On-screen trivia (Mario, Zelda, Resident Evil and other questions) kept the audience entertained while everyone took their seats. The event itself began with an orchestra and choir performing a tribute to The Legend of Zelda, celebrating the franchise’s 25th anniversary.
The gameplay and visuals have constantly evolved since the first Legend of Zelda games, and so has the music, which is an indispensable piece of the franchise not just as part of the soundtrack, but Link himself uses a musical instrument. Shigeru Miyamoto exclaimed that “this show does bring back memories”, as the orchestra even played a few of the popular sound effects found in the games.
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of this franchise, a new game will be released for each system. Link’s Awakening will be teaching the basics of the Zelda gameplay for beginners to the series and is available now on the Virtual Console. Coming to Nintendo 3DS next year, Ocarina of Time 3D will be remade with better graphics, higher frame rate, a boss challenge mode and a Mirror Master Quest mode. On DSi Ware, Legend of Zelda Four Swords will be a free download to everyone, while Skyward Sword will make its way to Wii consoles this holiday season packed full of content and promising to be the most satisfying Zelda experience yet.
A special gold Wii remote will also be released and there is a series of symphony concerts touring the world beginning in the Fall. Two music CDs will also be released, one will be the Ocarina of Time Original Soundtrack, the other will be based on the orchestra, and should be available at the time of Skyward Sword’s release.
Saturo Iwata began his speech by talking about how Nintendo has achieved to transform who we play, how we play and where we play. But what they haven’t achieved yet is a system that is equally challenging to all players. A new platform providing deeper gaming experiences to appeal to all gamers, and to make us see games in a different way. The goal of innovation is to serve every player, so this new platform is a major step in reaching this goal. Next year, a new home console will be available featuring games from major franchises, and moving into 3D.
Regis Fils-Aime had an interesting and curious speech for gamers: “Look, we hear you. You want what you’ve always wanted, but you also want something new. You want comfortable and surprise. Contradictions? No problem. We have something for everyone.”
This was followed by a list of upcoming titles, starting with the 3DS.
– A tricked out version of Mario Kart coming Holiday 2011
– Star Fox 64 3D with tilting motion controller, group play and players’ faces coming in September
– Super Mario 3D Land arriving before the year’s end
– Kid Icarus: Uprising featuring 3 on 3 multiplayer and augmented reality card battles, coming later this year
-Luigi’s Mansion 2, an entirely new game with extraordinary use of 3D and several new mansions
For third-party games, an unprecedented library was presented:
– Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D
– Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games
– Ace Combat 3D
– Tetris
– Cave Story 3D
– Resident Evil: Revelations
– Driver Renegade
– Pac Man and Galaga Dimensions
– Tekken 3D
– Metal Gear Solid 3D Snake Eater
– FIFA Soccer 12
– Heroes of Ruin
