The Big Picture: Legend of Many

[Starik20X6]

I'm still not convinced yet.

I've always found the greatest strength of pretty much all of Nintendo's franchises is the core gameplay. Sure they have pretty good stories and worlds and all that, but I wonder how far they can go on purely narrative.

In the case of Zelda, the focus has almost always been on exploration and puzzle solving, and I'm not sure that would work as a show. Would we end up with entire episodes of Link wandering Hyrule field, throwing bombs at every suspicious rock in the hope of finding a hidden cave? Watching him standing in a temple scratching his head as he tries to solve whatever puzzle he's faced with?

As you were saying Bob, there are a few movies and shows that could serve as templates for a Zelda, but at that point it becomes a question of "is it even still Zelda?" If all you're doing is making a fantasy TV series with a Zelda coat of paint, I don't think it'll have the same heart and soul of the Zelda games.

And I hope I'm wrong, and it turns out amazingly. But at this point I just can't see it.

 

[Steve the Pocket]

Seriously though, my only hope that Link stays a silent protagonist. Yeah, it will be hard to do....

I'm kind of on Bob's ship with this one. No, Link should not be silent because he clearly talks and interacts with characters. We just never see the dialogue box or hear him speak. I mean when they made Pokemon could you imagine how boring the show would've been if they tried to make Ash a silent protagonist simply because in the games Red never technically has a dialogue box but interacts with the other characters.

Hell Pokemon The Origin did make Red speak and that was more or less and truly faithful adaptation of the game's storyline. Link should speak and the notion that he shouldn't because he "doesn't" in the games is stupid. I mean if they made a Half Life or Portal movie would you really expect them to make Gordon Freeman and Chell silent?

Thank you. Even the fact that Nintendo refuses to give him a voice in the more recent games is idiotic. They didn't have voice acting in the pre-GameCube games because the technology wasn't available yet. Never stopped them from giving Mario a voice, and one that's absolutely nothing like the cartoons at that. It's like if they had decided to keep Charlie Brown (and only Charlie Brown) silent in the Peanuts cartoons because they "couldn't imagine a character who had only spoken in text having a voice". Heck, the fact that they now consistently refer to him as "Link" outside of the actual games despite him being an enter-your-name character and making him right handed to accommodate Wii players were more radical departures from the spirit of the early games than making him speak would be.

You are talking about the guy who made two videos in defense of Other M...

Wait, what? This I gotta see. I'd been saying for years that Other M did one good thing: It proved that it was possible to make a game so sexist that even gamers wouldn't defend it. If Bob is the only holdout... hoo boy...

 

[TKretts3]

"As long as there's a guy with Ganon somewhere in his name..."
... W-w-what about Vaati? Show some love for Vaati. T_T

 

[Ahri_Blaze]

(or better, never) out of armor.

Because that would also totally make Power Rangers engaging. Never taking them out of their Power Ranger suits because that is more or less what you are asking for.

 

[Spyre2k]

I think Nintendo should pull up stakes as Bob put it. It's hold out is mostly in having it's own console, but the Wii seemed little more than a fad. They need to do what other companies have done and just switch over to making games since that's where their real strengths seem to lay. They should just follow Sega's example and go full on game development.

They pretty much have a Monopoly on the hand held console market so they can keep that running.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

As long as it's not like that old Zelda cartoon, I'm on beard.

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

I don't think Nintendo will get cold feet, or really afford to this time. With their current rocky finical situation and willingness to have license Bowser and Donkey Kong (even if he's totally silent and is based on the original version, not Nintendo's current dong kong) for, if brief, film appearance shows they are not totally adverse to the idea anymore. They could afford to pull out with a deal with Sony all those years ago because they lorded over the gaming industry with an Iron fist. Now, however, they can't take that risk.

 

[Bombiz]

Now then, "Gaming will be a deeply, perhaps irredeemably, dismal place if Ninteno ever decides to pull up stakes and leave". Does anyone else think this is a ridiculous assertion?

It's already a dismal place: Nintendo leaving the business would simply make it worse.

Strange. It seems to be doing just fine on my end. at least in terms of games. not gonna mention that other thing.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

I don't think Nintendo will get cold feet, or really afford to this time. With their current rocky finical situation

.....HUH????????????????? I just...what????? If Nintendo's financial situation is "rocky" then everyone else in the industry is fucked with an electrified screwdriver. While 90% of the industry is hemorrhaging money daily, having massive layoffs, and reducing their repertoire to the point where they only have a handful of franchises left, Nintendo is doing the exact opposite. They're posting not only breaking even, but outright profits, outright expanding their company with more people getting hired, and are only increasing the amount of franchises they churn out as well as bringing up new installments of their old ones. If Nintendo were to be interested in a Netflix pitch (which they probably aren't, let's be real here), then it's due to curiosity, not financial requirement.

 

[Silvanus]

I'm extreeeeeemely cautiously opti... will, it doesn't quite reach optimism. There's a tiny, gleaming possibility, though, that this will be the one video game adaptation that genuinely works. If anyone can at the current time, it's the Netflix people.

Oh, and I can tell you right now that Linebeck won't be involved. Even most Zelda fans wouldn't recognise his name.

 

[Gizen]

You are talking about the guy who made two videos in defense of Other M...

Wait, what? This I gotta see. I'd been saying for years that Other M did one good thing: It proved that it was possible to make a game so sexist that even gamers wouldn't defend it. If Bob is the only holdout... hoo boy...

Other M has actually had a ton of defense put towards it ever since it's release, and I'm pretty sure the only reason it doesn't still happen is simply because all the points on both sides have been beaten so thoroughly to death with nothing new to add, and no one bothering to pay the slightest bit of attention to what the other side has to say. I swear I've never seen any internet argument that looked more like two brick walls talking to each other than people trying to debate Other M.

 

[Grabehn]

For the first time I can actually say that I don't give a single shit about something not being a movie, especially about stuff that I've played. Maybe further ruined by the videogame medium being already like movies themselves, but interactive.

One of the sole reasons why I enjoy comic-book characters movies, is because I think the characters are cool, but I couldn't care any less about reading comics, so having those characters on any other medium is a thing I really enjoy, but what really helps that for me, is that you can go with pretty much any of the dozens of storylines from the comics, and still make it enjoyable.

A movie/series from a videogame feels more like making a movie out of a book to me, where you have a story already made, and you adapt it to a different thing, but it's way easier to fall into the "this is NOTHING like the source" than with comics. The Zelda universe MIGHT work because of all the "retelling" of the same thing, but that "MIGHT" is really really minimal in my opinion.

 

[Redd the Sock]

I echo sentiments of those not overly excited right now. I always hate it when it's too obvious that the license attached to something is done after the fact, and with Zelda, since names of characters and lore is really all there is to it so they really can't produce anything but something that has Zelda names, but won't feel like Zelda. And yes, Fire Emblem would make a better and easier adaptation, but they want a recognizable name.

And it that is the real concern: just using names leads to shit. There's been a lot of game adaptations over the years, but all were done with the mindset of a cash grab without the need to be, well, good. I mean, sonic has had several series on TV, but only one is remembered well. Kirby's had a shot no one remembers, as has Donkey Kong (two if you could Saturday Supercade, and god am I dating myself with that reference). I can't recall Angry Birds making a splash. Anime has a long string of shitty OVAs adapting one thing or another, and even stuff for Dragon Age, Halo, and Mass Effect fell beneath the radar. What's it say when one of the more popular video game adaptations is Fate Stay Night, technically a pornographic visual novel not a game in the traditional sense?

If it happens I'll give it a shot, but I won't get my hopes up.

 

[Haru17]

Let's be honest, if a live action series has zoras at all (please, please...) then it won't be these ones: http://cdn.wikimg.net/strategywiki/images/b/be/Zelda_ALttP_King_Zora.gif

 

[JarinArenos]

(or better, never) out of armor.

Because that would also totally make Power Rangers engaging. Never taking them out of their Power Ranger suits because that is more or less what you are asking for.

I dunno about you, but I didn't watch power rangers or any of the other US-produced sentai shows for the teenage drama. ... well, for Bulk and Skull maybe.

 

[Ahri_Blaze]

(or better, never) out of armor.

Because that would also totally make Power Rangers engaging. Never taking them out of their Power Ranger suits because that is more or less what you are asking for.

I dunno about you, but I didn't watch power rangers or any of the other US-produced sentai shows for the teenage drama. ... well, for Bulk and Skull maybe.

You're still not getting it. You know sometimes Power Rangers could almost be brilliant in the writing department story wise and have really good actors. You don't get to see or show that if they are wearing a suit 24/7. While a good chunk of the show should probably have Samus in her suit if they made one she needs to come out of it every now and then. Otherwise it could get really freaking boring really fast.

 

[Matthewmagic]

I don't understand this idea that nintendo is in any real danger. The 3ds is printing money and so long as the holy trinity of zelda/pokemon/mario is still beloved by fans I don't see that changing.

 

[JarinArenos]

You're still not getting it. You know sometimes Power Rangers could almost be brilliant in the writing department story wise and have really good actors. You don't get to see or show that if they are wearing a suit 24/7. While a good chunk of the show should probably have Samus in her suit if they made one she needs to come out of it every now and then. Otherwise it could get really freaking boring really fast.

Out of curiosity, what's your opinion of the Halo series?

 

[Ahri_Blaze]

You're still not getting it. You know sometimes Power Rangers could almost be brilliant in the writing department story wise and have really good actors. You don't get to see or show that if they are wearing a suit 24/7. While a good chunk of the show should probably have Samus in her suit if they made one she needs to come out of it every now and then. Otherwise it could get really freaking boring really fast.

Out of curiosity, what's your opinion of the Halo series?

Least engaging protagonist ever.

 

[xaszatm]

(or better, never) out of armor.

Because that would also totally make Power Rangers engaging. Never taking them out of their Power Ranger suits because that is more or less what you are asking for.

I dunno about you, but I didn't watch power rangers or any of the other US-produced sentai shows for the teenage drama. ... well, for Bulk and Skull maybe.

Ah, you were talking about the Bulk and Skull show! I was confused by all this "Power Rangers" talk going on.

.....HUH????????????????? I just...what????? If Nintendo's financial situation is "rocky" then everyone else in the industry is fucked with an electrified screwdriver. While 90% of the industry is hemorrhaging money daily, having massive layoffs, and reducing their repertoire to the point where they only have a handful of franchises left, Nintendo is doing the exact opposite. They're posting not only breaking even, but outright profits, outright expanding their company with more people getting hired, and are only increasing the amount of franchises they churn out as well as bringing up new installments of their old ones. If Nintendo were to be interested in a Netflix pitch (which they probably aren't, let's be real here), then it's due to curiosity, not financial requirement.

Not to mention that the last few years, we had a major restructuring of the company, a whole new building built (which cost them 19 billion yen), and the buyout of Hiroshi Yamauchi's stock after his death that also put a major dent in the profit run. The fact that Nintendo lost so little, and in fact went back towards a profit this quarter speaks volumes on their current health.

In the interest of fairness, however, I don't think SCE is doing poorly anymore. The entire rest of Sony, yeah, but SCE seemed to have learned a lot more compared to how they were during the PS3 era.

I think Nintendo should pull up stakes as Bob put it. It's hold out is mostly in having it's own console, but the Wii seemed little more than a fad. They need to do what other companies have done and just switch over to making games since that's where their real strengths seem to lay. They should just follow Sega's example and go full on game development.

They pretty much have a Monopoly on the hand held console market so they can keep that running.

Because the solution to having an income problem is to go to a situation where you'd make less income, right?