The Future of Zelda: Virtual Handheld

"Virtual Handheld" is what I call Virtual Console on a portable system, namely the Nintendo DSi. The Nintendo DSi is absolutely capable of doing this and it could feature GameBoy (Color) games, GameBoy Advance games and maybe even Game & Watch and Sega GameGear games. It's definitely not too early to do this, since the Nintendo DSi doesn't have the GBA port anymore, the GBA itself starts to vanish from the stores and no one is producing GBA games anymore. I guess, Game&Watch games would cost about 200 Nintendo points, GameBoy(Color) games 500 and GameBoy Advance games 800 points. So, what does this have to do with Zelda? There are a couple of Zelda games effected by this, that should be availabe on such a service after a while. Let's take a look, what titles were released for the regarding systems:

• Zelda Game & Watch
• Link's Awakening (GB)
• Link's Awakening DX (GBC)
• Oracle of Ages (GBC)
• Oracle of Seasons (GBC)
• Four Swords (GBA)
• The Minish Cap (GBA)

This is even more than there are currently Zelda titles available for the actual Virtual Console on the Nintendo Wii. I've crossed out the original Link's Awakening on the GameBoy, because why should Nintendo release it, when there's a better version? Also, I skipped over the two Zelda games in the NES Classics series, because both of them are already available on the Virtual Console.

An interesting thought now would be, that some of those titles - hypothetically - could make use of new the features of the Nintendo DSi. The photos from the photo sidequest in Link's Awakening DX could be sent to the internal DSi picture software, so you can do with those pictures whatever you do with pictures on the Nintendo DSi. The Oracle games could use a shared save-file instead of the annoying password system. Think about it, your progress in one game will automatically be recognized by the other, items (like the rings) will automatically be transferred to all linked savegames and so on. This would save you a lot of trouble, because the worst part of the original game was writing down and typing in those weird codes. That was a real turn-off. (Of course the original password system should remain, in case you want to use some of your old passwords. The connected save games basically should replace the Link Cable connection in the old version.)

Four Swords is even more interesting. Who of you people actually played this game? I thought so, not a lot. I played it once, but never had the chance to finish it, because none of my friends are interested in Zelda. It's the least played game of the main series, because you need a second player, who has a GBA and a copy of the game, to play it. And this is not some funny party game like Wii Sports or Mario Kart, where you always find a friend to play with. No, you need another Zelda addict like yourself to play this one or you can't finish it. While this was a huge issue seven years ago with those funny cables and local multiplayer, it's not today thanks to Wi-Fi. This game is great, of all the Zelda multiplayer iterations it's simply the best one, because it has the unique mix of cooperation and backstabbing. You had to work together to beat the game, but everyone wanted to get the medals at the end (for ALttP) and for that you had to collect more rupees than the other players. You didn't have this kind of competition in the sequel Four Swords Adventures, because you didn't get anything for being first place. So no throwing other players in the lava, because you want to be the first guy to open the treasure chests or whatever. In FSA it's just plain cooperation, no competition. Plus you have randomly generated dungeons and two higher difficulty levels for more long-term motivation, which is why the original Four Swords is the superior game and the best multiplayer version of Zelda so far. But it was ahead of its time and ignored because of the above problems, with Wi-Fi this game could have been a huge success. So, a Wi-Fi version of the game on the DSi would be the chance for Four Swords to redeem itself.

As for The Minish Cap, they could give us the missing third bomb bag expansion, that was only available in the US version. Small addition, but neat.

But to do this Nintendo can't just simply emulate those games, they would have to port and modify them. And that way they can't make much profit from those games, especially if you add the costs from ESRB rating and license issues to the equation. Which is why it probably won't happen. Maybe they will emulate the link cable connection with a local wireless connection of DS systems, because should be at least able to play Tetris or trade your Pokémons with someone. But even that would be highly doubtful, since they didn't care about that when they hardware-emulated GameBoy Advance games on previous DS systems. Playing Four Swords online is wishful thinking of myself and this whole article can be labelled as highly unrealistic. Still, I wanted to share those ideas. However, I really hope, they're going to announce a Virtual Handheld on the upcoming E3. Either that or the Nintendo DSi's exclusive features will remain to be uninteresting in my eyes. But after last year I wouldn't get my hopes up and bet my money on the Zelda clock and calculator (Majora's Mask style clock, please).

The Future of Zelda: Zelda Wii

Nintendo announced for this year's E3, that they won't disappoint us again after last year's Wii Music disaster and present at least one major core title for the Wii. Sounds great and we all hope it's not going to be Animal Crossing in space, but Zelda Wii.

About that one I still have the same opinion like last year. Wii MotionPlus powered controls + first person perspective = new way of experiencing Zelda. I'm still convinced, that this formula is the right thing to do and simply a way to push Zelda into a new dimension, just like Ocarina of Time did ten years ago. I won't harp on about the first person perspective too much again. But the Wii MotionPlus is definitely the future. The controls of Twilight Princess were gimmicky at best, you can do so much more. Start with 1:1 sword controls, throwing the boomerang or bombs, basic stuff. But you can go much deeper, imagine putting a key in a keyhole and twisting it with the Wiimote or opening a treasure chest by pushing both the Wiimote and the Nunchuk forward. Or think about Twilight Princess, how many times have you thought "why doesn't that work with motion controls?", for example while swinging the Ball & Chain or while rowing on a canoe. Motion controls could lead to a completely new way of experiencing Zelda and that's exactly what made Ocarina of Time special in the first place. However, some might say, that if you overdo it with motion controls, the game will be annoying. Good point, but on the other hand this is not Smash Bros. or Mario Kart, multiplayer games where the motion controls might get in your way. Zelda should be a deep singleplayer experience, where you get dragged into the world of the game. And this is definitely a way to drag you into something, as long as it's done well. If the controls don't work correctly and you fail to hit the enemy or even to open a treasure chest, because the movements aren't correctly recognized, the game won't be fun. But according to EA the Wii MotionPlus really is fantastic, so we don't have to worry about that, do we? I guess, Wii Sports Resort with its fencing and archery will give us some good impressions, how MotionPlus can work with Zelda.

Another idea, that is crossing my mind for a while now, is a Zelda in the sky. In Zelda Universe Forums one fellow recently discussed this possibility and I like some of the ideas, that are mentioned in this thread. Especially that the sky islands should be connected, so this games doesn't end up as a The Wind Waker in the skies. And think three-dimensional here, the sky islands wouldn't be in one plane, they could be one above the other. But a sky world is a pretty cliché fantasy theme, it was even done in Zelda before. All the Four Swords titles including The Minish Cap had some area in the skies and Twilight Princess got the City in the Sky. So, you have to think about, if it is a good idea to make an entire game in this style. And I think a Wind Waker in the sky would be unavoidable, if we get a sky world, there's no way, that Nintendo wouldn't make Link fly, may it be on a giant bird, a friendly dragon, a pegasus version Epona or even an airplane. And I'm not sure if I want to get another ocean world like in The Wind Waker again.

But the point is, that the theme is important. They have to try something new, another "let's have Hyrule Field, Hyrule Castle, Kakariko, Lake Hylia and Death Mountain" style Zelda environment already didn't work so well for Twilight Princess and is getting very, very boring. Also, the sea travelling is overdone by now, so they need something new. A cell-shaded Hyrule in style of The Wind Waker's underwater world seems to be the choice of Spirit Tracks, so that's not an option either. Saturo Iwata mentioned at some point, that he likes the idea of a Western Zelda based on the old Kakariko shootout in Twilight Princess... well, maybe that's where the idea with the steam train came from? Well, as long as they don't make a Sci-Fi Zelda (we can play Metroid, if we want that) I'm open minded for any ideas, as long as we don't end up in the Great Sea or another boring version of Hyrule again. I have enough of boring Lake Hylia, boring Kakariko and boring Hyrule Castle. If it has to take place in Hyrule again, why not there where Zelda II took place with all those nice villages?

To sum up, Nintendo really has to come up with something unique here. Twilight Princess is not the way a Zelda game should look like on the Wii, gameplay and controls need to be revolutionized and the choice of theme for next big Zelda game will be important as well. But it's very hard to predict anything at the moment, so let's hope - like last year - the E3 will shed some light on this one.

Sources:
Castle in the Sky artwork by kimag3500
Key Nintendo game coming
EA about Wii MotionPlus

The Future of Zelda: Retrospective

11 months ago, before last year's E3 I wrote an article called The Future of Zelda on this blog, which dealt with the possibilities of future installments of the Zelda series. With the next E3 happening on June 2nd I want to reflect on my predictments last year and do some more. I will divide this in three articles, the first one being a retrospective. So, let's take a look at what possibilities I had considered last year:

• Zelda Wii obviously, discussed first person gameplay
• a second NDS Zelda in the style of Phantom Hourglass made by the NDS Zelda team
• a retro style Zelda game for WiiWare
• Majora's Mask on Virtual Console (and maybe even Master Quest)
• another spin-off title in the style of Link's Crossbow Training ("Link's Fishing Adventure" as a joke example)

Interesting enough, two of those predictments actually became reality. The Nintendo DS gets with Spirit Tracks a second Zelda game in the style of Phantom Hourglass. And the Virtual Console finally got its newest bestseller with Majora's Mask, well at least outside the US. However, both of this wasn't very hard to predict. I'm just glad it actually happened, I had a lot of fun playing Majora's Mask again and I'm looking foward to this very bizarre game with the train in it.



On the other hand I still would like to see a WiiWare Zelda becoming reality. You know, in the style of A Link to the Past and Four Swords Adventures. MegaMan 9 has proven that the WiiWare system is perfect for new games in classic styles. I would love to see a Super Mario Bros. 4 or a second A Link to the Past. However, this is probably not, what Nintendo wants. For Nintendo itself both the WiiWare and DSiWare services are meant for marketing tests. It's perfect, because it's cheap. Market testing with $50 titles is risky, so they use these platforms to test new game concepts without any potential loss. That's why you see a lot of weird games or applications from Nintendo on both services, instead of oldskool Mario and Zelda games. Some people say, Nintendo doesn't create any classic Mario or Zelda games for WiiWare or DSiWare, because this gives the young, new development teams on those services too much competition. But the truth is, they're already competing against oldskool Mario and Zelda games, those on the Virtual Console. They're competing against games like SMB3 or A Link to the Past, because you can download those for the same price. Which is why WiiWare games have to be innovative. I'm not sure, what WiiWare could have in store for Zelda. Maybe the small Zelda team, who made Four Swords Adventures and both NDS Zeldas will explore that option, as soon as Spirit Tracks is finished.

About "Link's Fishing Adventure" or other spin-off Zeldas for that matter, I can live without that. But right now it's unknown, what Vanpool currently is working on. Rumors say, it's a sequel to their first Zelda related game, Tingle's Rupeeland. I would be interested in this one, too. Wether Master Quest will ever make it to the Virtual Console or not is still difficult to judge. But it was nothing more than an emulated Nintendo 64 game anyway and after the release of Majora's Mask, the conditions are looking much better. But I doubt, that this will happen in the near future.

There are two more parts of "The Future of Zelda" coming on this blog soon. One will focus on Zelda Wii and the other will deal with the question, what a Virtual Console on the Nintendo DSi could offer. So, stay tuned.

BeyondUnreal Screenshot Challenge

Over the last two weeks BeyondUnreal.com held a screenshot contest, where you could win one of five free Steam copies of Unreal Tournament 3 Black. To win you had to submit a screenshot from any Unreal game, wether it is funny or artistic. And guess who've won? Yeah, that's right. Good old TourianTourist made it into the top 5. And that's how my winning screenshot looks like:



Flak attack. Did you see the flak smiley? This screenshot is about 6 or 7 years old, I made it using some glitches caused by the "playersonly" command. The funny thing is, I copied this screenshot from my old computer at my parent's house last month, when I looked for my old Unreal maps, so I could post them here on this blog. But when I saw this screenshot, I thought I have to copy it too. But who knew, it would come in handy so fast? However, there is a second version of this screenshot I like even more. It doesn't have it as many flakgrenades on it, but it looks more artistic. Here it is:



Also, take a look at the four other winners. They've got some very nice screenshots in store:

UT3 Giveaway Screenshot Challenge Winners

Saved the World... Again

So, I finally found the time to play through The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask on Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console. I completed it 100%, I got all 24 masks, all 52 Pieces of Heart, etc. without experiencing any problems. With that I mean, the game didn't freeze on me, which was the major problem with the version on the Collector's Edition. On the CE version I've never been able to finish Kafei's quest, it usually froze during the Sakon's Hideout puzzle or after that, when I tried to access the menu, which was super frustrating. But like I said, the Virtual Console version is fine, it didn't freeze, no matter what I did. There might be some minor framerate issues, for example when you enter the shooting galleries or sometimes when you go from one part of Clocktown to another the music slows down a little bit. But it's by far not as bad as in the CE version, where the framedrops are very obvious and even mentioned when you load the game. However, the Virtual Console version runs at 50Hz instead of the 60Hz you get in the CE version.

Needless to say that it was very nice to play through this masterpiece of a game again, I enjoyed it a lot. I always tried to complete a maximum of sidequests all the time, for example one of the first things I did in the game was Kafei's Quest to get the Postman's Hat. Or I finished the graveyard even before Great Bay. It was a tough job to remember all the heartpieces you can get at a specific point in the game. But the large number of sidequests is the cool thing about Majora's Mask, this game is all about the sidequests.

If you haven't played this superior game so far, I would really recommend to get it now. If you were concerned about the stability of the Virtual Console version, I can assure you, you don't have to. I played all three versions of the game, the original one on the N64, the Collector's Edition version on the GameCube and now the Virtual Console version. And all I can say is, that the latter is my favorite one. It got the sharper graphics and the higher resolution, while it's stable. It's worth every single of those 1000 Nintendo Points, so get it (respectively "get it when it's out" if you live in the US).

The Moon is hitting Europe first

What a nice surprise. Normally here in Europe we're at the end of the chain, especially when it comes to Zelda, but today Europe got their Virtual Console copy of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask before the rest of the world (excluding the second PAL region Australia). Good thing I've had some spare Wiipoints, so this was an instant download for me. Right now I've completed the first three day cycle. So far the game runs smooth without any lags, frame drops or sound problems. As good as the N64 version but in sharper graphics and larger resolution. Majora's Mask costs 1000 Wiipoints, uses 256 blocks and is pretty much the best deal you can get on the Virtual Console, unless there will be any freezing problems. I will continue testing the game and report, if I experience any issues.

BS The Legend of Zelda: The Lost Adventures & Ancient Stone Tablets

The amazing streak of Zelda news lately continues. And this one is a real surprise, because no one could see that coming. Nintendo is actually going to rerelease the BS Zeldas as downloadable software for the Nintendo Wii. I guess, a lot of Zelda fans out there aren't familiar with the BS Zeldas, so let me explain. The BS Zeldas were created by Nintendo and released between 1995 and 1997 on Nintendo's Broadcast Satellaview system (BS-X) in Japan only. The BS-X was a satellite powered add-on for the Super Nintendo, which allowed you to temporarily download software. You couldn't download the games anytime you wanted to, only at certain times, like TV shows. So, these weren't normal games, they were broadcasted in 4 episodes for each game, where at the end of the fourth episode you had the chance to fight Ganon, if you completed all eight dungeons during all the episodes. Which means, if you missed one of the episodes, you couldn't finish the games. The BS Zeldas were more like special events on the BS-X, were the best players even could win prizes (there was a special highscore system based on various things like completing tasks or collecting pieces of heart).

In the games you weren't playing with Link, but with your BS-X avatar. This is pretty similar to the Miis on the Wii, just more limited, but maybe the "ancient" predecessor of this idea. Also, unlike in most Zelda games, everything had to be done in a time limit. There was always a clock on the top of the screen and each episode lasted one hour. During one episode you had to complete two (small) dungeons, so you had to hurry all the time. However, some events only took place at certain times. There were temporary power ups like infinite bombs lasting for a minute, there were special events like rainstorms or special persons appearing at special locations and some dungeons even could only be accessed at certain times. Actually those time based concepts were later reintroduced in Majora's Mask, though there you could repeat everyting as often as you wanted. Another special feature was Live Voice. A narrator was guiding the players in the right directions and special characters like Princess Zelda got voice acted.

However, most of those features will most likely not make it into the ports. The games won't be divided into four episodes, which is possible, since the original episodes all used the same overworld for each game, while each episode gave you access to new parts of the world. And it's most likely, that the voice acting and all the time based features will get cut out and that you play with Link instead of some 2D avatars, which means, Nintendo tries to make the BS Zeldas into normal classic Zelda games. On the other hand, it would be nice to have the highscore system back combined with online leader boards, but therefore you would need the time limit. It's also unclear, if these games will be part of the Virtual Console's Super Nintendo or the WiiWare system, though this pretty much won't matter except for the price. But I guess, in Europe they will be part of the next Hanabi festival.

There were two BS Zelda games. The first one is an amazing 16Bit remake of the original Zelda game for the NES. However, the overworld was different and the game came with eight completely new dungeons. And it featured two different quests like the original game, though the 2nd Quest actually wasn't any harder, but it had a modified overworld and again eight new dungeons. (As an easter egg the dungeons spelled the letters St. GIGA and NINTENDO, "St. Giga" was the name of the satellite system used for the BS-X.) The four episodes of the 1st Quest were broadcasted in August 1995, while the four episodes of the 2nd Quest were broadcasted in January 1996. The remake for the Wii will be called "The Legend of Zelda: The Lost Adventures", the title of the game seems to be a reference to "Super Mario Bros. - The Lost Levels". Zelda fans can look foward to a beautiful 16Bit remake of the original Zelda game with new dungeons.

The second game was called "Ancient Stone Tablets", broadcasted in April 1997 and fully based on A Link to the Past. It used ALttP's Light World again and featured a deeper story than the previous BS Zelda game. While Link was on his travels in Link's Awakening, Hyrule got threatened by Ganon again. Now it's the time for the "Hero of Light" (your BS avatar) to help Princess Zelda and save Hyrule. Therefore you had to collect eight stone tablets from eight different dungeons all placed on the Light World, which open a portal to the Dark World, where you finally could face Ganon. The game featured most of the items from A Link to the Past, in the final episode you can even put the gilded Master Sword out of its pedestal. The dungeons were pretty small, but got a lot of secret rooms full of hidden treasures, since this was part of the highscore system. All those hidden rooms and secrets actually made the dungeons pretty fun. However, the game is far more easy than A Link to the Past and doesn't provide much new stuff, so Ancient Stone Tablets will be more for the Zelda fans, who want to play every Zelda game ever made.

More pictures:

(The pictures are all taken from ROMs of the original games, because there aren't any official pictures of the remakes yet.)

Source: BS Zelda Homepage


Update: And of course the news aren't real. I wanted to write an article about the BS Zeldas and the possibility of converting them for the Virtual Console, but because of the date, I've turned it into a little april fools' prank.