Zelda.in

I assume that many of you have played (or have at least heard of) the 2008 Indie hit Braid. Fewer of you may even know the man behind the game - a pretentious, opinionated man by the name of Jonathan Blow. Blow, among many of his other criticisms, thinks that the gaming industry has fallen down a slippery slope, in which modern games must rely on cheap tactics like reward-driven mechanics. However, Blow does not limit his gaze to just modern games; quite the contrary, he has cited Super Mario Bros. as a proponent of these tricks. So I ask, Zelda Informees, is Mario unethical? For those of you who are unfamiliar with the concept of Operant Conditioning, it may be in your interest to read a little about it before reading this article. Wikipedia will do just fine: Wikipedia: Operant Conditioning...

HD remakes are all the fad these days, but why do they have to only apply to games that have been around for awhile? This year, on November 20th in the states, we will be getting Link's latest adventure on the Nintendo Wii. Skyward Sword is sure to be a great title, and possibly the greatest title in the series to date. However, the next console is on the horizon next year, and Skyward Sword could very well make an excellent launch game. I am not saying that any of us need a second iteration of the title, but I know I would personally love to buy a HD version next year. It gives the title a second shelf life within it's first year on store shelves, and it can help promote the graphical improvements the Wii U offers. Sure, there may not be any actual enhancements outside of upping the resolution, but would there need to be any? People worry about what the Wii U Zelda title will hold. Will it have Skyward Sword's style? Will it go back to an advanced version of Twilight Princess like in the Wii U tech demo? What about revisiting The Wind Waker?...

In a rather peculiar move, Nintendo is now advertising the fact that you can actually play the Nintendo 3DS without the 3D mode. This might seem like a "duh" thing at first, only slightly less obvious than the water being wet, but if you've been following Nintendo news for the past year or so this should come as no surprise, as Nintendo tends to cater to the "special" crowd. This would also imply that there were actually people who did not know that the 3D mode was optional, which is borderline worrying. Anyone met a person who thought that 3D was mandatory? [Source: My Nintendo News]...

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy isn't the only rhythm game coming in production for fans of the genre: say hello out Rhythm Phantom Thief R: Inheritance of Napoleon! This jam-packed game seems to carry with it a smooth, stylistic approach, a dashing young man in a suit for the ladies, and a simple enough story to provide the snazzy backdrop for the whole shebang. It certainly looks extremely promising from what I can tell, and it's already calling to my burning desire for handheld rhythm games to sate the void left by EBA and Ouendan 2. If you want the full story on this well-dressed thief, hit the jump!...

One tiny little detail hidden in an almost two-week old press release is about to get a whole lot more attention: the Zelda 25th anniversary prepaid download points cards are coming to America! We've already seen these cards show up in Japan and I've been aching to get my hands on them - but I'll finally get my chance! I've been really into collecting Zelda 25th anniversary bling this year: I have a Skyward Sword themed desktop background running right now, I still use my E3 2011 lanyard to hold onto my keys, and my Ocarina of Time 3D soundtrack is proudly displayed alongside my Wii games. Looks like I'll have a couple other pieces to add to the pile! (Plus, I'll get some good download content out of them, too.) Jump inside for the press release snippet....

Pete Hines of Bethesda, the game studio behind top-selling franchises like Fallout and Elder Scrolls, recently sat down with Official Nintendo Magazine for some Wii U talk. Hines hinted at a possible future for Bethesda games on the Wii U, but only if it could be done without having to change too much. Convenience is key to Bethesda in getting a game from one platform to another. Official Nintendo Magazine also asked about a possible release of Skyrim, the upcoming Elder Scrolls title that's currently holding a lead over Skyward Sword in pre-orders, but you'll have to hit the jump to see what Hines had to say. Full quotes inside....

Been wondering where to go to take advantage of your SpotPass functions in your city or town? Nintendo has the answer for you! They just debuted a new 3DS Wi-Fi hotspot locator tool that will show you where any participating SpotPass partner in your area can be found. If you're like me and you live away at school, your university's Wi-Fi options probably won't allow your game systems like the Wii or 3DS to connect, so a solution like this is essential to getting new download content and playing online. My connection opportunities are mostly limited to the Starbucks locations in my area. Luckily there's one in the university shopping center right around the corner... So - where will you SpotPass?...

Those Official Nintendo Magazines get all the luck. Looks like ONM's got first dibs on a near-final build of Skyward Sword (the impression I'm getting is that the game hasn't gone gold quite yet) and will be providing the world's first review of the game in their next issue, which hits newsstands October 25. Will Zelda Informer get to this esteemed position someday? I certainly hope so. In the meantime, we're doing the best we can to offer our own exclusive premier content: screenshots, videos, reviews, and not one but two Skyward Sword walkthroughs: one spoiler-free version that guides you through the basic quest and another 100% completion guide that'll lead you through every secret and sidequest. You'll be able to access both guides from our Skyward Sword Walkthrough hub upon the game's release. We're hoping to make it bigger and better than our Ocarina of Time 3D Walkthrough, so it'll definitely be something special!...

Everyone has an opinion about Operation Moonfall.  Whether you are for, or against, we can mostly agree that more Zelda is better than less, especially when this release would breathe new life into a game that truly deserves it.  I present to you 10 reasons in this video, why I feel Operation Moonfall should succeed, [...]

A couple days ago Zelda Informer's Almighty Overlord Nathanial Rumphol-Janc posted an article that aimed some heavy criticism at Nintendo's tendency to focus too strongly on its existing brands as "core" attractions rather than seeking out new opportunities to reach out to fans of content that's abundant on other platforms. His argument in a nutshell: in order to capture the tens of millions of PS3 and Xbox 360 fans, Nintendo needs to be the leader in creating content that appeals to that crowd, either by staying a successful course with their existing franchises - the big example was sticking with a more universally accepted art style for Zelda - or by creating new IPs to fill their demands. Clearly relying on third-party efforts hasn't pulled it off, since third parties tend to try to imitate Nintendo's strategies in order to capitalize on the things that already appeal to Nintendo's customers. Based on some of the responses to the article, I get the feeling there's a lot of antagonism towards the idea that Nintendo needs to reach out to those gamers with content suited for them. One comment read: "Your (sic) acting like Nintendo can create new IP's (sic) easily...