Japanese Zelda to be Sold Online Only

Nintendo of Japan announced today that the GameCube version of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess will be available to the Japanese market exclusively via online sales. In Japan, both the Wii and GameCube versions of this latest Zelda adventure will be available on December 2. However, only the Wii version will be sold through retail channels. Those who want the GameCube version will have to go through Nintendo's e-commerce site.

Although somewhat disappointing for GameCube fans, this move doesn't come as too much of a surprise. While the name, price and date for the Wii version were announced weeks ago, the GameCube version has since been listed with a tentative name and release information. There was even some speculation that the GameCube version would never see the light of day in Japan, where weekly GameCube hardware sales have fallen into the triple digits.

In America, the GameCube version of Twilight Princess is still expected to be sold through normal retail channels. Following the Wii version's release on November 19, the GameCube version will hit shops on December 11.

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