Grazza

Only that it'd be changing to lock-on gameplay instead of the "up, down, left, right" control of a d-pad. I don't think they'd do it, to be honest. That's what I was thinking of. It wasn't a problem, just less impressive than the smaller islands in Skyward Sword and the whole of Wind Waker.

I'm not a big fan of Skyward Sword by any means, I just thought that was the best gaming mechanic it introduced. Of course the very small islands were boring, but what I'm saying is that the more compex small islands made you think about which angle to approach them from. If you landed on the wrong part, you couldn't get into certain tunnels. Sure, it wasn't fantastic, but it was a more solid mechanic than the way you landed in the main town, as you couldn't control which bit you arrived in. I agree with @Ville about warping. There's just no reason not to have it, once you've already found an area "properly", of course. Anyway, the last thing I want for Zelda 3DS is for it to be anything like Skyward Sword, Phantom Hourglass or even Spirit Tracks (which was a brilliant game given the limitations). Anything other than a full, 3D overworld like those in OOT, MM or WW would be a disappointment. We don't need the "level select" approach again.

Yeah, I've never understood this. To me, just because you've got powerful hardware, it doesn't follow that every game has to be very expensive to make. In theory, it could just allow sharp resolution, a smooth framerate and outstanding draw distance, but with relatively simple graphics.

I've bought it, but probably won't receive it until Monday now. Oh well, as it happens I'd be too busy to play it today or tomorrow anyway, so I'm not too bothered. I "wore out" the demo! It seemed like a really good game to me. Not just OK in the absence of better games, but really compelling in its own right! Also, did anyone notice how much better the graphics now are than the early videos and screenshots (detailed with a smooth framerate)? We've seen this go from very raw to very good.

I agree LttP in a 3D engine would be fascinating, but when Miyamoto's mentioned it in the past, he's made it sound like he mainly wanted to make use of the 3DS's stereoscopy. All those split levels would lend themselves to it - in other words, it sounds exactly like a "3D Classic". I wonder if they could get it running at 60fps? Could be the definitive version.

I don't know where @Fused King got the story from, but I think they may have put this in the wrong context. From the other places I've read this story, I gather Miyamoto is simply undecided about which remake to do next. Seems pretty simple to me: Majora's Mask - Grezzo Link to the Past (3D Classics) - Arika New Zelda - EAD 3 At least that's what I hope. If they really haven't started on a 3DS Zelda, then...

I was probably a bit silly to sell this. It's the only 3DS game I regret selling. Whilst I finished all the normal stages (ie. Worlds 1-8) and got all the initial Star Coins, I didn't complete much of the extra content. The main game was a blast - I loved it while it lasted - but there's something about the post-game content in Mario games that I find arduous since EAD Tokyo took over. Which is a shame, as I fancy a go now!

"Where there's smoke, there's fire" is one of my favourite sayings. I've thought something was up with Retro for years. And whilst I wouldn't want to make any accusations or unfair speculation, I've always wondered what that incident was about in 2008 when three of the biggest personnel left the studio. All I can say is that I think Retro's philosophy suited the GameCube more than the Wii or Wii U. It's hard to deny they were at their best when given as powerful hardware as possible with a controller as sophisticated as the GC's.

Yeah, no offence intended. If someone does me wrong I'll have a stern word with them, but throwing something indicates losing control (and literally losing the controller!)

Considering how long it takes Zelda games to be made nowadays, I think Retro's best role would be to make Zelda substitutes, namely Metroid Prime games or Raven Blade. The latter in particular would help satisfy demand for the Twilight Princess style Zeldas and as for Metroid, well, it's too big a franchise to abandon as a 3D game. Doesn't mean it has to be exactly like Prime, but that would be a good starting point. Personally, I'd like to see what they could do with a full gamepad again - click the analogue stick to enter 3rd-person mode.

Never thrown one, personally. If there was a moment when I would have, it would have been the Spider Guardian in Metroid Prime 2 or Star 242 "The Perfect Run" in Super Mario Galaxy 2. But you can't go losing your temper in real life, so I don't with a gamepad either. Plus I'm not rich enough to buy spares.

Does anyone else get the impression they put too much thought into Zelda nowadays? It's admirable they want to make the best game they can (if that is indeed their aim), but I wonder if they are trying to "reinvent the wheel" too much. The Zelda games that have taken the longest to make have not necessarily been the best, whereas Wind Waker was only two years after Majora's Mask (in Japan) and is rightly considered a classic. Two years! I'm aware HD development takes longer, but the 3DS is not HD (in fact, it's not even SD). Recent Zeldas have obviously had a lot of work put into them and been polished to perfection, but I'm not sure if that's a substitute for a darn good graphics engine, a lot of exploration and a mesmerising tone. In other words, the Zelda we knew and loved.

This brings up a lot of questions, I think. Will there be any more dual-analogue games? It seems very unlikely to me, especially if Nintendo never builds it into an official model. Will the 3DS last a long time? 6 years? 4 years? Are they thinking of replacing it with something more profitable? It's hard to imagine the 3DS lasting the usual generation length without revised versions. I love the 3DS and have had plenty to play over the first two years. Not that I'd be annoyed at a new handheld earlier than usual, it's just the lack of game announcements recently has me wondering... Animal Crossing in particular is a very strange situation.

No game series speaks to me quite like Dragon Quest. It's traditional and just perfectly done. As for your situation, I would say play IV, then VI, then if you can't get V just forget about it until you can, although it is the best of the Zenithia Trilogy. Be aware that IX can be very long, depending on how many sidequests and how much post-game content you do. Ah, this thread has reminded me how strange it feels not to have Dragon Quest in my life at the moment!

Grr, darksnowman!!! I could cope without Metroid Prime 4 (although it'd be nice), but to have no Metroid V/Metroid Dread would be a waste!

Thanks for posting that @daftada. Some predictions: EAD 1 - Mario Kart EAD Tokyo - 3D Mario I think it's quite likely the above is what the remaining EADs are working on, although of course it's hard to say whether Mario would be EAD Tokyo 1 or 2. The following are more hopes than predictions, but they're still feasible: SPD 1 - Metroid V Grezzo - Majora's Mask 3D Retro Studios - Metroid Prime 4 Since Miyamoto's recent comments about Zelda being in the very early stages, I'm under the assumption that it will once again be by EAD 3, whereas Retro Studio's project is more likely to be another Metroid.

I suppose they want each of the four players to be a different class, so that you only take what's equippable for yours. Of course, you can take everything and sell it, but a Vindicator is too noble for that. Are you sure you can't? I thought that was one of the Options? Didn't use it personally as I wanted to see what the default was, and was happy with it. It's like Miyamoto says, resolution truly is an issue with games like this and Pikmin. Don't think I'll be online today, sorry chaps. I'm not feeling too well.

I think it's a bit of a shame there was not a "tech demo" sort of game like Pilotwings (although I can understand why there wasn't). To me, Pilotwings Resort is still the best best showcase of what the 3DS can do. Nothing else I've played has that sort of draw-distance or that sort of overworld. The volcano alone must have thousands of polygons to it, not to mention all the tunnels and such. So like I say, I can understand that Pilotwings, F-Zero, WaveRace and 1080 are fairly niche, but they're exactly the sort of thing that can show off a console, and presumably don't take as long as a 3D Mario or Zelda to make either.

I still think it'll be £200. They seemed to change their minds about expensive tech when the 3DS didn't sell very well at launch.

Ah, sorry, I didn't realise there was more than one page either. Indeed. I love how you can get exceptional items for completing all the quests. As a Vindicator, I got a really good sword. Presumably you will be able to join your friend's games with all your best armour etc.

Demo entered my game, then disappeared before I found him! My game then had an error and chucked me out. I saw you were still playing it after that, Demo, but I couldn't find you. Sorry. Then I saw Ike came online, so I hosted a new game and went through it with him, but didn't bother getting the big sword that time! Nice to see you two anyway.

Anyone up for a 7.30pm game? @\-Dem0\- I'll host one in a minute under the name "Gra". Join in!

In a nutshell, yes, like some of us predicted in the Wii U thread. There was certainly no proof the hardware is still as good as it was last year, put it like that. Before this year's E3, I saw an article saying that last year's Zelda demo was 720p at 30fps. If something as simple as New Super Mario Bros is now only 720p, I can't see much more detailed graphics at that resolution (otherwise NSMB could easily be 1080p). Nintendo at their worst, doing this sort of thing. Always happens with "Twilight Link" too...

The Wii U Gamepad has accelerometers and gyro controls in it - if that's what they mean, no problem, as the controller still has as much functionality as Wind Waker did anyway (dual analogue, L + R etc). The idea though that Zelda Wii U would need to be played with a Wii Remote + is just crazy talk and would be Skyward Sword all over again. Best to make a Zelda that uses the controller packaged with the console.

Yeah, I was playing 3-player and we had loads more enemies.