Game Players was a monthly video game magazine founded by Robert C. Lock in 1989 and originally published by Signal Research in Greensboro, North Carolina .
178-517: The original publication began as Game Players Strategy to Nintendo Games (the cover featured a disclaimer that claimed it had no affiliation with Nintendo , which already had its official publication in Nintendo Power ). The magazine evolved over the years, spinning off a separate publication called Game Players Sega Genesis Guide when Sega entered the console market. These two magazines were later folded together into one magazine. In 1996,
356-541: A ROM cartridge format for video games as well as both a central processing unit and a picture processing unit . The Family Computer , or Famicom, was released in Japan in July 1983 along with three games adapted from their original arcade versions: Donkey Kong , Donkey Kong Jr. and Popeye . Its success was such that in 1984, it surpassed the market share held by Sega 's SG-1000 . That success also led to Nintendo leaving
534-430: A niche market , the slow and expensive manufacturing process, high product price, alongside long durability of the cards, which impacted sales due to the low replacement rate. As a solution, Nintendo produced a cheaper and lower-quality line of playing cards, Tengu , while also conducting product offerings in other cities such as Osaka , where card game profits were high. In addition, local merchants were interested in
712-688: A 2002 compilation for the Game Boy Advance . While the Game & Watch Zelda was developed in-house by Nintendo, the subsequent two LCD games were developed by third parties under license by Nintendo. In October 1989, The Legend of Zelda was developed by Nelsonic as part of its Game Watch line. This game was an actual digital watch with primitive gameplay based on the original Legend of Zelda . In 1992, Epoch Co. developed Zelda no Densetsu: Kamigami no Triforce for its Barcode Battler II console. The game employed card-scanning technology similar to
890-545: A 28% stake in PUX Corporation, a subsidiary of Panasonic , to develop facial , voice , and text recognition for its video games. Due to a 30% decrease in company income between April and December 2013, Iwata announced a temporary 50% cut to his salary, with other executives seeing reductions by 20%–30%. In January 2015, Nintendo ceased operations in the Brazilian market due in part to high import duties . This did not affect
1068-480: A 75% increase in income compared to the previous fiscal year, mainly contributed by the Nintendo Switch Online service. The year saw some changes to the company's management: outside director Naoki Mizutani retired from the board, and was replaced by Asa Shinkawa; and Yoshiaki Koizumi was promoted to senior executive officer, maintaining its role as deputy general manager of Nintendo EPD. By August, Nintendo
1246-510: A CD-ROM peripheral for the Super NES. Created independently with no observation by or influence from Nintendo, the games are Link: The Faces of Evil, Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon , and later, Zelda's Adventure . Nintendo never acknowledged them in the Zelda timeline, and they are considered to be in a separate, self-contained canon. These games are widely acknowledged to be the worst installments in
1424-703: A Tokyo branch in Chiyoda, Tokyo , and sold more than 1.5 million card packs, holding a high market share , for which it relied on televised advertising campaigns. In 1962, Nintendo became a public company by listing stock on the second section of the Osaka Securities Exchange and the Kyoto Stock Exchange. In the following year, the company adopted its current name, Nintendo & Co., Ltd. and started manufacturing games in addition to playing cards. In 1964, Nintendo earned ¥150 million . Although
1602-502: A computer generated or CG cover. The magazine also featured mini-strategy guides, paper toys, trading cards and other branded items and extras, like posters for games, that were included when the issue was polybagged. During 1989 and 1990, the company also put out a total of 16 "GameTapes", which were VHS tapes that showed how to beat certain NES games. Humor is included in almost every videogame review and image caption. Readers' letters come at
1780-569: A dark realm. In Skyward Sword , the Triforce was sought by the Demon King Demise, an eternal being that had conquered time itself. After a long battle against the goddess Hylia, guardian of the Triforce, Demise was sealed away within her temple. Hylia, placing the Hylians on a floating island in the sky called Skyloft to protect them, orchestrated a means to stop the demon from escaping: creating
1958-461: A deep history and wide geography over the series's many releases. Much of the backstory of the creation of Hyrule was revealed in the games A Link to the Past , Ocarina of Time , The Wind Waker , Twilight Princess , Skyward Sword , and A Link Between Worlds . Hyrule's principal inhabitants are pointy-eared, elf -like humanoids called Hylians , which include the player character , Link, and
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#17328630651052136-462: A dream. According to the in-game backstories, the world of Hyrule was created by the three golden goddesses : Din, Farore, and Nayru. Before departing, the goddesses left a sacred artifact called the Triforce , which could grant powers to the user. It physically manifests itself as three golden triangles in which each embodies one of the goddesses' virtues: Power, Courage, and Wisdom. However, because
2314-607: A dungeon from a different perspective, and enter areas through otherwise-impassable openings. It was later released on the Wii U Virtual Console. In November 2006, Twilight Princess was released as the first Zelda game on the Wii , and later in December as the last Nintendo-published game for the GameCube , the console for which it was originally developed. The Wii version features motion controls and
2492-450: A fairytale adventure game, Tezuka drew inspirations from fantasy books such as J. R. R. Tolkien 's The Lord of the Rings . According to Keiji Terui, who wrote the backstory in the first game's manual, the location named Death Mountain was initially a working title for the legend of the Triforce which was written with inspirations from the battles of medieval Europe . The Master Sword
2670-519: A financial crisis for the company. To try to find a more successful game, they put Miyamoto in charge of their next arcade game design, leading to the release of Donkey Kong in 1981, one of the first platform video games that allowed the player character to jump. The character Jumpman would later become Mario and Nintendo's official mascot . Mario was named after Mario Segale , the landlord of Nintendo's offices in Tukwila, Washington . Donkey Kong
2848-528: A gameplay-wise sequel to the 2014 spinoff game Hyrule Warriors marketed as a prequel to Breath of the Wild , being set 100 years before. However, the events of Age of Calamity diverged from the backstory established in Breath of the Wild , creating an alternate timeline separate from it. The central protagonist of The Legend of Zelda series, Link is the name of various young male Hylians who characteristically wear
3026-401: A green tunic and a pointed cap, and are the bearers of the Triforce of Courage . In most games, the player can give Link a different name before the start of the adventure, and he will be referred by that given name throughout by the non-player characters (NPCs). Miyamoto said in a 2002 interview that he named the protagonist "Link" because the character is/was supposed to be the "link" between
3204-488: A heart that does not possess a balance of the three virtues of Power, Courage, and Wisdom attempts to touch the Triforce, it will split into three triangles and bond with three people whose hearts embody the required virtue. Although their personalities and backstory differ from game to game, the incarnations of Link and Zelda often have many traits in common, such as Link often being left-handed and clad in green, and Zelda being associated with wisdom, light, and prophecy. While
3382-609: A homage to Nintendo's previous name - Marufuku. In April 2020, Reuters reported that ValueAct Capital had acquired over 2.6 million shares in Nintendo stock worth US$ 1.1 billion over the course of a year, giving them an overall stake of 2% in Nintendo. Although the COVID-19 pandemic caused delays in the production and distribution of some of Nintendo's products, the situation "had limited impact on business results"; in May 2020, Nintendo reported
3560-499: A hybrid design as a home and handheld console, Joy-Con controllers that each contain an accelerometer and gyroscope, and the simultaneous wireless networking of up to eight consoles. To expand its library, Nintendo entered alliances with several third-party and independent developers; by February 2019, more than 1,800 Switch games had been released. Worldwide sales of the Switch exceeded 55 million units by March 2020. In April 2018,
3738-562: A long-time employee of the company. Yokoi was moved to the newly created department and was responsible for coordinating various projects. Yokoi's experience in manufacturing electronic devices led Yamauchi to put him in charge of the company's games department, and his products would be mass-produced. During this period, Nintendo built a new production plant in Uji , just outside of Kyoto, and distributed classic tabletop games such as chess , shogi , go , and mahjong , and other foreign games under
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#17328630651053916-827: A million units were sold. Nintendo partnered with Magnavox to provide a light gun controller based on the Beam Gun design for the company's new home video game console, the Magnavox Odyssey , in 1971. Other popular toys released at the time included the Ultra Hand , the Ultra Machine , the Ultra Scope, and the Love Tester , all designed by Yokoi. More than 1.2 million units of Ultra Hand were sold in Japan. The growing demand for Nintendo's products led Yamauchi to further expand
4094-456: A new department focused on arcade game development was created. In 1980, one of the first handheld video game systems , the Game & Watch , was created by Yokoi from the technology used in portable calculators. It became one of Nintendo's most successful products, with over 43.4 million units sold worldwide during its production period, and for which 59 games were made in total. Nintendo entered
4272-416: A partnership with The Walt Disney Company to incorporate its characters into playing cards, which opened it up to the children's market and resulted in a boost to Nintendo's playing card business. Nintendo automated the production of Japanese playing cards using backing paper, and also developed a distribution system that allowed it to offer its products in toy stores. By 1961, the company had established
4450-523: A photo shop that allows interaction with the Game Boy Printer . Link's Awakening DX was released on the 3DS' Virtual Console on June 7, 2011. An HD remake of Link's Awakening was released for the Nintendo Switch in 2019. Three video games was developed and released on CD-i in the early 1990s as a product of a compromise between Philips and Nintendo, after the companies failed to develop
4628-456: A princess within the bloodline of the goddess Hylia , as they fight to save the land of Hyrule from Ganon , an evil warlord turned demon king, who is the principal antagonist of the series. Ganon wishes to use the Triforce , a sacred relic left behind by the three goddesses that created Hyrule, to remake the world in his own dark image. When gathered together, the power of the Triforce can grant any wish its user desires; however, if someone with
4806-538: A reversed world where everything that is in the west on the GameCube is in the east on the Wii. The display is mirrored in order to make Link right-handed to make use of the Wii Remote feel more natural for the majority of players. The game chronicles the struggle of a young adult Link to confront the troubles of the "Twilight Realm", a mysterious force that appears around and interacts with Hyrule. When he enters this realm, he
4984-401: A silent protagonist so that the audience is able to have their own thoughts as to how their Link would answer the characters instead of him having scripted responses. Princess Zelda is the princess of Hyrule and the guardian of the Triforce of Wisdom . Her name is present in many of her female ancestors and descendants. While most games require Link to save Zelda from Ganon, she sometimes plays
5162-407: A single-player campaign, in which using a Game Boy Advance is optional. Four Swords Adventures includes two gameplay modes: "Hyrulean Adventure", with a plot and gameplay similar to other Zelda games, and "Shadow Battle", in which multiple Links, played by multiple players, battle each other. The Japanese and Korean versions include an exclusive third segment, "Navi Trackers" (originally designed as
5340-467: A strategic alliance to develop the Nintendo 64 . NEC , Toshiba , and Sharp also contributed technology to the console. The Nintendo 64 was marketed as one of the first consoles to be designed with 64-bit architecture. As part of an agreement with Midway Games , the arcade games Killer Instinct and Cruis'n USA were ported to the console. Although the Nintendo 64 was planned for release in 1995,
5518-635: A supporting role in battle, using magical powers and weapons such as Light Arrows to aid Link. With the exception of the CD-i games, she was not playable in the main series until Spirit Tracks , where she becomes a spirit and can possess a Phantom Knight that can be controlled by the player. Zelda appears under various other aliases and alter egos , including Sheik (in Ocarina of Time ) and Tetra (in The Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass ). In Skyward Sword , it
Game Players - Misplaced Pages Continue
5696-507: A targeting system that let the player lock the camera on to enemy or friendly non-player characters which simplified 3D combat. The Legend of Zelda was principally inspired by Shigeru Miyamoto 's "explorations" as a young boy in the hillsides, forests, and caves surrounding his childhood home in Sonobe, Japan where he ventured into forests with secluded lakes, caves, and rural villages. According to Miyamoto, one of his most memorable experiences
5874-553: A three-dimensional environment with the aid of a sensor bar; the Nunchuk peripheral that includes an analog controller and an accelerometer; and the Wii MotionPlus expansion that increases the sensitivity of the main controller with the aid of gyroscopes . By 2016, more than 101 million Wii consoles had been sold worldwide, making it the most successful console of its generation, a distinction that Nintendo had not achieved since
6052-424: A wide range of difficult enemies, bosses , and items. Each dungeon usually has one major item inside, which can be essential for solving many of the puzzles within that dungeon and often plays a crucial role in defeating that dungeon's boss, as well as progressing through the game. In nearly every Zelda game, navigating a dungeon is aided by locating a map, which reveals its layout, and a magic compass, which reveals
6230-496: A year later, GP Publications was purchased by Future Publishing UK (mainly for Game Players ) as an entry into the North American media publishing field. The newly acquired publication (along with PC Gamer , that was also published by GP Publications) was then used as a foundation to start a for a new American publishing company operated under the name of Imagine Media. Games Players is the first video game magazine to feature
6408-451: Is "[one of the] first contemporary non-dance title[s] to feature music-making as part of its gameplay", using music as a heuristic device and requiring the player to utilise songs to progress in the game – a game mechanic that is also present in Majora's Mask . "The Legend of Zelda Theme" is a recurring piece of music that was created for the first game. The composer and sound director of
6586-468: Is a media franchise created by the Japanese game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka . It is primarily developed and published by Nintendo ; some portable installments and re-releases have been outsourced to Flagship , Vanpool , Grezzo , and Tantalus Media . The series centers on the various incarnations of Link , a courageous young man of the elf-like Hylian race, and Princess Zelda ,
6764-411: Is commonly assumed to mean "leave luck to heaven", but the assumption lacks historical validation; it has also been suggested to mean "the temple of free hanafuda ", but even descendants of Yamauchi do not know the true intended meaning of the name. Hanafuda cards had become popular after Japan banned most forms of gambling in 1882, though tolerated hanafuda. Sales of hanafuda cards were popular with
6942-420: Is entirely mute, having the other characters speak while Link remains silent "would be off-putting". Instead of theme music for different locations, Breath of the Wild plays natural ambience around the player as main sounds, in addition to some minimalist piano music. The Legend of Zelda takes place predominantly in a medieval Western Europe -inspired fantasy world called Hyrule , which has developed
7120-617: Is internationally recognized, as well as other characters like Donkey Kong , Link , Samus Aran , Kirby , and Pikachu . The company has sold more than 5.592 billion video games and over 836 million hardware units globally, as of March 2023. Nintendo has multiple subsidiaries in Japan and abroad, in addition to business partners such as HAL Laboratory , Intelligent Systems , Game Freak , and The Pokémon Company . Nintendo and its staff have received awards including Emmy Awards for Technology & Engineering , Game Awards , Game Developers Choice Awards , and British Academy Games Awards . It
7298-470: Is more action-oriented. Both titles were later released on the 3DS Virtual Console and Nintendo Switch Online. The Game Boy Advance release of A Link to the Past in 2002 featured a new game, Four Swords , the first multiplayer Zelda . This game introduced Toon Link , a name first used in Super Smash Bros. Brawl to refer to cartoon-based visual designs of Link. Four Swords Anniversary Edition
Game Players - Misplaced Pages Continue
7476-405: Is multidirectional, allowing the player some degree of freedom of action; areas of interaction with other characters (merely caves or hidden rooms in the first game, but expanding to entire towns and cities in subsequent games) in which the player gains special items or advice, can purchase equipment or complete side quests; and dungeons , areas of labyrinthine layout, usually underground, comprising
7654-501: Is not defeated, leading into the Imprisoning War and A Link to the Past , Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages , Link's Awakening ( A Link Between Worlds , Tri Force Heroes , and Echoes of Wisdom were released after the timeline), The Legend of Zelda and The Adventure of Link . The second and third, where Ganon is defeated by Link, lead to a split timeline between his childhood (where Zelda sends him back in time so he can use
7832-493: Is one of the wealthiest and most valuable companies in the Japanese market. Nintendo was founded as Nintendo Koppai on 23 September 1889 by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi in Shimogyō-ku, Kyoto , Japan, as an unincorporated establishment, to produce and distribute Japanese playing cards , or karuta ( かるた , from Portuguese carta , 'card') , most notably hanafuda ( 花札 , 'flower cards') . The name "Nintendo"
8010-519: Is revealed that the Zelda of that game is a reincarnation of the goddess Hylia, whose power flows through the royal bloodline. The name "Zelda" derives from the American novelist Zelda Fitzgerald . Ganon, also known as Ganondorf in his humanoid form, is the main antagonist and the final boss in the majority of The Legend of Zelda games. In the series, Ganondorf is the leader of a race of desert brigands called
8188-530: Is that the Phantom Guardians seen in Phantom Hourglass are, through a series of events, periodically controllable. It was the first time in the series that both Link and Zelda work together on the quest. It was later released on the Wii U Virtual Console. A new Zelda game for Wii was in development since the end of 2000s. The new title was revealed at E3 2010 as Skyward Sword , but its release
8366-594: Is the Nintendo Entertainment System , or NES, which was released in North America in 1985. The landmark games Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda were produced by Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka . Composer Koji Kondo reinforced the idea that musical themes could act as a complement to game mechanics rather than simply a miscellaneous element. Production of the NES lasted until 1995, and production of
8544-483: Is transformed into a wolf , and loses the ability to use his sword, shield or other items, but gains other abilities such as sharpened senses from his new form. Twilight Princess includes an incarnation of Link's horse, Epona, for fast transportation, and features mounted battle scenarios including boss battles that were not seen in previous games. Twilight Princess diverted from the cel-shading of Wind Waker , integrating graphics featuring more detailed textures, giving
8722-603: The 128-bit Gekko processor and the DVD drive to be used in Nintendo's next home console. Meanwhile, a series of administrative changes occurred in 2000 when Nintendo's corporate offices were moved to the Minami-ku neighborhood in Kyoto, and Nintendo Benelux was established to manage the Dutch and Belgian territories. In 2001, two new Nintendo consoles were introduced: the Game Boy Advance , which
8900-704: The 1973 oil crisis caused both a spike in the cost of plastics and a change in consumer priorities that put essential products over pastimes, and Nintendo lost several billion yen. In 1974, Nintendo released Wild Gunman , a skeet shooting arcade simulation consisting of a 16 mm image projector with a sensor that detects a beam from the player's light gun . Both the Laser Clay Shooting System and Wild Gunman were successfully exported to Europe and North America. However, Nintendo's production speeds were still slow compared to rival companies such as Bandai and Tomy , and their prices were high, which led to
9078-578: The CD-i , and Sony's independent efforts resulted in the creation of the PlayStation console . The first issue of Nintendo Power magazine, which had an annual circulation of 1.5 million copies in the United States, was published in 1988. In July 1989, Nintendo held the first Nintendo Space World trade show with the name Shoshinkai to announce and demonstrate upcoming Nintendo products. That year,
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#17328630651059256-586: The Game Boy Advance SP , an improved version of the Game Boy Advance with a foldable case, an illuminated display, and a rechargeable battery. By the end of its production cycle in 2010, over 43.5 million units had been sold worldwide. Nintendo also released the Game Boy Player , a peripheral that allows Game Boy and Game Boy Advance games to be played on the GameCube. In 2004, Nintendo released
9434-515: The Game Boy Color was released. In addition to backward compatibility with Game Boy games, the console's similar capacity to the NES resulted in select adaptations of games from that library, such as Super Mario Bros. Deluxe . Since then, over 118.6 million Game Boy and Game Boy Color consoles have been sold worldwide. In May 1999, with the advent of the PlayStation 2 , Nintendo entered an agreement with IBM and Panasonic to develop
9612-462: The Gerudo , which consists entirely of female warriors save for one man born every one hundred years. He is significantly taller than other human NPCs, but his looks vary between games, often taking the form of a monstrous anthropomorphic boar. His specific motives vary from game to game, but most often his plans include him kidnapping Princess Zelda and planning to achieve domination of Hyrule and presumably
9790-445: The Nintendo 2DS , a version of the 3DS that lacks the clamshell design of Nintendo's previous handheld consoles and the stereoscopic effects of the 3DS. With 13.5 million units sold worldwide, the Wii U is the least successful video game console in Nintendo's history. In 2014, a new product line was released consisting of figures of Nintendo characters called amiibos . On 25 September 2013, Nintendo announced its acquisition of
9968-673: The Nintendo DS , which featured such innovations as dual screens – one of which is a touchscreen – and wireless connectivity for multiplayer play. Throughout its lifetime, more than 154 million units were sold, making it the most successful handheld console and the second bestselling console in history. In 2005, Nintendo released the Game Boy Micro , the last system in the Game Boy line . Sales did not meet Nintendo's expectations, with 2.5 million units being sold by 2007. In mid-2005,
10146-471: The Nintendo Entertainment System , using battery-backed memory , was released in the United States on August 22, 1987, and in Europe on November 27, 1987. The game features a "Second Quest", accessible either upon completing the game, or by registering one's name as "ZELDA" when starting a new quest. The "Second Quest" features different dungeons and item placement, and more difficult enemies. A modified version of
10324-645: The Nintendo Labo line was released, consisting of cardboard accessories that interact with the Switch and the Joy-Con controllers. More than one million units of the Nintendo Labo Variety Kit were sold in its first year on the market. In 2018, Shuntaro Furukawa replaced Kimishima as company president, and in 2019, Doug Bowser succeeded Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé . In April 2019, Nintendo formed an alliance with Tencent to distribute
10502-643: The Nintendo World Store was inaugurated in New York City. Nintendo's next home console was conceived in 2001, although development commenced in 2003, taking inspiration from the Nintendo DS. Nintendo also considered the relative failure of the GameCube and instead opted to take a " Blue Ocean Strategy " by developing a reduced performance console in contrast to the high-performance consoles of Sony and Microsoft to avoid directly competing with them. The Wii
10680-609: The Sharp Corporation . In 1988, Gunpei Yokoi and his team at Nintendo R&D1 conceived the Game Boy , the first handheld video game console made by Nintendo. Nintendo released the Game Boy in 1989. In North America, the Game Boy was bundled with the popular third-party game Tetris after a difficult negotiation process with Elektronorgtechnica . The Game Boy was a significant success. In its first two weeks of sale in Japan, its initial inventory of 300,000 units sold out, and in
10858-551: The Super Nintendo Entertainment System , the Nintendo DS , the Wii , and the Nintendo Switch . It has created or published numerous major franchises, including Mario , Donkey Kong , The Legend of Zelda , Metroid , Fire Emblem , Kirby , Star Fox , Pokémon , Super Smash Bros. , Animal Crossing , Pikmin , Xenoblade Chronicles , and Splatoon , and Nintendo's mascot, Mario ,
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#173286306510511036-587: The Taishō era dated to 1915 indicates that the business was named Yamauchi Nintendo but still used the Marufuku Nintendo Co. brand for its playing cards. Japanese culture stipulated that for Nintendo to continue as a family business after Yamauchi's retirement, Yamauchi had to adopt his son-in-law so that he could take over the business. As a result, Sekiryo Kaneda adopted the Yamauchi surname in 1907 and headed
11214-414: The arcade video game market with Sheriff and Radar Scope , released in Japan in 1979 and 1980 respectively. Sheriff , also known as Bandido in some regions, marked the first original video game made by Nintendo, was published by Sega and developed by Genyo Takeda and Shigeru Miyamoto . Radar Scope rivaled Galaxian in Japanese arcades but failed to find an audience overseas and created
11392-405: The best video game of all time , and ranking highly on IGN and EGM's "greatest games of all time" lists, as well as scoring perfect scores in several video game publications. In February 2006, it was ranked by Nintendo Power as the best game released for a Nintendo console. The game was originally developed for the poorly selling, Japanese-only 64DD , but was converted to cartridge format when
11570-450: The iOS and Android systems, Miitomo , was released. Since then, Nintendo has produced other similar apps, such as Super Mario Run , Fire Emblem Heroes , Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp , Mario Kart Tour , and Pokémon Go , the last being developed by Niantic and having generated $ 115 million in revenue for Nintendo. In March 2016, the loyalty program My Nintendo replaced Club Nintendo . The NES Classic Edition
11748-423: The natural environment and regional culture of Sonobe , popular culture influences like Westerns and detective fiction , along with folk Shinto practices and family media . These would each be seen in most of Nintendo's major franchises which developed following Miyamoto's creative leadership. Two key events in Nintendo's history occurred in 1979: its American subsidiary was opened in New York City, and
11926-450: The recorder in The Legend of Zelda can reveal secret areas, as well as warp Link to the dungeon entrances. This warping with music feature has also been used in A Link to the Past and Link's Awakening . In Ocarina of Time , playing instruments is a core part of the game, with the player needing to play the instrument through the use of the game controller to succeed. Ocarina of Time
12104-427: The strategic , turn-based or active time combat of series like Final Fantasy . The game's role-playing elements, however, have led to much debate over whether or not the Zelda games should be classified as action role-playing games , a genre on which the series has had a strong influence. Miyamoto himself disagreed with the role-playing label, and classified Zelda as "a real-time adventure game"; he said he
12282-450: The yakuza -run gaming parlors in Kyoto. Other card manufacturers had opted to leave the market not wanting to be associated with criminal ties, but Yamauchi persisted without such fears to become the primary producer of hanafuda within a few years. With the increase of the cards' popularity, Yamauchi hired assistants to mass-produce to satisfy the demand. Even with a favorable start, the business faced financial struggle due to operating in
12460-645: The "Play It Loud!" advertising campaign for Game Boys with different-colored casings. The Advanced Computer Modeling graphics used in Donkey Kong Country for the Super NES and Donkey Kong Land for the Game Boy were technologically innovative, as was the Satellaview satellite modem peripheral for the Super Famicom, which allowed the digital transmission of data via a communications satellite in space. In mid-1993, Nintendo and Silicon Graphics announced
12638-464: The 1960s and acquiring legal status as a public company, Nintendo distributed its first console, the Color TV-Game , in 1977. It gained international recognition with the release of Donkey Kong in 1981 and the Nintendo Entertainment System and Super Mario Bros. in 1985. Since then, Nintendo has produced some of the most successful consoles in the video game industry , such as the Game Boy ,
12816-616: The 1990s with the Super NES. Several accessories were released for the Wii from 2007 to 2010, such as the Wii Balance Board , the Wii Wheel and the WiiWare download service. In 2009, Nintendo Iberica S.A. expanded its commercial operations to Portugal through a new office in Lisbon . By that year, Nintendo held a 68.3% share of the worldwide handheld gaming market. In 2010, Nintendo celebrated
12994-570: The 25th anniversary of Mario's debut appearance, for which certain allusive products were put on sale. The event included the release of Super Mario All-Stars 25th Anniversary Edition and special editions of the Nintendo DSi XL and Wii. Following an announcement in March 2010, Nintendo released the Nintendo 3DS in 2011. The console produces stereoscopic effects without 3D glasses. By 2018, more than 69 million units had been sold worldwide;
13172-498: The 3D games in the series have been re-released in HD resolution. Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages were released simultaneously for the Game Boy Color in 2001, and interact using passwords or a Game Link Cable . After one game has been completed, the player is given a password that allows the other game to be played as a sequel. They were developed by Flagship in conjunction with Nintendo, with supervision from Miyamoto. After
13350-439: The 64DD hardware was delayed. A new gameplay mechanic, lock-on targeting, is used in the game, which focuses the camera on a nearby target and alters the player's actions relative to that target. Such mechanics allow precise sword fighting in a 3D space. The game heavily uses context-sensitive button play, which enabled the player to control various actions with Link using only one button on the Nintendo 64's controller. Each action
13528-515: The European release of the GameCube in May 2002, Hiroshi Yamauchi announced his resignation as the president of Nintendo, and Satoru Iwata was selected by the company as his successor. Yamauchi would remain as advisor and director of the company until 2005, and he died in 2013. Iwata's appointment as president ended the Yamauchi succession at the helm of the company, a practice that had been in place since its foundation. In 2003, Nintendo released
13706-555: The Famicom in America was also impacted. To differentiate the Famicom from its competitors in America, Nintendo rebranded it as an entertainment system and its cartridges as Game Paks, with a design reminiscent of a VCR . Nintendo implemented a lockout chip in the Game Paks for control on its third party library to avoid the market saturation that had occurred in the United States. The result
13884-560: The Famicom lasted until 2003. In total, around 62 million Famicom and NES consoles were sold worldwide. During this period, Nintendo created a copyright infringement protection in the form of the Official Nintendo Seal of Quality, added to their products so that customers may recognize their authenticity in the market. By this time, Nintendo's network of electronic suppliers had extended to around thirty companies, including Ricoh (Nintendo's main source for semiconductors ) and
14062-430: The Famicom. In the early 1980s, several video game consoles proliferated in the United States, as well as low-quality games produced by third-party developers , which oversaturated the market and led to the video game crash of 1983 . Consequently, a recession hit the American video game industry , whose revenues went from over $ 3 billion to $ 100 million between 1983 and 1985. Nintendo's initiative to launch
14240-429: The GameCube, even with such distinguishing features as the miniDVD format of its games and Internet connectivity for a few games, its sales were lower than those of its predecessors, and during the six years of its production, 21.7 million units were sold worldwide. The GameCube struggled against its rivals in the market, and its initial poor sales led to Nintendo posting a first half fiscal year loss in 2003 for
14418-616: The Goddess Sword (later becoming the Master Sword) for her chosen hero and discarding her divinity to be reborn among the people of Skyloft. In time, Zelda and Link (the reborn Hylia and her predestined warrior) enacted the goddess's plan and Demise was destroyed, but he vowed that his rage would be reborn and forever plague those descended from Link and Zelda. Following the establishment of Hyrule Kingdom, Demise's prophecy came to fruition in Ocarina of Time , when Ganondorf's attempt to get
14596-564: The Great Fairy heal Link completely. Occasionally the player will find fairies hidden in specific locations; these fairies can either heal Link immediately or be kept in empty bottles, and will revive the player the next time they die. The games pioneered a number of features that were to become industry standards. The original Legend of Zelda was the first console game with a save function that enabled players to stop playing and then resume later. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time introduced
14774-404: The Japanese arcade market in late 1985. At this time, Nintendo adopted a series of guidelines that involved the validation of each game produced for the Famicom before its distribution on the market, agreements with developers to ensure that no Famicom game would be adapted to other consoles within two years of its release, and restricting developers from producing more than five games per year for
14952-459: The Kingdom , was released on the Switch on May 12, 2023. New to Tears of the Kingdom are the battery-powered Zonai devices, which the player can use for combat, propulsion, exploration, and more. The game also features the new abilities to fuse materials together, ascend through ceilings, reverse objects' movement through time, and autobuild structures. Echoes of Wisdom , which features Zelda as
15130-743: The NES. In response to the competition, Uemura designed the Super Famicom , which launched in 1990. The first batch of 300,000 consoles sold out in hours. The following year, as with the NES, Nintendo distributed a modified version of the Super Famicom to the United States market, titled the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Launch games for the Super Famicom and Super NES include Super Mario World , F-Zero , Pilotwings , SimCity , and Gradius III . By mid-1992, over 46 million Super Famicom and Super NES consoles had been sold. The console's life cycle lasted until 1999 in
15308-661: The Nintendo Switch in China starting in December. The theme park area Super Nintendo World opened at Universal Studios Japan in 2021. In early 2020, Plan See Do, a hotel and restaurant development company, announced that it would refurbish the former Nintendo headquarters from the 1930s as a hotel, with plans to add 20 guest rooms, a restaurant, a bar, and a gym. The building is owned by Yamauchi Co., Ltd., an asset management company of Nintendo's founding family. The hotel later opened in April 2022, with 18 guest rooms, and named Marufukuro in
15486-628: The Nippon Game brand. The company's restructuring preserved a couple of areas dedicated to playing card manufacturing. In 1970, the company's stock listing was promoted to the first section of the Osaka Stock Exchange, and the reconstruction and enlargement of its corporate headquarters was completed. The year represented a watershed moment in Nintendo's history as it released Japan's first electronic toy—the Beam Gun , an optoelectronic pistol designed by Masayuki Uemura . In total, more than
15664-430: The Past is a prequel to the previous two games, and is followed by Link's Awakening ; Ocarina of Time is a prequel to A Link to the Past and takes the story many centuries back - according to character designer Satoru Takizawa, it was meant to implicitly tell the story of the Imprisoning War, and was followed by Majora's Mask as a direct sequel, set a few months later; Four Swords , upon its release,
15842-408: The Past , Oracle of Seasons , Oracle of Ages , the original The Legend of Zelda , Zelda II: The Adventure of Link , and finally Link's Awakening . In 2011, series translator Daniel Owsen revealed that, at one point, his coworkers at Nintendo of America and him conceived another complete timeline and intended to make it available online, but the Japanese series developers rejected the idea so that
16020-400: The Triforce has no will of its own and it can not judge between good and evil, it will grant any wish indiscriminately. Because of this, it was placed within an alternate world called the "Sacred Realm" or the "Golden Land" until one worthy of its power and has balanced virtues of Power, Wisdom, and Courage in their heart could obtain it, in its entirety. If a person is not of a balanced heart,
16198-484: The Triforce of Courage was introduced, being obtained by Link at the end of his quest. The Triforce, or even a piece of it, is not always distributed as a whole. Such as in The Wind Waker , Link must find all the pieces (called Triforce Shards) of the Triforce of Courage before he can return to Hyrule. Even in the original The Legend of Zelda , Zelda breaks her Triforce of Wisdom into 8 pieces for Link to find, before she
16376-576: The Triforce scattered it with him gaining the Triforce of Power. The Triforce of Wisdom ended up with the Hylian princesses descended from Zelda, each named after her, while the Triforce of Courage is passed to a youth named Link across generations. While the Triforces of Power and Wisdom have been part of the series since the original The Legend of Zelda , it was in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link that
16554-696: The United Kingdom, Spain, Belgium, and Australia. In 1992, Nintendo acquired a majority stake in the Seattle Mariners baseball team, and sold most of its shares in 2016. On July 31, 1992, Nintendo of America announced it would cease manufacturing arcade games and systems. In 1993, Star Fox was released, which marked an industry milestone by being the first video game to make use of the Super FX chip. The proliferation of graphically violent video games, such as Mortal Kombat , caused controversy and led to
16732-555: The United States, and until 2003 in Japan. In March 1990, the first Nintendo World Championship was held, with participants from 29 American cities competing for the title of "best Nintendo player in the world". In June 1990, the subsidiary Nintendo of Europe was opened in Großostheim , Germany; in 1993, subsequent subsidiaries were established in the Netherlands (where Bandai had previously distributed Nintendo's products), France,
16910-482: The United States, an additional 40,000 units were sold on its first day of distribution. Around this time, Nintendo entered an agreement with Sony to develop the Super Famicom CD-ROM Adapter , a peripheral for the upcoming Super Famicom capable of playing CD-ROMs . However, the collaboration did not last as Yamauchi preferred to continue developing the technology with Philips , which would result in
17088-504: The Wii U Virtual Console, and on Nintendo Switch Online. Three Zelda -themed LCD games were created between 1989 and 1992. The Zelda version of Nintendo's Game & Watch series was released first in August 1989 as a dual-screen handheld electronic game similar in appearance to today's Nintendo DS . It was re-released in 1998 as a Toymax, Inc. Mini Classic and was later included as an unlockable extra in Game & Watch Gallery 4 ,
17266-471: The Wild ' s timeline placement after all previous games in the series, without specifying a connection to any of the three timeline branches. Aonuma and Breath of the Wild director Hidemaro Fujibayashi justified the vague placement with the previous idea of keeping it open to players' imaginations. Nintendo moved Link's Awakening to take place before Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages . In 2020, Nintendo released Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity ,
17444-451: The beginning of the magazine and are often one of the highlights of the magazine. The magazine often includes a "newsletter" with irreverent jokes about magazine staffers, as well as cartoons. The introduction of Ultra Game Players was intended to coincide with the release of the Nintendo 64 and Super Mario 64 , as originally, the Nintendo 64 went by the name Nintendo Ultra 64. Ultra Game Players features an updated design which places
17622-542: The business in 1929. By that time, Nintendo was the largest playing card business in Japan. In 1933, Sekiryo Kaneda established the company as a general partnership named Yamauchi Nintendo & Co., Ltd. investing in the construction of a new corporate headquarters located next to the original building, near the Toba-kaidō train station . Because Sekiryo's marriage to Yamauchi's daughter produced no male heirs, he planned to adopt his son-in-law Shikanojo Inaba, an artist in
17800-549: The business styled itself as Marufuku Nintendo Card Co. The war created considerable difficulties for companies in the leisure sector, which were subject to new levies such as the Karuta Zei ("playing cards tax"). Nintendo subsisted and, in 1907, entered into an agreement with Nihon Senbai—later known as the Japan Tobacco —to market its cards to various cigarette stores throughout the country. A Nintendo promotional calendar from
17978-496: The company was experiencing a period of economic prosperity, the Disney cards and derived products made it dependent on the children's market. The situation was exacerbated by the falling sales of its adult-oriented playing cards caused by Japanese society gravitating toward other hobbies such as pachinko , bowling , and nightly outings. When Disney card sales began to decline, Nintendo realized that it had no real alternative to alleviate
18156-426: The company's employ and the father of his grandson Hiroshi , born in 1927. However, Inaba abandoned his family and the company, so Hiroshi was made Sekiryo's eventual successor. World War II negatively impacted the company as Japanese authorities prohibited the diffusion of foreign card games, and as the priorities of Japanese society shifted, its interest in recreational activities waned. During this time, Nintendo
18334-410: The confidential nature of this document, which only Miyamoto himself and the director of each game had access to. In-game content, marketing material, and developer statements once partially established a timeline of the released installments: the original The Legend of Zelda was followed by Zelda II: The Adventure of Link as a direct sequel, which takes place several years later; A Link to
18512-416: The conflict with Ganon serves as a backbone for the series, some games have featured other settings and antagonists, with Link traveling or being sent to these other lands in their time of need. Since The Legend of Zelda was released in 1986, the series has expanded to include 20 entries on all of Nintendo's major game consoles , as well as a number of spin-offs. An American animated TV series based on
18690-702: The creation of the Interactive Digital Software Association and the Entertainment Software Rating Board , in whose development Nintendo collaborated during 1994. These measures also encouraged Nintendo to abandon the content guidelines it had enforced since the release of the NES. Commercial strategies implemented by Nintendo during this time include the Nintendo Gateway System , an in-flight entertainment service available for airlines, cruise ships and hotels, and
18868-558: The discontinuation of some of their light gun products. The subsidiary Nintendo Leisure System Co., Ltd., which developed these products, was closed as a result of the economic impact dealt by the oil crisis. Yamauchi, motivated by the successes of Atari and Magnavox with their video game consoles , acquired the Japanese distribution rights for the Magnavox Odyssey in 1974, and reached an agreement with Mitsubishi Electric to develop similar products between 1975 and 1978, including
19046-470: The discounted Player's Choice version. Ocarina of Time was available through the Wii 's Virtual Console service. Nintendo re-released it for the Wii U Virtual Console in July 2015. Ocarina of Time 3D for the 3DS, featuring remade graphics and stereoscopic 3D, was released in mid-June 2011. Ocarina of Time has been made available on the higher tier of Nintendo Switch Online in HD resolution. Ocarina of Time ' s follow-up, Majora's Mask ,
19224-426: The end of dungeons and dropped by dungeon bosses. Smaller "Pieces of Heart" are awarded for completing side quests or found hidden around the game world in various places, and require a certain number (usually four) to form a full heart container. Health can be replenished by picking up hearts left by defeated enemies or destroyed objects, consuming items such as potions or food, or going to a Great Fairy Fountain to have
19402-441: The eponymous princess, Zelda. The fictional universe established by the Zelda games sets the stage for each adventure. Some games take place in different lands with their own back-stories. Hytopia is a connected kingdom, Labrynna and Holodrum are different countries separate from the Kingdom of Hyrule, Termina and Lorule serve as parallel worlds, and Koholint is an island far away from Hyrule that appears to be part of
19580-497: The exception of Four Swords Adventures , where he is a reincarnation of the original. In each game the battles with him are different and he fights using different styles. The game Skyward Sword indicates that Ganon is a reincarnation of an evil deity known as Demise. The Legend of Zelda , the first game of the series, was first released in Japan on February 21, 1986, on the Famicom Disk System . A cartridge version for
19758-520: The figure increased to 75 million by the start of 2019. In 2011, Nintendo celebrated the 25th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda with the orchestra concert tour The Legend of Zelda : Symphony of the Goddesses and the video game The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword . In 2012 and 2013, two new Nintendo game consoles were introduced: the Wii U , with high-definition graphics and a GamePad controller with near-field communication technology, and
19936-658: The first microprocessor for video games systems, the Color TV-Game series, and an arcade game inspired by Othello . During this period, Takeda developed the video game EVR Race , and Shigeru Miyamoto joined Yokoi's team with the responsibility of designing the casing for the Color TV-Game consoles. In 1978, Nintendo's research and development department was split into two facilities, Nintendo Research & Development 1 and Nintendo Research & Development 2 , respectively managed by Yokoi and Uemura. Shigeru Miyamoto brought distinctive sources of inspiration, including
20114-418: The first World of Nintendo stores-within-a-store , which carried official Nintendo merchandise, were opened in the United States. According to company information, more than 25% of homes in the United States had an NES in 1989. In the late 1980s, Nintendo's dominance slipped with the appearance of NEC 's PC Engine and Sega 's Mega Drive , 16-bit game consoles with improved graphics and audio compared to
20292-498: The first company to succeed in mass-producing plastic playing cards in Japan. Some of the company's employees, accustomed to a more cautious and conservative leadership, viewed the new measures with concern, and the rising tension led to a call for a strike . However, the measure had no major impact, as Hiroshi resorted to the dismissal of several dissatisfied workers. In 1959, Nintendo moved its headquarters to Kamitakamatsu-cho, Fukuine, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto. The company entered into
20470-453: The first time since the company went public in 1962. In 2002, the Pokémon Mini was released. Its dimensions were smaller than that of the Game Boy Advance and it weighed 70 grams, making it the smallest video game console in history. Nintendo collaborated with Sega and Namco to develop Triforce , an arcade board to facilitate the conversion of arcade titles to the GameCube. Following
20648-487: The game a darker atmosphere. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD released for Wii U in 2016. At 2006 Game Developers Conference , a new title Phantom Hourglass for the Nintendo DS was shown. It revealed traditional top-down Zelda gameplay optimised for the DS's features, with a cel-shaded 3D graphical style similar to The Wind Waker for Gamecube. The game is a direct sequel to The Wind Waker . Phantom Hourglass
20826-419: The game received a gold-colored cartridge in a limited edition box with a golden plastic card affixed, reading "Collector's Edition". In some stores that had this "Collector's Edition" quickly sell out, a small and rare Zelda pin was given instead. It is the sword and shield emblem with "Zelda" written on it. Very few of them are known to remain. Ocarina of Time was re-released on the GameCube in 2002, when it
21004-426: The games aired in 1989 and manga adaptations commissioned by Nintendo have been produced in Japan since 1997. The Legend of Zelda is one of Nintendo's most successful franchises; several of its entries are considered among the greatest video games of all time . Gameplay of The Legend of Zelda games feature a mix of puzzles , action-adventure , and exploration. These elements have remained constant throughout
21182-482: The graphical style of Ocarina of Time , it is also a departure, particularly in its atmosphere. It features motion-blur, unlike its predecessor. The game is darker in tone, dealing with death and tragedy in a manner not previously seen in the series, and has a sense of impending doom, as a large moon slowly descends upon the land of Termina to destroy all life. All copies of Majora's Mask are gold cartridges. A limited "Collector's Edition" lenticular cartridge label
21360-585: The greatest of all time . In 1995, Nintendo released the Virtual Boy , a console designed by Gunpei Yokoi with stereoscopic graphics . Critics were generally disappointed with the quality of the games and red-colored graphics, and complained of gameplay-induced headaches. The system sold poorly and was quietly discontinued. Amid the system's failure, Yokoi formally retired from Nintendo. In February 1996, Pocket Monsters Red and Green , known internationally as Pokémon Red and Blue , developed by Game Freak
21538-415: The handheld Four Swords , Four Swords Adventures was another deviation from previous Zelda gameplay, focusing on level -based and multiplayer gameplay. The game contains 24 levels and a map screen; there is no connecting overworld . For multiplayer features, each player must use a Game Boy Advance system linked to the GameCube via a Nintendo GameCube – Game Boy Advance link cable . The game features
21716-464: The later-released Nintendo e-Reader . The next game, Link's Awakening , for Nintendo's Game Boy , is the first Zelda for a handheld , and the first set outside Hyrule and to exclude Princess Zelda. Link's Awakening was re-released, in full color, as a launch game for the Game Boy Color in 1998 as Link's Awakening DX . This remaster features additions such as an extra color-based dungeon and
21894-563: The location of significant and smaller items such as keys and equipment. In later games, the dungeon includes a special "big key" that will unlock the door to battle the dungeon's boss enemy and open the item chest. In most Zelda games, the player's HP or life meter is represented by a line of hearts, each heart typically representing two hit points. At the start of the game the player only has three hearts; players can increase their max hearts by finding heart-shaped crystals called "Heart Containers". Full heart containers are usually received at
22072-417: The magazine changed its name to Ultra Game Players and introduced a radically different format. At the end of its run, it turned into Game Buyer , before being cancelled in 1998. Around 1992, Signal Research was shut down by investors that seized the company because of fiscal mismanagement. The publishing house was revived by an investment group as GP Publications, with the intention of being sold. About
22250-495: The main protagonist, released on September 26, 2024. Throughout the lifespan of The Legend of Zelda series, a number of games (including main series games as well as re-releases and spin-offs) in varying states of completeness have had their releases cancelled. Perhaps the earliest of these was Gottlieb 's The Legend of Zelda Pinball Machine (cancelled 1993). After securing a license from Nintendo to produce two Nintendo-franchise-based pinball machines, pinball designer Jon Norris
22428-407: The offices, for which he acquired the surrounding land and assigned the production of cards to the original Nintendo building. Meanwhile, Yokoi, Uemura, and new employees such as Genyo Takeda , continued to develop innovative products for the company. The Laser Clay Shooting System was released in 1973 and managed to surpass bowling in popularity. Though Nintendo's toys continued to gain popularity,
22606-493: The original Famicom game, BS Zelda no Densetsu , was released for the Super Famicom 's satellite-based expansion, Satellaview , on August 6, 1995, in Japan. A second Satellaview game, BS Zelda no Densetsu MAP2 was released for the Satellaview on December 30 the same year. Both games featured rearranged dungeons, an altered overworld , and new voice-acted plot-lines. The second game, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link ,
22784-570: The origins of villain Vaati and the creation of the Four Sword; Twilight Princess takes place in another of the parallel timelines that emerged from Ocarina of Time , more than a century later, in the "child era"; Phantom Hourglass is a direct sequel to The Wind Waker , and is followed by Spirit Tracks , which is set about a century later on a land far away from the setting of The Wind Waker . Skyward Sword precedes The Minish Cap , telling
22962-491: The placement of each game would be kept open to the imagination of the players. On December 21, 2011, to celebrate 25th anniversary of the series, the Hyrule Historia art book was published by Shogakukan , which contained an official timeline of the fictional chronology of the series up to that point. This timeline subsequently posits that following Ocarina of Time , it splits into three alternate routes: in one, Ganon
23140-453: The player and the game world. The various Links each have a special title, such as "Hero of Time", "Hero of the Winds" or "Hero chosen by the gods". Like many silent protagonists in video games, Link does not speak, only producing grunts, yells, etc. Despite the player not seeing the dialogue, it is referenced second-hand by in-game characters, showing that he is not, in fact, mute. Link is shown as
23318-490: The presidency and headed manufacturing operations. His first actions involved several important changes in the operation of the company: in 1951, he changed the company name to Nintendo Playing Card Co., Ltd. and in the following year, he centralized the manufacturing facilities dispersed in Kyoto, which led to the expansion of the offices in Kamitakamatsu-cho, Fukuine, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto. In 1953, Nintendo became
23496-450: The previous 3D games in the series. The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition , released for the GameCube in 2003, included the original The Legend of Zelda , Zelda II , Ocarina of Time , Majora's Mask , and a demo of The Wind Waker . The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD was released for Wii U in 2013. Four Swords Adventures was released for the GameCube in early 2004 in Japan and America, and January 2005 in Europe. Based on
23674-492: The princess after her, and titled it The Legend of Zelda . Link and the fairy were inspired by Peter Pan and Tinker Bell . When making the series made the transition to 3D, the combat system of Ocarina of Time was based on the chanbara ( samurai ) style of Japanese sword fighting. Games in The Legend of Zelda series frequently feature in-game musical instruments, particularly in musical puzzles , which are widespread. Often, instruments trigger game events: for example,
23852-623: The production schedules of third-party developers influenced a delay, and the console was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in the United States and March 1997 in Europe. By the end of its production in 2002, around 33 million Nintendo 64 consoles were sold worldwide, and it is considered one of the most recognized video game systems in history. 388 games were produced for the Nintendo 64 in total, some of which – particularly Super Mario 64 , The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time , and GoldenEye 007 – have been distinguished as some of
24030-502: The prospect of continuous renewal of decks, thus avoiding the suspicions that reusing cards would generate. According to Nintendo, the business' first western-style card deck was put on the market in 1902, although other documents postpone the date to 1907, shortly after the Russo-Japanese War . Although the cards were initially meant for export, they quickly gained popularity not only abroad but also in Japan. During this time,
24208-493: The readers' letters at the end of the magazine. One of the features of Ultra Game Players is a "prize store" in which readers answered trivia questions for chances to win prizes. However, many readers complained that the humor that had made Game Players such an enjoyable magazine was missing from the Ultra version, which prompted a return to form soon after the switch. Ultra Game Players continued until June 1998, at which point it
24386-479: The rest of Nintendo's Latin American market due to an alliance with Juegos de Video Latinoamérica. Nintendo reached an agreement with NC Games for Nintendo's products to resume distribution in Brazil by 2017, and by September 2020, the Switch was released in Brazil. On 11 July 2015, Iwata died of bile duct cancer , and after a couple of months in which Miyamoto and Takeda jointly operated the company, Tatsumi Kimishima
24564-483: The series (such as bombs and bomb flowers, which can be used both as weapons and to open blocked or hidden doorways; boomerangs , which can kill or paralyze enemies; keys for locked doors; magic swords , shields, and bows and arrows ), while others are unique to a single game. Though the games contain role-playing elements ( Zelda II: The Adventure of Link is the only one to include an experience system), they emphasize straightforward hack-and-slash -style combat over
24742-593: The series, Koji Kondo , initially planned to use Maurice Ravel 's Boléro as the game's title theme, but was forced to change it when he learned, late in the game's development cycle, that the copyright for the orchestral piece had not yet expired. As a result, Kondo wrote a new arrangement of the overworld theme within one day. Up until Breath of the Wild , the Legend of Zelda series avoided using voice acting in speaking roles, relying instead on written dialogue. Series producer Eiji Aonuma previously stated that as Link
24920-496: The series, though have since gained a cult following in the form of internet memes . After five years without a new game, the series made the transition to 3D with Ocarina of Time for the Nintendo 64 , which was released in November 1998. This game, initially known as Zelda 64 , retains the core gameplay of the previous 2D games, and was very successful commercially and critically, considered by many critics and gamers to be
25098-490: The series, with refinements and additions featured in each new game. Later games in the series include stealth gameplay, where the player must avoid enemies while proceeding through a level, as well as racing elements. Although the games can be beaten with a minimal amount of exploration and side quests , the player is frequently rewarded with helpful items or increased abilities for solving puzzles or exploring hidden areas. Some items are consistent and appear many times throughout
25276-491: The series, without specifying a direct connection to any of the three timeline branches. In the early 2000s, Nintendo of America released a timeline on the official website of the series as one of the possible interpretation of the events from all entries released up to that point, featuring a single protagonist named Link, the "Hero of Time" from its first adventure in Ocarina of Time . It was followed by Majora's Mask , A Link to
25454-471: The series. The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II were released in gold-colored cartridges instead of the console's regular grey cartridges. Both were re-released in the final years of the Nintendo Entertainment System with grey cartridges. Four years later, A Link to the Past returned to the top-down view (under a 3/4 perspective ), and added the concept of an alternate dimension, the Dark World. The game
25632-418: The situation. After the 1964 Tokyo Olympics , Nintendo's stock price plummeted to its lowest recorded level of ¥60 . In 1965, Nintendo hired Gunpei Yokoi to maintain the assembly-line machines used to manufacture its playing cards. Yamauchi's experience with the previous initiatives led him to increase Nintendo's investment in a research and development department in 1969, directed by Hiroshi Imanishi,
25810-427: The stand-alone game "Tetra's Trackers"), which contains spoken dialogue for most of the characters, unlike other games in The Legend of Zelda series. In November 2004 in Japan and Europe, and January 2005 in America, Nintendo released The Minish Cap for the Game Boy Advance . In The Minish Cap Link can shrink in size using a mystical, sentient hat named Ezlo. While shrunk, he can see previously explored parts of
25988-476: The story of the creation of the Master Sword. A Link Between Worlds takes place six generations after A Link to the Past , and features the Triforce being reunited, and Ganon being resurrected; Tri Force Heroes is a direct sequel to A Link Between Worlds , which takes place several years later; Breath of the Wild and its direct sequel, Tears of the Kingdom take place after all previous games in
26166-408: The team experimented with porting the original The Legend of Zelda to the Game Boy Color, they decided to make an original trilogy to be called the "Triforce Series". When the password system linking the three games proved too troublesome, the concept was reduced to two games at Miyamoto's suggestion. These two games became Oracle of Ages , which is more puzzle-based, and Oracle of Seasons , which
26344-479: The time. At Space World 2001, Nintendo showed a cel-shaded Zelda game, later released as The Wind Waker in December 2002. Due to poor reception, nothing further was shown until a playable demonstration was ready. Miyamoto felt The Wind Waker would "extend Zelda ' s reach to all ages". The gameplay centers on controlling wind with a baton called the "Wind Waker" and sailing a small boat around an island-filled ocean, retaining similar gameplay mechanics as
26522-521: The tracks) to find out why, but villains steal Zelda's body for the resurrection of the Demon King. Rendered disembodied, Zelda is left a spirit, and only Link (and a certain few sages) can see her. Together they go on a quest to restore the spirit tracks, defeat the Demon King, and return Zelda to her body. Using a modified engine of that used in Phantom Hourglass , the notably new feature in this game
26700-443: The triforce part that the user mostly believes in will stay with that person and the remainder will seek out others. In order to master and control the triforce as a whole, the user must get the other parts found in other individuals and bring them together to reunite them. The Sacred Realm can itself be affected by the heart of those who enter it: those who are pure will make it a paradise, while those who are evil will transform it into
26878-405: The wisdom he has gained to warn young Zelda of the horrifying fate of Hyrule) and adulthood (where adult Zelda lives on to try and rebuild her kingdom). His childhood continues with Majora's Mask , followed by Twilight Princess and Four Swords Adventures . The timeline from his adult life continues into Wind Waker , Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks . In 2018, Nintendo revealed Breath of
27056-406: The world beyond it. To this end, he seeks the Triforce , a powerful magical relic. He often possesses a portion of the Triforce called the Triforce of Power, which gives him great strength. However, it is often not enough to accomplish his ends, leading him to hunt the remaining Triforce pieces. Unlike Link, Zelda, and most other recurring characters, he is actually the same person in every game, with
27234-399: Was "not interested in systems where everything in the game is decided by stats and numbers" but what's "important to me is to preserve as much of that "live" feeling as possible" which he said " action games are better suited in conveying" to players. Every game in the main Zelda series has consisted of three principal areas: an overworld which connects all other areas, in which movement
27412-575: Was a financial success for Nintendo both in Japan and overseas, and led Coleco to fight Atari for licensing rights for porting to home consoles and personal computers. In 1983, Nintendo opened a new production facility in Uji and was listed in the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange . Uemura, taking inspiration from the ColecoVision , began creating a new video game console that would incorporate
27590-455: Was captured by Ganon. The chronology of the Legend of Zelda series was a subject of much debate among fans until an official timeline was released within the Hyrule Historia collector's book, first released in Japan in December 2011. Prior to its release, in a 2003 interview, series creator Shigeru Miyamoto confirmed the existence of an internal document which connected all the games, with series producer Eiji Aonuma later revealing in 2010
27768-432: Was considered the oldest tale in the series's chronology, predating Ocarina of Time ; The Wind Waker takes place in one of the parallel timelines that emerged from Ocarina of Time , more than a century later, in the "adult era"; Four Swords Adventures , upon its release, was considered to be a direct sequel to Four Swords , set sometime after its events; The Minish Cap is a prequel to Four Swords , telling of
27946-565: Was delayed to 2011. The game, the earliest in the Legend of Zelda timeline, reveals the origins of Hyrule, Ganon (here known as Demise), and many elements featured in previous games; it uses Wii's MotionPlus feature as well. It was released on November 20, 2011; the first run included a 25th Anniversary CD of fully orchestrated music from various Zelda games, including Skyward Sword . It was made available for download on Wii U in September 2016. An HD remaster , with optional button-only controls,
28124-412: Was designed by Gwénaël Nicolas with stylistic departure from its predecessors, and the GameCube . During the first week of the Game Boy Advance's North American release in June 2001, over 500,000 units were sold, making it the fastest-selling video game console in the United States at the time. By the end of its production cycle in 2010, more than 81.5 million units had been sold worldwide. As for
28302-423: Was handled slightly differently but all used the 'A' button to perform. For instance, standing next to a block and pressing 'A' made Link grab it (enabling him to push/pull it), but moving forwards into a block and pressing 'A' allowed Link to climb the block. The game featured the first appearance of Link's horse, Epona , allowing Link to travel quickly across land and fire arrows from horseback. Those who preordered
28480-481: Was introduced as Excalibur in the French version of A Link to the Past , which is regarded as reminiscent to the legend of King Arthur . Celtic mythology inspired the name of Link's steed , Epona, based on Epona , Celtic goddess of fertility. Hearing of American novelist, socialite and painter Zelda Fitzgerald , Miyamoto thought the name sounded "pleasant and significant". Paying tribute, he chose to name
28658-643: Was named as Iwata's successor on 16 September 2015. As part of the management's restructuring, Miyamoto and Takeda were respectively named creative and technological advisors. The financial losses caused by the Wii U, along with Sony's intention to release its video games to other platforms such as smart TVs , motivated Nintendo to rethink its strategy concerning the production and distribution of its properties. In 2015, Nintendo formalized agreements with DeNA and Universal Parks & Resorts to extend its presence to smart devices and amusement parks respectively. In March 2016, Nintendo's first mobile app for
28836-430: Was named the richest company in Japan. In June 2021, the company announced plans to convert its former Uji Ogura plant, where it had manufactured playing and hanafuda cards, into a museum tentatively named "Nintendo Gallery", targeted to open by March 2024. In the following year, historic remains of a Yayoi period village were discovered in the construction site. The Legend of Zelda The Legend of Zelda
29014-416: Was offered as a pre-order incentive for The Wind Waker in the U.S., Canada and Japan. It includes the cancelled 64DD expansion for Ocarina of Time known as Ura Zelda during development. Named Ocarina of Time Master Quest , the game was given reorganized dungeon layouts for greater difficulty. Europe continued to receive this "Two-Game Bonus Disc" free in every copy of The Wind Waker , except for
29192-515: Was offered as the pre-order incentive . Copies of the game that are not collector's editions feature a normal sticker cartridge label. Majora's Mask was available on the Wii and Wii U Virtual Console catalogues. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D was released for 3DS in North America and Europe on February 13, 2015, and in Japan and Australia a day later. The Nintendo 64 version was added to Nintendo Switch Online in February 2022; with this, all of
29370-514: Was partly supported by a financial injection from Hiroshi's wife Michiko Inaba, who came from a wealthy family. In 1947, Sekiryo founded the distribution company Marufuku Co., Ltd. responsible for Nintendo's sales and marketing operations, which would eventually go on to become the present-day Nintendo Co., Ltd., in Higashikawara-cho, Imagumano, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto . In 1950, due to Sekiryo's deteriorating health, Hiroshi Yamauchi assumed
29548-417: Was released for Nintendo Switch in 2021. In 2013, Nintendo released A Link Between Worlds for the Nintendo 3DS , a sequel to A Link to the Past . Progression is more open-ended than previous titles, with the possibility of completing many of the game's dungeons in any order. Certain dungeon obstacles require the use of rented or purchased items. Tri Force Heroes , a cooperative multiplayer game,
29726-409: Was released for the Famicom Disk System in Japan on January 14, 1987, and for the Nintendo Entertainment System in Europe in November and North America in December 1988. The game exchanged the top-down perspective for side-scrolling (though the top-down point of view was retained for overworld areas), and introduced RPG elements (such as experience points ) not used previously or thereafter in
29904-548: Was released for the Super NES on November 21, 1991. A downloadable version of A Link to the Past and an exclusive modified version called BS Zelda no Densetsu Inishie no Sekiban were released on the Satellaview in Japan on March 2 and 30, 1997, respectively. A Link to the Past was re-released for the Game Boy Advance in 2002. The SNES version was later re-released on the Wii Virtual Console on January 22, 2007, on
30082-457: Was released for the 3DS in October 2015. It features the same Link as A Link Between Worlds but lacks open-world gameplay. While Nintendo had showcased a Wii U demo reel at E3 2011 that depicted Link fighting a monster in HD and the first original HD Zelda game was scheduled for a 2015 release, it was delayed. The title was finally revealed at E3 2016 as Breath of the Wild , and the game
30260-507: Was released in April 2000. It uses the same 3D game engine as the previous game, and added a time-based concept, in which Link , the protagonist, relives the events of three days as many times as needed to complete the game's objectives. It was originally called Zelda Gaiden , a Japanese title that translates as Zelda Side story . Gameplay changed significantly; in addition to the time-limit, Link can use masks to transform into creatures with unique abilities. While Majora's Mask retains
30438-466: Was released in Japan for the Game Boy, and established the popular Pokémon franchise. The game went on to sell 31.37 million units, with the video game series exceeding a total of 300 million units in sales as of 2017. In 1997, Nintendo released the Rumble Pak , a plug-in device that connects to the Nintendo 64 controller and produces a vibration during certain moments of a game. In 1998,
30616-409: Was released in June 2007, for Japan and October for North America and Europe. It was later released on the Wii U Virtual Console. The next Legend of Zelda game for the DS, Spirit Tracks , was released in December 2009. In this game, the "spirit tracks", railroads which chain an ancient evil, are disappearing from Hyrule. Zelda and Link go to the 'Spirit Tower' (the ethereal point of convergence for
30794-475: Was released in November 2006, with a total of 33 launch games. With the Wii, Nintendo sought to reach a broader demographic than its seventh-generation competitors, with the intention of also encompassing the "non-consumer" sector. To this end, Nintendo invested in a $ 200 million advertising campaign. The Wii's innovations include the Wii Remote controller, equipped with an accelerometer system and infrared sensors that allow it to detect its position in
30972-503: Was released in November 2016. The console is a version of the NES based on emulation, HDMI , and the Wii remote. Its successor, the Super NES Classic Edition , was released in September 2017. By October 2018, around ten million units of both consoles combined had been sold worldwide. The Wii U's successor in the eighth generation of video game consoles , the Nintendo Switch , was released in March 2017. The Switch features
31150-423: Was released on March 3, 2017, as the last Nintendo-published game for the Wii U and a launch title for the Nintendo Switch . Similar to the original The Legend of Zelda , players are given little instruction and can explore the world freely. The world is designed to encourage exploration and experimentation and the main story quest can be completed in a nonlinear fashion. A Breath of the Wild sequel, Tears of
31328-401: Was released on September 28, 2011, as free DSiWare available until February 20, 2012. When Nintendo revealed the GameCube on August 24, 2000, the day before Nintendo's Space World 2000 exposition, a software demonstration showed a realistically styled real-time duel between Ganondorf and Link . Fans and the media speculated that the battle might be from a Zelda game in development at
31506-569: Was replaced by Game Buyer . Game Buyer ran for four more months before being cancelled by Imagine Publishing. Nintendo Nintendo Co., Ltd. is a Japanese multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto . It develops, publishes and releases both video games and video game consoles . Nintendo was founded in 1889 as Nintendo Koppai by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produced handmade hanafuda playing cards. After venturing into various lines of business during
31684-417: Was the discovery of a cave entrance in the middle of the woods. After some hesitation, he apprehensively entered the cave, and explored its depths with the aid of a lantern. Miyamoto has referred to the creation of the Zelda games as an attempt to bring to life a "miniature garden" for players to play with in each game of the series. The story and setting was developed by Takashi Tezuka . Seeking to create
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