Link archer.jpg

With The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild coming to both Wii U and NX in 2017, many are watching closely to see if the title leads to any inadvertent NX details or leaks ahead of time.

So what's got parts of the web buzzing today? Well, the eager gamers over on the NX subreddit found what seems to be an accidental posting of a release date for the Link (Archer) figure, with users identifying the date throughout Nintendo of Europe's sites - the date given is 4th March 2017. Below is a cropped version of one of the clearer images of this.

Leak date.png
Image: Noelshack.com

Naturally, the buzz is that a date for the amiibo could be a release date (or close) for the game itself, and by extension is leading to assumptions (not unreasonable) that the title could be a launch release for Nintendo's new hardware, the NX. From that perspective, it is exciting.

There are some provisos, however, to keep hype at sensible levels. For starters, 4th March 2017 is a Saturday, which seems very unlikely. Its also been noted that 4th March 2016 was the release date for The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD and its Wolf Link amiibo; the implication is that someone was doing some work on Nintendo's site and partially copied a date as part of a test, inadvertently putting it live for a period. That does seem like a strong possibility.

Even if this is all a mistake from someone at Nintendo of Europe making a simple human error, it's nevertheless boosted hope that this game (and by extension NX) are still on track. Nintendo's most recent statements in its Q1 financial reports reiterated a March 2017 release for NX, and logic (along with some speculation) suggests an announcement should come in the next month.

In any case, take what you will from this apparent leak. At the very least, it reminds us that there's a lot to get excited about in the coming weeks and months.

With thanks to Spoony_Tech for the heads up.

[source reddit.com, via neogaf.com]