phantomhourglass
Latest
Fresh Phantom Hourglass screens
The site for ONM (Official Nintendo Magazine) has some new screens for The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass up, depicting several different facets of Link's upcoming adventure. There's traveling the high seas, vanquishing enemies, talking to annoying fairies and obtaining elusive and mysterious items. Of course, we don't have to tell you that looking at screens for the game will only make your desire for it that much worse, so head on over at your own risk.%Gallery-3279%
Super Smash Bros. Brawl still on for 2007
It's tough going to the party without a date. Earlier this week, Nintendo laid out its release plans up until September 2007, notably leaving a still dateless Super Smash Bros. Brawl out of the whole affair, forcing it to watch as Metroid Prime 3 marched to the ball with an alluring 20th of August on its cannon arm. With no solid release window in sight, the Wii's frantic fighter must have considered going on a lonely drinking binge and slipping into a coma until 2008. That is, until Reggie Fils-Aime administered an unforgiving slap to the face and instilled hope once more. Speaking at the recent Nintendo Summit in Seattle, the Nintendo of America president confirmed that the musically rich Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Mario Galaxy would both be out before your Official Iwata Swimsuit 2007 calendar becomes worthless. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for DS was given similar assurances and will likely join the anticipated Wii duo in this holiday season's battle for shoppers. You'd best start stocking up on that financial ammunition.
DS Daily: Legend of Zelda: Item of Great Importance
According to the latest news about The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, the eponymous hourglass keeps your hearts from draining while in a cursed underwater shrine. Link must go from island to island to find sand so he can keep the hourglass full. Basically, he is addicted to sand.That sounds like an interesting gameplay mechanic, lending the game a sort of Fushigi no Dungeon-esque resource upkeep element (like keeping the light glowing in The Nightmare of Druaga.) However, that's not the issue for today's discussion. We want to talk about the item as it relates to Zelda's history. In most Zelda games since the N64 one, there has been an item in the title that is central to the game's plot and/or gameplay-- the Ocarina of Time and the very similar Wind Waker, Majora's Mask, Four Swords, the Minish Cap, and now the Phantom Hourglass. Do you think basing the game (and its title) around a single item is a neat storytelling convention, or lazy formulaic design? We are declaring this a Safe Zelda Bashing Zone. Don't be afraid to say something negative about Zelda! Here, we'll start: the first one didn't even have a subtitle, and it's still the best one.[News item via NeoGAF]
Famitsu makes with the Phantom Hourglass screens
Famitsu has posted up a slew of new screens for Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, giving us a glimpse into the Wi-Fi Connect compatible gameplay and some of the title's locales. Of course, as with every instance in which we're shown anything on Phantom Hourglass, it leaves us wanting more. So, it's kind of a love/hate thing, you see. Join us past the post break where the rest of the images have been secured.
New Phantom Hourglass pics sure do look purdy
A new set of screenshots from The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass show off some great-looking new areas of the game, including 3D conversations and a little chicken torture to boot. The cel-shaded visuals look even better than before, so if you're one of those anti-Celda people, slam your head against the monitor and pretend it was us hitting you with these screenshots. Phantom Hourglass lands in Japan on June 23, while the rest of the world has to wait until the still-vague "Holiday 2007".%Gallery-2856%
Voice chat in the works for Phantom Hourglass?
Last week's issue of Famitsu hid more in its Japanese text than just the June 23rd release date for The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. Zelda Universe's novice translation of the scanned pages indicates that the title might support online voice chat. Though this feature doesn't seem useful beyond setting up matches and trash-talking with your friends, it's a nice addition to the meager multiplayer mode.With upcoming games like Pokemon Diamond/Pearl and Panel de Pon also planning to use the Nintendo DS' VoIP capabilities, purchasing the uncomfortable-looking, official headset is beginning to make a lot more sense to us. Of all the titles we expected to eventually include voice communication, Phantom Hourglass was definitely not one of them. Update: Having a bit more experience with the Japanese language, The Hylia translated the Famitsu scans in an effort to confirm this news. Much to our dismay, The Hylia found that there is no voice chat support planned for The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass.[Via Digg]
Zelda: Phantom Hourglass hits Japan in June (this June)
After breaking our hearts with a rather lengthy (albeit expected by now) delay of the return of Celda, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass is slated to reach Japanese DSs June 23rd according to the most recent issue of Famitsu (image here). Importer gamers, get your orders in. Of course, if can't understand Japanese, you're still waiting until "Holiday 2007" to squiggle your way through Hyrule.[Thanks, Josh]%Gallery-2516%
Phantom Hourglass due for June, saves summer
Last year's middle months were starved for high-profile releases -- publishers held back the big guns for the holiday season, and the Nintendo DS relied on Big Brain Academy and third-party GBA games to fill out its summer schedule. The latest issue of Japanese magazine Famitsu reveals that this year could be different with the early release of The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass on June 23rd.After seeing that the only Phantom Hourglass previews available at GDC were of the game's multiplayer mode, we didn't think that Nintendo would have Link's new adventure ready until Christmas. The announced date is for Japan, of course, but we don't expect a significant delay for its North American arrival. The series has always experienced more success in the US, sales-wise. June 23rd happens to fall on a Saturday, which is unusual when you consider that outside of Dragon Quest and hardware debuts, most games in Japan are brought out on Thursdays. Could a Zelda-themed DS Lite also be in the works? We've got our fingers crossed!
Remixed medley of The Legend of Zelda's soundtrack
One of our favorite touches of the new Phantom Hourglass' trailer shown at this year's GDC event was its use of the reworked Hyrule Castle theme from The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. If there's one thing we love, it's retro tracks brought back for another round. That's why we're featuring a medley of songs from the original Zelda game (NES) remixed by electronica musician Ochre, for your Sunday listening pleasure. We imagine that trying to add anything on top of Koji Kondo's classic work without ruining it is a difficult task, but this arrangement doesn't miss a step. Ochre's interpretation blends the 8-bit pieces with his own playful style, taking the listener through a six-minute daydream of Link's adventures. If you're a fan of lush synths and summery rhythms, we definitely suggest downloading this song along with Ochre's other remixes and original offerings at his site. [Via The New Gamer]
Phantom Hourglass prototype video demonstration
Sure, you've seen footage of the game from GDC and even read our hands-on impressions of the title, but have you seen footage direct from Eiji Aonuma's presentation during the event? No? Well , great! As usual, we've done the deed and placed said video past the post break, for your gawking convenience.
Friday Video: Phantom Hourglass footage
Our man on the floor at GDC, the illustrious Andrew Yoon, gave you an overview of The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass the other day, so it's only fitting that this week we spotlight a video that demonstrates some of what he was talking about -- both the good and the bad. Check it out after the jump.
GDC 07: Legend of Zelda impressions
DRAW! That's probably the best way to describe the experience of playing Phantom Hourglass, the upcoming Wind Waker sequel. The demo at this year's GDC was multiplayer-only, and had you going against one other person in a Zelda version of Capture the Flag (the Flag being pieces of the Triforce, of course). There were two sides that you played as: either as Link, or as a villian trying to stop our beloved cel-shaded hero. As Link, you had to make your way through a maze, search for pieces of the Triforce, and bring them back to your "base." Easy enough, right? Well, there's one catch: the Triforce is crazy-heavy, and your movement will come down to a crawl, making you quite an easy target. A Nintendo representative explained a technique that makes the process slightly easier: pick up the Triforce piece, and then throw it afar. By tapping on the Triforce again, Link will automatically run forward, picking up the piece.While it's usually fun to play as the Chosen Hero of Time, Phantom Hourglass' multiplayer mode was much more fun when playing the villain. In this mode, you have three controllable characters on an map. By drawing a line from the character, you'll be able to control where they move. If they run into Link, the boy loses, and the round ends. Drawing paths, attempting to corner off Link, feels incredibly empowering. It certainly brings a smile to have all three of your characters slowly trap Link into a corner, making him await certain doom.It certainly was an amusing demo. However, controlling Link was simply not fun. Moving him through stylus control instead of using the face buttons seems clunky and imprecise. I'm hoping that the single player will incorporate more of the drawing elements from playing as an enemy, as they were very satisfying. Nintendo already has the graphics down: it looks beautiful. With just a little more work on the controls, Phantom Hourglass may become a truly excellent addition to the Zelda franchise.
DS Daily: On Zelda
Remember this? Phantom Hourglass crushed every other option in that poll, and today we'd like to talk about why. What is it about the Zelda franchise that keeps you enchanted? We'd also love to hear about your favorite Zelda memories. We recently re-played the original on the Virtual Console, and rediscovering everything brought back our earliest memories of the series. It's made us half want to play through all of them again! Do you ever get that urge? And for those of you who (gasp!) aren't fans ... what is it about the adventures of Link that turns you off?
Yet another 'games to watch' list
We can only guess that it wasn't enough for the DS to steamroll everything and everyone in 2006. Nintendo wants to own 2007, as well. Not that we're complaining; after all, we are total slaves to our beloved handheld. But it just seems altogether crazy that there could be so many lists predicting great games in the coming year, and that the lists could vary so much. No matter your pleasure, 2007 is bound to be packed with more DS games than you can possibly afford. And in celebration of our future indecision, IGN has offered a list celebrating ten of the best coming games for the year. We've included the full IGN list after the jump, and we'd love to hear how it compares to some of the other lists you've seen since the end of last year, because there's been a ton. We've even dipped a toe into the list-making process ourselves.
Poll results: what game do you want most in 2007?
The votes are in and, in a very unsurprising turn of events, just about everyone and their grandmother wants The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. We don't blame you, as every adventure Link has been on has been an incredibly endearing one for us, why should it be any different for you all?
Wii Mario & Metroid, DS Zelda in late '07
Super Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption will arrive in late 2007 according to the latest round of whisper down the lane. CVG reports that "sources close to Nintendo" have cited the delays and have also verified that Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass will be released at the tail-end of next year.Officially, Nintendo would only acknowledge that Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3, and Phantom Hourglass would debut in 2007. But the holiday stretch (October-December) is the obvious release window. Be patient.
New Zelda for Wii "deep in development," Phantom Hourglass delayed
The new issue of Game Informer (#165) reportedly alleges that the next Wii installment of The Legend of Zelda has been "deep in development for around a year." Admittedly, this rumor comes as little surprise, since consistent first-party support is crucial for Wii's success.We needn't remind you that Twilight Princess is a GameCube game with tacked on Wii functionality. While no doubt a key asset to the Wii launch, Twilight Princess is not a showcase for the new platform. Rest assured Nintendo has been working on 'that' particular Zelda entry since the moment the Wii concept was birthed. That's not to say we expect a true Wii Zelda before 2008. Remember, Metroid and Mario are holding it down in '07.Game Informer also reports that Phantom Hourglass for DS as been delayed until October 2007; a full year after the Wind Waker sequel was initially expected. Sound familiar?
Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass preview
The Legend of Zelda, like Pokemon, Final Fantasy or any other great series, will never grow old to gamers like us. No matter how much Zelda you shove down our throats, we will always take it with a smile. The demo at Leipzig was the same as E3, but IGN felt the need to give us an update as if they feel the game is as hot as it was back in May. The answer -- of course it is you half wit! We kid, we kid. The four available stages on the demo (boss fight, Field, Sea and Dungeon) are as impressive as ever. Though the new controls are a little tricky, we know that several gamers, new and old, will adjust. We won't see Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass until 2007, but we are sure the wait is well worth it.
Sum-up of Phantom Hourglass
How long have we waited to hear more about Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass? Too damn long if you ask us. We finally got a little more info to share with you. The plot! Here you go: Many months have passed since the events of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, and Link, Tetra and Tetra's band of pirates have set sail in search of new lands. They come across a patch of ocean covered in dense fog, in which they discover an abandoned ship. Tetra falls into danger when she explores the ship alone, and Link falls into the ocean when he attempts to rescue her. When he washes up unconscious on the shores of a mysterious island, he is awakened by the sound of a fairy's voice. With the aid of this fair, he sets off to find Tetra - and his way back to the seas he once knew. You remember Tetra right? She was the blond mouthy pirate that threw Link out of a barrel into the Forbidden Fortress and talked to you through the stone she gave you. Yeah, her! Now, we get to save her. How much longer do we have to wait? Oh, yeah... forever.
Nintendo dates portable lineup, no Phantom Hourglass?
Other than teasing folk with Wii launch speculation in a recent press release, Nintendo also confirmed the following DS and GBA lineup for what appears to be year-end schedules: Oct. 9: Clubhouse Games Oct. 16: Nintendogs (Dalmatian) Oct. 23: Magical Starsign Oct. 30: Pokémon Ranger Oct. 30: Children of Mana Nov. 6: Elite Beat Agents Nov. 6: FINAL FANTASY V ADVANCE (GBA) Nov. 13: Yoshi's Island 2 Dec. 4: Custom Robo Arena Dec. 4: Kirby Squeak Squad If what we are seeing is right, Nintendo seemingly has planned not to release Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for the DS until at least sometime in 2007. Granted, we should have a Zelda fix in the form of Twilight Princess on Wii and GC before thanksgiving, and the company might not want two Zeldas out at the same time, but you can never have too many dungeons. [via Evil Avatar]
