Colin Sebastian, an industry analyst (whom I’ll admit I’ve never heard of but seems to be a very well-informed individual), has made a list of 22 games which will hopefully increase video games sales by 5% in 2009, and Zelda is one of them. This is pure speculation on his part - there has been no confirmation of the next game’s release date. In fact, we hardly know anything about it!

It would make sense, though - Twilight Princess has been out for two years now, and we know Nintendo are hard at work on the next title. And aside from Wii Sports Resort (which, as much as we all wish against it, will be a huge seller), Nintendo don’t really have any big Wii games coming out.

But will Nintendo release a Zelda game so soon? Considering that, since the first trailer was shown, Nintendo spent two and a half years hyping up Twilight Princess, can we really expect Nintendo to unveil and release a Zelda game within a year? 2009 isn’t that far away, so let’s wait and find out.

Zelda Makes Analyst’s List of 2009 Releases - Gamespot

Hi.  How’s it goin’?  Anyone remember me?  Well, good, cause I remember all of you.  I’d give you a recount of my absence, but I’d rather not fill this entire post with plugs for things.  So I’ll move straight on to the updates.  I have many of them for you this time around, as you shall see below.  I’d love to promise that I’ll be around more frequently again, but I don’t know that I’d be able to keep that promise.  After the first weekend in May, I’ll have more time that I can call my own, so I may start being more active after that.  Otherwise, stay tuned.  I may be around before then.  I’ve got bunches of stuff I want to do around here, so I really want to get to some of it.  But, in the meantime, hopefully these updates will keep you entertained until my next return.  Enjoy!

Phantom Hourglass - Spirit Gems

Minish Cap - Heart Pieces

Oracle of Ages - Heart Pieces

Oracle of Seasons - Heart Pieces

After finding that cutting bushes and smashing pots are not actually as profitable as the games make out to be, a Zelda fan turned to real-world methods of thievery.

A man robbed the People’s Bank in Waterbury on Monday morning. How do we know he’s a Zelda fan? Look at the picture closely.

Unfortunately, he got away, but his escape plan was stalled when he realised that he didn’t have the ability to lift bombs above his head out of nowhere and throw them at the cracked wall.

Goodnight, everybody!

http://www.wfsb.com/news/18180964/detail.html
(Excuse the messy link, the tag system isn’t working properly right now for some reason.)

Eiji Aonuma - that’s the dude that co-directed Ocarina of Time, solo-directed every main instalment since then (and produced a fair few others) - spoke about his amibitions in an interview with Nintendo Power this month - to better himself! When speaking about Ocarina of Time, he said:

I’m happy that a title I worked on some time ago remains highly praised to this day, but that also shows how none of the subsequent games in the series have surpassed it. As someone who is still working on the series, I have mixed feelings about that. Because I haven’t yet surpassed it, I can’t quit. Surprisingly, that simply motivation may be the reason I continue to work on the Zelda series.

That’s right. He’s not content with just making the “Best Game Ever”, he wants to make one better than that! I think we can say the Zelda series is in safe hands for the time being. Let’s just hope we get some info about the next instalment soon - it’s been two years now!

You can read the rest of the interview in Nintendo Power, or if you’re not American (like me), well… I’m sure you can think of one or two ways to search for it.

The second volume of Viz Media’s English version of the long-running Zelda manga is now out. This volume continues the plot of Ocarina of Time, to completion. Volume three will be a self-contained adaptation of Majora’s Mask.

I enjoyed the first volume - obviously, a lot of changes have been made from the original game, but I thought it was a fun read. Did you buy the first volume? What did you think? Leave us a comment after the puzzle-solved jingle!

In a recent interview with MTV’s gaming blog “MTV Multiplayer”, writer Stephen Totilo got a chance to interview Nintendo’s biggest name, Shigeru Miyamoto. Miyamoto goes on to explain that while the past few Nintendo games have been good, they have been too “conservative”. He explains, “What I’ve been saying to our development teams recently is that The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was not a bad game, by any means. But, still, it felt like there was something missing”. I’m sure many of us Zelda fans are ready for a new, fresh, and exciting new design to our favorite game. While Mr. Miyamoto gave no word as to when we could expect any of these fresh new games, we can be sure that they are in the works!

We all knew it would happen, but today we received confirmation. Nintendo has released a teaser list of six songs which would appear in their upcoming Wii Music, which is coming out for the… what was it again? One of the songs is the well-loved Legend of Zelda theme. As Koji Kondo is heavily involved in the development of this game, you can probably expect more Zelda music to creep into the final song list. The other confirmed tracks include two other Nintendo tracks - the obvious Super Mario Brothers theme and the less obvious Animal Crossing: Wild World theme, and three classics in the public domain - My Grandfather’s Clock, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik and Ode To Joy.

Whether Wii Music will be any good for anyone who has a vague interest in what the phrase “video games” referred to two years ago remains doubtful. But there’s your tidbit for the day.

As a lot of you seem to be excited about the newly-translated Zelda manga, I thought I should mention that various online and high street stores are now selling volume 1 of the Ocarina of Time adaptation. I managed to find a copy of it in my local comic book store today, and considering I live in Scotland, I’d assume the majority of you shouldn’t have trouble finding it!

While browsing Amazon UK today, I came across something very interesting: volumes 3 and 4 of the upcoming Zelda manga! Yes, it looks like Viz Media are planning on releasing Volume 3, which covers the events of Majora’s Mask, set directly after Ocarina of Time, and Volume 4, which will jump through time and introduce us to a completely different Link as it covers Oracle of Seasons. This seems like pretty good confirmation to me - unless someone at Amazon HQ was bored and decided to photoshop the books’ covers perfectly, I’d say they look quite legitimate. They will be released, according to Amazon, on February 3 and April 7, 2009 respectively. In the meantime, the first two volumes, an adaptation of Ocarina of Time, will be released in early October and December. I’ll be sure to let you know when the first volume becomes availible (as manga is often sold earlier online than the street date)!

Do we have the book for you. “The Legend of Zelda and Philosophy”, a (clearly unofficial) 288-page book by Luke Cuddy promises to answer all those burning questions you have about the series.

 With both young and adult gamers as loyal fans, The Legend of Zelda is one of the most beloved video game series ever created. The contributors to this volume consider the following questions and more: What is the nature of the gamer’s connection to Link? Does Link have a will, or do gamers project their wills onto him? How does the gamer experience the game? Do the rules of logic apply in the game world? How is space created and distributed in Hyrule (the fictional land in which the game takes place)? How does time function? Is Zelda art? Can Hyrule be seen as an ideal society? Can the game be enjoyable without winning? The Legend of Zelda and Philosophy not only appeals to Zelda fans and philosophers but also puts video games on the philosophical map as a serious area of study.

The book is released November 28 by Open Court publishing. Until then, you’ll have to find something else to argue about on the internet.

Zelda and Philosophy - Amazon