
Update [Mon 16th Sep, 2024 15:30 BST]:
While it seems as though a few folks may have gotten their hands on early copies of The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, initial reports that the game is accessible via emulators may have been premature.
Evidence that the game is out there is certainly available (particularly via a YouTube video of the game's title screen which has now been removed via a copyright claim from Nintendo), but it appears that the leak is not quite as severe as we'd initially suspected.
Either way, to be on the safe side, make sure you have those key words muted and be wary of what you're looking at online. You can't be too careful.
Original Article [Fri 13th Sep, 2024 09:45 BST]:
If you're active on social media or online forums, you might want to start muting key words or simply opt to spend your time elsewhere, because it looks like The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom has leaked almost two weeks ahead of its release.
Thanks to a heads up from Gaming Reinvented, it appears as though some players are playing Echoes of Wisdom in its entirety via emulation. Warnings have been posted on social media from both Nintendo Prime and Zelda Lore and, after doing a bit of careful digging ourselves, we can confirm that screens and footage not officially released by Nintendo are floating around the interwebs. Drat.
So, if you've not already gone dark on Echoes of Wisdom ahead of its release, now might be the time to do so. You might remember the same thing happened with Tears of the Kingdom ahead of its launch in 2023, with major spoilers being posted online from key cutscenes and boss battles. Let's not fall prey to the same thing here.
Officially, Echoes of Wisdom will launch on 26th September 2024. It marks the first instance that Zelda herself will be the main protagonist, with the game utilising an 'echo' ability in which you can recreate objects and even enemies found within the game world.
Let us know in the comments if you plan on picking up Echoes of Wisdom when it launches on the 26th. In the meantime, be careful out there.
[source x.com, via gamingreinvented.com]
Comments 60
How does this keep happening with Nintendo developed games. I swear its been every single one since 2020 or so
I find, "Must avoid spoilers!" culture so utterly exhausting. It's a Zelda game, there's really not anything to spoil in the first place. Let me guess, you beat up Ganon at the end and on the way you probably fight Moldorm a couple more times or something.
@Lizuka Lots of games have secrets & surprises that many people would like to experience for themselves, rather than accidentally come across them in a reveal. Granted, it may not be particularly spoilery plot wise for a title like Zelda, but if you consider the puzzles and the mechanics for completing them, it would be a bit like stumbling across a solution which could potentially negate the enjoyment had in solving it for yourself.
This always happens with big games.
Had to stay away with Astro Bot and now Zelda until I get it play the game.
It’s the internet and the moving forward of technology, things don’t just sit on a hard drive anymore, they are across the company or business on intranet or even in cloud.
So they are easier to get hold of and steal.
I’m the person who waits for release day and actually purchases the product, thereby helping the company make the next great game down the road.
And I am not the only one, judging by the sales of Tears Of The Kingdom.
Leaked? Let's go.... 👯♀️🪭🪭
As expected and as usual I'm not particularly bothered by the leaks themselves, it's those who put spoilers in difficult to avoid places like YouTube thumbnails etc.!
@Lizuka There will be stuff to spoil, that goes for any other franchise.
That's the same mindset of "It's a Mario game, there's nothing to spoil, he defeats Bowser and saves Peach"
That is blatantly ignoring the many surprises, secrets, twists, how it's executed that are going to make it stand out and a fresh surprise amongst every other instalment of that series.
Even if "Zelda beats up Ganon at the end", there could be a new actual new final boss that is very spoilery. Could it be a new character design you wanted to see for yourself in-game instead of someone sharing it on twitter? Its placement in the narrative with context seeing it for the first time? Awesome music you wanted to hear in the moment than having it shown everywhere on social media?
There is too many factors of why people want to avoid spoilers of a new entry in a series, regardless of presumptuously un-spoilery it may seem.
Yuzu, unsurprisingly for a current gen emulator, is still in its relative infancy, especially considering the complexity of the hardware it spoofs. And some folks are eager to task it with something unreleased without "day 1 patches" and whatnot just to stuff their social media accounts with spoiler screenshots?
We may not be getting another "great video game crash" contrary to recurrent fears... but a great video game fandom crash sounds more overdue by the year. And yet, alas, remains wishful thinking in itself.
That sucks. Guess I will stay off the internet for a bit.
Nintendo of America cut ties with Walmart and Amazon to keep this from happening.
But the weebs in the Cartels, eh, find a way.
Or this could be something out of Europe. Those smaller shops don't typically give a crap about street date. When they got it, they sell it.
This is one of the most important reasons why piracy and emulation needs to be fought.
@Zeebor15 Most smaller stores I know here in the Netherlands always keep the official release dates. It's the bigger stores that aren't purely gaming focused that often make these mistakes.
Of course it has. Time for a mute-stravaganza!
@Lizuka woah, spoilers!
absolutely ridiculous. Nintendo should have built in ways of identifying where a leaked game has come from and come down hard on it
@jco83
Unfortunately that's not possible.
Whilst game cards do all have unique headers, they're always discarded when pirated game data is distributed.
@sanderev All European stores are small by American standards.
Except Aldi.
We only respect Aldi
Mankind is so disrespectful.
Who will be killed by Nintendo, this time ?
Yes, in France, for example, they sell the product when they receive it, in certain stores...
Time to go internet blackout
@Lizuka gameplay spoilers are a thing too
@Zeebor15 I'm ofcourse talking about stores like MediaMarkt / Satrun.
@sanderev USA! USA!
Nintendo Life, the image that you guys are seeing is from PAX West. The game hasn't leaked.
I've had to stay away from Astro Bot spoilers which is hard enough as is since my preorder is just now arriving today, thankfully I don't mind spoilers for Zelda games though I have somehow gone this long without knowing totk's ending since I haven't beaten it yet.
@Lizuka I'm very glad I'm not part of the spoiler-fear culture. I can review-research games without worries and not have any bit of my enjoyment-value lost.
Nintendo needs to do a better job on background checks for whoever they send review copies to.
@Lizuka I agree that it can be tiring.
I don't agree with the statement that Zelda games cannot be spoiled. Other than gameplay mechanics, number of dungeons, etc... to give a concrete one that I felt for with TOTK was the real identity of the Light Dragon. Yeah, that spoiler was definitively an unwelcome one.
@Lizuka I don't think people are talking about story spoilers, more gameplay surprises. E.g. I avoided TOTK trailers, so flying around sky islands and building were big surprises for me. It's nice to be delighted while actually playing a game for the first time rather than delighted when you see someone else playing it
In terms of being spoiled, this isn't all that different from waiting to play two weeks after its release date. I suppose it's not great for people with a mighty need to play a game as soon as it's released.
For those of us who wait, we just start avoiding spoilers two weeks earlier. And initially there won't be as many chances to be spoiled because fewer people are playing.
It still makes it tougher though, for sure.
Since galaxy 2, I stand behind my words that Nintendo needs to react to these leaks by dropping street date at least for digital games.
The old argument was the retailer deals, but we see more and more games launch digital sometimes months before the carts hit stores.
Flip the switch, FOMO drives piracy up every time a big N game leaks.
@sanderev nope.
I won’t emulate this, but “cracking down” on end users is stupid.
No empathy for the ones who profit from it, though .
It’s funny, Nintendo could start selling the game digitally as soon as it goes gold, before cartridges are on shelves. Many people would hate that I’m sure. But it would sure eliminate the market for leaks!
I’ll be getting this game on cartridge, and I see zero reason to care that some people are playing it before me.
I have it on order but I will def nab the ROM to play later in 4x rez via the wonders of Ryujinx !
@Lizuka This is the type of mindset I hate. Some people want to play the game without having anything spoiled for them- including the experience itself. Just because the story may be simple doesn't mean that there aren't things that can't be spoiled.
@Lightsiyd yeah, sorry, I don't believe you.
@WiltonRoots I've never seen that here.
@Lightsiyd Unfortunately I'm one of the people who genuinely likes having surprises in games. Games end up being more impactful for me if I start playing them with knowing minimal info on them. It isn't fair that every time something releases I have to actively try to avoid getting spoiled just because a few people couldn't wait until the game released to talk about it. I've had some games ruined for me because the moments are less impactful if I know for a fact that they're going to happen. Mechanics are less cool when I've known about said mechanics for months on end.
Oh no, not those spoilers like how Zelda and Link are going to win in the end.
I know guys that have deep sources (not your casual rom sites) and as of today, no one has access to a .nsp copy.
@VoidofLight Sorry to hear that, and I do somewhat understand as I also hate spoilers when it comes to reading manga, books, and Xianxia, and yeah it's most definitely unfair. It's a shame that it's one of those things that is hard to ever make fair as people's ethical values are capable of being extremely diverse, and some even actively take pleasure in being arseholes.
@LikelySatan Suit yourself, but I've mentioned multiple times that story isn't a consideration when I play games. As for gameplay spoilers, the idea of spoilers ruining the kind of games I love is hilarious, top-tier popcorn material.
@Tacolatte I didn't say they should crack down on end users. That honestly never worked. They should go after websites sharing roms, people who develop hacks for their hardware (especially with the Switch 2 next year) etc.
@Lightsiyd Yeah it's a struggle. Best I can do is just avoid searching the game online. Used to be harder for me when I was young, but more and more I've been trending to just not watching the trailers for a game unless it's something like Monster Hunter or maybe Pokemon (unless its a new Pokemon generation).
I decided early on that I would want to watch the first two trailers of Echoes of Wisdom and then watch no more until the game released. I want to avoid seeing characters, areas, and even enemies so I can experience them as I go. Tears of the kingdom was so cool because I didn't see spoilers, and I got so excited when I saw stuff like gibdos, bomb fruits, and like likes. Now that the Echoes of Wisdom has leaked, I might need to give up all places where I could get spoilers. I hope Nintendo finds out how these leaks are happening and locks them down, because I am extra sensitive to spoilers.
@LikelySatan I don't see it often enough for that kind of beatdown either. What is wilton on about?
@sanderev
Smells like BS to me.
@Ryu_Niiyama Ancillary benefit.
I'm going to look for this.
well if it has leaked online i seen no evidence of it at all on youtube..
@ibookboyuk ok cool, you want a cookie for that?
@Nancyboy haha true enough.
@PixelTavern its been happening for decades, not just for video games either. the range goes from digital media to top secret government documents like MKUltra, ECHELON, military documents making their way to Warthunder's forums, ect...
there is no leak.
Just an early (illegal)snatch of a reviewers demo.
@The_DuckWitch Aldi knew how to sell itself to Americans and bring together only the best parts of the American diet and German supply logistics.
The YouTuber that made the video is known for stretching the truth to get more likes and subscriptions. The game has only been shared on private networks and has not "leaked online"
Still no leak :c y'all got me excited
People don't play and beat the game within the first minute of playing it. Even if the game wasn't leaked, if you take your time with things and play at a steady pace there will always be somebody ahead of you posting spoilers.
"I want to stay spoiler free so I'm going to read every review, study every article, watch every YouTube video, click every link. Then complain about it"
2 weeks will kill the sales of the game
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...