Nintendo announces an all-new Zelda game for 3DS

It’s been a great year for Zelda’s fans. After the release of Ocarina of Time’s remake for the Nintendo 3DS and with the upcoming launch of Wii’s Skyward Sword, they had to be quite happy. But, as if that wasn’t enough, Nintendo is working to give them some more. So, prepare yourselves for a (completely) new Nintendo 3DS game in the near future.

Creating strategic anticipation

The timing couldn’t be better for this “subtle” slip of information. Days away of Skyward Sword’s release, Eiji Aonuma was interviewed by Portuguese site MyGames and among the expected rant around the upcoming launch, Zelda’s series producer revealed Nintendo’s intentions to work on yet another installment of the series.

Asked about the omnipresent possibility of yet another Nintendo 3DS remake of the series (I’m talking about Majora’s Mask, a rumor that Aonuma himself helped to build), the producer said that “it didnt seem right to launch a remake one after another, so the next Zelda game on 3DS will be original.”

Of course, this is great news for gamers. But it’s also an interesting move for Nintendo, which is trying to trick users into buying its newest handheld console. The addition of more renowned games for a platform that is lacking exactly that is always a great way to achieve this, since it boosts the device’s appeal by widening the offer through a proven successful formula.

What to expect

The announcement is a little vague (a very calculated nature, if you ask me) since it’s very light in details. Given the circumstances, we can expect at least two more Zelda games for the Nintendo 3DS: Majora’s Mask remake and the untitled installment discussed here.

Pushed a small bit, Aonuma said that we’ll be getting “a new game, but it takes much of what has been done on previous handhelds." More fuzzy fortune teller-like statements, as anyone would have expected.

Anyway, the new Zelda game would join a list of interesting franchise games for the Nintendo 3DS that are scheduled for release between this month and next year: Resident Evil Revelations, Sonic Generations, Mario Kart 7 and Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, just to name a few.

We’ll have to see whether all these titles will be enough to increase the handheld console’s popularity or they just are big names to attract users to an ostracized device.