The Legend of Zelda

Watch The Designer Of Zelda Get Chased Around NYC

Some companies advertise their games through trailers and sizzle reels; Nintendo advertises their games by making ridiculous videos of their developers running around through New York City. Via NintendoEverything, here’s a video of Zelda designer Eiji Aonuma getting chased by Nintendo PR people through the streets of Manhattan, because why not?

​Play This New Zelda Song Backwards. Trust Me.

If you’re like me, you probably heard the music in the new trailer for The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, enjoyed it, and left it at that. Ah, but there’s a secret hidden within. Listen to the music in the trailer backward, as captured by WiiC24, and you’ll hear the Hyrule Castle Theme…

How The New Zelda Game Is Different (Hint: It’s Not Microtransactions)

I’ve done a lot of things in Zelda games—sailing, time travel, saving Hyrule…you name it. Much of it—the bulk of what you do in Zelda games—could be considered old hat, depending on who you ask. That’s kind of always the vague fear when there’s a new Zelda game, isn’t it? That it’ll be more of…

Nintendo confirms that sexy The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds 3DS XL bundle for North American release on November 22. Aw, and they made poor Eiji Aonuma go out on the roof to do it. The $219.99 bundle comes with a 3DS XL much better than mine, and a download code for some…

Nintendo, Steal This SNES Paint Scheme And Sell It, Please

Console artist Zoki64 once made the prettiest Nintendo 64 (and GBA!) I’ve ever seen. He’s back today, with one of the prettiest Super Nintendo’s you’ll ever see. I’d like to think that even if you didn’t like Zelda that much, you could appreciate the colour scheme, which is appropriate not just for the company’s heritage,…

The Ultimate Video Game Music Cover Band

Award-winning composer and Blizzard dev Jason Hayes has gathered an army of prolific musicians, from session stalwarts to symphony stars to the pianist from freaking Toto, just to do video game music covers under the name Critical Hit. Here’s the first one. It’s pretty amazing. Not to discount the work of the thousands of video…

Do You Have A Real Master Sword? This Guy Does.

Reader Adam had a smith craft him a replica Master Sword. It’s so good I hope he goes and hides it in a temple somewhere. The sword was built by Australian Brendan Olszowy, who stresses “The swords I make are REAL swords. Fully functional. Built for durability, and to perform as a live sword for…

Kanye West Makes Wind Waker HD Infinitely Better

Boy howdy, the ability to take selfies in Wind Waker HD is the gift that keeps on giving, isn’t it? Just being able to take selfies in of itself is amazing in this game, provided the right commentary, sure. Nevermind when you add hip hop to the selfie mix—yes, we technically already knew how great…

The Guy Behind Zelda Says He Sucks At Mario Games

You might know peppy Nintendo game designer Eiji Aonuma as the man in charge of all things Zelda. You might also know that he came up underneath the tutelage of Shigeru Miyamoto, the man who created Mario. But did you know that Aonuma isn’t that good at games featuring the company’s most iconic character? Aonuma’s…

You Might Need Your 3DS If There’s Ever A Legend of Zelda Movie

We all remember the disastrous Super Mario Bros. movie. It’s pretty much the entire reason that Nintendo generally doesn’t put its properties in other media. But, Eiji Aonuma—the guy in charge of all things Zelda—says that if there ever were a film based on the Hero of Hyrule, it couldn’t be just another passive, sit-down-and-watch-it…

The Man In Charge of Zelda Says He Wants to Keep Changing It

Any little change in a Legend of Zelda game—tweaks to established mechanics, a shift in art style or sly nods to a previous iteration—excites and infuriates the players who love Nintendo’s iconic RPG series. Eiji Aonuma knows this and the designer who’s charting the future for the franchise came to New York ready to tease…

Eight Minutes Of Lovely Zelda: Link Between Worlds Gameplay

Today at New York Comic Con, Nintendo didn’t just show a new trailer for The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds—they demoed some gameplay footage, too. Kotaku video man Chris Person was in attendance at Nintendo’s panel, and he shot a bunch of the item renting, dungeon crawling, and dimension shifting that will characterize…

Slick New Zelda: Link Between Worlds Trailer Introduces ‘Lorule’

It’s not Hyrule—it’s Lorule. Get it? That’s the twisted new dark world that Nintendo will introduce in The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, which is out for 3DS on November 22. Check out this sleek new trailer for an introduction to Lorule… and someone named Hilda? It’s unclear how Lorule is related to…

Lorde’s ‘Royals’ + The Legend of Zelda = A Sweet Love Song

Ah, young love. Check out this adorable mash-up by Nerdist of the ridiculously catchy ‘Royals’ by Lorde and Zelda—not only is the result charming, but it’s also chock full of references to the Nintendo franchise. I apologize if this gets stuck in your head the rest of the day. At least, the original song—which is…

You Won’t Believe How Many Little Changes Are In Zelda: Wind Waker HD

It’s fascinating, picking up The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker for the first time. You get something like culture shock—holy crap, everything’s so bright! The faces are so goofy. Is that really what Link’s grandma looks like? And then… after 10 or 15 minutes, you start to get it. Ah, yes. Here’s why this is…

Zelda Really Is One Of The Classics

Let’s admire this painting of Link by James Zapata. Just…soak it up. It’s the kind of treatment you normally see for the absolute classics of history and mythology. So it’s also the kind of treatment Zelda deserves. We featured Zapata’s work recently on our Fine Art feature. Check it out here Kokiri [James Zapata, via…

Oh Wow, The Next Zelda Will Be Totally Different

No linear dungeon progression in The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds—instead of getting items as you go through the world, you’ll be able to buy items in one big shop and traverse between dungeons in an order of your choice, according to Nintendo. Video above. Bizarre, right? And fascinating. I can’t wait to…

Odd Man In Cave: “Stop Naming Princesses Zelda”

A tradition based on a great tragedy that only seems to breed more tragedy? Awkward Spaceship has a point — maybe Hyrule needs to revisit its princess naming policy before everything explodes. There are plenty of perfectly good princess names out there that won’t cause powerful evil to arise and threaten the land. Princess Bubblegum…

Robin Williams Likes Games Other Than The Legend of Zelda, Y’know

Maybe you picked up on the fact that Robin Williams likes The Legend of Zelda—just, you know, based on subtle stuff like being in Zelda commercials and having a daughter named Zelda. But that’s not all he likes, you know! Yesterday, Williams did a fantastic Ask Me Anything on Reddit, where folks asked all about…

Wind Waker’s Link Enters The Smash Bros. Fray, Knocks a Few Heads In

Call him Toon Link, Young Link, it doesn’t matter; Link is one badass swordsman in any shape or form. This new batch of screenshots for Super Smash Bros. Wii U/3DS shows off what his Wind Waker iteration will look like in action. Here’s seven Wii U shots, in addition to the one on top: And…