With two months to go until E3 2012, Nintendo has revealed a new direction for its beloved Legend of Zelda franchise. It was announced today that the gaming giant is developing a series of edutainment titles for its upcoming home console, the Wii U, starring a variety of famous characters from the adventure series. These games will be targeted toward a broader and younger audience, and will make special use of the new Wii U tablet-style controller.
Nintendo has included a full list of these education-based titles, wth brief descriptions to get the fans excited.
Hey! Look! Listen! Identifying Shapes and Sounds with Navi – Join Link’s faithful and beloved companion as she teaches youngsters how to identify different shapes, as well as different animal sounds. The innovative Wii U controller provides youngsters with an easy-to-use touch interface, letting them point directly to octagons, elephants, or Bokoblins. How many sides does a Triforce have? You’ll find out soon enough!
Tingle Teaches Typing – Tingle, tingle, kooloo-limpah! Tingle the Fairy needs your help translating Triforce maps, and he’ll teach you how to type in the process! Use the Wii U controller as a makeshift keyboard, as you learn proper hand positions and finger movement. A bonus Extortion Mode shows players how to quickly use a calculator, in order to extract all profit from a business powered by less-than-willing workers. Guide the Hero of Winds to the Triforce – with the power of typing!
Link is Missing – The Hero of Time has found himself lost – in time! Join Zelda, Impa and fan favorite Groose, as they travel through history looking for Link, learning about famous historical events in the process. When did the United States build the Statue of Liberty? What famous Chinese mathematician invented algebra? Who were the Seven Sages that ended the Imprisoning War? Players will need to know the answers to these questions, and more, if they want to rescue Link from an endless quantum continuum existence!
Ganon Finger Painting – The Great King of Evil, transformed into his evil beast form, must keep his wits about him and his mind sharp – through the relaxing medium of fingerpainting. Use the Wii U controller as a digital canvas, following along with the evil Gerudo leader as he teaches players the basics of mixing colors and creating shapes. This title concludes with an epic painting battle against Ganon and his second-in-command, Bob Ross, a fight that should not be missed by anyone.
Dance Dance Guru-Guru – Zelda dives into the rhythm gaming craze right at the height of its popularity with Dance Dance Guru-Guru. The series’ beloved organ grinder will crank out organ renditions of today’s most popular songs, as players dance along while holding Wii Remotes to track their movements. Use the Wii U controller as a turntable to mix songs together with popular Zelda tunes in real time, as the dance party gets underway.
Style Savvy with Ghirahim – Ghirahim, the Lord of Demons, is also the Lord of Fashion! In this Nintendo DS exclusive, Players can dress up with the Zelda series’s most fabulous villain, collecting clothes and unlocking new models to dress up. See what Link might look like without his trademark green tunic! Players can take pictures of their characters and share them with friends through Facebook or the Nintendo Fashion Network.
“Obviously we’re trying to bring in a larger audience with these games, but we believe hardcore gamers will find them challenging as well,” said Reggie Fils-Aime, President of Nintendo of America. “We believe these new and innovative titles will show the world how the Wii U brings a definitive gaming experience to the table, with gameplay that can’t be duplicated on a smartphone or a standard gaming console.”
According to Nintendo’s press release, many of the above games will connect with the Nintendo 3DS handheld in some way, possibly to offer more control options or to let players take edutainment on the go. More game information, such as pricing, should be made available during Nintendo’s E3 media presentation.
The above games are slated as launch titles for the Wii U, and will be available when the console is released on December 21, 2012. More information will be posted as it is made available.
The above article was published on April Fool’s Day, 2012, and is intended as satire.
Dance Dance Guru-Guru seems like it would be fun LOL
Seriously, where’s my organ music?
not even funny… you could have done better photoshops.. i understand that it’s april fools… i just don’t think what you wrote is good enough to fool..
if you’d written it outraged more people might have bought it.
You’re the first to comment that this wasn’t funny. Everyone I’ve sent this to (some of them not even remotely friends) at least got a chuckle out of it. Humor is subjective after all.
nooooooooooooo o wait this is a april fools joke not funny not funny thank GOD that this is not real or I would punch you thank GOD
yeah, not funny at all. too bad you didn’t do it with halo or uncharted.
Pretty funny. Unfortunately Wii had so many pointless edutainment games that this actually fooled me. Good job!
Well the Wii had many pointless games, not just in that section.
Hi, I’m an editor for Nintendo Enthusiast but I just had to let you know that I found this to be quite clever. Great job and really funny ideas!
I’m glad you enjoyed it. It was a spur of the moment idea last week actually.
Not funny. Too long.
weak sauce
Duh this is a prank for april fools day
Awww….that style game sounds fun : P
funny, my favorite is Tingle Teaches Typing.
Haha, I believed it until I got to Tingle Teaches Typing, then I was like “yeah right, Nintendo would never do that”.