What if Nintendo went through with making LoZ Ocarina of Time instead of retiring the series after the disaster that was the CD-i games? It had some innovative ideas to. L-Targeting, different keys for regular and boss room doors are more well known. There also were rumors of a character model and time travel concepts.
DBWI: Ocarina of Time Made?
- Thread starter ThatOneGuy
- Start date
Hmmm... Well, the Zelda dev team got roped into Metroid 64. Which kept a lot of the features of OOT, like 3rd-person play in an open setting, Z-Targeting etc. If OOT did get made, odds are Metroid would never have been made. And given that it was the most story-heavy Metroid game at that point, and really opened up Samus as a character - though still keeping her a lone-wolf badass - I think we got the best of the deal.
The Zelda series is the most painfully underutilized one Nintendo has. Virtually every one has been a gem and yet it's been 10 years since a true one was released (the less said about Hero's Fate the better). In comparison to Metroid which has had what, 13(?), stellar games since 64 its a tragedy.
Capcom's Hyrule Fantasy (the Gameboy Ultra remake of the original) was an absolute masterpiece, to this day it set's the standard for how to do a top down adventure game. The fact that the only 2D sequel to this was the... decisive Majora's Mask probably sealed the series' fate.
If OoT had been released it's unlikely that Rare would have been directed to retool Dinosaur Planet into Horn of Ages. They did such an incredible job taking the series to 3D that I'm actually glad that OoT wasn't made. If it hadn't been for Dragon Princess's late release I think Nintendo may have elected to embrace the series once more.
Alas all we've had since is the frankly pathetic (not to mention horribly sexist) Hero's Fate. The top down 3D view in combination with graphics that made things impossible to differentiate along with the painful characterisation resulted in easily the worst Zelda game (after the CDi that is). It was the failure of this that killed both 2D and 3D forms. I do not understand Nintendo some times.
Ocarina of Time would never have fit on an N64 cartrage anyway. I really hope that the rumours of a HD remake on the Revolution are true. It could well save the series.
Capcom's Hyrule Fantasy (the Gameboy Ultra remake of the original) was an absolute masterpiece, to this day it set's the standard for how to do a top down adventure game. The fact that the only 2D sequel to this was the... decisive Majora's Mask probably sealed the series' fate.
If OoT had been released it's unlikely that Rare would have been directed to retool Dinosaur Planet into Horn of Ages. They did such an incredible job taking the series to 3D that I'm actually glad that OoT wasn't made. If it hadn't been for Dragon Princess's late release I think Nintendo may have elected to embrace the series once more.
Alas all we've had since is the frankly pathetic (not to mention horribly sexist) Hero's Fate. The top down 3D view in combination with graphics that made things impossible to differentiate along with the painful characterisation resulted in easily the worst Zelda game (after the CDi that is). It was the failure of this that killed both 2D and 3D forms. I do not understand Nintendo some times.
Ocarina of Time would never have fit on an N64 cartrage anyway. I really hope that the rumours of a HD remake on the Revolution are true. It could well save the series.
Well it has been a while since a LoZ title has been released though. This could just be something to please the remaining members of the LoZ fanbase.
I would hope so. There is clearly a strong fanbase for fantasy themed adventure games that Nintendo needs to cater to. If it weren't for Kid Icarus being reserected to fit that theme but with slightly more Metroid like gameplay I think they would have been forced to continue making Zelda games.
Imagine if it launched with Metroid, OOT, Goldeneye AND Mario 64? That would have been arguably the strongest console launch ever, and might have given the N64 a bit more time, as I think it's pretty well accepted that the Dolphin was only rush-released because Nintendo had real fears about their market share being totally taken away.
I still think the N64 had great potential, but to be fair they should have known that a cartridge based system wouldn't have been attractive to developers by this stage in time. That's why Goldeneye was cancelled, after all, and why Rare left Nintendo behind not long after.
In the end the lack of third party support really rang the death knell - perhaps assuming OOT was released (and was a smash hit) developers would have got onboard a bit more?
I still think the N64 had great potential, but to be fair they should have known that a cartridge based system wouldn't have been attractive to developers by this stage in time. That's why Goldeneye was cancelled, after all, and why Rare left Nintendo behind not long after.
In the end the lack of third party support really rang the death knell - perhaps assuming OOT was released (and was a smash hit) developers would have got onboard a bit more?
Nintendo shouldn't have gotten roped into going forward with that stupid CD system by Phillips. That was the thing that really burned them on the CD format, N64 would've been CD-ROM based for sure if Nintendo hadn't wasted two of their best years trying to push that SNES-CD attachment with Phillips. The horrible Zelda games were just the cherry on the shit sundae. Maybe if they'd thrown all their effort into one great Zelda game instead of pumping out three hideous ones it might've salvaged the series. Hell, if it hadn't been for Donkey Kong Country (Nintendo's "cartridges are back" game), that CD thing would've taken the SNES down with it.
The Sega Playstation is the greatest console of all time though, so I doubt even a masterpiece Zelda game for the Nintendo 64 would've saved it.
The Sega Playstation is the greatest console of all time though, so I doubt even a masterpiece Zelda game for the Nintendo 64 would've saved it.
yourworstnightmare
Banned
RARE leaving Nintendo was inevitable, RARE was becoming too big to be controlled by one company. RARE is doing much better being free from any monopolies, and heck, they still make games for Nintendo from time to time.
I think this is a fair point - they attempted to go CD a console early, and as that burned them so badly they didn't want to listen to any of the advances in technology which enabled the Playstation to work so easily.
Regarding RARE being destined to leave anyway, that's maybe true, but ditching Goldeneye and doing an obvious rush-job on Diddy Kong racing left a really bad taste, and is why it took them 10 years before developing anything for Nintendo again.
I know RARE still make games for Nintendo, but they've become mostly associated with Apple these days. Which is cool - if it wasn't for that, there wouldn't have been the Dawn's Gate fantasy adventure game for the Apple iGame. And it and the Jade Empire series are part of my superstar tag team of games 
OOC: Dawn's Gate is a Zelda-esque game. Set in the fantasy kingdom of Guiscard, it surrounds the young heroes Kyrie and Andrew as they seek to recover the nine Stones of Aurora and defeat the evil Archduke Tancred. Though it enjoyed RARE's range of colourful, cartoony characters and off-the-wall humour, this acted as the bright sandwich wrapping for a surprisingly deep story and mature themes.
OOC: Dawn's Gate is a Zelda-esque game. Set in the fantasy kingdom of Guiscard, it surrounds the young heroes Kyrie and Andrew as they seek to recover the nine Stones of Aurora and defeat the evil Archduke Tancred. Though it enjoyed RARE's range of colourful, cartoony characters and off-the-wall humour, this acted as the bright sandwich wrapping for a surprisingly deep story and mature themes.
Zelda could've been a massive franchise, had OOT been pulled off. However, an interesting downside might just have occurred, had it pulled through.
Going through the N64 and Gamecube years, Nintendo had to fill the void left by losing their biggest IP after Mario (and arguably Pokémon). The SNES, despite that parasite of plastic and silicon, won the 16-bit era through it's library of games, and Nintendo needed games like Link to the Past if it was going to survive against Sony. It sent them into overdrive, sending creative assets and funding to its other franchises, to help boost up their fanbases and cover the sales losses from Zelda.
I once heard a quote from Myamoto during the SNES years that Mario should focus on level design and gameplay, story and worldbuilding was for Zelda. Would the Mario RPGs and other 'story-heavy' games, all excellent, have been made, had LoZ been around? Would 2005 have been the Year of Peach, an event that turned gamings stock 'damsel in distress' into a vibrant character second in lovebility only to Luigi, had Zelda been around to be the Princess with a Personality? How about everyone else in the Nintendo roster? Samus? Pit? Kirby? Aster & STA-C? Fox? Falcon? Half a dozen others from Pikmen to Animal Village to Game & Watch Inc.? How many would've been gutted for Link? Even if those Zelda games were brilliant, it still feels weird to imagine how any of those we have IOTL might not have been made. Zelda would where right now, it's tenth/fifteenth main series iteration? List me ten to fifteen OTL big games you'd be glad to see never happen. I bet you'd make it to five.
Going through the N64 and Gamecube years, Nintendo had to fill the void left by losing their biggest IP after Mario (and arguably Pokémon). The SNES, despite that parasite of plastic and silicon, won the 16-bit era through it's library of games, and Nintendo needed games like Link to the Past if it was going to survive against Sony. It sent them into overdrive, sending creative assets and funding to its other franchises, to help boost up their fanbases and cover the sales losses from Zelda.
I once heard a quote from Myamoto during the SNES years that Mario should focus on level design and gameplay, story and worldbuilding was for Zelda. Would the Mario RPGs and other 'story-heavy' games, all excellent, have been made, had LoZ been around? Would 2005 have been the Year of Peach, an event that turned gamings stock 'damsel in distress' into a vibrant character second in lovebility only to Luigi, had Zelda been around to be the Princess with a Personality? How about everyone else in the Nintendo roster? Samus? Pit? Kirby? Aster & STA-C? Fox? Falcon? Half a dozen others from Pikmen to Animal Village to Game & Watch Inc.? How many would've been gutted for Link? Even if those Zelda games were brilliant, it still feels weird to imagine how any of those we have IOTL might not have been made. Zelda would where right now, it's tenth/fifteenth main series iteration? List me ten to fifteen OTL big games you'd be glad to see never happen. I bet you'd make it to five.
I wonder...if RARE had stuck with Nintendo, would the Perfect Dark series have ended up on the N64 rather than iGame? Probably ASB, I know - the original was way too big a game for that era...
