I'd like to take the time right now to acknowledge the moment. As a long time Zelda fan, I have faced this period of inactivity that we are currently experiencing many times. I am of course, talking about the long gaps between game releases. The gaps where the fervor and passion begin to calm down, the gaps where the water begins to chill.
We are currently tottering on the edge of that realm. With E3 coming up in May, and the release of Twilight Princess only a couple months away, the fire in our community will once again rekindle. The water will boil once again. Yet, perhaps we ought not to lose ourselves completely within the passion of the experience that is Zelda-because who knows when next this drought will reappear?
I'm looking back at why Nintendo's Legend of Zelda series has been so successful. Rather than focusing on the gameplay, graphics, or soundtrack, even less, the experience, I've discovered an interesting strategy of Nintendo's. Let's look at Zelda release dates. Zelda games have been released almost every other year since the beginning of the franchise. Yet in tangent with these releases, have been periods of severe fan depression where fans, just like now, are beginning to lose interest in the series. Yet unlike other franchises, like Mother/Earthbound (Witnessing Mother 3 on April 20th!), the Zelda series have never been sexier. That is, they've always been hot. And it's all because Nintendo's got the water on the heater. And their marketing strategies all begin and end with these games:
...notice anything similar between these games? No? Okay, let's start with a wider spectrum. Today, in the year 2006, as far as media and entertainment go, classics are classics. You can't beat the original, but you can try. And most efforts are highly rewarding. See the similarities? No? Okay, let's briefly take a look at something different.
Movies
Video Games
Now do you see? No? Okay, either I'm not being clear enough, or you're just plain stupid. Probably the latter. What I was alluding to above is that all of these movies and videogames have been re-released. Spiderman, The Hulk, and Batman are essentially just remixed theatre formatted spin-offs of the original Marvel comic classics. And just how many King Kong's have there been?
Well what about the Zelda games I listed earlier? They've all been re-released as well-and if we look carefully enough, at the right times. With the incredible gap between Majora's Mask and The Windwaker, discussion was surprisingly quiet. The Zelda community was almost dead. There were many heated debated over whether or not Windwaker's new cel-shading style was appealing or not. In the end, we killed the topic, and for many of us, our love for the series as well. Along comes Nintendo, eager to please its fans. And what do they do to compensate for the overwhelmingly amount of negative appeal towards Windwaker? They say, "Hey guys! Forget that game! Remember Ocarina of Time? There's more to it!" And with that, *poof*, we have the release of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: Master Quest disk for Gamecube. Not only can fans now play Ocarina of Time with improved graphics and sound, but they can use the Gamecube's more appealing controller. And to kick up the mix, they finally let us have a go at the salsa version of Ocarina of Time, something that Japan got way before us. Instantly, forums are flooded once again, everyone's shouting"We love Nintendo!" and, "Long live OOT!" But before long, that inevitable period of emptiness sinks in. So what does Nintendo do? They say, "Hey guys!Forget how crappy Windwaker was! Remember THESE games?" And with that, they not only give us a Gamecube re-re-release of Ocarina of Time, but Majora's Mask, The Legend of Zelda, and the Adventure of Link as well. And to conceal there motives behind these re-releases, they throw the last two games on the Gameboy Advance and toss a sexy $20 price tag on them. Instantly, forums are flooded, everyone is all over these new games. And while everyone has forgotten how depressed they were, Nintendo releases some screen shots of Twilight Princess. How's that for some slick management?
What I'm trying to say is, although right now, intelligent discussion is scarce on forums and in the community, Nintendo has been fairly kind to us by confusing us with the old games that we loved, and stealing from our wallets at the same time. But we have had it much better off then a lot of other franchise fans. There hasn't been a Final Fantasy for a Nintendo system in just about forever(again, "Hey, remember these???"), and there hasn't been a new Ness game for a while. All in all, Nintendo has done a great job of helping us through our numerous depressions. Yet there is a flipside to this inverted madness. :P
While re-introducing the old games, the instant appeal factor only lasts so long. Most people picked up the Gamecube version of Ocarina of Time and then stopped 1/3 of the way through, already bored with it because they remembered what happened next. And because of this, fan inactivity has stooped to an even lower level, and we are that the bottom of the pit right now.
So what's my fire for this water of ours? Sadly, I have none. We've endured torture for many months now-I say we starve ourselves a bit more until E3, and then show the world just how crazy we are. :D
---
1/30/2006; 7:17PM; InformeroftheSages
We are currently tottering on the edge of that realm. With E3 coming up in May, and the release of Twilight Princess only a couple months away, the fire in our community will once again rekindle. The water will boil once again. Yet, perhaps we ought not to lose ourselves completely within the passion of the experience that is Zelda-because who knows when next this drought will reappear?
I'm looking back at why Nintendo's Legend of Zelda series has been so successful. Rather than focusing on the gameplay, graphics, or soundtrack, even less, the experience, I've discovered an interesting strategy of Nintendo's. Let's look at Zelda release dates. Zelda games have been released almost every other year since the beginning of the franchise. Yet in tangent with these releases, have been periods of severe fan depression where fans, just like now, are beginning to lose interest in the series. Yet unlike other franchises, like Mother/Earthbound (Witnessing Mother 3 on April 20th!), the Zelda series have never been sexier. That is, they've always been hot. And it's all because Nintendo's got the water on the heater. And their marketing strategies all begin and end with these games:
- The Legend of Zelda
- The Legend of Zelda: The Adventure of Link
- The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
- The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
...notice anything similar between these games? No? Okay, let's start with a wider spectrum. Today, in the year 2006, as far as media and entertainment go, classics are classics. You can't beat the original, but you can try. And most efforts are highly rewarding. See the similarities? No? Okay, let's briefly take a look at something different.
Movies
- King Kong
- Spiderman
- The Hulk
- Batman
Video Games
- Super Mario World
- Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
- Final Fantasy I
- Final Fantasy II
- Final Fantasy IV
Now do you see? No? Okay, either I'm not being clear enough, or you're just plain stupid. Probably the latter. What I was alluding to above is that all of these movies and videogames have been re-released. Spiderman, The Hulk, and Batman are essentially just remixed theatre formatted spin-offs of the original Marvel comic classics. And just how many King Kong's have there been?
Well what about the Zelda games I listed earlier? They've all been re-released as well-and if we look carefully enough, at the right times. With the incredible gap between Majora's Mask and The Windwaker, discussion was surprisingly quiet. The Zelda community was almost dead. There were many heated debated over whether or not Windwaker's new cel-shading style was appealing or not. In the end, we killed the topic, and for many of us, our love for the series as well. Along comes Nintendo, eager to please its fans. And what do they do to compensate for the overwhelmingly amount of negative appeal towards Windwaker? They say, "Hey guys! Forget that game! Remember Ocarina of Time? There's more to it!" And with that, *poof*, we have the release of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: Master Quest disk for Gamecube. Not only can fans now play Ocarina of Time with improved graphics and sound, but they can use the Gamecube's more appealing controller. And to kick up the mix, they finally let us have a go at the salsa version of Ocarina of Time, something that Japan got way before us. Instantly, forums are flooded once again, everyone's shouting"We love Nintendo!" and, "Long live OOT!" But before long, that inevitable period of emptiness sinks in. So what does Nintendo do? They say, "Hey guys!Forget how crappy Windwaker was! Remember THESE games?" And with that, they not only give us a Gamecube re-re-release of Ocarina of Time, but Majora's Mask, The Legend of Zelda, and the Adventure of Link as well. And to conceal there motives behind these re-releases, they throw the last two games on the Gameboy Advance and toss a sexy $20 price tag on them. Instantly, forums are flooded, everyone is all over these new games. And while everyone has forgotten how depressed they were, Nintendo releases some screen shots of Twilight Princess. How's that for some slick management?
What I'm trying to say is, although right now, intelligent discussion is scarce on forums and in the community, Nintendo has been fairly kind to us by confusing us with the old games that we loved, and stealing from our wallets at the same time. But we have had it much better off then a lot of other franchise fans. There hasn't been a Final Fantasy for a Nintendo system in just about forever(again, "Hey, remember these???"), and there hasn't been a new Ness game for a while. All in all, Nintendo has done a great job of helping us through our numerous depressions. Yet there is a flipside to this inverted madness. :P
While re-introducing the old games, the instant appeal factor only lasts so long. Most people picked up the Gamecube version of Ocarina of Time and then stopped 1/3 of the way through, already bored with it because they remembered what happened next. And because of this, fan inactivity has stooped to an even lower level, and we are that the bottom of the pit right now.
So what's my fire for this water of ours? Sadly, I have none. We've endured torture for many months now-I say we starve ourselves a bit more until E3, and then show the world just how crazy we are. :D
---
1/30/2006; 7:17PM; InformeroftheSages