SPECIAL ZELDA ANNIVERSARY ISSUE
MCVhas joined forces with Nintendo to celebrate all things Zelda, including a look at the upcoming Skyward Sword, a history of the franchise and industry opinion
EVERY BUYER EVERY BRANCH EVERY WEEK Monday November 7th 2011 £3.25
Happy Anniversary to a video game Legend
Nintendo celebrates 25 years of the greatest games franchise on earth with new games and Orchestral concert by Christopher Dring
25 YEARS ago a Legend was launched in Japan – and with it the most acclaimed series in gaming was born. Since then there has been 15 main titles, with a 16th – The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword– out next week on November 18th. The series has sold well over 50m units globally, and the last two Wii games have been big UK sellers. 2006’s Twilight Princesshas sold 441,603 units to-date, while 2007’s Link’s Crossbow Traininghas shifted 315,857 copies. And Nintendo has been celebrating the fact, with a slew of new products and a Symphony Concert, which reached Europe last month for a live performance featuring the London Philharmonic Orchestra. “We’re always trying to craft music that stays in the mind and is associated with memories,” said Koji Kondo, Zelda’s acclaimed composer. “As I rarely see the people playing the games, it is hard know how they respond. How
IN THIS ISSUE
05 THE ‘REAL’ ZELDA We speak to Robin Williams’ daughter Zelda, who is named after the elfin princess
06 ZELDA MOMENTS The UK games industry shares its favourite Zeldamoments through 25 years
09 HISTORY OF ZELDA A guide to all the brilliant games that make up the Zeldafranchise
12 SKYWARD MARKETING Nintendo’s Langford discusses the plans for Skyward Sword and the 25-year celebrations
13 RECOMMENDED We detail the latest Zelda titles, including Skyward Swordand Ocarina of Time 3D
popular this concert has been certainly helps, and it has made me very happy to see.” Zeldais best known for its critical performance. Ocarina of Timeis the highest rated Metacritic game ever, with a score of 99. And every home console Zeldagame since has scored 95 or above.
Over the 25 years of Zelda, there’s always been a surplus of new ideas.
Eiji Aonuma, Nintendo
“What we’ve always aimed for is not about fitting one particular game genre, but to keep providing unique experiences that people can enjoy,” said Zelda’s producer Eiji Aonuma.
“Of course there are certain techniques and basics that are similar throughout the series, but really what we are striving to do with each new Zelda is
Both Eiji Aonuma (right) and Koji Kondo (far right) celebrated 25 years of The Legend of Zelda at a special London concert last month
offer a new world for people to enjoy and to experience. “Over those 25 years, while we’ve been working on
Zeldaand we’ve always had a wealth of ideas, which I think is what has kept us going all these years.”
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