Has Nintendo Sold Out?

Negative views on Zelda Reborn?

May 24th, 2004

Imagine this: the 2004 Electronics Entertainment Expo beings in Los Angeles, California. Gamers have been to the Sony press conference, where they feasted their eyes on the PSP and Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Then the Microsoft conference, where they caught their first official glimpses (and playable demos) of Halo 2. And then, onto the Nintendo press conference. A single man walks on the stage, revealing himself to be Reggie, the future ass kicking, name taking, poster boy for Nintendo. Reggie shows upcoming GCN hits, such as Metroid Prime 2: Echoes and Resident Evil 4. Then he showcases (with some help from Nintendo president [who can apparently speak English] Satoru Iwata) the new handheld Nintendo DS, with it's innovative features (touch screen, voice recognition, etc) and games (Metroid Prime: Hunters, Super Mario 64 x4, etc). And then we get word of the new Nintendo console, codenamed 'Revolution', which will be shown next year.

Then Reggie steps off the stage, and the lights dim. Is this the end of Nintendo's press conference? Such questions were immediately answered once the screen turned on. We see beautiful, realistic videos of a gorgeous, detailed land, with a muderous army rising up from the horizon. And then we see a young man on a horse ride by. He passes by the screen and unsheathes his sword. It's Link! Yes, the next Zelda game for the GameCube (not including Four Swords Adventures) will be made with realistic-style graphics, similar to those of Ocarina of Time. Everyone in the audience jumped out of their seat, clapping, cheering, applauding the new day for Nintendo. Shigeru Miyamoto, with a Master Sword in his left hand and Hylian Shield in his right, then appeared on stage in a puff of smoke, also speaking English. Truly, this was a new age for Nintendo.

This new Zelda trailer was truly breathtaking. However, while it has been known to make "grown men cry", it is exactly that fact what makes people question this 180 Nintendo seems to have taken. Quite a few people are beginning to question Nintendo's motivation behind returning to realistic graphics for Zelda. The cel-shaded The Wind Waker was a success, so why revert back to OoT's graphics? Could it be Nintendo is trying to milk the graphics for profits? Has Nintendo sold their soul to the graphics junkies?

Before that question can be answered, the circumstances surrounding it must be delved into. Shigeru Miyamoto and Eiji Aonuma, in a roundtable conference at the end of the day, wouldn't reveal any story information, with the exception that this game will focus on Link's maturity and growth. In addition to that, Aonuma did confirm that this new game, known as "Zelda Reborn" by fans, will be running on a modified version of TWW's engine, which is what Aonuma promised TWW2 would run on. So, while not officialy confirmed, it appears to be very likely that Zelda Reborn is the sequel to The Wind Waker that Aonuma said he has been working on, in past interviews. So then why the graphical change? Wouldn't it be more logical for a sequel to a cel-shaded game to also feature cel-shading? Or has Nintendo really gone down the dark path of solely mind-blowing visuals?

The answer to that question is no. While it may appear that way at first, Nintendo has not sold out. Quite the contrary, Aonuma is sticking to what he said: a sequel to The Wind Waker running on a modified version of TWW's engine. So then why the graphical change? Again, Aonuma is staying true to his words. Zelda Reborn is supposed to focus on Link's growth and maturity, correct? So then what better way to do so then do it visually! If this is truly the sequel to The Wind Waker, then the graphics would be able to accurately show Link's growth from TWW to TWW2, from a young cel-shaded boy, to a grittier young adult.

So Nintendo has not sold their soul, and turned their focus completely to graphics, but rather, they are using these realistic graphics to emphasize how Link and The Legend of Zelda itself as grown over the past 18 years.

~ Hero of Winds