E3 - Nintendo Shows DS Details, Realistic Zelda

An anonymous reader writes "Following the earlier leak of Nintendo DS pictures, there are hands-on details regarding Nintendo's handheld console over at GameSpot - Cube-Europe also has a list of Nintendo's first-party DS games, including 'Animal Crossing DS, Mario Kart DS, Metroid Prime: Hunters, a new Super Mario Bros game, Super Mario 64X4, and WarioWare Inc. DS'." Elsewhere, xDCDx writes "Nintendo just showed at their E3 conference a trailer of the new Zelda game for the Gamecube [there are also screenshots available], this time using a more mature visual look, rather than a cel-shaded one."

Comments

Nintendo changed zelda before

[l33t-gu3lph1t3]

Remember the cool CG Link/Gannondorf battle Nintendo showed us before Gamecube came out? And then they created that annoyingly cute cell-shaded Zelda game instead?...I do

Re:Nintendo changed zelda before

[MilenCent]

Oh for the love of....

Remember the original The Legend of Zelda, that game of amazingly well-hidden secrets, challenging gameplay, and second questing? I do.

Did you even give Wind Waker a chance? I've played through it twice so far, working on a third, and I have to say that it feels a lot more like Zelda than Ocarina of Time does.

To me, the thing that screams ZELDA is secrets. The original game had a few screens that didn't have a cave or staircase, either hidden or in the open, in them, but there weren't many. The idea of looking somewher that looks suspecious, expending a bomb or candle usage to see if something's there, and being pleasantly surprised... more than anything else, that's
Zelda, and Wind Waker was the first Zelda game since the original to play upon that.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that no one old enough to play the old Zeldas, when they were new, hates the art style. This is why, contrary to popular perception, the Gamecube is not so much the console for kids (that's the PS2, in my book), but the console for Old Fogey gamers who remember things like gameplay.

And dammit I L-I-K-E the art style!

Damn!

[Dark Paladin]

You know, I didn't mind the "Cell-da" look of the Wind Waker game. I acutally liked it, and my daughter (now 5, going on 12) liked it too. (Right after we finish "Kingdom Hearts" I've told her Link is next.)

I never got the cries of "mature Link" from folks out there.

But after that video - damn. It looks great (the castle looks a little blocky, but ah well), but the rest of it was, well, kick ass.

Will I still be able to play this game with my daughter? I think so. While there's still violence, it doesn't look like "blood and guts" - just the same kind of violence in other Zelda games, just now with better effects.

And that Balrog creature?

Here's hoping the next Zelda game is as long and wonderful as Ocarina of Time was.

Re:Damn!

[lpangelrob2]

I hear you loud and clear. Damn, was Wind Waker pretty. It wasn't a long enough game, but it was pretty.

It was unconventional. It kept my attention. It pushed processors like they should be pushed every now and then -- with something different. When I was younger (read: 10-12) and played various cartoon games (Tiny Toon Adventures was a classic)... the ultimate goal of cartoon games was Wind Waker. It was finally playing in a cartoon you could interact with. For its sake I hoped it sold, and I think it did.

Nintendo clearly won this year's E3...

[BTWR]

I'll give MS credit - 4 years ago, you would never have thought that they would trump Sony... and they did. Halo 2 looks great and will sell a million+ copies in November-December alone.

But Nintendo owned the show. The crowd went absolutely bonkers when they showed realistic Zelda. And the skepticism was thrown out when the DS was revealed - it looks great.

In short, E3 2004 won Nintendo is's respect back from many people who had given up on Nintendo (I am not among those people - always loved Big N). It's like that Simpsons episode, where bart lets lisa into his germ "bubble" to try and win the hearts of the students back... "Look... Isn't Nintendo! And it's winning us back!"

Re:Nintendo clearly won this year's E3...

[Paladine97]

Those are only two games that require it. And for all the information that each player needs, it was an appropriate decision the developers made.

If you don't like it, don't buy the game. It's that simple. They wanted to try something new, not to piss you off and force you to buy a GBA.

Re:Nintendo clearly won this year's E3...

[cptgrudge]

FF:CC would be *impossible* to play multiplayer with regular controllers. Each player has their own inventory; how are they going to divide up the screen when you have four people? "Oh, sorry guys, I needed to equip food in my command slots. Sorry for breaking up the action for a minute while we were fighting a tense battle with this boss." Besides, any self respecting geek should have a GBA already.

I refer you to some sage advice for dealing with it here, although this *might* be more funny for you.

Sure, blame Nintendo for innovating a new way to play video games, that'll teach them to try anything new. In short, FF:CC is one of the most incredible multiplayer experiences I've ever had, and I cared not at all that it required GBAs to play. It's more than a video game; it's a social symphony for those who play.

Thunder, then Lightning?

[prezninja]

Did anyone notice that the thunder and lightning are out of order in the video?

Wow the surprises were nice

[NanoGator]

Anybody else feel like the PSP was underwhelming after the barrage of cool stuff we got for the DS today? I really wasn't hyped about the DS until today. I dunno what it was specifically, I guess it was just imagining sitting on the recliner, connecting to the net via 802.11, playing somebody on-line, and using the stylus to type messages to them. I just feel like we're getting a portable that has come closer to being a PC. I mean, geez,imagine Command and Conquer on that thing.

Re:Too bad they didn't come out with this zelda ga

[Incoherent07]

Not only do you try to twist your words in your response to a sibling comment, but you don't really understand your own point.

Nintendo should have realized that the average gamer wants his franchises like they remember them and may not be willing to try something different right away

Erm. And you're going to tell me next that Ocarina of Time is exactly how the average gamer remembered Zelda from the 8/16 bit generations. Ocarina of Time was a radical change from previous Zelda games, and it didn't do poorly at all.

(remember at the time of gamecubes release there were a few teaser trailers for a realistic zelda game, then they announced the cel shading)

That was a tech demo, not necessarily a game in development, as mentioned elsewhere.

And, as sibling comment stated, it's the gameplay, stupid. Wind Waker, as far as game engine went, was VERY similar to Ocarina of Time. For some inexplicable reason, though, people took one look at the game and decided it was bad BEFORE ACTUALLY PLAYING IT.

I, personally, disliked Wind Waker, but NOT because of the graphics. I personally rather enjoyed the graphical style. However, Wind Waker eventually devolved into endless sailing and one gigantic fetch quest with really nothing original about it.

You make the baseless assumption that Wind Waker hurt Gamecube sales. What makes you think this? And what makes you think that Ocarina of Time-style Zelda is more "realistic" and less likely to garner the same complaints of "kiddy" that idiots and fanboys spew about Gamecube games of all description?

Re:Nintendo stole the show thus far

[SleazyC]

Well... yea the DS looks awesome (can't wait to play Metroid on two screens) but I wouldn't say that the DS is better then the PSP yet.

The Sony conference really showed off some great games, and the power of the PSP. From short clips of games such as Metal Gear Solid, Tony Hawk, Twisted Metal, Spy Hunter, Gran Turismo, and a whole slew of EA Sports games, the PSP looks stocked software wise. It didn't stop there either. Sony went on to show the Spiderman 2 trailer playing on Sony's 4.5 inch widescreen display and then blew me away by showing a Final Fantasy 7 Advent Children trailer and telling the press that a UMD version of FF7 AC would be out alongside the DVD.

I think both new handheld's look awesome and hope that their competition really elevates the handheld market to the next level.

The DS looks rather like an old Game & Watch.

[jackcp]

This isn't the first time Nintendo has used the over-under screen combination for a portable game. In fact, the first time this layout was used was in 1982 in one of the old Game & Watch games. Amusingly, a version of Zelda was even released in this configuration.

Also worth mentioning is the fact that a multi-screen G&W was also the first Nintendo system to debut the d-pad, the little cross-shaped directional control that replaces an un-thumbable joystick. More than 20 years later it has been copied by everybody and is still used on every console you can buy at SuperTarget.