The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess [GC]

In a grand display, Nintendo announced a new Legend of Zelda game at its press conference before E3. Its beloved designer, Shigeru Miyamoto, promoted the as-yet unnamed title by swinging the starring character Link's signature sword and shield on the stage at the Hollywood & Highland Complex in Los Angeles.

At a later roundtable, Miyamoto was able to reveal a few details about the game, which is not due out until late 2005. The most obvious change is the very different aesthetic from its colorful, cutesy, cel-shaded look in The Wind Waker.

"One of the reasons we changed [the look] is, quite simply, very many people wanted us to change," said Miyamoto. It's no secret that Link's new appearance was a cause of much controversy among hardcore fans.

Miyamoto pointed out that another very important reason the visual style needed to become more in line with Ocarina of Time was to better suit the game's new tone, since Link is older, in his late teens.

Anticipating friendly accusations, Miyamoto quickly noted at this point that producer Eiji Anouma was not lying at GDC when he said they were working on a Wind Waker 2. "He just didn't tell the whole story," he laughed.

Remaining on the subject of the mature Link, Anouma said that ever since Ocarina, Miyamoto had wanted Link to be able to ride and battle on horseback. This wasn't possible on the Nintendo 64, but has now been accomplished for their new title.

In terms of gameplay and controls, Anouma said that the team is still determining how to best implement the control scheme to reflect Link's new grown-up role. Miyamoto added: "I've been asking that while remaining true to the series, I want to see new ideas in the realm of puzzle-solving and that sort of thing. So I've asked Mr. Anouma to focus his attentions on that."

We'll have more details on Link's newest adventure as they become available.