Japan's Zelda: Phantom Hourglass commercials
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ Jun 8th 2007 at 5:32PM }
Ready for the return of Celda? As the Japanese enjoy Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, the rest of us wait until the nebulous "Holiday 2007" release. Well, you can check out these two new commercials for the game above and after the break. For those not fluent in Japanese, allow us to translate: "You want Nintendo stock to triple by 2008. Zelda is cash cow, drink milk." Yeah, the Hitler translation still wins hands down.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Superfood @ Jun 8th 2007 5:49PM
Very cool. I knew this was coming all along. But the final product looks fantastic.
Fernando Rocker @ Jun 8th 2007 5:51PM
So PSP fanboys, after this videos... you still think that PSP has better games than DS Lite?? I dont think so...
Fernando Rocker @ Jun 8th 2007 5:54PM
God of War Chains of Olympus doesn have any chance against Zelda Phantom Hourglass... Zelda will have awesome gameplay (God of War is just smash the button gameplay), plus, Zelda will have online modes...
Poor Sony bastards...
BPM @ Jun 8th 2007 6:02PM
Fernando, is it REALLY necessary to bring PSP into something that has NOTHING to do with it?
Seriously. You're almost as annoying as JoNT or GiaM...
Fernando Rocker @ Jun 8th 2007 6:09PM
Sorry :(
Grey Acumen @ Jun 8th 2007 6:25PM
Aw, at least you apologized, Fernando, so you're still okay in my book.
But I will reiterate what I posted on DS fanboy about this:
I'm a little apprehensive about the DS stylus controls for this game. This all seems way too easy, you just click on the enemy to attack? I rather enjoyed having to actually make sure I was at the proper distance when I swung the sword and such. This just looks like it does it all for you.
I want the controls to be simple, sure, but I don't want to remove every single bit of challenge from the game. I'm sure there will be plenty of puzzle challenge, but where's the challenge in just drawing a line in how you want the boomerang to go? Instead of immersing me in the game, this looks like I'm going to feel like a backseat driver, just telling Link what to do... Oh Em Gee, It's like I'm gonna be playing as Navi. T_T
"Hey, look out! Enemy, over here! Hit it! Use your boomerang, Link! There's a switch you can hit over here, Link! Hey! Listen! Look over here!"
Seriously, I usually love the Zelda series, but this just is not giving me a happy feeling for where they're going with this touch-centric design.
Koopaknight29 @ Jun 8th 2007 6:41PM
*chuckles*
Don't worry Grey, I'm pretty sure people won't try to stuff you into a bottle yet.
As for the game, I'll see some reviews of the game before buying it. It looks fun, but I too am a little wary of the control scheme.
zwarrior @ Jun 8th 2007 6:45PM
#6 wrote: "It's like I'm gonna be playing as Navi. T_T
"Hey, look out! Enemy, over here! Hit it! Use your boomerang, Link! There's a switch you can hit over here, Link! Hey! Listen! Look over here!""
-welcome to 3rd person gaming. There's nothing that different about it except your view will be above his head rather than behind. Sounds to me like your nitpicking
Joshua @ Jun 8th 2007 6:44PM
I feel the same way Grey Acumen (#6), and I like your description of basically playing as Navi. ;)
We'll see what happens, I guess...
krizoitz @ Jun 8th 2007 7:04PM
This one never gets old
http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=42
Grey Acumen @ Jun 8th 2007 9:29PM
@ zwarrior -
There is actually a very big difference in the immersion level when you compare these control schemes. It doesn't stem from the viewpoint, but the thought process required to utilize the controls.
Lets face it, the reason I hate FPS is because, sure, I'm seeing through the eyes of the character... but only after being forced to wear blinders, and then put in a neck brace and full torso body cast on top of that, and that's on top of games already having no smell, and limited audio depth, and no air pressure sensitivity. I figure that a 3rd person perspective merely balances out those deficiencies in the 1st person perspective, so I actually find 3rd person perspectives more immersive.
Now, to compare the controls, with all the previous games, when you pressed forward, link moved forward, when you pressed attack, he attacked, etc.
So if you are going to attack an enemy, you have to line yourself up, and then attack when you get close enough. You have to remember to STOP pressing the move button so that he doesn't continue running into the enemy.
When aiming with the boomerang I had to calculate the path the boomerang would take in order to strike the object(not all targets had a direct line that allowed you to Z target) With bow and arrow and hookshot, I had to physically line myself up in order to be pointing at where I want to aim my shot.
Compare that to this DS version, where you simply pick out your targets and point to where you want to run to... it does change the immersion level, rather than controlling link directly, I'm merely giving advice, and Link is just a very dumb, trusting puppy who will obey any suggestion I give him.
They gave Tingle Bombs in Wind Waker, they're giving Navi Mind Control in Phantom Hourglass :P
Admittedly, it still stands to be a really good game. This IS Zelda after all and it IS being made by Nintendo. I personally love Majora's Mask, and I've only really heard that one ever get flack from other people. I'm just having some very distinct apprehensions, and they're made more severe by how gungho everyone else is about this.
Guess I'll just have to put my faith in Nintendo. If worse comes to worst, I'll go root around on ebay for Minish Cap. I never actually got around to buying that one.
Paviel @ Jun 8th 2007 11:07PM
I think that the Adventure of Link got a lot of flack too, for being so different.
Then again, look where it is now...
jorojoserojas @ Jun 8th 2007 11:46PM
I'm going to hold off judgment until I actually hear more about the game. As of right now, I'm excited...it's not like Nintendo has a history of making bad games.
Still, I wish they'd incorporate an option to use standard controls as well. We'll see how it works, I guess...
sheppy @ Jun 9th 2007 11:30AM
For once, I wish a thread about a game could be a place where you can talk about the game. And not be home to idiotic fantard rants that have absolutely no relation whatsoever to each other.
Would be nice... but this IS the internet after all.
shivr @ Jun 10th 2007 3:15PM
the fighting parts of zelda games have never been particularily challenging to me to begin with... the only difference I see here with stylus controls is tap-mashing vs button-mashing...
Needless to say, I think the exploration and puzzle elements will be very much freshened by the new controls; theres just more or at least new options to work with.
Travii @ Jun 19th 2007 5:44AM
I'm looking forward to this, I still can't believe that there are 'anti-Celda' sentiments out there. I have a Wii with Twilight Princess, and whilst it's a great game, the Wind Waker actually looks superior. (I know both games were designed for Gamecube)
To be honest, I have both a PSP and a DS and 3d can tend to look a little pixelated and ugly on the DS sometimes, I think that cel-shaded graphics may be the perfect answer. I think this Zelda will look better than any other DS game out there at the moment BECAUSE of cel-shading.
Still we will all have our own opinions until the game is released, but I am quite sure that it will be a huge success, and for those that can't look past the cel graphics, they will miss out...