The last three Electronic Entertainment Expos have absolutely spoiled us. Not only had we been treated to new hardware and price drops each year, but we also got a new entry in the Zelda franchise without fail. In 2009, we saw concept art for what would become Skyward Sword and got to play Spirit Tracks on the show floor. In 2010, we actually got to see Skyward Sword as well as heard news that Ocarina of Time 3D was coming for Nintendo’s newest handheld. And last year, in 2011, not only did we actually get Skyward Sword gameplay, but we got word that a whole bunch of classic Zelda games would launch on the eShop.
Enter E3 2012. No new Zelda. Not even a peep. We’re not counting the Nintendoland entry in the franchise, so for all intents and purposes, there is no new Zelda this year.
People are pissed. But should they be? We went four years between Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword, not to mention the fact that we went three years between GameCube Zeldas.
We’re huge fans of the series here at the ‘plante, if you weren’t already aware. But we’re kind of in the middle of everything else going on right now, and Nintendo is clearly focusing some energy on some other more important matters, such as getting the Wii U off the ground.
Realistically, there is no question in our minds that another Zelda game is in the works. And all likelihood points to it being a Majora’s Mask remake or sequel to the best portable entry in the franchise, A Link to the Past. In fact, Nintendo is probably going crazy racking their brains trying to figure out which one to do, if they aren’t doing both.
For now, however, let’s focus on the other great games coming out of big-N and give Shigeru Miyamoto a bit of time off to think about other franchises without getting too clogged in the brain with Link and Ganon. He’s working on massive titles like the rebirth of Pikmin, as well as Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, the successor to the 3DS, and presumably a new Mario game that is closer to Super Mario Galaxy than New Super Mario Bros. U in scale.
Overall, we do have quite a bit of content coming from Nintendo in the next little while, and there are a lot of big minds working on everything at the company. Not only are we looking at the future of Nintendo’s software at E3, but its hardware. Unfortunately, we just aren’t seeing the biggest franchise we like to see, but at the end of the day, we’ve had three big Zelda titles in the last few years, so we really have no right to complain.