Yes. Because it looked kiddy. Like I said, most people were looking forward to a Zelda game that could be taken seriously. Most people were expecting this...
They were not expecting the elf dentist from claymation Rudolph! That is what was below expectations. Majora's Mask and Ocarina of Time were both dark, serious games. They had death, they had terror being wrought abroad, complex dungeons and they had blood-curdling screams everywhere. Then comes Wind Waker, which just didn't capitalize on what OoT and MM set the groundwork for.
And of course there was an increase in the number of Cubes purchased. It IS Zelda after all. Thing is, don't you think that if Twilight Princess came out instead of Wind Waker, it would've brought in the majority of people who were STARTING to label Nintendo as kiddy would've been proven wrong? And 600,000 preorders is impressive for most games, yeah, but this is Legend of Zelda. Ocarina of Time had about twice that, and didn't come with a free bonus disk at preorder which you could then scalp for almost the cost of the game you preordered. And yeah, I did play, and beat Wind Waker. It was alright, I'd give it like...8/10, but it looked stupid, and it was dumbed down to the point where a ten year old could beat it. It REALLY was a kid's game.
And RE4 was an attempt to dispel that kiddy image that stemmed from an akward contract between Nintendo and Capcom. But it was too little too late. As was Geist, Metroid Prime 2, Resident Evil 1 and 0, Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes, etc. etc.
They were not expecting the elf dentist from claymation Rudolph! That is what was below expectations. Majora's Mask and Ocarina of Time were both dark, serious games. They had death, they had terror being wrought abroad, complex dungeons and they had blood-curdling screams everywhere. Then comes Wind Waker, which just didn't capitalize on what OoT and MM set the groundwork for.
And of course there was an increase in the number of Cubes purchased. It IS Zelda after all. Thing is, don't you think that if Twilight Princess came out instead of Wind Waker, it would've brought in the majority of people who were STARTING to label Nintendo as kiddy would've been proven wrong? And 600,000 preorders is impressive for most games, yeah, but this is Legend of Zelda. Ocarina of Time had about twice that, and didn't come with a free bonus disk at preorder which you could then scalp for almost the cost of the game you preordered. And yeah, I did play, and beat Wind Waker. It was alright, I'd give it like...8/10, but it looked stupid, and it was dumbed down to the point where a ten year old could beat it. It REALLY was a kid's game.
And RE4 was an attempt to dispel that kiddy image that stemmed from an akward contract between Nintendo and Capcom. But it was too little too late. As was Geist, Metroid Prime 2, Resident Evil 1 and 0, Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes, etc. etc.