Nintendo 2DS

I won't jump on the shitstorm that is happening right now. Because the Nintendo 2DS is obviously aimed at younger kids, who want to play the newest Nintendo 3DS games, but where the parents are skeptical about the device, because of the 3D or because of the price and the fact that it looks quite luxurious for a child's toy. The Nintendo 3DS probably has trouble reaching the younger audiences and Nintendo wants to fix this.

It's cheaper, it doesn't have the questionable 3D effect and it looks more robust. The normal Nintendo 3DS is an easily damageable device, I'm really worried what might happen if it falls down, especially in its open state. The Nintendo 2DS looks like it can take a beating. It's perfect for childs.

The only weird thing is the fact that they again left out the secondary triggers and the second slide pad from the Circle Pad Pro extension. This time it really has the space for all of this. I mean, look at this thing. You could probably add three slide pads to it. The missing second slide pad was already ridiculous on the 3DSXL, but this time there's no excuse. How are they going to add a Circle Pad Pro to this thing?

And with Phantom Hourglass the Sun Key puzzle, which required you to close the Nintendo DS, will probably be impossible to solve on your own. You can't close the 2DS, you can however turn it into Sleep Mode. So, the game is still beatable, but how are you supposed to figure out the solution on a device that can't be closed? The puzzle is weird enough on a Nintendo DS, let alone on a Nintendo 2DS. Maybe Nintendo has to add an "if you play The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, please note that..." piece of information to the box.

But whatever, I think that the Nintendo 2DS is a smart move on Nintendo's end. It's design is questionable, but if it helps expanding the market with the younger audiences, then this is great.

A Link Between Worlds Northamerican Cover

In a previous post I speculated about potential multiplayer functionality in A Link Between Worlds. And it seems that the game in fact does have some kind of network funktionality. Look at the cover:

If you can ignore the beautiful cover art, you can spot the Nintendo Network icon in the topright corner. So, there's something. I'm curious what it will be like and crossing fingers for Shadow Battles 3DS.

Also, I bet that the European cover will have a colored version of the same art... Wouldn't be the first time. :D

The Wind Waker HD: Special vs. Limited Edition

So, Nintendo now officially announced the Limited Edition bundle for The Wind Waker HD, but they also announced a Special Edition of the game, which has a two sided cover and a nice little Ganondorf figure.

The Wii U bundle doesn't have the game. Only a download code for the eShop, which I think is terrible. The limited edition console is clearly for collectors and collectors want a box and a disc for their games. On the other hand collectors also might want the Special Edition of the game and in which case, you don't get the game twice, but both the retail and the digital version of the game.

But the best solution would have been a Special Limited Edition, which does have the Wii U, the Zelda GamePad, the game with box and dual cover and the Ganondorf figure. All in one. But oh well... Looks like this is going to be an expansive Zelda year... though it doesn't seem to be too expansive, the console now only costs $300 and the Special Edition has a price of $55, so that's $355 for both. That's okay considering the Wii U itself was $350 just yesterday.

The Wind Waker HD vs. Twilight Princess HD vs. Skyward Sword HD

When we looked at creating a Zelda for Wii U, there were so many possibilities given the HD graphics. But rather than starting from zero, we actually ran a few tests. We tried converting other console games to Wii U. We actually did this with Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword. And the result of that was, hmm, those are semi-realistic representations of the Zelda world so we weren’t really surprised with what we got. But with Wind Waker, when we converted that to HD we were really surprised at how great it looked.
- Aonuma in an interview with Wired

The Wind Waker, Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword - not counting a possible Majora's Mask HD, since this game will most likely end up on 3DS, those were the three options for a possibile HD remake on the Wii U. And many are surprised by the outcome, which is the Wind Waker HD. Obviously Twilight Princess would be the game profiting the most from an HD makeover. And when Skyward Sword came out, many sites argued there should be an HD version bundled with the Wii U as a starting title.

Now, let's try to follow Nintendo's thought process here. It's actually easy to replicate their HD conversion tests by simply using the Dolphin emulator, which allows you to play GameCube and Wii games in HD resolution. Now two of the games will surprise and maybe astound you with the results:

Both The Wind Waker and Skyward Sword use an unique visual style, which has a much more timeless approach. The Cel Shading visuals of the Wind Waker allow easy upscaling and downscaling in any resolution without any loss in quality. The game will always look great. And Skyward Sword's so called impressionistic paint dab style is pretty similar. Maybe some improved lighting and some better textures here and there and ready is the HD version.

Twilight Princess on the other hand hasn't aged so well. Its more realistic visual approach makes it look pretty shabby compared to many modern games. If they'd made an HD version of this game, fans would expect to look similar to the tech demo from E3 2011. But of course making this would be very expansive, they would need all new models and textures, resources needed for the new HD Zelda game coming to Wii U.

So, here's the problem. A fan might want an HD remake that gives the best visual boost. Something like Twilight Princess HD or Majora's Mask HD even. But Nintendo naturally goes for the game that can be remastered with the lowest possible effort to aim for the best profit. And that is clearly not Twilight Princess.

Skyward Sword HD might also get made at some point, but for now The Wind Waker was the best choice from Nintendo's standpoint. In addition to the timeless graphics the game also has the most room for easy improvement. Adding a faster sail, streamlining other things, improving the Triforce Quest, adding a harder difficulty - the game can be made so much more enjoyable with just little improvements. The problems of Skyward Sword and Twilight Princess go much, much deeper than that and can't be fixed so easily (except for the bigger glitches and the annoying Rupee and Treasure/Insect messages you get each time after rebooting the game), if at all. Additionally The Wind Waker can make good use of the GamePad, which wouldn't be possible with an HD version of Skyward Sword, which can only be played with the Wiimotion Plus and Nunchuk controls. And The Wind Waker is now 10 years old, old enough to be interesting again. Many people maybe haven't played the game in years, if ever. Skyward Sword is still too young, most have played it on the Wii, so there's no reason to get a Wii U for this. And you can still play both Skyward Sword and Twilight Princess on your Wii U thanks to its backwards compatibility, while you can't play the original Wind Waker on the system.

So, there you have it. The Wind Waker is easily converted into HD, easily improved, makes good use of the GamePad and is old enough to be interesting. That's why Nintendo chose to make The Wind Waker HD over Twilight Princess HD or Skyward Sword HD. And I'm okay with that. I wouldn't want them to make an expansive remake that steals from the development of a new Zelda game, which would be the case with Twilight Princess HD. Concerning Skyward Sword HD, I'm pretty that it will get made at some point for the Wii U, maybe in three years or so. Simply because it can be easily converted into HD, much like the Wind Waker.

The Linearity Check: Dungeon Orders

Exploration and freedom are usually two important factors for a good Zelda game and simply one of the reasons that made the classic Zelda games so exciting and enjoyable. And linearity is often considered to be the poison that rods the modern Zelda games, because it takes away from the freedom and even sometimes from the exploration. A Zelda game that proves to be less linear, often also adds a lot to the replay value, because you might want to try to play things out of order. The more ways you can play a game, the more often you most likely will play it.

So, I want to start a series of post, which ranks all the Zelda games in linearity. This has the goal to show, which Zelda games offer the most freedom and have the richest replay value. This also will clear up some myths. For example many people consider Ocarina of Time to be a very linear game, while in reality it isn't.

Of course there are many criterias for non-linearity. The order of dungeons, the dungeon structure, quest design, the world layout... The most obvious one is the order, in which all the dungeons can be played or completed. If you can play the dungeons out of order, the game is clearly non-linear.

The following list will rank all Zelda games by counting the number of possible orders, in which the main dungeons can be played. (This is the order in what the dungeons must be visited. Some games allow that you simply take an item from a dungeon and save the rest for later, so the orders in what the dungeons can be completed is an entirely different beast.)

1. The Legend of Zelda: 872
2. A Link to the Past: 66
3. Ocarina of Time: 7 (55)
4. Four Swords, Phantom Hourglass: 6
5. Oracle of Seasons: 2
6. Majora's Mask: 2
7. the other 10 games: 1

I tried to count all possibly orders in The Legend of Zelda, but it's just so much that I had to use this program. There are very few restrictions here. Levels 2 and 8 can basically played at any given time. Yes, you can play and beat the eight dungeons first, which sounds crazy, but you can try. You need the Bow from the first dungeon to beat Level 6. You need the Raft from Level 3 to access Level 4. And you need the Stepladder from Level 4 to beat Level 5, 6 and 7. And the Flute from Level 5 to enter and beat Level 7. That's pretty much it and results in many, many different orders.

A Link to the Past is somewhat more linear, but the restrictions here are very simple. You need the Hammer from the Dark Palace to get to any other part of the Dark World. And you need the Titan's Mitts to enter Ice Palace, Misery Mire and Turtle Rock. Turtle Rock additionally needs the Fire Rod and the Cane of Somaria. That's it, which results in 66 different orders (source).

Ocarina of Time is usually considered to be very linear, because of Navi, which guides you from dungeon to dungeon. But in reality there are many possible options, you can visit the temples in 7 different orders. You need the Fairy Bow in the Water Temple and you need the Longshot (or Hover Boots) to enter the Spirit Temple. To enter the Shadow Temple you must complete the first three temples (the Kakariko well sequence gets triggered by collecting the first four Medaillons). So, this is how it looks (source):

Forest - Fire - Water - Spirit - Shadow
Forest - Fire - Water - Shadow - Spirit
Forest - Water - Fire - Spirit - Shadow
Forest - Water - Fire - Shadow - Spirit
Forest - Water - Spirit - Fire - Shadow
Fire - Forest - Water - Spirit - Shadow
Fire - Forest - Water - Shadow - Spirit

This only counts the temples, if you take the mandatory minidungeon Ice Cavern and Bottom of the Well into equation, you will end up with 55 possible orders, so Ocarina of Time scores a good 3rd place here. The Ice Cavern can be played at any point before the Water Temple and the Bottom of the Well at any point between the Forest and Shadow Temples.

And Master Quest might be somewhat different as well. Here you need the Fairy Bow in the Fire Temple, but not in the Water Temple, so you can beat the Water Temple first here. But it should be somewhat similar.

Phantom Hourglass is simple, you can play the Goron Temple, the Ice Temple and Mutoh's Temple in any order. This is achieved by collecting the 3rd and 4th Seachart in one run, which I have done before two times. It's even more obvious in Four Swords, where you have a level select of three dungeons.

Oracle of Seasons allows you to play Level 4 and 5 out of order. It's not much, but still better than it's blue brother Oracle of Ages. I also listed Majora's Mask here, where it's possible to proceed in Ikana with the Hookshot alone thanks to a well placed tree, though this probably wasn't intended by the developers. The idea was to get the Ice Arrows first.

But it's kind of saddening that the majority of the series does have a strict order. Of course this doesn't mean that the entire games are linear, just because the main order of the dungeons is linear. No one would dare to call Majora's Mask a linear game and even Zelda II - The Adventure of Link can be an open experience. Also, both games allow their dungeons to be completed in any possible order. You only need the items from the dungeons to proceed to the next territories, you don't have to beat the dungeon right on. In Zelda II this is even a common strategy to save all bosses for the end, because it helps with leveling up.

So, if we take into consideration in what order the dungeons can be completed (meaning in what order the main collectibles like the Medaillons or Triforce Shards can be obtained), we get suddenly get a different picture:

1. The Legend of Zelda: 40320 (8!)
2. A Link to the Past: 10080 (7! x2)
3. Zelda II: 720 (6!)
4. Link's Awakening: 120 (5!)
5. Ocarina of Time: 36
6. Majora's Mask: 24 (4!)
7. Four Swords, Phantom Hourglass: 6
8. Oracle of Seasons: 2
9. the other games: 1

(The exclamation marks stand for faculty meaning 5! = 5x4x3x2x1)

Games like The Minish Cap or Skyward Sword heavily restrict the dungeon order by adding special events or items that don't get unlocked until the current dungeon gets finished. You have no choice but to complete these games in the given order. For example in The Minish Cap you can't get the Pegasus Boots until after the Cave of Flames. And usually you upgrade your sword, where the upgrade is required to get to the next dungeon. Similar in Skyward Sword. This can sometimes be very artificial, for example in The Wind Waker Makar doesn't appear playing his violin until after you've beaten the Earth Temple. Before that you simply cannot find him.

Some games do have these restrictions only partially, mainly Link's Awakening and Ocarina of Time. In Link's Awakening you have to beat the first three dungeons in order because of certain special events. For example the Chain Chomp BowWow doesn't get abducted until after you've beaten Level 1. Or Tarin doesn't ask for the Stick until after Level 3. But the last five bosses can be skipped until the end of the game and then be slain in any order.

Ocarina of Time adds certain possibilities, if you take the Fairy Bow from the Forest Temple and the Longshot from the Water Temple and simply continue without beating Phantom Ganon or Morpha. That way you can beat the temples in 18 different orders now. But you can also beat Jabu Jabu's Belly as a kid before beating Dodongo's Cavern. You only need the Bombs and there's even accurate dialogue in case you get the Zora Sapphire before the Goron Ruby.

A Link to the Past doesn't restrict you much. You have to beat the Eastern Palace first, because you don't get the Pegasus Boots otherwise. But you can take the Power Glove from the Desert Palace and then go beat Hera's Tower. And the 7 Dark World dungeons can be beaten in any order now. That's 5040 times two possibly orders.

Of course the king is still The Legend of Zelda, which allows for 40320 different orders to collect the Triforce Shards. However, there's one game that can keep up with that, namely The Wind Waker. While it's main dungeons can only be played and finished in a strict order, the Triforce Shards can be obtained in any possible order, much like in The Legend of Zelda. Some can be even gotten very early in the game, right after getting the three pearls. But of course that's a different criteria and has nothing to do with the main dungeons.


The order of the dungeons is only one of many factors to evaluate the linearity of a Zelda game. While the dungeons might be playable out of order, it can be that the dungeons theirselves are highly linear in level design (which is the case in Phantom Hourglass and might become a problem in A Link Between Worlds). Another question is how much freedom the game gives you early on. At what point can you explore the majority of the world and do sidequests? I will talk about these points in later posts.

Zelda Hits Virtual Console 3

So, this week it's time to re-release The Legend of Zelda for the fifth time! On the Wii U Virtual Console. If you buy the game yet again, you will get 1080 resolution, 60Hz, Off-TV play, configurable controls (very nice), restore points and Miiverse spamming. Which sounds good, but is still far behind from normal emulators on your PC, where everything is illegal, but free and literally ten times better. However, it's only 0,99€, if you have bought the game on the Wii VC and did a system transfers. Which almost sounds reasonable, if it wasn't for the fact that a system transfer basically makes your old Wii worthless. Why can't I keep my games on both systems? But it's better than the shift to Nintendo 3DS, where you buy the game for full price again and that's it. And it doesn't even have 3D or anything, only the restore points.

Nintendo NEEDS an account system. No, cancel that, they already got an account system... They NEED to put their account system to use. For Din's sake. With every Virtual Console release of a Zelda game, I repeat the same message. It's just ridiculous, how hostile this is with their customers. And the worst, if your Wii U breaks or gets lost, you lose your entire digital library. And with the Wii U you can't even transfer your stuff to another Wii U.

With the Wii U I will stop buying games digitally from Nintendo. Actually I should have done that on the 3DS already, I only bought the VC games there because of the Zelda eShop points cards I had from 2011. But from now on it's only games in form of discs and modules. Everything else is a "no no", unless Nintendo realizes that digital purchases should be tied to accounts, not to systems.

PS: I think they will re-release A Link to the Past some time before A Link Between Worlds, so that Wii U owners can experience the original again, before the sequel comes out.

The Wind Waker HD: Knuckle, Tingle Statues, Tingle Bombs and other Tingle Tuner Items

Yes, I'm making another post about this topic, because I had some new ideas and insights here. It's basically the only thing, which we don't know about The Wind Waker HD yet and it fascinates me.

To get the facts straight: the Tingle Tuner will be gone from this version (which is kind of ironic seeing how the GBA-GameCube-connection potentially inspired the Wii U GamePad), so will be five of the Triforce Charts, which leaves five islands without a treasure for now. The Tingle Tuner quests offered several awards for the main game, mainly Knuckle and the five golden Tingle Statues, all of them located on Tingle island:

Awww, this looks so great! I would be a shame, if this was missing. But I doubt it will.

We basically just have to put it all together now. The Tingle Statues were found in hidden chests in the five main dungeons. There were not shown with the Compass and you had to use a Tingle Bomb to make the appear. Since we don't have the Tingle Tuner, I think those will be regular chests. But instead of giving you the statues, you will receive "Tingle Charts", "Golden Tingle Charts", "Tingle Statue Charts", "Kooloo-Limpah Charts", "Knuckle Charts" - you name it. Those you have to bring to Tingle, because they need to be deciphered much like the Triforce-Charts. 398 Rupees each. So, you have to spent the same amount of money on Tingle, but five charts will be optional. And they will be at the places, where the five Triforce Shards used to be.

So, what should the reward be? In The Wind Waker on the GameCube you would get Rupees from Ankle for finding the statues, 50 per statue and a final 500 for collecting all of them. However, you would have to spent a lot more money on the statues than you would get back from Ankle. If they want to keep all the deciphering, that is.

And then there's Knuckle. He's actually the guy, who carved the Tingle Statues, but he doesn't appear until a certain Tingle Tuner quest on Outset Island. So, previously I thought that you would unlock Knuckle by collecting all five statues. But that's not a real reward. Maybe he will appear only after all five statues are returned, but him alone wouldn't feel like it's worth the trouble. You need something from him.

In one of my previous posts I already detected that the inventory has one free spot, that there might be one new item in the game. And I think that whatever this item is, it's the reward you get from collecting the statues. What could the item be? I speculated something like a Seagull Beetle. But it might be more obvious. The Tingle Tuner itself had a bunch of special items. Each one of them could qualify for the secret new item.

- The Tingle Bombs. Those would act like normal bombs, but they would use 10 Rupees instead of a bomb. Nice option if you ever run out of bombs.
- The Tingle Balloon. It lets you float in mid air for a second. Similar to the Hover Boots in Ocarina of Time. Might be a broken feature though.
- The Tingle Clock. It tells you the time. Pretty simple, but still interesting.


Another reward from the Tingle Statues was a respawning pot with 100 Rupees on a cliff at Outset Island. You could basically unlimited Rupees from that. Maybe it's something similar like Knuckle giving you 100 Rupees each time you visit the island.

So, yeah, that's my theory. I'm pretty sure that some of this might actually come true. It just makes too much sense.


Update:

VentureBeat confirmed that the Tingle Statues are still in the HD version!