G-pinions

Way back on my birthday, Nick said "And I'll say it now - Zelda at Revolution launch. You'll see." I, of course, scoffed. Nintendo had repeatedly said that The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess will be a Gamecube title. It was envisioned as one and was only delayed to ensure that this is the best game ever created. (I actually still hold by my belief that Zelda: TP will be the pinnacle in which all current gen games are compared and next gen games strive to overtake). Since they announced the massive delay, the only news that has leaked regarding why it has been pushed back is about the music. Sure, it's exciting that a fully orchestral soundtrack will make my ears smile throughout this 100 hour quest, but surely there has to be something else, right? It's admirable to delay a game past the Christmas season in order to make it as good as possible, but there had to be something other than a re-recording of the entire score to make the extra six month wait worthwhile, right?

Don't worry, Z:TP will still be on the Gamecube. However, players will apparantly have the option to use the Revolution controller to guide Link. Obviously, you'll have to actually play it on the Rev for that option to be relevant - unless Nintendo is planning on packing a magic controller with this game - but this is still a major development. I still expect it to come out a few months before the Rev launch, but Nintendo could very well be positioning this as a selling point for their new system. "Check it out: we have an easy to use controller that will change the way you play games, a huge catalog of classic titles, and the new Zelda that will make all previous incarnations seem obsolete." Heck, this might come out a few months before the Rev launches for those who still just want to play it on their GC, only to be included with the new system later on. To alleviate the problem of people already owning it, Nintendo could just let you have any game for free with the purchase of a system. Under $200 with a free copy of Zelda or Mario you say? Doesn't sound too bad to me... Might not be as good as Sony's pitch of "Look how awesome our games look! Can you believe you were impressed by Battle Arena Toshinden ten years ago?" but will probably sound good to Nintendo fans who never bought a Gamecube and needed something killer to convince them to buy a Rev.


I love this picture

Honestly, I still have no idea how Zelda would control with the RevCon (to steal an abbreviation from the Gaming Age Forums). Most people just assume that you will have to wildly swing the controller to mirror Link's moves in the game, but I still find this idea ludicrous. Pointing the controller like a gun in first person shooters sound great, but swinging it around the room like an epileptic baboon sounds tiring and gimmicky. But how else will they implement this crazy new control method? Furthermore, does this make Zelda Revolution completely obsolete before it is even officially announced? Considering the power of the new system is nothing special, why would I care about a new Zelda game when Twilight Princess is essentially their next generation Zelda title? I know I'm looking very far in the future with that, but, while this may help initial sales of the system, I'm not sure this will be a positive leap for the franchise.

Although, there is a chance controlling Link with the RevCon will be poorly implemented. For instance, objectives in Goldeneye were added late in the development cycle. This means that harder difficulty levels had more tasks, but it didn't feel very different. Perfect Dark, however, was a significantly different experience depending on the difficulty setting because levels were actually designed around having more objectives the harder it gets. This is the difference between having entire new rooms open to you in PD versus GE's style of having no interaction with a safe on easy, but needing to open it up on hard. Zelda probably wasn't imagined as a Rev title so Nintendo may just be throwing this control method into the game, rather than imagine how Zelda could be even better with the RevCon and building an entire game around that idea.


Nevertheless, it's a great time to be a gamer and I simply cannot wait until E3. Oh, and if you're wondering, I am going to play through Zelda as soon as it comes out. I will not wait so I can play it with the Revolution controller. I'm sure anyone who played Zelda at E3 will agree that even waiting a second longer than is absolutely necessary would be torture more than most could stand.