An inside source (a.k.a. my little brother) has informed us here at ZE that in the UK, and possibly elsewhere, Phantom Hourglass is now featuring in one of Nintendo’s “Great Games for Girls” TV spots - one of a series of promotional schemes aiming to get “non-gamers” to give Nintendo bucketloads of money. Similar schemes includes their ”Great Games for Young, Attractive, City-living Females” and ”Great Games for Old Farts Who Seriously Think That Doing Laugably Simple Arithmetic Each Day Has Some Kind Of Health Benefit” series (names may not be entirely correct), featuring the wonderful talents of Nicole Kidman and Patrick Stewart respectively.

Now, before anyone tries to flame me, I have absolutely nothing against girls playing Zelda, or any other games. But these specific adverts feature early-teenage girls in frilly dresses sitting gaily on a swing with their DS - not exactly the kind of person you can imagine getting caught up in heated debates about just where Oracle of Ages fits in the Zelda timeline in their later years. Sure, they may have bugged their daddy for a DS and a copy of Nintendogs, but can you really target Zelda to this kind of person? Won’t this give the wrong impression of the series to someone who could potentially love it? Not neccesarily my opinions, just questions. What do you think?

 Wow, I managed to get through that whole thing without a “Phantom Hourglass is easy” joke.