Chris_D

Unfortunately I'm completely over Fire Emblems simplistic strategy after playing through I and II on the gba, and I saw EGM blasted the cube version at e3 for having the same gameplay as the gba iterations. Graphics didn't look that good either.

Looks like the cube is all but finished.

Outlaw

KH2 isn't coming out this year either.

I'm not too surprised by this. The game looks incredible, it was going to take them longer to make it right, and when it comes to zelda nintendo takes the time to do it right. Eitherway, it's all about the DS this year, with Animal Crossing DS coming out for the holiday, I'm not sure i'll have time to play anything else anyway . The Cube has really had some of the best games I've ever played this year, with Paper Mario 2, Resident Evil 4, Tales of Symphonia, Killer 7, and I expect no less from Zelda.

chess

When it comes to software, Nintendo always gets the benefit of the doubt from me.

lamphorn

My guess is that they're scrapping the Cube altogether because it didn't perform like the Xbox and PS2, and are going to make Twilight Princess the launch title for Revolution. I believe that decision has been made and is the reason for the delay. "The designers want more time..." ... to upgrade it for the next gen consol I bet.
Right now, the most they will say is that it's "still scheduled" for the GameCube. Uh huh. Wait till spring of next year rolls along and see how badly they want to release a hugely anticipated game on a "failed" system rather than kicking their new one off with a bang. All that said, I hope I'm wrong cause I'm not in the mood to buy a new consol for one game (I'm not much of a gamer at all, except for Zelda games).

lamphorn

On another note: I too am never disappointed with a Zelda game. They are always the best of the best. However I do wish they hadn't been teasing us with this one for over three years now. I almost don't care anymore.
With all the experience with creating games, you'd think they'd have had some idea when it'll be ready. They're pretending they don't so we don't see it as a retraction of their promise for one last Zelda on Gamecube. I'd place money that it'll become a Revolution game.

Zodo

Once this game is announced for the Revolution, I'm selling my GC.

I mean, at this point why keep the thing? Are there any other games coming out for the GC that look decent?

It's sad that I haven't played anything on my GC for like months, and I don't see any other GC games coming out this year that interest me at all.

darkside

It will not be a Revolution launch title. They have already restated today that this is a GameCube title. There is no way in hell they would kill their Christmas sales to move this over to the Revolution. It is a long shot for the Revolution to even make a Spring time launch. This game is launching worldwide on the same date. The Revolution will probably not be.

Nintendo is not playing games with us by pushing this game back. They are doing it to make sure it lives up to the reputation of a Zelda game and will be very badly hurting their bottom line this Christmas to do it. It doesn't matter that the GameCube is a dead system. This game will sell millions of copies worldwide anyway. Granted you can also play it on the Revolution if somehow that system launches in the spring, but it will be a GameCube disc and you won't have to buy a Revolution to play it.

Chris_D

It's interesting, I thought the xbox1 would die off faster because MS has pulled all 1st party game support from the console. But then the Xbox E3 lineup turned out to be amazing, certainly far more games than I could have imagined coming out for a dead console.

Meanwhile the cube you would have at least expected the usual trickle of quality 1st party titles over the next 1-2 yrs even though 3rd parties have all but abandoned it, but now it looks like we can't even rely on Nintendo to deliver games.

I only got to read the august EGM recently, but I can't fathom how their post E3 rankings for GC and xbox were the same (although the very high ps2 score does make sense).

outer-edge

I'm disappointed, but anything that adds to the game is good. I really enjoyed Wind Waker, but it felt as if it was missing a couple dungeons. I would rather Twilight Princess not have that same feeling. This will leave me more time for Fire Emblem, Battalion Wars, other fall releases, and those GC titles I haven't picked up yet that I'm for a price drop on.

I was hoping to see a Wind Waker sequel someday as well, but it seems with the Revolution coming so soon, that will have to wait for the next system as well (along with Metroid Prime 3 ).

darkside

Well I think Zelda had a lot to do with that score. Nintendo does have quite a few games on the list for the rest of the year, but even if Battalion Wars, the many Mario games (DDR, Baseball, Soccer, etc) and Fire Emblem ended up being good games nothing can take the place of Zelda not being there. If you prefer the third party offerings the Xbox is getting the rest of the year the Cube will not compete.

outer-edge

I find it funny that Nintendo has abandoned us, according to some here, even with their five game line-up this fall. Maybe people aren't interested in the titles coming out, but Nintendo has definately not dropped their support of the system.

darkside

Yeah, I agree. They are definitely supporting the system, but its hard to fill a void for a game of that calibur. If Halo 2 or GTA: SA had missed their release dates last year it would have been the same thing. Sure there are other titles out there, but nothing compares to your number one selling franchise.

I'm going to pick up many of the first and second party Cube games coming out the rest of the year so I'm fine with the delay. I've already paid for Geist (which I may end up moving to something else like Fire Emblem) and Battalion Wars. I'm not a DDR person, but the Mario Baseball game is rather tempting as well. Unfortunately I've also paid for Zelda and FFXII and neither of those are coming out this year. I may try to move those over to something else as well.

Get Me Coffee

Nothing shocking here... Nintendo releasing a Zelda game on time? Time Nintendo gets some serious PM's to keep a project on schedule. The one game that's keeping me from packing up my GC ....geeez

tanman

You're not being serious are you? Took a hit on quality? To each his own I suppose. I think all three of them were some of the best this generation. They each took what worked and built upon it.

Superboy

To be quite honest, I think i'm the only huge Zelda fan who doesn't really give a crap about this game. It seems to me like Shigeru Miyamoto really didn't want to make this game and had no interest in another Gamecube Zelda game but was merely ordered to do so by Nintendo to please legions of fans who were "disappointed" by The Wind Waker. It's no coincidence that Link is given a much more "mature" appearance and the quest itself is much darker than previous Zelda games. I guess Nintendo promising that they wouldn't let games like GTA III influence their games was a lie.

Get Me Coffee

Did I miss something? I have no clue where you're coming from with this comparison between Zelda and GTAIII? Is Link bangin' hookers in this game?

Chris_D

A version like that would probably go over quite well with some people here . hell i'd be more likely to buy that than a GTA game.

I see this game as being made for those millions of fans of Zelda OoT (still rated by many as the best game ever) who were turned of by the direction of wind waker. Surely that's a valid thing to do. I mean kind of like what Square did with FF9 (although I don't think that worked too well).

I saw screens of Wind Waker, read reviews, saw it in person, and could just not get any interest in that game. The new zelda does look awesome though.

Superboy

Very well...

Nintendo is obviously giving in to the demands of millions of pre-pubescent (as Pixyjunket stated) teenage males who want dark, violent, and "mature" themed games and were disappointed by the "kiddy" nature of The Wind Waker. In our post-9/11 and post-GTA III world, people don't want their games to coddle them from the harsh realities of life.

Personally, I didn't enjoy the Wink Waker. Not because the graphics, I thought they were astounding, but because the core game was very short and the gameplay was heavily recycled from OoT. It felt like the same old game all over again; there was nothing really new. Sailing was fun but it felt like something inserted to artificially lengthen the game. Overall, I just became very bored of the game very quickly, and I wouldn't have minded waiting years for another masterpiece.

Superboy

Contrary to popular belief, FFIX was NOT intended to be an "apology" to Final Fantasy fans for the great change in direction that was found in Final Fantasy VIII. It was developed during the same time and only released a year after. Furthermore, the great disappointment many people found from FFVIII was NOT from the quality of the game (which was very good IMO) but rather because many foolishly thought that it was going to be a true sequel to the previous game, and didn't understand that each Final Fantasy is a whole new game bearing only a passing resemblance to the previous chapter. Furthermore, if Square was going to appease fans who were new to the series with Final Fantasy VII, then they wouldn't have made IX a living homage to the entire series as well as Chrono Trigger/Cross.

Chris_D

I understood it was meant to be an attempt to revisit a style and setting more in line with the Final Fantasy settings prior to 7 (which had less of a sci/fi bent) rather than any sort of a apology to fans of 7 who didn't like 8 (which is not what I said anyway).

For the record I liked 7 and 8 but thought 9 was very poor.

Joe Molotov

I guess you must have missed the infamous Legend of Zelda video from Spaceworld 2000 if you think this direction is some new thing that Nintendo just thought of after seeing GTA3 and 9/11. I say "infamous" because of the way that ultimately turned out. People were excited about seeing that kind of Zelda back then, and more than a few people were dissapointed when Nintendo decided to take Zelda is a different direction that what they originally showed us. Does that mean they're giving in? Well maybe, but I don't think they're taking Zelda in a direction they didn't want to take it. Nintendo's always done pretty much whatever they wanted to.

Superboy

Maybe I should have added [/sarcasm] to my post...

Yes, I am aware of that footage and realize that it was a HUGE mistake on the part of Nintendo to tease fans with footage like that and eventually take the series in a whole new direction, at least graphically. But you can't deny the influence that GTA III has had on the gaming public.

Michael Corvin

No you can't, but to say Myamoto, Nintendo & Zelda was influenced by GTA is silly. They toyed with (and had the Spaceworld video) of a mature Link/Zelda game a YEAR before GTA3 was even released. Plus as it was mentioned, they do their own thing, and never seem to be influenced by anyone.

At first glance the new game does seem to be playing into what the consumer wanted in the first place, but I don't think it will matter. I doubt Myamoto would give less than 110% on a game. Reminds me of Metallica. Hardcore fans bitch and moan for 10 years about the direction of the band, so they finally cave in and do a metal album and came up with less than stellar results. Hopefully Zelda will have a different outcome.

spainlinx0

I really was looking forward to playing this game, since Mario and Zelda are probably my favorite franchises. Now without a football game to play, the high price of the 360, and a waning interest in gaming in general, I may be saving a lot of money this holiday season.

js1

DAMN! one of the only games I was looking forward to for the holidays. Oh, well rather have be delayed that be buggy, or rushed.