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AVGN and Mike play an interesting Zelda homebrew cartridge (Zelda Universe)

James Rolfe, otherwise known by his immensely popular alter ego “the Angry Video Game Nerd”, has uploaded a new video to his Cinemassacre YouTube channel. Along with Mike Matei, the duo take a look at a couple homebrew NES cartridges they received in the post. One of these fan-made carts is “The Legend of Zelda: Curse From the Outskirts – Redux”.

It turns out the game is a re-skinned Mario game with Link replacing the bouncy plumber. Interestingly, classic Zelda enemies also make an appearance, and the Triforce is a power-up. While this isn’t a typical AVGN episode, be aware that this video contains some strong language. If you’re cool with that, hit the jump and enjoy the video!

Source: YouTube

Graphical comparison video: Wind Waker HD vs. the original (Zelda Universe)

During the announcement of Wind Waker HD in the January Nintendo Direct, we witnessed only a select few screenshots of the game. At E3 last week we finally got our first glimpse of gameplay for this beautiful new remake, with Nintendo upgrading the game with better lighting, improved textures, etc. Although, even with these upgrades, many people have argued whether or not the game really looks that much better than the original.

YouTube user ninten2tv has put together a comparison video between Wind Waker HD, and the original for the GameCube. When placed side-by-side, the difference between the two games is quite obvious. While not quite as cel-shaded as the original, the new HD graphics definitely do the game justice.

Source: YouTube

Shigeru Miyamoto Disappointed with Zelda II (Link's Hideaway)

In a recent interview with Kotaku, Shigeru Miyamoto talks about the disappointments he had with Zelda II and what he would have liked to further expand upon to make the game better. While a lot of Zelda fans agree that Zelda II was not what they expected, what do you think Miyamoto thought was wrong?

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Did You Know Gaming: Skyward Sword’s link to candy (Zelda Universe)

While playing Skyward Sword and Super Mario Galaxy, you probably realized that Gratitude Crystals and Star Bits shared an uncanny resemblance. Did You Know Gaming has now made it clear where these similarities began. These objects weren’t inspired by shooting stars or a science fiction form of solid gratitude but rather a delicious candy.

Known as konpeitō, this type of rock candy has a course sugar core that is coated in a colorful sugar syrup. The sweat treat originated in Portugal but was brought to Japan in the 16th century and is still popular today. In fact, it is possible to purchase these delights from a local Asian market or from online retailers.

Source: Did You Know Gaming (via GoNintendo)

Aonuma may consider Princess Zelda to feature in her own game, if “people have strong feelings about it” (Updated!) (Zelda Universe)

In another interesting tidbit from the recent Nintendo Life interview, Aonuma provided a very interesting response when asked whether he would ever consider making Princess Zelda the protagonist in her own game.

“NL: The Zelda series tells the story of a male hero rescuing a female princess. Would you ever consider giving Zelda her own game?

Aonuma: This is the second time I’ve received this question during this E3! I guess if people have strong feelings about it then it’s something to consider. I’ll keep that in mind! [laughs]“

This could be a great idea. Zelda already has a strong sense of will and wisdom, and is skilled in magic and archery. Seeing a story unfold from her perspective could make for a very entertaining twist.

Besides, Peach already had her own DS game–so why not Nintendo’s other princess? Heck, if Tingle’s already had his time in the limelight, then surely our royal heroine is also entitled to. This may be just a throwaway comment by Aonuma for now, but if he noticed a large enough fan response to this, then he may just have to act upon his word–come on internet, do what you do best!

Update: In an entirely different interview over on Engadget, Aonuma allegedly seemed “open” to the idea (perhaps this is what he was referring to when he mentioned that he’d been asked this question twice!).

“When [Zelda Wii U] does eventually come to light, gamers may even be able to control a fully playable Princess Zelda (or even Sheik, Zelda’s occasional other form). Or, at least, Aonuma seemed open to the idea when we asked him about it. It’s a possibility and we can always hope.”

Looks like the concept is growing slowly more and more plausible as a real possibility–keep those comments rolling in and share those “strong feelings” that Aonuma wants to see!

Source: Nintendo Life

Aonuma: Zelda Wii U will be neither “ultra-realistic” nor “cartoony-realistic” (Zelda Universe)

In an interview with Nintendo Life, Eija Aonuma has stated that the visual style of the  next Zelda instalment on Wii U will be neither realistic nor cartoony. He says that the game’s graphics will be “something new”, possibly suggesting an art style that we haven’t seen before in a Zelda game.

“The thing about Zelda is we want everything to be unique, whether it’s the graphical presentation or the gameplay,” he said. “It has to be something you can’t see anywhere else. We wouldn’t want it to be ultra-realistic because you can see that elsewhere. But I can’t say that it’s going to be cartoony-realistic, the fantastic presentation that we’ve already done in the past [with Wind Waker].

“It will be something new.”

Source: Nintendo Life

30 minutes with Eiji Aonuma: The Zelda series director on building and shipping one of gaming’s biggest franchises (Zelda Universe)

On the first day of E3 2013, a succinct and surprising email from one of our Nintendo contacts arrived in our inbox while we were eating dinner across from the Los Angeles Convention Center. The man didn’t waste any time. “Do you want to interview Eiji Aonuma?” was practically all that the message said.

Naturally, we responded yes.

The next night, we stopped by the Symphony of the Goddesses concert to enjoy the new Second Quest arrangements, and to interview the Symphony’s conductor, Eimear Noone. We told everyone that we’d be sitting down with Aonuma the next day. To our surprise, we found out that he had actually been at the concert, but left early.

“Do you want to interview Eiji Aonuma?”

Eimear told us that we would love sitting down with Mr. Aonuma. So we decided to give Mr. Aonuma the interview he deserved. We spent hours ensuring that each question we wanted to ask would be something Mr. Aonuma wasn’t expecting. No prying for information we knew we wouldn’t get. Just a great half-hour with some great questions.

The thirty minutes we spent with Mr. Aonuma paint the picture of a man just as self-conscious about his work as anyone; a genuine creator with an intense desire to balance freedom with making people happy. In the interview below, Mr. Aonuma touches on what he’s proud of most while acknowledging what makes him most vulnerable, providing a deep look inside the brain of the man who creates one of gaming’s largest franchises.

“We would love to take some of your experience and hand it off to all the people who admire all the work you do.”

Jason Rappaport: I met with Eimear Noone yesterday. She wanted to say thank you for the chocolates.

Eiji Aonuma: Ah! That was not recent… a while ago?

Jason: Oh, was it?

Daniel Åkerman: I think it was a while ago.

Jason: Well, she wanted to say so, and that she says hello. We know a lot of folks over at the Zelda Symphony. A lot of them are good friends of ours; Jeron Moore is a great friend of ours, and they were all super excited that we get to sit down with you today. Hopefully they can live vicariously through me!

Aonuma: I actually wanted to say hello to Ms. Noone, but the crowd being what it is, we were a little bit concerned if they knew that I was there, so actually Bill Trinen escorted me out swiftly after the concert was over.

Jason: We noticed, and everyone wanted us to say “Hi” here.

Cody Davies: [holds up 3DS] We were hoping to get your golden pants.

Aonuma: [laughs]

Jason: We have a new theory about The Legend of Zelda. It’s that the Triforce is actually cut from the golden pants. We must obtain the pants.

Aonuma: [laughs]

Jason: Yeah, we have some actual questions.

Aonuma: [laughs]

Jason: We’ve got a bunch of Zelda fans that would love to hear from you, and we get questions all the time. Everyone says, “What if you could meet Aonuma? What would you ask him?” And what I’d like to do is pick your brain and get your perspective on a lot of the work you do, because you’ve been doing this now for decades. And I would love to take some of your experience and hand it off to all the people who admire all the work you do. So, hopefully we can accomplish that.

Aonuma: I’m also very thankful for this opportunity to hear the voices of my fans and find out what they want to know.

Jason: Alright, so I’ll get started. Obviously you’re developing A Link Between Worlds, which is a sequel to A Link to the Past. We’re wondering how the overall development of the Zelda series has changed since A Link to the Past was shipped twenty years ago now, and how has the change in development and in Nintendo changed A Link Between Worlds and it’s development and made it a different Zelda game?

Aonuma: Actually, I didn’t work on A Link to the Past. At that time I was working on another project, and Mr. Miyamoto was working on creating A Link to the Past. But, having played it, I was really, really impressed, and that was actually the game that made me want to direct my own game. And then I started working on Zelda, and some twenty-plus years later here I am working on A Link Between Worlds. But Mr. Miyamoto always wanted to do more with A Link to the Past’s story, and he’s actually tasked me with doing that for quite some time, so I’m really happy to have come to that point where we’re actually working on continuing that.

And because I wasn’t directly involved in A Link to the Past’s development, I can’t really speak about how development has changed, so I can’t really respond to that part of your question, unfortunately. But what I can say is, well… I was working on Zelda after it became the 3D Zelda, so that’s when my involvement started. But taking this flat world and creating one with dimension is something that we are working on doing. And it’s interesting, because when I proposed this to my staff what I actually did was I took the flat, two-dimensional world of A Link to the Past and, on my PC, created a version of the same world with dimension. And to think that what was originally A Link to the Past can now be created on a PC so easily by one person speaks to how far we’ve come.

Daniel: What made you decide that this was the right… because you talked about how Miyamoto has asked you for a long time to make something in the world of A Link to the Past. Was the 3D something that made you decide that this was the right time to do that? Or was it something else that made you think, “now is the time we want to make the sequel”?

“With the 3DS, Mr. Miyamoto challenged us, ‘What do you want to do with this? Given these features in the hardware, what do you think you can create with it?’”

Aonuma: With A Link to the Past, the sense of dimension that we gave in that game was kind of faked, because we did it through applying shading and things like that, so there wasn’t actual height, it was simulated height. But now we have the ability – especially as we create more and more 3D Zelda games, we have more skill, we also have more flexibility with the hardware – to give it actual dimension. And also, with the 3DS, when we were presented with that hardware, Mr. Miyamoto challenged us, “What do you want to do with this? Given these features in the hardware, what do you think you can create with it?” I’ve always been thinking of that kind of sense of dimension in A Link to the Past, and with the 3DS we can really take that to where it needs to go.

Jason: So, I’m gonna step back and ask something a little more broad. A lot of us are creators, and we make things and we ship them, and one of the toughest things you can do as a creator is just show your work to the public. And you’ve done this a number of times, and I just would love to know how you feel whenever a game you make ships or you have demos on the show floor, and how you feel when your work is just out there and people use it.

Aonuma: I’m always worried. I’m always worried and excited, a combination of both two things. I’m always thinking of how well they play; will they think what I thought was fun is fun? For example, with The Wind Waker, when it was first released there was some criticism. Some people didn’t like the direction we were taking Zelda; they thought maybe it wasn’t the direction they had anticipated or the direction they wanted to go. The same thing with The Wind Waker HD; I see people out there playing, and I’m just hoping that they understand what the value is in revisiting this world and with this new kind of presentation of this world. So, same thing, like I said, it’s excitement and worry at the same time.

Jason: That’s awesome. Just on a personal note, I know from running the Zelda Universe message boards that The Wind Waker gets a lot of criticism. I personally believe that it is the most beautiful Zelda game, and it’s the reason why I’m sitting in this room. It’s my personal favorite. It got me into the series. I just wanted to tell you that I think it was a fantastic decision. It’s a great design.

Aonuma: Thank you. [laughs]

Jason: Along that lines, though, we obviously do have a very active user base that likes to voice a lot of their opinions about the Zelda series. They may not know whether or not you guys look at what they say – which I would love to believe that you do, because we care. And I’m just wondering: what is the largest change, or the most important change, that you’ve made to the Zelda series as a whole because of feedback from fans?

Aonuma: Hmm… I think the project that reflects our reaction to fan opinion is probably Twilight Princess. The incentive for us to create that different version of the Zelda universe was certainly as a result of The Wind Waker criticism that we received. Fans were saying that it wasn’t what they were looking for, it wasn’t what they were hoping for, so that’s why we went with this different graphic presentation. So I think that’s probably the one, the biggest change that we made.

I still remember eight years ago at E3 when we ran that first video of Twilight Princess. It was received very well; there was a standing ovation! So I still remember that moment very well.

“The incentive for us to create [Twilight Princess] was certainly as a result of The Wind Waker criticism that we received.”

Daniel: I wanted to ask, how has your relationship to the fans changed? Because, in the old days, you had to rely on market analysts and the press. But, nowadays, you have the internet, you have fan sites, you have Miiverse, where you can connect to fans directly. Has that changed your connection to the fans or your perception of the fan base?

Aonuma: It certainly has changed. When I started, the voices I was hearing were heard indirectly. Someone did a market analysis like you said, and I heard the results of that. Now, with fan sites and Miiverse, its almost as though we’re sitting in the same room, kind of like we are right now, because there’s no go-between; it’s direct. But with regard to how fan voices or fan opinion affects my daily work and my creative process, I certainly have the fans in mind when I’m creating something, and I want to create something that will make them happy, but it’s my creative responsibility to also give them something they didn’t know they wanted. An element of surprise always has to be there, because I’m a creative person; it’s my job. If I just took the opinions of fans, I’m just gathering information, I’m not creating my own ideas. In that sense, I like to leave a little bit of distance between myself and my fans, because it’s that distance that allows me the space that I need to, again, deliver something that you guys don’t expect.

And with regard to the kind of opinions or fan response that I really want to hear, it’s “What stayed with you?” What left an impression? What made you feel happy? What made you feel sad? That kind of information is really helpful to me. I understand that people will have specific requests with regard to a certain dungeon, or “We want to see this particular item in the game,” or something like that. But even more than that I really value the emotional experience that people have, and as a creator it’s very important for me to leave an impression, and I’d like to hear what those impressions are.

Cody: In the original Legend of Zelda, Link is named Link because he is a link to the player. However, in more recent Zelda games, Link has become more of a character in his own right. In The Wind Waker, his facial expressions were a large part of the game, and it was emotional to see him wave goodbye to his family on Outset Island. And in Skyward Sword, Link even has a relationship with Zelda. So do you feel that Link is becoming less of a link to the player and more of a character in his own right?

Aonuma: It’s actually very tricky. I still want the player to feel as though they are Link; they are in Link’s shoes doing all these actions. But, at the same time, he also needs to be a character in a game in a space. So what we’ve tried to do with him is make him a character that the player wants to be. Someone who’s shoes you want to be in or that you want to act on behalf of. But it should also feel like it’s the player. So we tried to make him appealing somehow; make him cute, or handsome, or cool. Something that draws the player in. Because otherwise, if he’s just this blank slate, then there’s no draw; there’s nothing that makes you want to be put in his shoes and take on these challenges. So it’s a balance, and it’s certainly something that we struggle with and something that we’ll probably continue to struggle with when making Zelda games.

Jason: I think I speak for all the Zelda fans when I say that it’s the hair that makes you want to be Link. It’s the fabulous hair.

Aonuma: [laughs] Ah! So the hair is very important. Got it.

Cody: That’s why everyone also wants to be Groose.

Aonuma: Groose?

Jason: Groose has great hair! [gestures to hair]

Aonuma: The red head?

Everyone: Yes!

Daniel: Does he have a different Japanese name?

Aonuma: Bado! [laughs]

Daniel: We like Bado very much.

Aonuma: [laughs]

Jason: How long has The Legend of Bado been in development? I assume it’s been at least ten years now. We’re very anxious!

Aonuma: [laughs] I’ll keep that in mind.

“I really want to hear, ‘What stayed with you?’ What left an impression? What made you feel happy? What made you feel sad?”

Jason: Okay, so, another question. In my travels, something I’ve found is that the people who know Zelda are not always the people you would expect to have played Zelda or even video games. I likened it almost to a secret of people who just love Zelda and you’d never know it. And this always makes me wonder about the experiences that people have had, and there’s always a story that someone has to tell about this person they met that knows Zelda and you never thought. I’m wondering if you have any stories like that, of a person you may not have thought would’ve played your games, but you met them and they have and it changed their life in some way.

Aonuma: I think you probably know this one – Robin Williams. He was such a huge fan he named his daughter Zelda. So, when we did the recording for the commercial, I met him and he is in fact a huge Zelda fan, and I was very flattered and very proud.

Oh, but please share with me if you have information about hidden Zelda fans, because there might be a group I don’t know about!

Jason: I would just love to tell a little story. I also have my own new startup company, and I was seeking venture capital investment, and I met the investor and he invited me back for lunch the next day. And we went up to this very fancy restaurant, he took me up to the top of a big building, and we sat down and talked for an hour about my company. And at the very end he goes, “So, you do Zelda?” and talked about how he and his son went to the Zelda Symphony, and how his son goes to Zelda Universe, and they played Zelda together, grew up on Zelda. For me, this is amazing. You’ve really built a series that ties people together in, I think, ways that none of us can even imagine how vast this is, and it’s so amazing to me.

Aonuma: That’s a great story. Thank you very much. [smiles]

Jason: Alright, we’ll wrap this up with one last question, and it’s probably the single most important that I could ask – it’s very important. Everyone in the Zelda community, ever since Hyrule Historia came out, has had just one burning question. Where does Super Smash Bros. fit into the timeline of Zelda?

Aonuma: [laughing and gesturing toward himself] The Super Smash Bros. space is like a black hole. It’s something that doesn’t exist, where you have all these characters from their own special places coming together to battle it out.

So that black hole, it’s always there. Regardless of what platform you are, it’s a space that exists. And if it switches platforms all those characters just get sucked up into that space.

Jason: I think we need to draw a new timeline, then. [gesturing] We have the timeline, and then we have, all around it, it’s all in Super Smash Bros.

Aonuma: Yes, that’s perfect!

Jason: Thank you so much; I truly appreciate you taking this time for us. Hopefully this won’t be the last time we get to speak to you.

Aonuma: Of course.

DLC May be Coming to Zelda Series Says Aonuma (Link's Hideaway)

Many people love DLC - otherwise Downloadable Content - because it further enriches many aspect of their favorite game but Nintendo seems to finally be providing this to some of their games. Mario has gotten DLC in the past and more are scheduled for the future. So will Zelda receive the same attention? Check out what Aonuma had to say after the break.

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Zelda Wii U Might Be Shown Later This Year (Zelda Eternity)

With E3 and big announcements behind us, and Wind Waker HD and A Link Between Worlds ahead of us, many fans are still wondering when we’ll see the upcoming Wii U Zelda game. Most people would probably not expect the first trailer until next year’s E3, but in a recent interview with GamesIndustry, Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto stated that we could expect see Zelda Wii U very soon, perhaps even before the end of the year.

You can read an extract from the interview below.

Q: The one game many of us were anticipating to be announced today and that many fans have been looking for is a brand new Zelda on Wii U, apart from the Wind Waker HD makeover. Perhaps this is a better question for Aonuma-san, but why haven’t we heard about a new Wii U Zelda?

M: So it certainly is a better question for Mr. Aonuma but we are working on a new Wii U Zelda, as we do whenever we work on a new hardware system. Development on the new Wii U Zelda game, we’ve pretty much determined our direction on that and the teams are working hard on that. In fact, we actually did consider showing it at E3 this year but we were worried that if we showed the new Wii U Zelda game then that would attract all of the focus, and really what we want people to be aware of and pay attention to here at E3 are the playable games like Pikmin 3 that we have coming in the immediate future, because a lot of fun is with the games that are coming out this year. So that’s why we decided not to show it this year at E3, but it’s certainly something people can look forward to.

Of course, as I’m sure you’re aware E3 used to be the place where you made all of your big announcements but as we’re seeing more and more, particularly with the advantages we have with the internet, we’re able to make announcements really at any time. So the other thing we didn’t want to do was go through all the news here at E3 – we wanted to be able to have some news to continue to share with consumers over time.

Q: So does that mean Nintendo will tell us more about the new Wii U Zelda later this year?

M: I think so, maybe. [Laughs] Maybe after we’ve seen enough people enjoying The Wind Waker HD, then we’ll think about sharing something with them about the new Wii U Zelda.

Judging by it, the game is far enough into development to be shown at any time. It would be really nice to finally see what Nintendo has been working on, but I’m going to be completely honest and say this: The sooner they show it off, the longer we will have to wait for it in excitement. I am personally not all that excited for it yet, but I am sure I will be when the game is shown and its title is announced. Announcing it closer to its release will make the killing waiting period shorter, and I am all in for not waiting forever for a game that keeps getting pushed back, which might happen to this game. For this reason, it doesn’t matter to me if they show it early. What matters is that we’re able to play it early.

Source

Aonuma: DLC in future Zelda games is being considered (Zelda Universe)

In an exclusive interview with Nintendo Life, Eiji Aonuma has discussed the idea of making downloadable content available for future instalments in the Zelda series. He says that it’s definitely a possibly Nintendo is considering, but they would have to ensure that such content would be “worth it for the user”.

“We’re certainly looking at different ways to add on content that would enhance the experience for the user – maybe more places to explore or just to enrich the experience beyond what is on the disc. But we also have to take into consideration that if we charge for this content then it needs to be worth it for the user. So it’s certainly a balancing an act, but I can’t say that it is something we’re not considering.”

Miyamoto also touched on this in a previous interview, describing it as “definitely an area that we’re still looking at and we’ll continue to look at”.

This is clearly a touchy subject for many, considering the feedback in that Miyamoto interview and given that we’re living in an age where horse armour DLC is a real thing. However, looking at Nintendo’s handling of recent DLC in other titles, such as Crashmo, I don’t see Zelda DLC becoming a mere shallow, greedy business practice.

If there are ways to extend the adventure, then I’m all for it–and Aonuma appears to be putting the consumer first. Just think; new dungeons, weapons and worlds could satisfy during the wait for the next Zelda title.

Are you skeptical of the concept, or confident that Nintendo can provide satisfying expansions to the series?

Source: Nintendo Life