According to Zelda Informer, the highly anticipated Zelda Wii has been in production since early 2006, meaning that if released in 2010 as promised it will have had nearly a five year development cycle. The previous record of three years held by Ocarina of Time looks paltry in comparison.
The article in question is titled “What we know about Zelda Wii,” and contains a number of "facts" gleaned from news stories. One of these stories was found in a short article in issue #165 of Game Informer magazine from January 2007, though the original text makes no mention of what platform this game is being developed for.
Next Zelda Coming Soon?
Most gamers are still making their way through Twilight Princess, yet our sources tell us that the next instalment in this series has been deep in development for around a year. It’s highly unlikely that Nintendo would release two Zelda games a year apart, but don’t be surprised if this game comes sooner than you think.
The above comment is also printed in the “Loose Talk” section of the magazine, an area reserved for “Hot Gaming Gossip”, so perhaps take this information with a pinch of salt. It could just as easily have meant Phantom Hourglass.
[source zeldainformer.com]
Comments (50)
Wow. I might actually buy this one.
Well of course. What do some of you think the Zelda team does when they're finished with one Zelda game?
Bake cookies for the Mario team?
The Hype Monster rears it's head.
Sounds (reads) like the Nintendo way. We don't have to be worried it's rushed then.
Yeah, this was probably PH or Link's Crossbow Training. The new Wii Zelda started development after both those titles were completed. it's probably been in development since early to mid 2008.
Here comes the hype...
Anyway. If it's been in development longer than OoT, it should be better than most Zeldas. Right?
5 years....
Knowing Aonuma and Miyamoto, expect nothing less than perfection!
Erm, most games take around 4 to 5 years to make, from conception to post production.
The public only really hear about the game when it enters production of the game, conception could take 1-2 years. I see nothing wrong with this length.
Well, with Nintendo you never hear about the game really till it's ready to be headed out the door now a days.
Fils-aime said on nintendo week, that iwata is making sure that it's going to be perfect.
The idea of playing a game that people have worked on for around 2,000 days is pretty staggering. However, I could also see the rumor article referring to Phantom Hourglass.
Phantom Hourglass for sure
lol now ill need to get a wiimotionplus
And it turns into the next Duke Nukem Forever.
@0-Watt
even if they were meaning those games, Zelda Wii actually started around the time that Twilight Princess was finished. they probably had to do some moving around to get people to work on other games but now they have the full force of the Zelda Team to finish this game.
Nintendo is probably talking about the side-attraction hook of the game, not the actual game itself. This would make sense since Shigeru Miyamoto talked about how New Super Mario Bros. Wii was "25 Years in the Making" when he was only talking about the concept of multiplayer in a Mario game. If this is the case, the hook better be a freaking awesome one that fits into the Zelda universe pretty well.
I like to think they do bake cookies for the Mario team, but I would assume this was another game. Phantom Hourglass and Crossbow Training were both created by EAD with Aonuma at the helm. He seems like a talented guy, but I don't think he can make three Zeldas at once.
I remember reading in 2007 some news about the next Zelda being in production side by side Twilight Princess. I remember them talking about building a game for Wii from the ground up.
It has been a dream to play a game that has been in production that long.
Hasn't it already been verified by Reggie that this isn't coming out until 2011?
Also from the Zelda Informer site:
"That issue came out in January 2007. So it's already official, it has had the longest development cycle since Ocarina of Time."
If this game is half as epic and fun as OoT It will be worth buying 5 times just for the sake of supporting it.
Damn. They were on this game before The Legend of Zelda: Twlight Princess was released? That is long.
The level of polish has to be up there.
My interest in this game will largely be based on one thing: does it have animated blood. That is, does it not have animated blood. This is because my 8 year old loves Zelda games, but does not like games with blood in them. As a result he has not played Twilight Princess. He is really hoping that the new Zelda doesn't go down that path either (why does a Zelda game need blood?)
Animated blood? I don't remember any blood in Twilight Princess and I'm in the middle of playing through it. I would like them to keep it as adult link but obviously flesh it out a bit more. There were lot's of improvements in TWP but there was also a lot missing. I don't care if there is blood or not, I certainly don't expect or need any of it. I hope it will be a revolutionary title and bring the series to a new level. I'm hoping for a game that would get a high 9's rating. It's too early to hype up, there aren't even any screenshots yet.
Twilight Princess certainly FELT like 5 years. i'm glad they never told us about this one until it was almost time. what they did with TP (especially in Nintendo Power) was just cruel.
@bro2dragons
Oh, gosh. I remember that. Some of the info was cool, but it was indeed cruel. =(
On Zelda Wii lanuch day, I'm goina do something stupid... I'm goina buy ALL zelda games available for Wii/GameCube/DS/VC.
Sounds crazy? That's because it is. Cuz Zelda isvTHAT AWESOME!
@Snipes: Reggie said it would come out when it's perfect, not in 2011
If you forgot...Twilight Princess Was Originally planned for release in November 2005, but was delayed by Nintendo to allow its developers to refine the game for the Wii and add more content.
They are surely keeping the hype up.
This game better be really, really good. If they over-hype it anything can become slightly dissapointing, even Zelda.
I personally think that's what happened with Twilight Princess. It was a brilliant game, but not really that revolutionary, especially for a game that was delayed for a year.
Could mean it wont be delayed...
Maybe they gave the devs more time.
I would hate to be these guys the pressure would be to much for me
@Larkin - I agree. No matter what they do they will never be able to please everyone.
I have faith it will not be a bad game, given their track record.
So long as they use a compelling story, it stands a very good chance.
I just look forward to seeing what they can really achieve with the Wii hardware and interface after all the experience they've had.
Are there actually any in game screens or any reliable information? You would think after 5 years there would be some scrap of reliable information.
The title of this is just asking for everyone to skip the article and post comments.
It was Phantom Hourglass. Good night.
@Big A2
U seriously believe Nintendo uses all it's manpower on the DS versions?
@retrobuttons: Where does it say they use all their manpower? It just says they might be working on another Zelda game at the moment, and it's from early 2007. Phontom Hourglass was released in mid 2007 in Japan, so there we go.
However, since the DS versions sell just as well as the Wii versions, so I'd imagine that they would put as much effort, yet take less time becuase there's less to work with.
Woah five years. I've gotta get motion plus now.
Actually its been confirmed that nintendo plans to release this game sometime this year with "more" to show as E3. Im assuming we are gonna see a trailer and mabey a title. Now this dosent mean this game wont be subject to Nintendo's infamaous delays.
Can't wait, looking forward to getting back to Hyrule! 2010 shaping up well!
Apparently there the next Zelda will apparently contain a rumored flying element. Airships in a Zelda game? Can't wait!
Interesting
I think Nintendo isn't showing us anything so the game will build up hype, and when they give us a trailer, a screenshot, and a title, it'll build up even more hype. So when they release the game it will sell extreemely well. And that leads to more money.
Or they just don't want to show us anything.
Ever since I started playing Spirit Tracks I got into Zelda games, so I might buy this when it is released eventually.......
I can't wait until E3 rolles around so we can see at least a trailer. I'm so excited that we now have the new mario galxey and now the zelda hopfully coming out this year!
The game didn't start development in 2006... They just hit the drawing board.. they were working on phantom hourglass and coming up with stuff for the new zelda.. The actual development of the game probably started in late 2007... And its NOT coming out this year.. Id bet my life on it
When is E3? Or more appropriately, when is my zelda fix?
E3 is June 15 to 17 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. I cant wait to go this year
Cool, thanks for that.
I hope everyone realizes there are people that work on the handheld Zelda games and people that work on the console games.
Judging by some of these comments you'd think they had the same five guys locked in a room, constantly working on every Zelda game all at once.
It seems to me that Nintendo is just duming this one off and getting it over with. I know its had a long development cycle, but a release as major as the next Legend of Zelda tends to be big enough for E3, not just some random announcement. Besides, the game's been far too long in development to solve the many problems the serie's been having to face over the past 10 years. It doesn't take five years to make a solid arcade-style of gameplay and to come up with some new content that fits with the rest of the series.
Long development times and Zelda go together like ice and water.
It's a fail safe to keep the game from sucking, something other developers should take notice.
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