Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword will hit shelves Nov. 20

By Jeffrey Van Camp August 17, 2011

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Zelda fans, mark your calendars. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword finally has a North American release date. Nintendo has announced that the game will be released on the Wii Nov. 20, 2011, just in time for the holidays. The game will mark a fitting end to the 25th Anniversary celebration of the series, which has been going on all year.

Skyward Sword will be the first Zelda game to make good use of the Wii’s motion tracking abilities. The game will utilize Wii Motion Plus and a Nunchuk controller to precisely mimic real sword angles and slices on screen. In the demo we played at E3, sword fighting was different than in previous games. Instead of simply sneaking up on an enemy, you must now find ways to precisely slice and hit them where their defenses are weak. Each enemy seems to have its own pattern and can be quite challenging. The game also features flying sections where you adorn the back of a giant bird and use the Wii Remote to fly around. According to the press release, it may also be the biggest Zelda adventure yet, though no additional details are given.

Recommended Videos

“The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is the biggest game in the series yet,” said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “We’ve just scratched the surface of this massive experience, and we look forward to sharing additional details with fans as we approach the Nov. 20 launch.”

To learn more, check out the Skyward Sword Comic-Con trailer Nintendo released about a month ago.

Topics

Jeffrey Van Camp

Former Digital Trends Contributor

As DT's Deputy Editor, Jeff helps oversee editorial operations at Digital Trends. Previously, he ran the site's…

Gaming

New Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom trailer reveals new ability, smoothie shops

Zelda using Bind on a giant boulder in a cave-like dungeon.

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom – Traversing Hyrule Trailer – Nintendo Switch

Nintendo continues to tease out new information about The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, the surprise series entry that allows you to play primarily as Princess Zelda for the very first time. On Monday, it released a new trailer that delves into some of the areas you'll explore, ways you'll travel across the map, and a new ability called Bind.

Gaming

The best horses in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

There are plenty of ways to roam the land of Hyrule in Breath of the Wild, but few are as well-developed as horse riding. Not only does the game let you tame a variety of horses found in the wild, but you can customize your horse by changing its saddle, bridle, and even its physical attributes. Toss in the ability to discover Malanya, the horse god, and there's a lot to unpack with this down-to-earth travel method.

However, not all horses are worth taming and adding to your stable. And since horse taming is a time-consuming task, it's important to know the best horses in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild so you don't waste your day chasing a steed that's not much faster than Link.

Gaming

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom DLC is not happening, says Nintendo

Link and other characters from Tears of the Kingdom.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is one of the year's most successful games, but a developer from Nintendo has confirmed that it doesn't have plans to make any DLC for it. Speaking to the Japanese publication Famitsu, series producer Eiji Aonuma confirmed this was the case because the development team had already explored all of the ideas they wanted to in the base game and is now looking to the future.

"At this time, we are not planning to release additional content. We feel like we have already fully explored and exhausted the gameplay possibilities in this world," Aonuma said in comments translated by Video Games Chronicle. "Initially, the reason we decided to develop a sequel was because we believed there was still value in experiencing new gameplay within that particular Hyrule. If, in the future, we find a compelling reason, we may revisit that world once again. Whether it’s another sequel or an entirely new title, I believe the next game will offer a completely new experience."
While Aonuma's explanation is sound, it's still a pretty surprising move by Nintendo. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild received two expansions after it came out in 2017. Some fans expected that Tears of the Kingdom would follow in that game's footsteps, especially as it would make sense for Nintendo to find more ways to capitalize on a game that has already sold 18.51 million copies. Still, it's probably best for Nintendo to move on from Tears of the Kingdom and create something new rather than making underwhelming DLC for the sake of having post-launch content.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is available now for Nintendo Switch.