoping that the game would be sharper. I'm used to playing GameBoy games on emulators, where the graphics are upscaled by simple nearest neighbor interpolation, which looks sharp and crisp. On the 3DS it's rather muddy. I would like to have more options here, like an option where you set whether the image should be stretched or not. If it's not stretched, it doesn't use the full high of the screen, but it at least looks sharp because the transition of the pixels is 1to1. Also, an option where you could switch to the classic monochrome GameBoy version would be awesome too. I always preferred that one. So, I'm a little bit disappointed about the quality and for now I will save the money for later.

UPDATE: You actually can change the resolution by holding down Select (or Start) while loading a VC game. It then shows a very nice GameBoy or GameBoy Color frame that uses some 3D effects. Also, in old GameBoy games you can change the visuals into a greenish GameBoy look by pressing L + R + Y. So, there are in fact some nice options for your VC games, just hidden...

Four Swords Anniversary Edition Gone

Happy 26th Anniversary, everybody!

To celebrate the new year of the Zelda franchise Nintendo just removed the Zelda Anniversary channel from the eShop and with it the Four Swords Anniversary Edition. You can't even purchase the game, it's just gone. With that right now Four Swords just became the hardest to play Zelda game again, unless of course you have a DSi or a 3DS with the game installed. I guess those units will be very valueable in a few years unless Nintendo decides to rerelease the game for purchase.

It even appears that I can't redownload the game in case I delete it. It's listed in my downloaded games, but instead of a blank download button (like with the other downloaded software) you only get a message saying "currently not available". Well, I haven't tried deleting and redownloading the game, I would be extremely stupid to do that.

Update: It appears that you can redownload the game.



Of course it might be that Nintendo rereleases the game because of "popular demand" and sell it for eight bucks or whatever. Removing the game increases the interest in it, because it now suddenly turned from a "boring free game" into something rare. They could also release a new version of the game minus the "Anniversary Edition" brand, maybe even with some new content. But it's doubtful and it would raise the question, whether everybody (including people who got the Anniversary Edition) has to pay for it or not.

Well, I'm happy that I got Four Swords installed on my 3DS, because I certainly wouldn't want to miss it. Of all the anniversary stuff this is my favorite, with the Realm of Memories stage you can play through all four generations of 2D Zelda (NES, SNES, GameBoy and GBA), all in one experience. And the Hero's Trial is the most badass challenge in the entire Zelda series. It's definitely not the best Zelda game, but it's enjoyable, both in mutliplayer and singleplayer.

End of 25th Anniversary

This is it. The 25th Anniversary ends today. If you haven't downloaded the Four Swords Anniversary Edition, this is your last chance to get the game (for free). It's still unknown, whether the game will be available for purchase after or removed from the eShop alltogether. But it's likely that they will sell the game later because of "popular demand".

Well, the 25th Anniversary delivered without any doubt the greatest year, the Zelda franchise has seen. Ocarina of Time 3D, the Four Swords Anniversary Edition and Skyward Sword were released during the time span of the anniversary and to celebrate Nintendo offered many different events and merchandise. Here's again the overview from my 2011 article:

• Robin and Zelda Williams commercials for Ocarina of Time 3D,
  Four Swords Anniversary Edition and Skyward Sword
• Ocarina of Time 3D Soundtrack CD for all early registrations
• Link's Awakening DX as the first GameBoy Color Virtual Console game
• a special remake of Four Swords dedicated to the anniversary available for FREE
• a Zelda Flipnote contest
• Zelda 25th Anniversary Symphony orchestras spawning the Symphony of the Goddesses tour
• Zelda 25th Anniversary Symphony CD bundled with all first edition copies of Skyward Sword
• Golden Wiimote bundled with the Limited Edition of Skyward Sword
• special Zelda stage in Super Mario 3D Land
• three 25th Anniversary Zelda eShop cards
• Zelda 25th Anniversary Nintendo 3DS Limited Edition Bundle
• Golden Nunchuk (only Japanese Club Nintendo so far)
• Hyrule Historia Artbook (only Japan so far) revealing the official Zelda timeline
• other merchandise like t-shirts and posters

Nintendo really has put A LOT of effort into the 25th Anniversary of Zelda. A lot more than what they did for Mario and Metroid hasn't seen any celebration yet. My personal favorites have to be the Four Swords Anniversary Edition and the Hyrule Historia book. Both offered things I've been waiting to get for YEARS. An accessible Four Swords and the official timeline. Finally I can enjoy all of Four Swords whenever I want without being dependent on a second player, I'm really happy about the singleplayer and the new levels are great. And I never was someone, who enjoyed all the timeline debates, so I welcome the official one, which might not be flawless, but is still pretty good.

The Zelda themed hardware is also nice, though I had my troubles with the 3DS, as you all know. And there are some things, where I still didn't have the chance to enjoy them, like the Zelda orchestra. I still hope that the Symphony of the Goddess tour comes to Germany and to a city nearby, I would definitely go there then. And I still couldn't get any of these Zelda eShop cards, it seems they are only available at GameStop and I don't have one nearby. Maybe next time I go to Berlin, but I don't have any plans yet. And because of the Zelda eShop cards I don't want to buy any normal ones, which is why I have yet to enjoy Link's Awakening DX (or any other GameBoy game) on my 3DS.

And there isn't really anything Nintendo could have done more to celebrate the anniversary. I was only disappointed, that here in Germany the Club Nintendo didn't offer any interesting Zelda merchandise, except for the Golden Link and Epona statue, which nobody can effort, and a Link towel. Yes, a towel. I still have tons of bonus stars and I was hoping that for the anniversary Nintendo would offer some nice prices. But there weren't any, I'm still sitting on my Club Nintendo stars. And there was quite some good merchandise made by Nintendo (like posters, pens, small ocarinas), but they didn't offer any of it for the Club Nintendo, which is a shame. And of course they could have released more downloadable Zelda games. Like the Oracle games or the Game & Watch Zelda. But focusing on Four Swords and Link's Awakening instead was probably the smarter choice, one free game to lure them in and another one for purchase. Link's Awakening DX was (and probably still is) the best selling eShop game. And it's good that they saved games like the Oracles for later to fill the empty void we're heading through until the release of the next Zelda game.

Well, you can't say it enough, this was probably the most exciting year for a Zelda fan ever. We got nice games, great merchandise, cool music and a constent wave of Zelda related news. And the above list shows only the official efforts done by Nintendo. Zelda fans all over the world celebrated in their own way and done their bit to the anniversary, there's tons of great art to consume, funny videos, epic artworks, nice cosplays and many more. It was a great year to be a Zelda fan. And it's doubtful that there will be another big year like this until the golden anniversary in 2036. Nintendo didn't celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Zelda and that was the year when Twilight Princess came out. Only few people recognized the 20th Anniversary of Zelda, I personally didn't even think about that at the time. But celebrating an anniversary seems like a big deal in the video game industry at the moment. Mario 25 years, Zelda 25 years and now Street Fighter 25 years, Mega Man 25 years, Epic Games 20 years. Everybody celebrates. So, it's hard to tell, whether this trend will continue and Nintendo will celebrate the 30th or 40th Anniversary or not. Or if it's really just the silver/golden quarter century anniversaries that get celebrated. It's also a question of marketing. On an old system like the Wii Skyward Sword needed every boost, which is probably the reason, why Nintendo did so many things to get attention on Zelda.

On to 25 more great years...

Super Mario 3D Land, World 5-2: The Zelda Level

It'se Meeee, Touriaaaaannn!!

Well, I bought Super Mario 3D Land today. The game is okay, but the most fun and interesting part for a Zelda fan is definitely World 5-2, the Zelda dungeon stage made for the 25th Anniversary. Like most stages so far this level is pretty short, but it's a neat one. It's entirely displayed in an overhead view and you switch between the rooms with classic Zelda scrolling. There are spiked cylinders that make a similar sound to the ones from the Nintendo DS Zelda games, Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks, though I think this is the case with all spiked cylinders in the game. And there's a room with four torches and a closed gate. If you light all four torches with the (hidden) Fire Flower power up, the "solved puzzle"-jingle from Ocarina of Time is played and the gate opens to a secret room with a Star Coin. Also, I thought that the first Star Coin was cleverly hidden. If you don't have the game, you can watch a video of the stage at IGN.

I think this level gives a nice impression of how the 3DS Zelda game could look like. It looks amazing in 3D, specially in the "pop up" mode, where the camera is closer to the floor and Mario jumps out of the sceen. I think the 3DS Zelda game doesn't have to be a 3rd Person view Zelda game like Ocarina of Time 3D, the overhead style of this Mario level is so much more charming. It could actively use the 3D in many creative ways and be a very classic and old school Zelda experience at the same time. It would also fit Aonuma's statement that they are going to built on what was done in the Nintendo DS Zelda games.

Also, I still think that re-releasing A Link to the Past as part of the 3D Classics would be awesome, it would be similar, though maybe not as impressive.

2011 – The Year of Zelda

The year is coming to an end and there's no overstatement in saying that this year was the year of Zelda. While celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the franchise we were blessed with many new things. Alone three new Zelda titles were released this year:

• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D
• The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition
• The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

There's no doubt that Skyward Sword was the biggest of these releases. Five years in the making, revolutionary controls, great gameplay enhancements and fun environments make this one of the best Zelda games and a fresh experience. It certainly wasn't perfect though, issues like bad fetch quests, linear game design and mediocre dungeons make it obvious that Zelda still isn't fully back on track. But it's a great game nonetheless and probably the pinnacle of the Wii experience.

The other two games weren't exactly new, but enhanced ports or "remakes". Ocarina of Time 3D made the old N64 classic feel much more contemporary, it looks great and plays nice and smoothly. It's the perfect way of reexperiencing Ocarina of Time, however, the lack of any new content was disappointing. The Four Swords Anniversary Edition on the other hand was my personal highlight this year, finally after eight years I get to play Four Swords whenever I want and the game offered one of the biggest challenges of the entire Zelda series - the Hero's Trial.

Next to these new games some Zelda games got a re-release on the 3DS Virtual Console:

• The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX
• The Legend of Zelda (3DS Ambassador Program)
• Zelda II - The Adventure of Link (3DS Ambassador Program)
• The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (3DS Ambassador Program)

So far only one of these game is available to everyone, the other three were part of the 3DS Ambassador Program and are only available to you if you were stupid enough to buy a 3DS early (you've learned your lesson). But they'll most likely will be sold on the eShop sooner or later, for example The Legend of Zelda is already available in Japan. Well, the point is that this year was very strong release-wise. Only 2003 and 2007 have been as strong and only in Europe.

But that's not all of it, it wouldn't be the biggest Zelda year ever if it only was for the games. Nintendo celebrated the 25th Anniversary of Zelda and they celebrated it big time with different merchandise, special releases and events. Let's take a look at all their efforts:

• Robin and Zelda Williams commercials for Ocarina of Time 3D,
  Four Swords Anniversary Edition and Skyward Sword
• Ocarina of Time 3D Soundtrack CD for all early registrations
• Link's Awakening DX as the first GameBoy Color Virtual Console game
• a special remake of Four Swords dedicated to the anniversary available for FREE
• a Zelda Flipnote contest
• the Zelda 25th Anniversary Symphony orchestras around the world
• Zelda 25th Anniversary Symphony CD bundled with all
  first edition copies of Skyward Sword
• Golden Wiimote bundled with the Limited Edition of Skyward Sword
• special Zelda stage in Super Mario 3D Land
• three 25th Anniversary Zelda eShop cards
• Limited 25th Anniversary Zelda Nintendo 3DS Edition Bundle
• Golden Nunchuk (only Japanese Club Nintendo so far)
• Hyrule Historia Artbook (only Japan so far)
• the revelation of the official Zelda timeline
• other merchandise like t-shirts and posters

Just compare this to the 25th Anniversary of Mario or Metroid. Mario got red colored hardware, the Flipnote contest and a disc re-release of an old SNES game. That's it. Metroid basically got nothing so far. Nintendo really put all their efforts into celebrating the 25th Anniversary and that felt great. Zelda got a lot of attention this year and saw many great additions to the franchise. Some of it was awaited for many, many years. Finally singleplayer for Four Swords, finally orchestrated Zelda music, finally the official timeline! What a year!

Of course most of it was done for marketing reasons, to built the hype. And I'm not happy with some of their stunts, for example adding preorder bonuses to Ocarina of Time 3D and denying a special Zelda 3DS bundle at first, so that Zelda fans would go for the game (and maybe a 3DS) early, and then releasing a 3DS Zelda bundle half a year later anyway. This is something that somehow ruined the Anniversary for me and I'm still pissed about it. Luckily I could sell my red 3DS for a good price, but I still lost quite some money and I probably won't ever buy a Nintendo system earlier than really necessary again. I've lost some of my trust in Nintendo due to this action.

Well, for myself I celebrated the anniversary by replaying pretty much all Zelda games, which was a nice and refreshing experience. I also finally got to 100%ly complete all Zelda games before starting Skyward Sword, a longtime goal of mine. So, that was basically my 25th Anniversary, I used the year to play a lot of Zelda (it's also my 25th year of age by the way, I'm as old as the franchise, I like that). And I will definitely always remember this year.

As a conclusion I can only say that this was without a doubt the greatest Zelda year ever. The only downside is that we probably won't get another year like that in the next 25 years until the 50th Anniversary. This amount of new Zelda games, merchandise and events in one year is pretty much unsurpassable. So, I hope you all enjoyed 2011, I sure did.

Happy new year!

Hyrule Historia Artbook Reveals Zelda Timeline

I guess you've all heard about the Hyrule Historia Artbook by now. It seems like the 25th Anniversary celebration never stops. Well, this artbook contains not only tons of nice (concept) art for all the games, it seems it also reveals the timeline! Yes, you've heard me right. For the 25th Anniversary Nintendo actually releases a timeline! Some people wished for that, but no one would have thought that Nintendo actually does that. All they ever did was talking about their super secret document that nobody is supposed to see. I guess they changed their mind (that or this is not the official timeline). The artbook will be released this Friday in Japan. There are currently no plans for this book to appear in the West.

I always wanted to post my own timeline here on Hyrule Blog. But I really hate the discussions and it seems like making your own timeline isn't necessary anymore. I like the idea of having an official timeline. Now if somebody says things like "it's still a linear timeline" or "The Minish Cap takes places after Spirit Tracks", you can say to his face "that's wrong!!" - and I love that.

Well, here it is (courtesy of Glitterberry):

The A Link to the Past split is caused by "Link failing". That's interesting and really weird. If Link failing is an option, it should be available for every game. So, each game should create a split with a hypothetical alternate reality where Link failed. Skyward Sword should create a new timeline, where everything got eradicated by Demise. It feels weird, so far the only game where Link's failure really gets hammered into your head is Zelda II - RETURN OF GANON. But I guess the third branch also was created by all the time travelling and I'm eager to read the full explanation.

However, generally I like the idea of having three splits. Usually you would cram all 2D games right into the child timeline after Twilight Princess creating one long branch. But giving the 2D games their own branch makes it look neater.

It also follows the symbolism of the series, where each branch of the timeline basically represents a piece of the Triforce. The Adult Timeline with The Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks, where Zelda has been an important character, represents the Triforce of Wisdom. The Child Timeline on the other hand represents the Triforce of Courage, where Link goes on his own, scary adventure with Majora's Mask, while Twilight Princess and Four Swords Adventures are also quite dark games. And the new branch of the timeline displays Ganon's rise to power, which is perfect for the Triforce of Power.

But I don't like the placement of the Four Swords games. Four Swords Adventures was basically the direct sequel to Four Swords, at least the intro makes you believe that. Well, on the other hand Aonuma once made a statement that Four Swords came before Ocarina of Time, which is probably the reason why the timeline puts the game there, but obviously it's contradicting with the intro of FSA. Also, I'd say that FSA really fits more into the story of the 2D games, especially since it shows how Ganon got the Trident. For me FSA was the Imprisoning War. You get the dark clouds covering Hyrule, Ganon is building an army inside the Dark Realm and the Knights of Hyrule are disappearing. It's all there and it feels much more war-like than Ocarina of Time, the only difference is that the Master Sword wasn't involved here. Instead they used the Four Sword to ban Ganon. However, the GameBoy Advance version of A Link to the Past basically backed this up, there you find the broken Four Sword inside the Pyramid. It's like Ganon broke from the seal and cursed the Four Sword, so that no one could ever use it against him. Also, in the child timeline they protected the Sacred Realm from ever being invaded by Ganondorf. But FSA deals with the Dark World in its entirety. So, if FS and FSA would take place before A Link to the Past, the timeline would be near perfect in my eyes. But I can live with that.


UPDATE: It appears that Aonuma was one of the editors of this book and that the timeline is indeed credible. I also did some "research" about FSA. The game was originally intended to be the Imprisoning War, which is why there are so many similarities, but then they simplified the storyline (see here), which is why the game was placed where it's now. It's sad actually, the game would have been awesome as the Imprisoning War. And yeah, Four Swords is not necessarily the direct prequel. So, well, I'm good with the timeline.


Source: Kotaku & Glitterberri

Got Zelda 3DS Limited Edition Bundle

I'm weak. I admit it. I'm weak. I should have boycotted this thing. For the simple reason that Nintendo screwed every Zelda fan, who bought a Nintendo 3DS early. For releasing Ocarina of Time 3D with not one but two preorder bonuses, so that a lot of Zelda fans would buy Ocarina of Time 3D at its release (like I did). For even denying that they plan a bundle at E3. This was probably the most evil marketing move Nintendo ever pulled off. And I'm still totally angry about it.... but I still couldn't resist buying it. :D It's really the bundle I've been waiting for ever since the start of the anniversary. And there's no excuse that this wasn't already released in June.

Well, here are some photos:

The Zelda 3DS is really beautiful, it's not a simple Cosmo Black mod, the entire lower side looks completely different and everything that was white or silver on the normal 3DS model is now golden. Some outer parts of the 3DS are sheer, which isn't the case with a normal model. And I got lucky this time, I got one of the "clicky" 3DS models, the one that makes a clicking sound when open and close it. Also, the buttons feel a little bit "clickier". While playing Four Swords on my red 3DS, I got quite some problems with the stiff D-pad. It even made some weird squeaking sounds. It might be just me, but the D-pad of my clicky Zelda 3DS feels much more responsive.

I think the "clicky or not" 3DS situation is another big issue. You don't have any control over what model you'll get, I think it depends in which factory the 3DS was made. You might as well get a not-clicky Zelda 3DS, if you're unlucky. I've never seen such differences in the production of a Nintendo product, that's not something that you'd expect from Nintendo.

However, the red 3DS is really sexy and until this point I wasn't sure, if I'm going to keep it or sell it. For now I have to keep it, because I need the system transfer update first, which will be released somewhen next week (what coincidence, Nintendo... a system transfer tool right when some idiotic Zelda fans might decide to buy a second 3DS? what are the chances? :D) - I hope it lets you transfer ALL of your data. Like Miis, Play Coins, play data and what not else. Because I got lots of play coins and I got lots of Nintendo employees from the press event in October in my Mii plaza. I wouldn't want to lose any of it. If this is done, I will probably sell the red one. There's no point in keeping two 3DS systems.

About the second Ocarina copy, I love the dual-sided cover. The US boxart isn't actually so bad as I thought, you just can't really see the golden effect on pictures. But they should always do this, I mean there have been at least two different covers for all the latest Zelda games. Instead of going with one cover in a region, they should include a dual-sided cover in all copies. That way I can chose which version I like more.

Well, so much about my big Christmas gift to myself.

My opinion? If you're a Zelda fan and don't own a 3DS yet, this is definitely worth getting. And it's not just Ocarina of Time, you will also be able to play the Four Swords Anniversary Edition, which you don't want to miss. If you're a Zelda fan and already got a 3DS, then I know exactly how you feel, because I am in the same stupid situation. And if you aren't a Zelda fan, then I'm not sure what you're doing here on my blog anyway.

Update: one thing though, they should have added Link's Awakening DX to the preinstalled software. That would have made the bundle a little bit more complete. And maybe Four Swords too.

25th Anniversary Zelda 3DS Bundle Announced...

FFFUUUUUUUUUUUU

What the hell, Nintendo? Are you fucking kidding me?!! I waited MONTHS for something like this! I think at some point it was even denied that a special Zelda 3DS bundle is planned. So, I went to the store with a clear conscience that there won't be a Zelda 3DS and bought the red one. And now, one month later, this happens! You're punishing your faithful costumers! Every Zelda fan who already bought a 3DS now got betrayed by your marketing. Why not announce this earlier? Like at E3? Or at the 3DS conference? I would have waited. But there's no excuse, this should have been released since June or at least been announced at some point earlier!

This is unacceptable, Nintendo. And this isn't funny! I'm seriously angered right now and I'm never going to buy a Nintendo handheld early again. Because you're always punishing the early adopters. Something like this is the reason why people are hesitating to buy a 3DS. Nintendo just screwed every Zelda fan, who already bought one! And there are many. I mean, you can't release Ocarina of Time 3D with two preorder boni (the 3DS bag and the soundtrack CD), so that many Zelda fans go for the game, and then release an unannounced bundle for it half a year later... they screwed us. Imagine some Zelda fan bought a 3DS at the release of Ocarina of Time 3D. He would have lost 80 bucks due to the price cut and be unhappy that he didn't get the Zelda model. That's not fair!

So, what am I supposed to do right now? Buy this thing, sell my red 3DS, sell the second copy of OoT? I'm still losing money... Thanks, Nintendo! You just made one of your longtime costumers very angry and losing his trust in you.

Source: Nintendo Life

Zelda History Video + New Skyward Sword Trailer

Go watch. In case you don't know all Zelda games yet, you might learn something new. No, in any case you will learn something new, because there's a Skyward Sword trailer at the end with even more new content... most of the things was shown during the conference, but you can also spot some new stuff. Like a motor boat, a new shield and a new mysterious character.

You're controlling a motor boat on a lake in the desert area, so I hope you liked the boat stuff from previous games. It seems to be a lot faster then the boats in The Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass though. I wonder if this game also got trains in it... haha. If yes, please make them go faster as well.

And there's the fourth shield:



At first I thought that this was the new Iron Shield, the rectangle shaped one. However, that one is still in the game as shown during the conference. So is the Wooden Shield and the Hylia Shield. Which means that this is already the fourth shield that you can get. Amazing. There hasn't been any other Zelda game with so many different shields in it, the maximum so far always has been three.

And then there's this mysterious girl at the end of trailer, she looks like she's related to Ghirahim in some way, maybe his sister, lol. Or it might be one entire tribe of people. Maybe it's the Shiekah, what do we know about the Shiekah anyway? Except that they have red eyes?

It also seems like there will be lots of climbing, balancing and stamina "puzzles".

Zelda at Gamescom 2011

Actually I wanted to go to the Gamescom, but none of my friends wanted to join me and going alone there sucks... but seeing the recent images from Kotaku makes me regret my descision.




There are basically two huge walls devoted to the 25th Anniversary. One shows the history of the franchise and on the other one you can post your best wishes for the franchise on a birthday card. The wall got already covered yesterday and it certainly looks impressive.

However, the waiting line for Skyward Sword was supposed to be quite long, two hours waiting time to play the demo from the E3 (we always get the demo from the E3). And that was on a Thursday, where mostly people who live by would visit the convention. I was going to visit the Gamescom tomorrow, where people from all Germany would come...

Originally the German Games Convention used to take place in Leipzig. That's only two hours from here and I definitely would have gone there, alone or with company, doesn't matter. But Cologne is on the other side of the country and going there takes quite some time and money... I really hate that they took the Games Convention away from Leipzig.

25th Anniversary eShop section

The eShop today got a section dedicated to the 25th Anniversary of Zelda. It contains the following:

• The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX
• Make Your Own Zelda Flipnote Video
• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D Commercial
• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D Post-Launch Trailer
• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D Video
• Zelda Williams at E3 Interview
• Zelda 25th Anniversary: E3 Developers Interview

Well, I don't like the fact that Wii doesn't get some 25th Anniversary channel, but on the other hand this doesn't look like I'm missing much.

I wonder if Link's Awakening DX and Four Swords will be the end for this year's line of downloadable Zelda titles. I mean they could also add the Oracle games to the Virtual Console. And what happened to the Game & Watch Zelda game? They remade lots of Game & Watch games as DSiWare, but not the Zelda one. I mean, they wanted something Zelda for DSiWare and because of that they even will give you Four Swords for free. Why not also add the Game & Watch Zelda?

Source: Nintendo Everything (via Zelda Universe)

Nintendo Selects Twilight Princess in Europe

The first badge of the "Nintendo Selects" budget titles didn't include Twilight Princess unlike in the US and I was disappointed about this. However, next month both Twilight Princess and Super Mario Galaxy will be available for a lower price in Europe as well. Nice.

The first for games are sold for 25€ in my local retail store. I was hoping for 20, but it's still a good price... if you haven't gotten the Wii version of Twilight Princess yet, I would take this into consideration.



It should be noted that Nintendo puts this under the 25th Anniversary banner. From the press release:

This year Nintendo is celebrating the 25th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda video game series and in celebration of this has selected The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess to join its Nintendo Selects range. [...] Fans or newcomers to The Legend of Zelda series of games should keep an eye out as additional 25th anniversary activities will be announced throughout 2011.

Source: Nintendo Life

Got Ocarina of Time 3D Soundtrack CD

I got a package from Nintendo of Europe today. It contained my copy of the 25th Anniversary Edition Ocarina of Time 3D Soundtrack CD, the one you get for registering Ocarina of Time 3D early.




I will listen to it later.

Zelda 25th Anniversary Microsite

So, Metroid turned 25 this weekend and Nintendo celebrates this by opening the 25th Anniversary of Zelda microsite.



It's nothing special, it got infos about the symphony concerts, a simple history of the Zelda franchise, a flipnote Zelda contest (couldn't care less) and some nice wallpapers.

The history could have been a little bit more thorough. It's missing the Game & Watch Zelda, the BS Zeldas, Link's Awakening DX, Master Quest and Link's Crossbow Training. I can understand why they probably won't bring up the BS Zeldas now in such an overview, however, the other stuff is worth being mentioned.

Zelda Symphony Concert Dates

As part of the 25th Anniversary celebration Nintendo announced concerts all around the world. However, it seems there will be only one concert in each major region. There's one in Los Angeles on October 21st and one in London on October 25th. The one in London is the only one in Europe and I'm quite disappointed. I was hoping for one here in Berlin or at least anywhere else in Germany. Going to London for this is too expansive... I guess I only get the CD then. And I really hope the CD will be easily available to everyone. Because if not then this turns out to be quite a bad way to celebrate the 25th Anniversary. What's the celebration good for if only very few fans can enjoy it? UPDATE: I forgot that there will be a global tour next year, so never mind...

But the Zelda Symphony website really looks nice, the map in the background seems to be a mix between the maps of Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess.

25th Anniversary Roundup

Last year Super Mario Bros. turned 25 years old and Nintendo celebrated this with red DSi XL and Wii bundles including a copy of New Super Mario Bros. (Wii) and a preinstalled Donkey Kong on the Wii. They also re-released Super Mario Allstars, which came with a CD and a booklet and sold surprisingly well. There was also a special Iwata Asks interview, a special Flipnote gallery and lots of coverage for the Mario series amongst other things.

This year it's Zelda turn and Nintendo promised to celebrate this Anniversary as well, but it would be different and something special. And it really was special, the Anniversary of Zelda became one big feature at this year's E3 and they opened the press conference with an impressive live orchestra Zelda medley. Beatiful. But that's not all, here's a summary of all the efforts by Nintendo to celebrate our favorite game's birthday.

Music always played an important role in the Zelda series and this year Zelda games will finally receive an orchestrated soundtrack. Since the music is so awesome, there will be concerts around the world and they will even sell a special 25th Anniversary CD covering the music from the orchestra. People, who register their copy of Ocarina of Time 3D early, will receive an Ocarina of Time 3D soundtrack CD, which includes a new orchestrated medley and other extras.

Ocarina of Time 3D on the 3DS and Skyward Sword on the Wii will definitely be two big hits and Nintendo says that these games are released to commemorate 25 years of the Zelda franchise. I guess, those games would have been released anyway, but oh well. However, Link's Awakening DX got to be the first GameBoy Color title for the new eShop on the Nintendo 3DS, which is quite an honor. And because they wanted to have a new release for all current systems, they are going to re-release Four Swords as a DSiWare game, which was a pleasant surprise.

And there will be more nice extras than just new games and music CDs. Skyward Sword will be bundled with a golden Wiimote Plus and a nice Triforce Eagle emblem on it. Super Mario 3DS is going to include a special top down view Zelda stage, which is really cool. And according to Nintendo's official E3 Zelda 25th Anniversary site there are "more exciting news to look forward to throughout the year as Nintendo honors this important milestone". Well, here's an overview:

• 25th Anniversary concerts and CD
• bonus Ocarina of Time 3D OST
• Link's Awakening DX as the first GameBoy Color eShop game
• Four Swords to be re-released as DSiWare
• Skyward Sword gets a golden Wiimote bundle
• Super Mario 3DS to include Zelda stage

This is already a nice list and we can really be happy with Nintendo's efforts. I would even say, that this is on the same level as the Mario Anniversary, if not even better.

And there might be more to come. I actually wondered, that Nintendo didn't announce The Legend of Zelda as part of the 3D Classics games on the eShop. Excitebike already got this treatment and we now know, how 3D Classics will look like... it's basically the same old game with sharper graphics and 3D layer effects added to sprites and backgrounds. But it would definitely work fine with The Legend of Zelda. I originally expected the 3D Classics to have a larger graphical update and I even suggested to include the BS Zelda levels as a bonus, but I can forget about that (though this still is an awesome idea for a future remake). Still I'd say, that this game should be part of the 3D Classics service. It's after all THIS game, which is turning 25 years old now, and this is why this should get a special treatment.

More downloadbale games next to Link's Awakening DX and Four Swords are also an option. I'm fairly certain, that both Oracle games will be released for the eShop later this year. This is most likely, however that's not all they could do. A Link to the Past was already mentioned as yet another possible candidate for the 3D Classics service. Also, they remade Game & Watch games for DSiWare and maybe the Zelda Game & Watch game will get the same treatment at some point. After all they wanted to have some new Zelda for the DSi. And there's still the option to release Master Quest for the Wii Virtual Console, though Nintendo probably won't do this after they remade Ocarina of Time and it's Master Quest for the 3DS. But if they want to have something downloadable for the Wii as well, then this would be a possibility.

The golden Wiimote is definitely nice and I will get this one, but I'd still like to see a golden Nintendo 3DS bundle as well. The fear, that Nintendo will release something like this at some point, is even preventing me from getting a Nintendo 3DS right now.

Super Mario 3DS to include Zelda Stage

Here we goooo. To celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Zelda franchise, Super Mario 3DS will include a special "Zelda scrolling dungeon style level".



It's top down view, classic Zelda dungeon room screen scrolling, you will light up torches with fireballs, there will be Zelda chimes and even spiked floors. I would qualify this as yet another wonderful Zelda cameo.

This is really cool. And probably a motivation for some Zelda fans to buy this game. I actually prefer the New Super Mario Bros. games over the Galaxy ones and I was undecided, whether I should get Super Mario for 3DS or not, but this might be a good reason to get the game anyway. :D

Source: E3 roundtable footage & Zelda Informer

Golden Wiimote Bundle Announced

Skyward Sword will be bundled with a golden WiimotePlus under the 25th Anniversary label. Quite some people predicted this, including myself. I'll definitely get one, luckily I would even need a fourth Wiimote and I don't have one of theses Wiimote Plus remotes yet, only WiiMotion Plus addons.



However, I would still like to see a golden 3DS bundle. Along with Ocarina of Time 3D and preinstalled copies of Link's Awakening DX and Four Swords (and whatever other Zelda stuff there might be available in the eShop). I'm still waiting for this. You know, if I buy a 3DS now, there's always the fear that Nintendo will announce such a bundle later...

Source of image: Zelda Dungeon

Four Swords For Free

This is probably the biggest news for me personally from the Nintendo press conference. As part of the 25th Anniversary celebration they will release Four Swords FOR FREE as DSiWare. They wanted to have a new Zelda release for each platform and that's why they're doing this.

However, there was no further information about this. Is it a new game or a re-release of one of the previous Four Swords games? Since it's for free, I guess it's a simple re-release. And since the DSi doesn't have the power to display GameCube games, I guess it's the GBA version.

Also, the logo suggests, that it definitely isn't Four Swords Adventures, because then they wouldn't have removed the "Four Swords Adventures" lettering from the logo. And the original Four Swords didn't really have it's own logo (except ingame), there was the A Link to the Past logo on the package and Four Swords was just an addition to it. And I doubt that they will give you A Link to the Past for free as well, this time the game will be a standalone game. Which is why they used a improvised logo for now.

But then what's with the connection to A Link to the Past? Originally beating Four Swords and collecting 10 medals of courage would unlock a new dungeon and a new sidequest in the GBA version of A Link to the Past. And on the other hand new sword techniques like the Sword Beam or the Great Spin Attack would be available in Four Swords. But I guess they can just give you those techniques from the start or make them unlockable in other means. Like beating the game once gives you the Sword Beam and collecting ten Medals of Courage gives you the Great Spin Attack. These were the original achievements required to unlock content in A Link to the Past, so this would be a natural choice. Also, that way the medals would still serve a purpose. Well, it's not a Virtual Console game, which means it's not a simple ROM dump and they can change things.

But another idea would be a connection with a later release of A Link to the Past as part of the 3D Classics. Miyamoto already stated he wanted to see this game getting the 3D effect treatment. And if you got Four Swords, both games will be connected. But I guess the other solution works best, especially since such a revision of ALttP might take a while. And even there they could just simply give you the additional content (the Four Swords Palace and the Riddle Quest) without Four Swords.



And the most important question is: Will it be online? If yes, all my prayers about Four Swords are finally heard!!!! But since the game is for free, I'm not expecting much. But if it would be playable online, then this is a second coming of the game. It's the least played Zelda game and the only Zelda game, which I haven't beaten yet due to the lack of a second player. Online playability would change everything. But even without online, it will be much easier to play the game. To play the game right now, you would need to find someone, who still has a GameBoy Advance and a copy of A Link to the Past / Four Swords. And you would need a cable. But as a downloadable free game for the Nintendo DSi/3DS this game will become much more accessable. Lots of people will download and show interest in it, since it's entirely free. It's a good move to give the least played Zelda game ever some more attention. So, I hope there will be more information soon, I'm really hyped about this. My hyped than about all the other news.

And thanks, Nintendo! This is truly a nice gift. It will be available in September and hopefully also downloadable in the 3DS eShop.