Any hope that Retro could be working on a Zelda game must be discarded for now. Shigeru Miyamoto has ruled out the franchise as the studio’s next project, but he naturally wouldn’t say what the team is making.

Miyamoto recently said:

“Retro is very busy right now, but I’m afraid I can’t say exactly what it is that they’re very busy [working] on.”

Regarding the possibility of Retro working on Zelda in the future, Miyamoto is still open to the idea. The main issue is that the Zelda team in Japan would need to be in constant contact. Miyamoto also imagines that he would need to be a big part of the game’s development, even joking that he’d be forced to live in Austin throughout the creation process.

In any case, Miyamoto said that Retro is “too busy for that sort of thing right now.”

“In terms of them working on a Zelda, it’s not out of the question, certainly, for them to work on an entire Zelda game amongst themselves. Traditionally I think that the Zelda team has always had a close contact with anyone who’s working on a Zelda game. If you were going to have that happen in the US at Retro, that would be kind of difficult for them to be able to coordinate. Certainly they’re too busy for that sort of thing right now. It would probably require me to be involved to a great extent as well, so I would have to get over quite a bit too. I’d probably have to live in Texas… [laughs]”

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Missed out on “The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses” tour? There are more opportunities to attend throughout the year!

Extraordinary Concert Will Captivate Game Fans and Music Lovers in Pittsburgh, San Jose, Boston, Chicago, and New York

(Los Angeles, CA) June 12, 2012 – Based on one of the most popular and beloved games of all time, “The Legend of Zelda™: Symphony of the Goddesses” is a spectacular concert tour featuring live orchestral performances of theme music from Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda franchise. The concert is touring North America and has added new performance dates: Pittsburgh with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra at Heinz Hall on July 27 and 28, San Jose at the San Jose Civic on September 7, Boston with the Rhode Island Philharmonic at The Wang Theatre on October 18, Chicago at The Chicago Theatre on October 25 and New York City with the Rhode Island Philharmonic at The Theater at MSG on November 28. Described by critics as “white hot” and “on steroids,” the Rhode Island Philharmonic, which is an exceptional ensemble that has performed with world renowned classical and popular artists, will be touring other dates in the northeast with “Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses.”

The name “Symphony of the Goddesses” refers not only to the concert program but also to the new four-movement symphony recounting the classic storylines from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time™, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker™, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess™, and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past™. The concert also will highlight orchestral renditions of music from other series games, including The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening™ and The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask™. Eímear Noone will conduct the full orchestra with arrangements by music director Chad Seiter.

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Another piece of good news coming from Cindy Gordon, vice-president of corporate affairs at Nintendo of America, concerns the digital release of Wii U and 3DS games. Apparently there are plans to make “every” title for both platforms available through both digital and retail means.

This is something that Nintendo has discussed in the past, but another confirmation is welcome.

Gordon said:

“What we said is that every game for the Wii U, and this is true for the Nintendo 3DS too, will be available in both packaged as well as digital. It’s really about choice. What I remember as a parent, I prefer the download because I won’t lose the disk. But some people thrive on [having the physical game], to each his own.”

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Before Nintendo’s E3 2012 media briefing kicked off, a rumor surfaced from Nikkei suggesting that a new 3DS model with a bigger screen would be introduced. Obviously that didn’t happen, but quite a few gaming enthusiasts believe it’s inevitable.

However, when Shigeru Miyamoto was presented with Nikkei’s “3DS XL” rumor, he hinted that a makeover may not be in the cards. That’s because Miyamoto is “satisfied with the 3DS hardware as it is.” Instead, it seems as though Nintendo will be shifting its attention to the handheld’s successor.

Miyamoto told IGN:

“I really feel like I’m satisfied with the 3DS hardware as it is. I feel like it’s the best for this generation. What we’re thinking about right now is probably going to be for a future generation of handheld.”

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Because the Wii U is making use of an account system, there’s a lot of flexibility in terms of accessing settings and other content at any time.

Cindy Gordon, vice-president of corporate affairs at Nintendo of America, has said that this functionality will allow you to “to access your account anywhere.” So if you’re visiting a friend’s house, you should be able to retrieve your profile on that system.

Gordon’s response was actually about playing games on another Wii U. Based on her comments, it sounds like digital content could be tied to your account. That would certainly be a step in the right direction for Nintendo, its online plans, and its approach to non-retail offerings.

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Namco Bandai could be gearing up for a new Pac-Man announcement. The company’s Japanese division registered a European trademark for “Pac-Man And The Ghostly Adventures”. Along with the filing, a logo was made available.

Because this is only a trademark, it’s unclear as to what Namco Bandai has in store. This does appear to be video game-related, though.

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EA is starting to get more specific with regard to its plans for Wii U.

The company has two unannounced titles in development for the platform. Right now it’s looking like they’ll be announced later this summer. EA label president Frank Gibeau has said that the company will “have a bigger line-up for Wii U than we did on the Wii.”

According to Gibeau:

“We’ve got a couple of more games in development for Wii U and we’ll have a bigger line-up for Wii U than we did on the Wii. It is the first next-generation platform coming out so we’re really supporting it. Just looking at E3 and where we’re at, we wanted to hold our fire a little bit on a couple of the other games that we’re working on. We’ll have more announcements this summer on the rest of the Wii U line-up. …You’ll hear more later this summer.”

Gibeau also spoke about the GamePad, stating that EA will “do some new, unique things with it on the Wii U controller and the second screen that we’re innovating on”.

Mass Effect 3 is one of the company’s games that will be taking advantage of the new controller.

“We’ll do some new, unique things with it on the Wii U controller and the second screen that we’re innovating on.”

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How do you make up for poor financial results and a downturn in business? Well, if you’re Nintendo, you can reduce employee bonuses.

That’s exactly what the Big N intends to do, as reported by Nikkei and Reuters. The publications say that Nintendo will cut summer bonuses by 20 percent.

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