Lengthy development periods are nothing new in video games. A developer likes to announce a project years in advance in order to build anticipation. That’s just the way the world works. But, come on, every time the new open-world Legend of Zelda has been pushed back a year, bits of my soul have just floated away. In fact, all of those little bits have probably amalgamated into a Poe you could find floating around Hyrule field after sundown.
As with Twilight Princess, the newest installment of the Zelda franchise finds itself between console life cycles. The Wii U is winding down in preparation for the mysterious NX, and Nintendo recently announced that the newest Zelda game would launch simultaneously on both consoles. Luckily, Nintendo has announced that they will have a playable demo of the exciting new iteration available at their E3 booth! In fact, it will be their only playable demo. Nintendo hasn’t focused on E3 in recent years as much as they once did, turning their announcements instead to their own Treehouse livestreams. But turning their presence there this year into one giant Zelda-fest seems to indicate that they are all in on hyping the new game before next years release. A playable demo is a good sign, indicating that further release date push backs are less likely.
The open-world Zelda marks a departure from the relatively linear structure of game’s past. Typically, a player progresses by conquering one dungeon to obtain an item that helps navigate the next dungeon, and so on. Details haven’t yet been released, but it’s possible we’ll see a weapons bartering system similar to what was introduced with the handheld The Legend of Zelda: Link Between Worlds. Such a system would allow for early access to an arsenal that would normally take hours of gameplay to amass.
Nintendo will of course be sharing footage from the game with fans all over the world, but they’re also going to be running a sweepstakes that will allow one lucky fan to bring a friend to Los Angeles to be some of the first players to get hands-on experience with the all-new all-immersive Hyrule. By Tweeting @NintendoAmerica with the hashtags #MyZeldaLegend and #NintendoSweepstakes with what the series means to you, you’ll be entered to win the grand prize trip! Aside from the airfare for two, the grand prize also includes a hotel stay, tickets to E3, and a $500 prepaid Visa debit card. Pretty serious swag for the dedicated gamer. Click here to learn more about Nintendo’s Sweepstakes.
How excited are you to see actual gameplay footage of the new Zelda chapter!?
Have you heard the latest NX rumors? We recently discussed them on Nerdist News!
Image: Nintendo
