Nintendo is going all out for The Legend Of Zelda’s 40th anniversary, with new amiibo and a concert tour, but movie details remain oddly scarce.
Today’s Nintendo Direct wasn’t just about the remake of The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time (though it was a key focus), but about the 40th anniversary of the entire franchise.
As such, Nintendo had plenty of other non-video game related announcements to share for the most diehard of fans, including a brief update on next year’s live action movie.
We do mean brief too, as all series creator Shigeru Miyamoto was willing to share is that it will simply be called The Legend Of Zelda, while reiterating its planned release date of April 30, 2027.
Miyamoto did tease that there’s a reason for the lack of a subtitle, adding that the movie tells an original story not based on any singular game.
This was something fans already suspected, since early photos of Link and Zelda have the former in his classic green garb, while the latter is wearing her outfit from Breath Of The Wild.
Expert, exclusive gaming analysis
Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning.
‘This is an original film based on the many stories, ideas, and concepts of the series built up through the games for 40 years,’ explains Miyamoto, so a Tingle cameo isn’t out of the question.
There was no teaser trailer though, with Miyamoto instead quickly moving on to talk about other anniversary initiatives, starting with how the Nintendo Museum in Kyoto, Japan will be receiving a history board detailing past games.
From November 5, there will also be a new photo op, that sounds like it’ll let you pose alongside the Master Sword, and a Super Family Restaurant with a large statue of Link from Breath Of The Wild will open this autumn (there’ll be Super Mario and Pikmin references too).
New merchandise was shown off as well, such as working replicas of the ocarina and a very nice-looking Lego set of Link riding Epona.
Other anniversary plans include:
- New Nintendo Today animations and collectible cards (available from September 9)
- Nintendo Museum Official Book Volume 2 (available from November 5)
- Heroes of Hyrule action figures
- Electronic Master Sword toy
- Master Sword and Hylian shield statues
- Trading cards
Composer Koji Kondo also chimed in to discuss the franchise’s musical history and announce plans for a worldwide concert tour, which will hopefully include the amazing new arrangement that opened the Direct.
It starts next year in Tokyo, Japan, but will eventually come overseas in spring. In the UK, the tour will begin on April 3 in London.
After series producer Eiji Aonuma showed off the Ocarina Of Time remake, Hidemaro Fujibayashi (who is also working on the remake as a producer) revealed two new amiibo based on Young Link and Young Zelda, which launch in 2027 and unlock masks Link can wear that resemble the characters from the original Nintendo 64 game.
The already leaked Zelda themed Switch 2 was the final announcement and is slated to launch October 29. It pointedly does not come bundled with a copy of Ocarina Of Time, but there will also be an accompanying Pro Controller and carrying case you can get separately.
Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter.
To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here.
For more stories like this, check our Gaming page.