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The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - $19.99 at K-Mart starting 5/6 - 5/12

Madao

Member
The only thing that really damned Skyward Sword was timing and expectations.

The usual "childhood memory" expectations of a Zelda game coupled with it being released as basically the final big Wii game was a recipe for trouble. It was unlikely that any game, even Zelda, could tear up the sales charts with Wii on its deathbed.

Nintendo went ahead and finished this game up because, well, it was all they could do really. Too much invested to "disappear" it, even by their standards of canceling / moving major projects. On top of that, the game does require M+, and despite the sales of Wii Sports Resort , Nintendo failed to make M+ a hot item with non-Wii Sports players. So too many potential buyers of Skyward Sword didn't feel like buying the game+hardware.

"That's why they should have done it RIGHT and had no fucking motion controls!" <-- this is the instant kneejerk response from the Skyward Sword motion control hate wagon as it passes by.

But that never could have happened, tho many people will drop dead before admitting it. Why? Because it's Zelda, ironically. It's the "native" Zelda for Wii, the game everyone expected years ago.

It seems many people have totally forgotten, after years of ingrained cynicism regarding "waggle" and the hardcore gamer's boogyman of 'casualization'. But turn the clock back to 2006, and you know what you saw? Nothing but excitement for potential. The potential of playing a Zelda game with "a real sword in hand". Stuff like that. One reason Twilight Princess was a let down for some people, at first, was that it didn't play like Nintendo promised and inferred Wii games would play. It didn't have "real" swordplay.

So people said "wait for the real Wii Zelda. Twilight Princess is just a port. It's a huge disappointment, but they'll make another Zelda." People were just angry that they'd have to wait years for the next Zelda, as is usually the case.

Fast forward back to 2011. Skyward Sword comes out, the one Wii game where Nintendo fulfilled their almost forgotten promise of the epic that made every use of the Wii's unique interface; the fundamental concept of the Wii itself.

But half or more of the audience (and potential audience) for the game approached it with years of hardened bitterness towards the 'plague' of motion control and 'gimmicks'. Regardless of how good or bad it is, how well it works, many refuse to accept that the game is exactly what it is because it could never have been otherwise. It had to be made, essentially; the long delayed validation of what the Wii was supposed to be at the beginning.

But it came too late; released into an environment practically designed to rip it to shreds for not being "conventional". (Imagine that.) On an end of life cycle platform. Requiring an accessory to play it, technology that should have been in the Wii at launch (and Nintendo knows it) that would have forestalled so many wasted opportunities and enabled the kind of games people thought they'd be getting right at the start.

this basically. general apathy towards motion controls, misuse of m+ by nintendo and delivering the game way too late into the cycle were all factors against the game.
 

VideoMan

30% Failure Rate
Ah, I think I figured out what's going on. Nintendo just released a newer version without the soundtrack CD. The new version has a different UPC number altogether. Amazon's clearing out the old version for $42.76 while the new version is still $49.99. I assume the new one is version 1.1 with that game breaking bug fixed and maybe a few other tweaks.
 
The only thing that really damned Skyward Sword was timing and expectations.

The usual "childhood memory" expectations of a Zelda game coupled with it being released as basically the final big Wii game was a recipe for trouble. It was unlikely that any game, even Zelda, could tear up the sales charts with Wii on its deathbed.
This post depresses me...
 

JazzmanZ

Member
So much hate on this game from GAF :(

Don't worry its following the Zelda cycle exactly.

New Game announced -> Praise -> Game comes out -> Best thing since sliced bread any reviews below 9.0 are wrong -> game is out for a while everyone hates it, thinks the last Zelda was a masterpiece -> New Game announced...
 

Persona7

Banned
Don't worry its following the Zelda cycle exactly.

New Game announced -> Praise -> Game comes out -> Best thing since sliced bread any reviews below 9.0 are wrong -> game is out for a while everyone hates it, thinks the last Zelda was a masterpiece -> New Game announced...

I thought this game was terrible the first day I played it. (2 days after it came out due to amazon)

This "Zelda Cycle" bullshit needs to go away.
 

Bryan1321

Banned
"Stop hating my favorite game!"

I think the lack of serious opinions (and i read some great opinions, taking on the fails of the game with objectivity) and people who only writes this kind of things like you makes it hard to say im only complaining on the hate because "its my favorite game"

I mean theres many people who hates the game without even playing it
 

Tashi

343i Lead Esports Producer
Wow if you don't have this, you should pick it up. I had so much fun with this game. Definitely a top 3D Zelda game.
 
The controls for this game were horrible. I haven't played it since it came out but the few hours I put into it were pure torture. THe beginning was slow, the dialog was childish and the bird flying was "for the birds"! The world felt small the way it was broken up and you can't blame that on the graphics, they were pretty ugly at 1080p.

Remind me, the controls aren't really 1:1 are they, just some preset moves that are frustrating to pull off. You can't just freely swing your sword, can you?
 
The controls for this game were horrible. I haven't played it since it came out but the few hours I put into it were pure torture. THe beginning was slow, the dialog was childish and the bird flying was "for the birds"! The world felt small the way it was broken up and you can't blame that on the graphics, they were pretty ugly at 1080p.

Remind me, the controls aren't really 1:1 are they, just some preset moves that are frustrating to pull off. You can't just freely swing your sword, can you?
Dolphin thread makes SS look lovely so graphics is out..and yea you can just freely swing your sword.
 

leroidys

Member
Don't worry its following the Zelda cycle exactly.

New Game announced -> Praise -> Game comes out -> Best thing since sliced bread any reviews below 9.0 are wrong -> game is out for a while everyone hates it, thinks the last Zelda was a masterpiece -> New Game announced...

No.

no.
 
I thought this game was terrible the first day I played it. (2 days after it came out due to amazon)

This "Zelda Cycle" bullshit needs to go away.

Same here. I didn't like Twilight Princess all that much either but at least I finished.

Worst part about the Zelda Cycle shit is that it assumes that there are people who go out and get the game day one only to look forward to not liking it.

Why the fuck would I do that?
 
The game wasn't released on Dolphin, it was released on Wii. Can you kill enemies by freely swinging your sword? I remember having to hit damn near every enemy a certain way or it wouldn't count.
well you said 1080p as if the wii can do that sort of thing so I assumed you were talking about dolphin..The game was designed to give the enemies puzzle like elements to kill them I dont see whats wrong with that.
 

Instro

Member
Wind Waker dropped in price quite a bit did it not? What about the GC version of TP? Twilight Princess was being bought with each console sold so there was never any point to dropping the price. SS was released at the end of the console cycle so it makes more sense to move as many units as possible in as short a time as possible. It sold some 3-4 million WW through Nov and Dec, might as well keep it selling until the WiiU releases.

Wait, what was the game breaking bug for this game? Maybe I should hold off on buying this $20 deal.

It might be something they fixed in newer prints of the game, there's also some weird way of patching it as well I think. In any case afaik its pretty difficult to do.
 

Instro

Member
Is this the fastest game price drop in Nintendo of America's history?

Other M was down to $5 not long after release. S&P2 was also a bomb. There's probably some other games as well over the years.

Ah, I think I figured out what's going on. Nintendo just released a newer version without the soundtrack CD. The new version has a different UPC number altogether.

Oh that would make sense. I'll have to check this in a couple weeks.
 

Glass Joe

Member
The controls for this game were horrible. I haven't played it since it came out but the few hours I put into it were pure torture. THe beginning was slow, the dialog was childish and the bird flying was "for the birds"! The world felt small the way it was broken up and you can't blame that on the graphics, they were pretty ugly at 1080p.

Remind me, the controls aren't really 1:1 are they, just some preset moves that are frustrating to pull off. You can't just freely swing your sword, can you?

Did you mean 480p? By "pretty ugly" are you comparing Zelda to other Wii games or 360 / PS3 games? Because it looked good by Wii standards.

Sword controls worked and followed your movements, but I still had to figure out the "right" way to play. At first I was swinging too small / quick, when the game wanted more deliberate motions. Once that clicked, the controls clicked.

Small world? Well, if you put in a few hours only, what can I say?

But yes, IMO Zelda did have other problems. For some reason I got bored mid-way through and have yet to pick it up again. It had a "been there, done that" kind of vibe to me overall and story wise it wasn't really compelling me to see what happened next.
 

Gravijah

Member
the zelda cycle shit is so dumb. the people who like the game are always there, it's just that the people who dislike it quiet down.
 
well you said 1080p as if the wii can do that sort of thing so I assumed you were talking about dolphin..The game was designed to give the enemies puzzle like elements to kill them I dont see whats wrong with that.

I know the Wii can only output 480p but the TV was 1080p. The only one to blame for the Wii being limited to 480p is Nintendo. Yeah, it's cool if you like the way the enemies were designed around the motion controls, I just didn't. I am also of the opinion that being able to swing your sword freely ONLY when it doesn't matter (when you aren't in combat) is pretty pointless for anything other than a tech demo.
 

SykoTech

Member
I wasn't aware that the game's price had already dropped to $30. Wow.

Will probably just skip this game entirely though. I wish they'd drop the price of Mario Kart Wii or something instead.
 
Other M was down to $5 not long after release.
This is where I learned my lesson re: preordering Nintendo games. Thought I was getting a deal with Amazon's preorder credit only to find the price dropping rather quickly. So much for never dropping their prices for years.

Glad I held off on getting SS for $50; $20 should be a pretty good deal.
 
I know the Wii can only output 480p but the TV was 1080p. The only one to blame for the Wii being limited to 480p is Nintendo. Yeah, it's cool if you like the way the enemies were designed around the motion controls, I just didn't. I am also of the opinion that being able to swing your sword freely ONLY when it doesn't matter (when you aren't in combat) is pretty pointless for anything other than a tech demo.
Well you are talking about opinions now no arguing that.
 

Glass Joe

Member
I know the Wii can only output 480p but the TV was 1080p. The only one to blame for the Wii being limited to 480p is Nintendo. Yeah, it's cool if you like the way the enemies were designed around the motion controls, I just didn't. I am also of the opinion that being able to swing your sword freely ONLY when it doesn't matter (when you aren't in combat) is pretty pointless for anything other than a tech demo.

Oh. Then your argument against Zelda's graphic quality has nothing to do with Zelda's actual graphic quality, but rather, a hardware limitation that extends to every piece of Wii software.

As for the combat, the motion plus was an essential component of the combat. Enemies block sideways? Swing overhead. Enemies block overhead? Swing sideways. Need to hit a robot's destruct button? Lunge forward. So the swinging mattered, immensely. A little too much I thought.
 
Well you are talking about opinions now no arguing that.

Fact: You can't freely swing your sword during combat if you actually want to kill anything.

Opinion: Skyward Sword, on the Wii and a Sony Bravia, at 1080p looks bad. I am sure that on an SDTV it looks fantastic though. I do have a 720p in the bedroom, maybe I should look at it on that one.

Opinion: Having to worry about perfectly holding and swinging the Wiimote everytime you go into combat gets old within a few hours.
 

Yagharek

Member
I'm baffled by the hate for the tadtones. I thought that level was one of the most beautiful levels in all of gaming.
 

leroidys

Member
I'm baffled by the hate for the tadtones. I thought that level was one of the most beautiful levels in all of gaming.

Yeah I don't really get it. Overall, SS is probably my least favorite 3D Zelda game, but the tadtones were fine.

However, I understand that different people have different
invalid
opinions on things.
 
Fact: You can't freely swing your sword during combat if you actually want to kill anything.

Opinion: Skyward Sword, on the Wii and a Sony Bravia, at 1080p looks bad. I am sure that on an SDTV it looks fantastic though. I do have a 720p in the bedroom, maybe I should look at it on that one.

Opinion: Having to worry about perfectly holding and swinging the Wiimote everytime you go into combat gets old within a few hours.
A fact that means what? eventually that would be a opinion too. Or you're just stating facts.

Fact: His tunic is green.
 

Yagharek

Member
Yeah I don't really get it. Overall, SS is probably my least favorite 3D Zelda game, but the tadtones were fine.

However, I understand that different people have different
invalid
opinions on things.

Opinions are fine. I'm still baffled by negative ones on this game. But thats because its one of my favourite games ever.
 

Instro

Member
This is where I learned my lesson re: preordering Nintendo games. Thought I was getting a deal with Amazon's preorder credit only to find the price dropping rather quickly. So much for never dropping their prices for years.

Glad I held off on getting SS for $50; $20 should be a pretty good deal.

Well to be fair, it is pretty rare that they do drop prices. I don't regret buying SS at full price since I got the music cd and the gold wiimote+, and I enjoyed the game very much. Particularly considering the game has been out nearly 6 months now. Plus I had Amazon credit and stuff. M:OM I also bought at full price, and while I had fun with that game, it kind of sucked to see it at less than half price about a month later.
 
Yeah I don't really get it. Overall, SS is probably my least favorite 3D Zelda game, but the tadtones were fine.

However, I understand that different people have different
invalid
opinions on things.

Tadtones was the biggest overreaction of all time, tbh. I loved it and the swimming controls.
 
This is a real silly argument here lol.. but man that fact, just turned into an opinion.

What?

Let me try once more.

Fact: In combat there is no meaningful free swordplay. You are restricted by a couple of moves to kill something.

Opinion: I don't like it.

See how there is the fact and the seperate opinion?

Your opinion on the matter is that you do like it. That's fine, I just don't like it.

Is it clearer now?
 
What?

Let me try once more.

Fact: In combat there is no meaningful free swordplay. You are restricted by a couple of moves to kill something.

Opinion: I don't like it.

See how there is the fact and the seperate opinion?

Your opinion on the matter is that you do like it. That's fine, I just don't like it.

Is it clearer now?

you say it as if I dont understand lol..but yea Im done.

seinfeld.gif
 
you say it as if I dont understand lol..but yea Im done.

1238584287_seinfeld_had_enough.gif

It seemed like you didn't understand. Saying that my opinion on the matter invalidated the fact that there isn't really free swordplay when it matters (in combat).

Yeah, I am done too.
 
Did it really bomb?
They grossly over-shipped the game and by the time it released the Wii had lost all momentum with the audience the game caters to. All the retailers around me have tons of copies of Sin & Punishment, Metroid Other M, and Skyward Sword just collecting dust. Stuff that skews younger like Mario Party 9 don't have this problem, though.
 
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