An unnamed source claims the upcoming Wii U Zelda will be the most expensive game Nintendo has ever made.
It’s not hard to accurately predict that Nintendo is working on a new Legend of Zelda for the Wii U. It’s like guessing that the sun is going to rise; after you’ve watched it happen so many times you can eventually set your clock around it. What’s much less certain are the details, such as where the story will be set in the enormous Zelda timeline, or what particular art style the game will use. While we continue to wait for confirmation on what Nintendo has planned, an unnamed source for Wii U Daily claims to have seen the game in action. According to the report, the new Zelda title will make full use of the Wii U’s increased graphical capabilities, and features huge virtual worlds that rival Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto games.
“It’s a 4-year development cycle with a new console, new technology, new engine,” the source explained. “It’ll end up being the most expensive game they’ve made to date. It’s a huge investment for [Nintendo] in money and manpower, this is Rockstar/GTA territory.”
The report lists several ways in which the new Zelda title differs from previous entries, but the actual scale of the game world being the most prominent. According to the source, all content presented during 2011’s E3 has been scrapped to build an enormous adventure experience from scratch. “The first test dungeon they made was a giant forest running on early and buggy Wii U hardware,” Wii U Daily’s source said. “The dungeon was bigger than the Hyrule field in Ocarina, and the whole thing is one dungeon. You use the GamePad to navigate, avoid traps, follow clues etc. It’s dark, lush, with a ton of trees, foliage, some which you have to cut your way through. Its scope and details are unlike anything you’ve seen in a Zelda game.”
Of course, the main feature that sets the Wii U apart from its peers is the GamePad tablet controller, which while unique, still needs to prove itself as a worthwhile gaming accessory. According to the source, Zelda fans have nothing to worry about because the GamePad was designed partly designed for this very game. “At least one of the hardware features added to the GamePad were solely implemented because the Zelda team figured out they could do something cool with it,” the source states. “Zelda designers started sketching out concepts as soon as Nintendo decided to include a screen with the new console … everything in the game is built around the controller and its unique abilities. Every single feature in the controller is used to its full potential.”
While the overall tone of the report can be summarized as an enthusiastic “Ermagerd, Zelda,” if even some of the reported information is true, it could make for a refreshing return-to-form for the series. While Skyward Sword was fun and well-designed, it simply didn’t provide a vast open-world for the player to explore like Ocarina of Time or even A Link to the Past did. Regardless, we’ll still have lots of time to speculate; thanks to all of the new features the source claims Nintendo is adding, The Legend of Zelda won’t see the light of day until 2014.
Thanks to Mr. Mattress finding the info.
Source: Wii U Daily
