Nintendo announces open-world 'Zelda' game for the Wii U

[Shawn Knight]

Nintendo announced the next entry in the Legend of Zelda franchise during its recent digital media event at E3, a move that’s likely just what the company and its flagship console need following a serious sales slowdown.

Zelda series director Eiji Aonuma said the title breaks with franchise norms and introduces new ways to play. With the graphical power of the Wii U, they were finally able to make an open-world Zelda game in 3D, allowing players to tackle the world in whatever order they like.

Gamers will be able to get to any area they can see from virtually any direction although I presume certain areas may be off-limits without the right gear.

Some of that vast landscape is shown in the teaser trailer above which features Link riding on horseback and being chased by a baddie. Further into the clip, our hero showcases a new outfit and weaponry. As the Guardian points out, the game looks rather beautiful and appears to use cel shading a la Borderlands. This title looks a bit more refined and grown-up compared to, Wind Waker, for example.

The untitled game will arrive on the Wii U console sometime next year.

Do you think a new game in the Zelda franchise is enough for Nintendo to turn the corner or is the Wii U already destined to continue its downward spiral? 

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https://www.techspot.com/news/57072-nintendo-announces-open-world-zelda-game-for-the-wii-u.html

 

[cliffordcooley]

Do you think a new game in the Zelda franchise is enough for Nintendo to turn the corner or is the Wii U already destined to continue its downward spiral?

A single game turning the tide of an entire gaming platform, that is highly unlikely.

 

[oldikes]

The wii u is destined to die. Its way too expensive as is for its tiny game library (acknowledging how great some of those games are).

Unless they shipped a SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper version without the tablet and with the pro controller or something instead, then they would sell. They are too obsessed with the tablet to remove it though.

 

[Luay]

For any gamer, it would be insane to pass this or Mario Kart 8 up.The Nintendo crowd are the old gamers from the 90s. They are too mature to throw their money but will do so if it's worth it.

 

[oldikes]

For any gamer, it would be insane to pass this or Mario Kart 8 up.The Nintendo crowd are the old gamers from the 90s. They are too mature to throw their money but will do so if it's worth it.

im so willing to throw money at the individual games. just not the console itself, and I think thats how most of the people who used to be avid nintendo fans feel.

 

[yRaz]

For any gamer, it would be insane to pass this or Mario Kart 8 up.The Nintendo crowd are the old gamers from the 90s. They are too mature to throw their money but will do so if it's worth it.

im so willing to throw money at the individual games. just not the console itself, and I think thats how most of the people who used to be avid nintendo fans feel.

People buy nintendo consoles for three main reasons. Zelda, Mario Kart and smash brothers. Once those come out the console will start selling. I myself have been waiting for smash brothers and zelda to come out to buy one. Haven't been many worthwhile titles on the system so it hasn't been selling well. I can say I'd rather them release these games late than rush them out the door.

 

[oldikes]

People buy nintendo consoles for three main reasons. Zelda, Mario Kart and smash brothers. Once those come out the console will start selling. I myself have been waiting for smash brothers and zelda to come out to buy one. Haven't been many worthwhile titles on the system so it hasn't been selling well. I can say I'd rather them release these games late than rush them out the door.

well maybe you can, but I cant justify $300 just to play 3 games on.
Neither can most people.

 

[yRaz]

People buy nintendo consoles for three main reasons. Zelda, Mario Kart and smash brothers. Once those come out the console will start selling. I myself have been waiting for smash brothers and zelda to come out to buy one. Haven't been many worthwhile titles on the system so it hasn't been selling well. I can say I'd rather them release these games late than rush them out the door.

well maybe you can, but I cant justify $300 just to play 3 games on.
Neither can most people.

Nintendo consoles aren't about just about playing games, they're about spending time with your friends. My and my friends have kill hours on smash brothers and mario kart together. Yelling at each other, fighting, raging, laughing. I might spend $300 in a month going out and doing stuff with my friends, but if we can all sit at home and play games together that's much cheaper in the long run. Hell, we still kill each other on Smash brothers brawl to this game. So while you look at it as $300, I look at it as an investment in spending time with my friends. We've probably clocked in at least 1000 hours between mario cart and smash brothers on the wii alone. So the WiiU might be a bad buy for you, it will be a great buy for me.

 

[davislane1]

Do you think a new game in the Zelda franchise is enough for Nintendo to turn the corner or is the Wii U already destined to continue its downward spiral?

A single game turning the tide of an entire gaming platform, that is highly unlikely.

Agreed.

That said, Nintendo's E3 event did demonstrate a bit of promise. The Wii U still looks like a probable failure, but they've got a few additional titles in the works that should pull them out of the gully and into a slightly more comfortable ditch. They'll need serious library improvements during the next 2 years if they hope to salvage this generation.

 

[oldikes]

Nintendo consoles aren't about just about playing games, they're about spending time with your friends. My and my friends have kill hours on smash brothers and mario kart together. Yelling at each other, fighting, raging, laughing. I might spend $300 in a month going out and doing stuff with my friends, but if we can all sit at home and play games together that's much cheaper in the long run. Hell, we still kill each other on Smash brothers brawl to this game. So while you look at it as $300, I look at it as an investment in spending time with my friends. We've probably clocked in at least 1000 hours between mario cart and smash brothers on the wii alone. So the WiiU might be a bad buy for you, it will be a great buy for me.

im all for spending time with friends, but I can do that with any console....with dozens of more good games.

 

[TomSEA]

The wii u is destined to die. Its way too expensive as is for its tiny game library (acknowledging how great some of those games are).

Unless they shipped a SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper version without the tablet and with the pro controller or something instead, then they would sell. They are too obsessed with the tablet to remove it though.

It most certainly doesn't have a "tiny" library. It's the only next-gen console out there that will also play all of the original Wii games. It's backwards compatible.

 

[yRaz]

im all for spending time with friends, but I can do that with any console....with dozens of more good games.

nintendo has always been the more social console. playstation and xbox everyone just stays that there house and plays online with each other. Nintendo is the more face to face console. I love having a few beers with friends and killing each other on smash brothers. Xbox and playstation have a different style of games in their library that is more suited to playing by yourself instead of with friends. At the very least, their games are more suited to everyone staying at home and playing over the internet instead of everyone getting together. I'd also say I get more out of nintendo games with few exceptions. Games like bioshock, CoD, and battlefield are usually only god for 50-60 hours of gameplay before they get old. Replayability on nintendo is a lot higher. Zelda not so much, but it usually is an epic story and well worth. When I finally pick up my WiiU I will be getting the big 3.

 

[oldikes]

nintendo has always been the more social console. playstation and xbox everyone just stays that there house and plays online with each other. Nintendo is the more face to face console. I love having a few beers with friends and killing each other on smash brothers. Xbox and playstation have a different style of games in their library that is more suited to playing by yourself instead of with friends. At the very least, their games are more suited to everyone staying at home and playing over the internet instead of everyone getting together. I'd also say I get more out of nintendo games with few exceptions. Games like bioshock, CoD, and battlefield are usually only god for 50-60 hours of gameplay before they get old. Replayability on nintendo is a lot higher. Zelda not so much, but it usually is an epic story and well worth. When I finally pick up my WiiU I will be getting the big 3.

these are all falsehoods. Nearly every game that supports online play that I have played supports split screen. Just because games support online play does NOT mean that they are less social and give you less oppurtunities to play with your friends sitting next to you. more replayability on nintendo games is laughable; you get linear stories that you can just play again and again. Maybe you should try skyrim or oblvion, for an epic story that yields literally a multiple amount of times of more gameplay than zelda games, and at least one of them (IMO oblivion) has a fantastic story. im not talking about first person shooters when I talk about social games, as nintendo fans think of other consoles and instantly think we are playing COD all the time.

And not to burst your bubble, but the wii itself didnt exactly have the greatest game library in the world either.

I see now this thread is becoming fanboy filled, so im out. Im not hating on nintendo at all - I grew up on nintendo and would love to play every nintendo released game in the last 5 and the next 5 years, its just there arent enough of them or enough co op games for me to buy the console....and im excluding the stereotypical FPS games when im comparing number of good games.

 

[yRaz]

these are all falsehoods. Nearly every game that supports online play that I have played supports split screen. Just because games support online play does NOT mean that they are less social and give you less oppurtunities to play with your friends sitting next to you. more replayability on nintendo games is laughable; you get linear stories that you can just play again and again. Maybe you should try skyrim or oblvion, for an epic story that yields literally a multiple amount of times of more gameplay than zelda games, and at least one of them (IMO oblivion) has a fantastic story. im not talking about first person shooters when I talk about social games, as nintendo fans think of other consoles and instantly think we are playing COD all the time.

And not to burst your bubble, but the wii itself didnt exactly have the greatest game library in the world either.

I see now this thread is becoming fanboy filled, so im out. Im not hating on nintendo at all - I grew up on nintendo and would love to play every nintendo released game in the last 5 and the next 5 years, its just there arent enough of them or enough co op games for me to buy the console....and im excluding the stereotypical FPS games when im comparing number of good games.

It's pretty much just me and I'm presenting you with the reasons why I am going to buy a WiiU. I have played skyrim, oblivion and morrowind. I have a gaming PC for those games and I buy nintendos for the casual games on them. battlefield isn't social, skyrim isn't social, fallout isn't social, CoD isn't social. Some games are only fun in groups of 20+ and others are more fun with just three or four people.

Are you angry that I'm going to buy a WiiU? Perhaps you have your own personal bias against the system? My household has always been a nintendo/PC house and I don't see that changing any time soon.

 

[oldikes]

It's pretty much just me and I'm presenting you with the reasons why I am going to buy a WiiU. I have played skyrim, oblivion and morrowind. I have a gaming PC for those games and I buy nintendos for the casual games on them. battlefield isn't social, skyrim isn't social, fallout isn't social, CoD isn't social. Some games are only fun in groups of 20+ and others are more fun with just three or four people.

Are you angry that I'm going to buy a WiiU? Perhaps you have your own personal bias against the system? My household has always been a nintendo/PC house and I don't see that changing any time soon.

who said anything about angry?

As I have said I have no regard for battlefield OR cod. The only point im making is that because nintendo games might be regarded more casual does NOT mean they are more social or have any more nostalgia or are easier to play with your friends next to you. there are also plenty of "casual" games on the other consoles, probably more so than are on the wii U. I would LOVE to buy a Wii U - but honestly, I would spend more money on the console than I would on games for it in its entire life span so far.

 

[Jad Chaar]

Do you think a new game in the Zelda franchise is enough for Nintendo to turn the corner or is the Wii U already destined to continue its downward spiral?

A single game turning the tide of an entire gaming platform, that is highly unlikely.

It is a pretty good game, but yeah, I agree. I dont think a good game can save it. The hardware flaws need to be fixed/addressed in order for it to succeed, or even compete at this point.

 

[Blkm0nk3y92]

Do you think a new game in the Zelda franchise is enough for Nintendo to turn the corner or is the Wii U already destined to continue its downward spiral?

A single game turning the tide of an entire gaming platform, that is highly unlikely.

I know several people who got the Wii U just for Monster Hunter. And I know even more that will get one specifically for this game, considering the console isn't much, especially used. This will do nothing but good if the game turns out great. And just "New Open-world Zelda game" is going to catch A LOT of peoples eyes.

 

[jeromie]

I went out and bought a wii u this week with the mario kart 8 bundle. I mainly got it for the free game promo and selected Zelda Wind Waker HD, and I also scored a Super Metroid off club nintendo. Then to top it off I used the digital deluxe promo to get a $5 eshop credit and buy Super Mario World. I don't own an HDTV but I can play ALL of these games on the gamepad its like its own HDTV.

I need to purchase some Wii RCA cables to hook it into my crappy old tv or I could justify spending some cash on a HDTV. I bought a cheap rubber type sleeve for the gamepad to protect it. My total cost so far was $360 and I ended up with 4 games. This was not a bad deal for me as I had to sell my Gamecube Wind Waker for gas money back in November to get to and from work. That title alone would be around $50 to $60 to replace.

What nintendo needs to do is release its ENTIRE catalog minus wii games in the eshop and unify NES GBC GBA SNES N64 games to work on the 3ds. Also they need to release ALL gamecube games on the eshop.

Having a full back catalog of games available would drive sales all the way.