The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

[asleepathewheel]

I haven't beaten it yet. I put it down for awhile. I thought the gameplay was great, but I wish that it had a little more depth.

So much of the game is redundant. Treasure chests in each square, playing the wind song a thousand times. I just got tired of it.

I wish there was more to do in this game. I wish they would remake link to the past using this engine, that would be incredible.


I do like the game, and will probably pick it back up soon

[Drake Tungsten]

Anyone else beat the game yet? If so, what did you guys think of the ending?

[Drake Tungsten]

Finally found time to beat the game. It's a really great game, although not quite as good as Ocarina of Time; it suffers a bit from being too short and too easy. The ending was also a little confusing, but I guess that's a trademark of Zelda games.

Time to beat the second quest. I hope it's harder the second time through.

[Drake Tungsten]

Original article...

April 04, 2003 - Nintendo of America in an official press release today patted itself on the back for massive sales of its third-person GameCube action-adventure Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. The company also said that sales of Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire for Game Boy Advance have skyrocketed, only matched by the performance of its new handheld hardware Game Boy Advance SP.

The company said it currently has the best-selling console game, the best-selling portable games, and the best-selling portable hardware system in the US.

More than 600,000 consumers pre-ordered Nintendo's GameCube Zelda sequel Wind Waker, and Nintendo said that "retailers are quickly burning through the entire initial North American shipment of 1.1 million games." The publisher, though, did not release specific figures. As a result of demand for Zelda, Nintendo said, GameCube hardware sales have jumped 20 percent in America.

The firm was similarly choosey about its wording for sales of Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire on the home front. But it did say that the games have dominated the sales charts and that "more than 2.2 million [copies of the games] have now moved through to North American retailers, showing conclusively that Pokemon is back with an exclamation point." Again, no details on actual sell-through, but if demand for the titles in Japan -- where they have sold 4.4. million copies combined -- is any indication, the numbers should prove similarly phenomenal. Nintendo also said that it has moved more than 800,000 Game Boy Advance SPs in the US.

"While no one will know the champion of this season's college basketball tournament until next week, the winner of this spring's video game tournament is Nintendo," says Peter MacDougall, executive vice president, sales and marketing, Nintendo of America. "Game Boy Advance SP, Zelda and Pokemon represent a three point play that players and retailers dream about."

"At what is traditionally a slow time of the year for videogames, Nintendo has seized the sales initiative," says Richard Simone, video game buyer, Toys "R" Us. "With their blockbuster products Game Boy Advance SP, The Legend of Zelda and Pokemon, they're a big part of why videogames are one of the truly bright spots at retail."

Look for an updated look at sales on both platforms as official TRST data becomes available.

http://cube.ign.com/articles/392/392301p1.html

As a result of demand for Zelda, Nintendo said, GameCube hardware sales have jumped 20 percent in America.

That's good news for the Big N.

"While no one will know the champion of this season's college basketball tournament until next week, the winner of this spring's video game tournament is Nintendo," says Peter MacDougall, executive vice president, sales and marketing, Nintendo of America. "Game Boy Advance SP, Zelda and Pokemon represent a three point play that players and retailers dream about."

What a gay statement...

[Drake Tungsten]

Guess we'll have to wait for TRST data to see how this one unfolds.

I think you should follow that advice.

And just remember that I have a year before I'm wrong...

[Asher]

Looks like I was right about sales:

From IGN's N-query:

In your article 'Zelda to top one million' today, you seemed skeptical of Nintendo's claim that it was nearing the 1.1 million mark in sales with Wind Waker. Do you have different numbers?

Matt responds: Yes, actually. The numbers I have suggest that Wind Waker has sold through 650,000 units -- a far cry from the 1.1 million mark, which refers to the numbers of units Nintendo has actually shipped to retailers. The funny thing about the 650,000 figure, if true -- and I'm fairly certain it is -- is that it means only 50,000 or so people have bought the game in addition to pre-orders. A lot of pre-orders, yes. But will the sales rate drop off significantly now that the hardcore audience has swooped the game up? Guess we'll have to wait for TRST data to see how this one unfolds. It's going to be interesting.

[Drake Tungsten]

Shark Island is hella fun...

[Drake Tungsten]

I really wish that they would cross off the subs/platforms/big octos that you have already beaten on your special charts. I'm having a hell of a time remembering which ones I've already beat and I sure as hell don't want to sail to each one individually to check them out. I guess I could just forget about them and not get everything, but I'm cursed by anal retentive collecting urges...

[Asher]

I admit the graphical style is growing on me.

[Drake Tungsten]

Luckily you won't be using the telescope much after that.

[Asher]

So it finally did it, when I zoomed in and kept mashing the controls, it noticed the weird postman...

[Asher]

Okay, WTF.

I'm like 25 minutes into the game and I'm stuck. And I'm not sure it's my fault.

I'm at the point where the little sister gives you the telescope.

Every 3 seconds, it says "Hey, what's that? Are you looking at the RED POSTBOX"? When I'm not. So I think, perhaps this is a hint to look at it. So I do. And zoom in, all the way, and still look at it. The message keeps popping up.

And there appears to be NO WAY to get out of this blasted telescope view, I've mashed all the buttons possible and it seems to be stuck in a loop...

[asleepathewheel]

Originally posted by pg
the fact that there is no way to skip the wind waker cutscene is quite annoying as i've seen it too many times.

Here here. ugh. I hate that thing now. I get the point, the wind song, do I need the bs everytime? annoying. it makes my travel much more inefficient because i don' want to hear it AGAIN.
other than that I love the game

[Nubclear]

Ugh......This game sounds so appealing, but from the demo version I played......It just won't immerse me (I'm the type of person who if I find one flaw in the game that stays till the end, it completly ruins my experience)

[pg]

heh, it is very easy. i beat one of the dungeons in like 10mins(the dragon one) and another in 20(forbidden forest). i've managed to not die at all so far. even the ending bosses weren't any challenge as they reuse old zelda gameplay to some extent, and thus i already know what to do. you seem to spend quite a bit of time on your boat. i'm finding it fun mainly because of how immersive the graphics are. the black and orange spikey guys are cool!

there are lots of little tweaks i've found help the zelda experience(from the camera seeming a bit better, to the first person mode being much improved as it seems you have a bigger view). the boomerang is ridiculously easy to use even with multiple targets. the fact that there is no way to skip the wind waker cutscene is quite annoying as i've seen it too many times. i'm hoping it gets better as i get further into the game(it does seem to be).