At the E3 Nintendo Developer Roundtable, one last (possible) Zelda tidbit was pushed our way. When discussing Wii Music, Nintendo said they would make use of songs in the public domain when selecting musical tracks for the game such as “Yankee Doodle Dandy”, but they will include some licensed tracks. Which licensed tracks would come the cheapest to Nintendo? That’s right, their own. Considering at the E3 press conference, a (embarrasing) Wii Music demonstration used the Super Mario Bros. theme, I think it’s safe to say that there will be some Zelda music in the game.

Nintendo fans will also be pleased to hear that during this roundtable, Shigsy confirmed that a new Pikmin was in the works. So - after E3, you have your new Zelda, you have your new Pikmin, you just know absolutely nothing about them. Satisfied?

While I don’t think anyone thought otherwise, Shigeru Miyamoto confirmed to IGN that Nintendo’s in-house Zelda team is working on the next Zelda for Wii. While making no official confirmation of a new DS Zelda in the works, he did mention that there are two separate teams working for each platform, implying so.

“The Zelda team in particular always works on Zelda titles. The core members of the Zelda team have for a very long time now been focused on Zelda games, and continue to focus on Zelda games, so they are hard at work and working away. And then, of course, we have the DS Zelda team as well, so even there we’re having some switching of people in and out where the DS team is mixing in with the Wii team and working on the Wii version.”

When asked about what new innovations the next game will hold, his reply seemed to be “A lot, but not too much”.

“I don’t necessarily think it will change that drastically, but I think that Zelda is a franchise that does need some big new unique ideas. And so the team right now is very focused on trying to find those ideas.”

Read the brief interview here

Thanks to CorvosKK for pointing this out in the comments section!

It’s hard to write a lengthy news article about something that didn’t happen, so I’ll make this brief. Nothing in the way of a new Zelda title was announced at Nintendo’s E3 press conference this year - the most we got was the mention that the Mario and Zelda teams are “Hard at work on new games”, by Satoru Iwata.
 
The conference was made up mainly of “non-gamer-friendly” titles such as Wii Sports Resort - which makes use of the newly announced Wii Remote add-on “Motion Plus” for more precise remote sensitivity, Wii Music - which has been in the making for a while, and Animal Crossing: City Folk - the only Nintendo game announcement which would be of any interest to “gamers”. The second most hotly-anticipated yet non-existant title, a new Kid Icarus game, was also a no-show.
 
If any news or tidbits make their way into the open during the remainder of the expo, I’ll be sure to report on them here.

It’s almost that time of year again - E3 begins on June 15th. E3 was, up until recently, the biggest video games expo there was, and while it has been shrunk somewhat in recent years, it is still a respected event, and many companies use it to make major announcements.

Nintendo’s press conference will be held on the 15th at 9AM in the California-based event. There are some things which are almost certain to be announced - Nintendo have been teasing about a new Animal Crossing game for a while now - but will the next Zelda game be announced? I’d guess that if we’re going to see a new Zelda game within the next 18 months, then yes, there will be. Twilight Princess was first unveiled at E3 2004 (who can forget Shigsy swinging his Master Sword and Hylian Shield about to introduce the game?), and given the series’ greater success in the West than the East, E3 would be the perfect place.

Be sure to check back next week - I promise to drop everything I’m doing to give you all the info you need on Zelda’s future.

After months of speculation and frustration, Nintendo of Europe have finally decided that we Europeans are worthy of Super Smash Bros: Brawl. My copy arrived yesterday (as I have my own special way with games retailers), and I’ve given it an hour or two. I think it’s great - what about you? Leave us a comment below!

Pro WWE wrestler Cody Rhodes draws his inspiration from an unexpected source - Zelda. He claims, in the official WWE magazine that he tries to apply the three qualities represented by the Triforce - power, wisdom and courage - in his life, and has the well-known Triforce symbol on the boots of his costume. He also says he tries to play the SNES classic “Link to the Past” annually. I can’t really call myself a wrestling fan, but I think it’s quite cool that Zelda references are sneaking into the public eye…
What?

 
“It’s the Tri-Force from The Legend of Zelda,” Rhodes confirmed. “You know how some people have a book they re-read every year? Well I re-play The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past for Super Nintendo every year. In the game, the Tri-Force symbolized power, wisdom and courage. I thought I could apply those qualities to my life.”

Triforceism - the new Jediism? let’s hope not. Click here for a decent-sized picture of the boots.

Yes, given the evidence, there was probably no doubt in your mind that the Zelda manga would be translated, but it lacked one very important thing: official confirmation. Until now.

Viz Media announced at BookExpo America, in Los Angeles, that they would be releasing the ”The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time” manga series in English. We finally know that the manga series, of the many Zelda manga adaptations by Akira Himekawa, will be the one based on Ocarina of Time, as expected. Viz Media have previously stated that they will release further Zelda manga adaptations if sales figures are good.

Also on the manga front, Akira Himekawa (actually a pen name for two people) announced on their blog that their next project will be an adaptation of Phantom Hourglass. Which seems a bit odd, considering they never adapted The Wind Waker, of which PH is a direct sequel. But it will be a long time before we see that one in English, so let’s save the confusion for then!

This little tidbit doesn’t really count as news, but it’s an interesting Zelda reference that put a smile on my face.

The Metro is a free newspaper distributed at bus and train stations throughout the UK. It’s often quite an unusual newspaper with obscure references - for example, it once featured an interview with Nobuo Uematsu, famed Final Fantasy composer - chances are, I was one of five readers who knew who he was.

So picture the scene. Waiting for an exam to start, I tire of studying, and pull out the (Scottish version of) today’s Metro I had stolen from the train station. Turning to the comments section, where readers text in short, often bizarre messages, one leaped off the page at me. You may not wish to read any further if you have not completed Twilight Princess, as there is a vague reference to the game’s ending. I repeat, TWILIGHT PRINCESS SPOILERS AHEAD.

The following comment was printed:

Got the girl, killed the baddies, saved the entire planet. It’s time to go home. This goes out to the dark princess. Goodbye my love x x.

Spaceman from Sighthill

I may be overly-quick to spot a Zelda reference, but that sounds suspiciously like the end of Twilight Princess! Spaceman, if you’re reading this (unlikely), let us know if this is what you meant by the comment. And congratulations on your victory! And yes, we all miss ”the dark princess”, but life goes on…

Update: Okay, this article is stupid and so am I. Let’s move on.

The latest instalment in the “Iwata Asks” interview series on the official Nintendo website, focuses on Link’s Crossbow Training. As he chats to Shigeru Miyamoto about the development process of the game, you’re bound to learn lots about the making of this thrilling instalment in the critically acclaimed Zelda franchise…

 …who am I kidding? Did you even buy it? I’ve told you it’s there, I’ve done my part. Read it if you want. It’s actually quite interesting, for what it’s worth.

Iwata Asks: Link’s Crossbow Training

The first of many community-wide projects, the Zelda Blog has relaunched. It already has some cracking editorial, for example:

“…a crybaby, really turned people off.” in Zant: A Story of Revenge

“(Insert link to image)” in Ocarina of Time for the DS?

 ”Any real fan knows that Link is silent, but deadly.” in Link Keller - The Silent Hero

“Suffice to say, FSA was no more than a series of cruel genetic abominations that involved LttP’s Link and Minish Cap’s Link, combined together to and cloned into four mutated, bastardized Links that spread havoc and chaos throughout Hyrule with endless supplies of annoyingness.” in The Hylian Collective