August 16th - The Anniversary

August 16, 2005. To most it’s just another brick in the wall. But to the Zelda faithful, it’s a national remembrance day. Today is the one year anniversary of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess’ delay. Some would argue this day’s likeness to the JFK assassination, or Pearl Harbor, because they remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news. To the Zelda community, it’s shock really was that great. So on this anniversary, let’s take a look back and relive the game’s ascension from the mind’s of Nintendo EAD developers, to its present day form.

August 7, 2003 - GameCube Zelda is Born

The first indications that another Zelda game would be made for the GameCube were made at an analyst conference in Japan. The goal at the time was for a 2004 release.

March 24, 2004 - GDC

The first official announcement that another GameCube Zelda was in fact in development came at the 2004 Game Developers Conference. The game was given the tentative title The Wind Waker 2, and unclear release date “2XXX” which in hindsight, was actually very appropriate. The title made it seem like this game would be a sequel to The Wind Waker, but no official announcement was made on that subject. Eiji Aonuma told us that there would be much more about the game at the upcoming E3.

At this time, many people speculated that it could see a holiday 2004 release.

May 11, 2004 - E3

“But before we leave, I’d like you to step inside one more world, for Nintendo GameCube”. The famous words spoken by Reggie Fils-Aime before the first official trailer for Twilight Princess was shown. Not knowing what to expect at first, the crowd’s anticipation slowly built as they began to realize what they were watching. It was The Wind Waker 2, only it wasn’t cel-shaded, and Link was all grown up. It was what so many of us wanted ever since we saw the SpaceWorld 2000 tech demos. It was finally here, and we couldn’t wait.

This time it was just titled Legend of Zelda, and it was supposed to come out sometime in 2005.

March 10, 2005 - GDC

More screenshots and trailers to hold us off. Pretty much the same things we’ve already seen (aside from a few new weapons and enemies). At the end of the trailer however, it showed a wolf at the top of a cliff, howling at the moon. This led to rampant speculation that Link would somehow become a wolf in this game. Perhaps the moon would change phases and you would transform whenever it became full?

April 21, 2005 - Hobby Consolas Details

The info drought is over. Spanish games publication, Hobby Consolas, published details claiming that the game would contain about 70 hours of gameplay and be 2 - 3 times larger than the world of Ocarina of Time. Good news for the hardcore Zelda fan.

April 25, 2005 - EGM Details

More details. This time from American gaming publication, Electronic Gaming Monthly. We learned that Link would start out the game at “Taoru” Village as a farmhand. Taoru and Hyrule enjoy a nice relationship trading livestock and whatnot. And every year the mayor meets at Hyrule to strengthen their sense of community. Well, the mayor can’t make it this time and it’s Link’s job to travel to Hyrule. Along the way, he encounters foes, and the adventure begins.

Again the idea that the game will eclipse Ocarina of Time in everyway possible is reinforced. The battle system will be similar to The Wind Waker but there will be more moves. Zelda and Ganon will make an appearance. Fishing will be back. Animals will play a big role in the game.

Good details but we still haven’t seen any gameplay yet.

May 17, 2005 - E3

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is the official name given to the upcoming GameCube Zelda. Not only that but the details we learned last month were reinforced and then some. The speculation that Link would transform into a wolf was confirmed. Many people couldn’t believe it. Some didn’t like it. But eventually we learned to appreciate the unique gameplay possibilities that came with it.

We also learned that this Zelda would follow the dual worlds path that Ocarina of Time and A Link to the Past took. “Twilight” has infected certain parts of hyrule, and whenever Link steps inside that twilight, he becomes said wolf.

We were then treated to 30 minutes of gameplay footage, and showfloor demos. After that, it was pretty much set in stone that the game would be released for the upcoming holiday season.

For the next few months, rumors would swirl everytime a retailer posted a tentative release date on their site. We all thought the game was coming out sometime in mid-November until…

August 16, 2005 - The Delay

“After much discussion, the Zelda development team has requested extra time to add new levels, more depth and even higher quality to Zelda: Twilight Princess. Consequently, we’re announcing a new global launch in 2006, after the conclusion of this fiscal year (March 31). We’ll provide a specific date at a later point in time. While this may come as a disappointment to many eager fans, it will absolutely enrich the game and make it a multi-million seller”. Said Nintendo of America’s vice president of corporate affairs, Perrin Kaplan.

The hopes and dreams of millions of Zelda fanboys had been crushed. Need I say more?

November 8, 2005 - Nintendo Attempts to Quell Rumors

Immediately after the delay, rumors that Twilight Princess was delayed so it could be developed for Revolution (now Wii) spread like wildfire. So much so that Nintendo came out and confirmed that Twilight Princess is and always has been in development for the GameCube. However because of the wording, their statements did very little to quell the rumors. All they did was confirm that the game was still in development for the GameCube, but they didn’t deny that it was in development for Revolution. Could it be in development for both?

December 22, 2005 - NGC’s Outrageous Claim

NGC Magazine, a UK gaming publication, reported that Twilight Princess would be playable on the Revolution. They said that it would be a GameCube title, but when you put it in the Revolution, you would be able to use the unique controller to play. They also said that the game would not be released until November 2006 (which seemed absurd at the time) and that the reason for the delay was so they could add the Revolution functionality. At the time most people passed this off as BS, and for the most part ignored it.

January 6, 2006 - Nintendo Sorta Denies

Nintendo responds to NGC claims, calling them “pure speculation”. Again, people were skeptical of Nintendo’s dismissal of rumors. Calling them “pure speculation” did nothing to either confirm or deny if they were true. Something was fishy here.

January 10, 2006 - NGC Strikes Back

NGC rebuts Nintendo’s rebuttal. They claim that a senior source at Nintendo let the information leak. Could they be on to something?

February 19, 2006 - “Game Head”

On SpikeTV’s “Game Head”, Reggie Fils-Aime confirmed our worst fears. Twilight Princess would not be released until fall. When asked when the game is coming out, he responded very non-chalantly “It’s coming out this fall”. And so it was.

He was also asked the question of if it’s gonna be on GameCube and Revolution, which he succesfully dodged the same way Nintendo dodged the NGC reports. “It’s gonna be on GameCube”. Of course we know it’s gonna be on GameCube, but will it also be on Revolution? I think Nintendo’s been caught with their pants down.

March 15, 2006 - Nintendo of Europe

Shigeru Miyamoto spoke with Nintendo of Europe and confirmed the other thing we all expected. Twilight Princess will be able to use the Revolution controller for added functionality. He mentioned that players would be able to use the controller to shoot arrows.

Looks like NGC was right all along. Twilight Princess will be playable on Revolution, and it will come out in the fall. Hats off to them.

May 8, 2006 - E3

Yet another E3 for Twilight Princess. This time we find out that there will be two seperate versions of the game. One for GameCube and one for Wii. We get another playable demo and another trailer. It’s getting kinda redundant at this point.

So that’s the story of Twilight Princess so far. Much more to come when the game is actually released. I have one question for you guys. Do you believe this game is cheapened a little, or maybe a little less special now that it’s going to be released on both GameCube and Wii?