Right around the release of the GameCube there were tons of rumors floating around about the new Zelda game that Miyamoto was developing. Since the GameCube offered far superior technology to the Nintendo 64, and no longer would games be limited in memory capacities due to the cartridge format, many Zelda enthusists were waiting with bated breath for the first release of information regarding GameCube's first Zelda game. I myself can distinctly remember how much I liked where Ocarina of Time was going, but always said to myself, there could have been so much more if this had been on a CD. The GameCube had me hopeful that my Zelda vision that I saw when I first played The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II: The Adventures of LInk for the NES would become a reality.

Before the GameCube was even released at SpaceWorld 2000 Nintendo gave gamers a glimpse of what the GameCube was capable of, and one of the demos that was playing was of Zelda, a full 3-D battle between Link and Ganondorf. The visuals were stunning to say the least, and I was just amazed at what I saw at that time. I was in absolute awe what potential Zelda could have on the GameCube with visuals that good. With the right direction I felt that Zelda could attain a higher strata than Final Fantasy acheived. For a long time this was our only glimpse at Zelda's future until something drastically changed that prompted massive debate.

It was a year later, and rumors beget rumors about what was going on at Nintendo with Zelda. Some people said it was different than what people expected, some said it was better than what was shown at Spaceworld 2000. No one really knew, that is until, the bombshell was dropped. Zelda was not going to be rendered with polygons, rather a technique called Cel-Shading. What is cel-shading? If you've watched cartoons you have seen cel-shading. It essentially renders various frames of animation in more flat painted look rather than a rendered three dimensional CGI look. Link's appearance was drastically different from Spaceworld 2000. No longer was he this (*ahem* effeminate) 3-D Japanese Anime rendered character, but rather a goofy looking little cartoon kid with a stubby sword. Many gamers gasped in disgust while there were some, that took the road that it reminded them of "A Link to the Past" I myself was of the camp of the gamers that thought Miyamoto made a big mistake. I had certain expectations about what I was hoping Zelda could become, and this was in deviation from those expectations. I felt as though something had been stolen from me, and likewise many other gamers felt similarly. There wasn't much to go on with Zelda after the release, nothing about the storyline, but the music was remeniscent of Link to the Past.

I myself enguaged in many heated debates on the topic of cel-shading and polygons with people. Polygons are the future, and its a bandwagon that everyone wants to ride right now, however Miyamoto did take an artistic license with making Zelda, Cel-Shaded. There have been a few cel-shaded games, like Jet Grind Radio, Parappa the Rapper, and Fear Effect, but none were of such a compelling caliber that it made the industry take a long notice. Miyamoto has always been an innovator, trying to do something that no one has tried before, and thus has elevated himself to become one of gaming forefathers and great visionaries. Now understand, that Zelda is not foriegn to the idea of Cel-shading, if you dust off the vaults of gaming history you'll find a little known and even remembered device called the Phillips CDI. There were three Cel-shaded CD based Zelda games produced for this peculiar console. However, these Zelda games were not produced first party by Nintendo and lacked any quality. In one game you even got to play as Zelda to rescue Link, but in effect it wasn't much of a quest, the animation was poor at best, and the games were very brief and lackluster. This was not the time in which Cel-Shading could be implimented effectively Now, I don't know if Miyamoto took the cel-shading idea from that obscure glitch in the Zelda series, but nevertheless the GameCube was fully capable of bringing about Zelda with this style and he took the opportunity to head in a new direction.

Despite my trepidations with the appearance of Zelda, I can say that based upon the information I've gathered over the past two years, this new game, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker looks to be probably the best game in the series so far. The caracature of Link, well, to me I think it appeals to a younger audience, and indeed Nintendo has admitted in the past that it wants it's games to be non-violent for children, but I'll accept changes if the game is put together well. And from everything I've seen, heard, or read about, Zelda will be better than ever. I haven't played Wind Waker yet, so I don't know how much I will enjoy it. Will I like it better than Ocarina of Time? I think I probably will. It is my duty to get this game and play it, and trust me I will be there every step of the way to report my experiences.

Now here's the real rumor of rumors to stew your brew. It has been said that Nintendo is holding something back about Zelda, and that there will be a Polygonal version of Zelda along the lines of the Spaceworld 2000 demo in appearance. maybe even better. Nintendo can neither confirm nor deny the existence of another Zelda, but I will say this, I'll make it a point to find out more information than I already have. I have heard that there is a game, being called by Nintendo of America insiders "The Great Adventure of Link" It is also possible that a large development studio like Square-Enix may somehow be involved. I don't know what this is, and yes it could just be another side-story type GameBoy Advance game, but the way the person sort of slipped it to me, it was bigger than that.

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