Nintendo tends to make use of various art styles with the Zelda games. We’ve seen approaches that have been realistic, cel-shaded, and even impressionistic.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker most definitely introduced the biggest change in the series. No one saw the cartoon-like visuals coming, and the style initially caused quite the uproar. It’s in part due to Wind Waker’s original reception that it seems as though Nintendo will be more cautious with art styles in future Zeldas.

Eiji Aonuma, speaking with GamesTM this month, said the development team “will be a bit more careful in the future” with regard to the visual direction of Zelda entries. That being said, Aonuma would be willing “to break new ground again” if an approach was created that would appeal to the developers and players.

Aonuma told the magazine:

“We encountered an awful lot of problems from the drastic leap we took with Wind Waker. I think we will be a bit more careful in the future, but if we find a new approach that not just the developers, but also the users would enjoy then I think we will want to break new ground again. But we haven’t found such an approach yet.”

Thanks to joclo for sending this our way.

More: Eiji Aonuma, interview, The Legend of Zelda, top

Japanese Club Nintendo Platinum rewards for 2013 – Advance Wars: Days of Ruin and a calender

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in DSiWare, General Nintendo, News | 2 Comments

Nintendo has announced the 2013 Japanese Club Nintendo Platinum rewards. Members who reached the status this year will receive a download code for Advance Wars: Day of Ruin as well as a calender.

Advance Wars’ inclusion as a reward is particularly noteworthy. Nintendo never released Days of Ruin in Japan, but is now doing so through Club Nintendo.

Platinum members can download the title as a DSiWare title starting today. Nintendo will also allow all Japanese Club Nintendo users to pick up Advance Wars: Days of Ruin for 800 points beginning in May 2014.

Source

More: Advance Wars, Club Nintendo, Japan, top

Reggie talks using mobile devices for marketing, Nintendo TVii will see continued updates, more

Posted on 11 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Wii U | 3 Comments

Nintendo doesn’t plan on putting any of its franchises on smartphones. However, that doesn’t mean the company is opposed to the use of such devices entirely.

Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime, speaking with CNET, spoke about how Nintendo is consistently considering the mobile space from a marketing perspective. He also pointed out the importance of exclusive IPs like Mario and Zelda so that consumers understand they can only experience these series by picking up Nintendo hardware.

“We’re constantly thinking about how to leverage mobile as a marketing vehicle. How do I give little tastes of content, little experiences that then drive the consumer back to my hardware environment?”
“That’s why we’re so focused on having content exclusive to our platform. When the consumer wants to play Mario, Zelda, and Pokemon, they have to purchase our hardware to do so. And that preserves our overall financial model.”