Let's Play: 'Which Box Art is Better?' (The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD edition)

Because I'm a few days late to this particular parade (the one that's centered around the unveiling of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD's box art, of course), I thought I'd give this post a bit of a boost by including the original GameCube cover illustrations as well.

Speaking of which, here's the colorful piece of cover art that greeted gamers when they wandered into Japanese stores searching for copies of Wind Waker back in 2002:

And here's the cover art that North American (and European ones, too, basically) gamers looked for when the cel-shaded title hit store shelves in their region three months later in early 2003:

Thankfully, Nintendo's designers decided to stay far away from the latter version's minimalism while creating Wind Waker HD's cover art.

In fact, I'd personally go so far as to say the Japanese--and European, in this case--box art (above) for this Wii U-based re-release is the best of the bunch.

I can't say the same for the North American version's cover imagery (also above), though, due to the over-the-top and out-of-place filter that makes it look like Tingle emptied his bladder on it.

As always, that's just my opinion on the matter. What's yours?

Note: the Japanese and North American Wind Waker HD covers were nabbed from tinycartridge.com.

A few thoughts on this morning's Nintendo Direct

As any long-suffering Nintendo fan knows, the company's "Nintendo Direct" broadcasts tend to be hit-or-miss affairs. Although some of them have produced bonafide megatons (like when Bayonetta 2 was announced), just as many others have been utter snoozefests.

Given that, I wasn't at all sure what to expect from this morning's trio of Wii U-focused Nintendo Directs (one for Europe, one for Japan and one for North America). I had a feeling at least a few bombs would be dropped thanks to the rather ho-hum launch of company's latest console, but would they be "we're working on a sequel to Wii Party" bombs or would they be "Bayonetta 2 will hit store shelves in May" bombs?

Interestingly enough, Nintendo is working on a sequel (of sorts) to Wii Party. That was about the least interesting of all of the announcements that were part of this Nintendo Direct, though, so I think it's safe to say that this particular broadcast was far more "hit" than "miss."

Specifically, here are what I considered to be the high points of this morning's address:

* The look inside Platinum Games' office, where the company's staffers seem to be hard at work on Bayonetta 2, was all sorts of awesome. Sure, we didn't get to see any actual gameplay footage, but we were given enough glimpses of in-the-works enemies and environments to know the final product probably is going to rock our respective worlds.

* OK, so it wasn't all that surprising to hear that new 3D Mario and Mario Kart games are being prepped for Wii U. To hear that both games will be shown in playable form at E3 2013, though, was pretty shocking--as was Satoru Iwata's utterance that we'll finally get to see some screens of the next Smash Bros. title at the same event.

* Considering it's been rumored for a while now, I doubt many people fainted or felt heart palpitations after Iwata revealed that the Wii U will receive a Yoshi-focused platformer in the near future. My own heart certainly starting racing, though, when I heard that it's being developed by the geniuses at Good-Feel and saw that it's going to look more than a bit like that group's Kirby's Epic Yarn.

* So, let me make sure I'm understanding this correctly: Atlus is working with Nintendo to produce a Wii U game that brings together the characters and settings of the Shin Megami Tensei and Fire Emblem series? If so, uh, I'm not sure what to think, to tell you the truth. I mean, it certainly sounds interesting, and I'm sure the resulting game will be stellar, but I can't quite picture it yet, you know?

* What I can picture: making my way through Monolith Soft's next game--which looks a lot like their last one (that being Xenoblade Chronicles), actually, but about a million times better--with a humungous grin on my face. You know, because of the gorgeous visuals. And the huge environments. Oh, and the transforming mechas.

I'm surprisingly wary of buying The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Full disclosure: I haven't played a Zelda game since Wind Waker. Actually, scratch that--I played Twilight Princess for about an hour before giving up on it for some reason that I can't remember.

Given that, I'm a bit wary of buying Skyward Sword, despite the fact that I very much like what I've seen of this upcoming Wii release--which seems to harken back to the series' glory days (i.e., The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time). I mean, will I buy it and then simply stare at its box, as I have with its predecessor, or will I actually play through a Zelda game for the first time since the above-mentioned Nintendo 64 iteration? (Yes, you read that right: I played Wind Waker but never finished it.)



The one thing that likely will spur me to pick up Skyward Sword despite the reservations shared above is the gold Wii Remote Plus that will be included with the limited edition of the game. (That version will be released in North America on Nov. 20. Pre-order it here.)

Are any of you similarly unsure as to whether or not you will be buying Skyward Sword? If so, what are your qualms with this, the eighth Zelda game to be released for a Nintendo console (not including Four Swords Adventures and Link's Crossbow Training, of course)--and what will it take for you to quell them?

See also: 'Let's Play: Which Box Art is Better? (The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword edition)'