windwaker for the DS

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...

Zelda%20GAMECUBE.jpg


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.
 
OMG (omg, I said omg *beats self with the stupid stick*), I remember the pic of that trailer! I still have the demo somewhere, which is something to be said, because last I heard it was taken off the web and never really seen by many again (although, when I actually stop and think about it, I bet you could find it on youtube or something).

And for the record, I was a fan of WW. The cutesy graphics were actually kind of neat, I thought. And they are what will most easily transfer to the DS... I mean, when you catch wind of a portable Zelda, you know its not going to be lifelike on any grounds, but we're now in the age of gaming where pixels/sprites are a thing of the past (unfortunately, so). So I view this cel-shaded business as a kind of middle ground/compromise, especially when we're talking portables.

I agree the GC could've used a grown-up, badass look for Zelda just for the sake of sales, but Wind Waker was not a failure. And it's not totally a kids game either. This isn't a great defense or anything, but some of the side quests did add some difficulty to the game and my younger cousin still can't make any progress whenever she comes over to my house and plays it (then again, that kid has a hard time with PokéMon... she only levels one of 'em up and tries to beat the whole game. *sigh* I can't ever seem to teach that girl.)

This is going to be an asenine comment, but I have to say I hate marketing/sales. They tend to ruin, or give the illusion of ruining, lots of things. They try to satisfy the public, but that's an impossible goal. The public is never happy. Anyway, the Zelda series is due to bounce back and will be once again revived with Twilight Princess. I don't think we have to worry about Phantom Hourglass damaging any reputations either.
The end.
 
My point was that the Zelda series doesn't have anything to bounce back from and Windwaker wasn't a failure. It just wasn't.
 
I didn't like windwaker for the GC becuse of the cartoony look to it, but if it's good for DS I'll pick it up.