Update: So, uhh. Yeah, we were dead wrong. Original story below.
This afternoon, Nintendo is going to be unveiling some new titles as well as updating the public on previously announced games (and perhaps hardware) in their all-new Nintendo Direct happening at 2:00PM Pacific / 5:00PM Eastern.
On the website currently is a placeholder where the Kyoto-based company will eventually host the video with which they make their announcement. However, digging through the source code of the site shows off some interesting finds that may point to what they’re announcing this evening.
When searching for Mario, anything from Mario Sports Mix to Super Mario Galaxy to New Super Mario Bros. Wii shows up. The same happens when searching for most any other game: multiple titles appear on a range of platforms, both handheld and home console.
Yet, for one search in particular, only one thing comes up. Search for Zelda, and aside from the franchise’s website, Spirit Tracks is the sole game on the list.
Looking at other pages on Nintendo’s website, the code (see below) is not just boilerplate stuff found on every Nintendo webpage. It seems that the Nintendo Direct page is unique in this aspect, potentially ruling out that this is just placeholder source code. Being the only page with references to Spirit Tracks in this capacity is certainly curious.
This could be notable for a couple of reasons. Not only is it a bit of an oddball game to pick–the game launched on Nintendo DS in 2009–it was the lowest-rated main Zelda title in the past 15 years with the exception of the recently released Tri Force Heroes.
It is also interesting that there is no mention of Twilight Princess, though that seems to be the game everyone is expecting to hit the eShop later this year or early in 2016.
Next year is Zelda‘s 30th anniversary, so while there are almost certainly going to be lots of ways Nintendo plans on celebrating the series, we’re not sure that Spirit Tracks is the way to do it.
Of course, there’s no way to narrow down exactly whether or not this is Nintendo’s plan, and we’d really be hard-pressed to think about why they would re-release Spirit Tracks of all games, but it really does get us thinking of just what plans Nintendo has to celebrate Zelda‘s 30th birthday.
We’re keeping our fingers (and toes) crossed for Twilight Princess HD, as there’s a huge chance the website source code is strictly placeholder text–there are also references to Punch-Out!! and Endless Ocean in there–so keep your eyes and ears on Nintendo in the coming hours as they begin to announce what they’ve got planned for everything except their mobile and NX offerings.