It's clear that The Legend of Zelda on Wii U could be huge. The Zelda franchise hasn't exactly fallen on hard times, but many fans regarded The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword as something of a step backwards. With advanced hardware, Nintendo is trying something new for the next Legend of Zelda game - with any luck, it'll help revitalize a fanbase that's tired of the same old stuff.
While fans still haven't seen much of the game, there have been brief glimpses here and there: most notably, Nintendo gave a short demonstration of the open world mechanics last December. It showed off the game's new world, and from what fans have seen, it looks absolutely massive.
In fact, according to series producer Eiji Aonuma, the game is as big as the Wii U hardware can manage. Basically, the game is so big that, were it any bigger, the Wii U wouldn't be able to handle it.
Speaking with GameReactor, Aonuma said:
"A huge, seamlessly unfolding world is something that can't be achieved if the hardware isn't advanced enough...Ever since we made the very first generation of Legend of Zelda games though, we've had as large a world as can be realized with the hardware, so you could say it was inevitable that we've now done the same with the new Wii U title."
Ever since it was first announced at last year's E3 show, fans have been begging for more information on the new Wii U Legend of Zelda. Nintendo has remained incredibly tight-lipped about the new game, with only a few select items revealed and a tentative release window of 2015 confirmed.
The big change here is that, while previous Zelda games had a large overworld sprinkled with separate, distinct dungeons, everything in The Legend of Zelda for Wii U is seamless. That means no loading times and no separate, sectioned-off dungeons - everything about the world is completely smooth and uninterrupted.
"When I first showed off the new Zelda game on the Wii U, it seemed everyone was very excited and started proclaiming that a Zelda game had at last become open world! Zelda games have always allowed you to roam and explore a huge world. What's changed now is that the hardware has progressed to the point that you can now explore this vast world seamlessly; the underpinning of the game hasn't changed."
At this point, it's likely that The Legend of Zelda for Wii U is still a long ways off: series creator Shigeru Miyamoto confirmed that Star Fox would see a release before Zelda, and that game hasn't even been properly announced yet. If anything, fans should hope for a Holiday 2015 release date.
That being said, it's almost guaranteed that fans will get to see Zelda at least one more time before release: expect Nintendo to show The Legend of Zelda off at this year's E3 show in June.
