Zelda Pre-Orders Look Strong

February 13, 2003, 7:38 am EST
Total comments: 10

250,000 gamers have already pre-ordered the latest Zelda masterpiece before the official pre-sell program has even started.

A LEGENDARY OFFER: ZELDA CUBED

Eager Consumers Jump Start The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker Pre-Sell Program. The wait is almost over.

REDMOND, Wash. - Feb. 13, 2003 - On Feb. 16th, Nintendo of America Inc. kicks off the official pre-sell program for the eagerly awaited Nintendo GameCube game, The Legend of Zelda®: The Wind Waker®.

Designed with the overwhelming interest of gamers in mind, zealots of Zelda get a double-dose of their favorite franchise to keep them busy until the March 24th launch of the new Zelda adventure. With a deposit at any participating retailer, consumers receive a limited-edition disk featuring two playable, full-length games originally for the Nintendo® 64: the award-winning The Legend of Zelda®: Ocarina of Time®(a) and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Master Quest - an updated version of the game never released outside of Japan. Consumers get all three games for a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $49.95, while supplies last.

Already, more than 250,000 gamers have reserved their copy of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker before the official pre-sell program has even started.

"This truly is Zelda cubed! Two impressive Zelda games, leading to the highly anticipated new Zelda adventure, for the price of one and only for Nintendo GameCube," says George Harrison, senior vice president, marketing and corporate communications, Nintendo of America Inc. "What better way to celebrate the forthcoming release of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker than to give Zelda fans a collectors item that will provide a nostalgic or for some, a classic introduction to the series."

The latest in The Legend of Zelda® series is an epic adventure that will have the character Link sailing the high seas and searching for clues to his sister's mysterious disappearance. The game is brought to life with incredible toon-shaded visuals and a unique facial animation system. Link's eyes not only show his emotions, but also provide hints and spot danger, inspiring a sense of wonder in players of all ages. Using the Wind Waker, Link learns to compose songs that control wind patterns and even summon cyclones. Connect the Game Boy® Advance, via the Nintendo GameCube Game Boy Advance cable, and players can summon the mapmaker Tingle to uncover hidden secrets to help Link in his voyage.

Talkback

The Caucasian CubistFebruary 13, 2003

Awesome! Ocarina set the pre-order record with about 500,000, right?

babergFebruary 13, 2003

Ocarina set the pre-order record with about 500,000, right?

Maybe in the console world, but in the PC world Warcraft III topped 4.5 million pre-orders worldwide.

joshnickersonFebruary 13, 2003

Now let's just see how many actually come back to pick up "The Wind Waker"...

Ian SaneFebruary 13, 2003

Well what sort of weirdo would want an old Zelda game they've likely already played and not a brand new game? Really the only people who even KNOW about this are likely Zelda fans so I imagine they'll buy Wind Waker.

Grey NinjaFebruary 13, 2003

I haven't even pre-ordered yet.... This game is going to be HUGE! I knew it would be big, but not THIS big.

AzuleFebruary 13, 2003

Quote
Originally posted by: baberg
Ocarina set the pre-order record with about 500,000, right?

Maybe in the console world, but in the PC world Warcraft III topped 4.5 million pre-orders worldwide.

You're not comparing even figures here, that's worldwide, was the Ocarina figures just for the US? Also, you can't really compare PC games to console games that way, the likelihood of someone having a PC is greater than one having a specific console at any one time.

babergFebruary 13, 2003

I found a single link that says GTA:Vice City gets 4 million in North America, but have been unable to back that up with more sources. Take this with a grain of salt. But even taken as a percentage, assuming 50 million PS2s, that's a little under 10% of North American PS2 owners preordering GTA:VC. 250,000 Zeldas preordered, with around 6 million Gamecubes in North America, yields under 5% of the Gamecube owners.

I'm not saying that I'm unexcited about Zelda. I've had mine preordered for a month, and I picked up my bonus disk yesterday. It's just not coming close to any kind of "record" that I could find online.

KuchakorFebruary 13, 2003

Well make that 250,001, just pre-ordered mine and got the bonus disk!

MingesiumFebruary 13, 2003

Quote
Originally posted by: baberg
I found a single link that says GTA:Vice City gets 4 million in North America, but have been unable to back that up with more sources. Take this with a grain of salt. But even taken as a percentage, assuming 50 million PS2s, that's a little under 10% of North American PS2 owners preordering GTA:VC. 250,000 Zeldas preordered, with around 6 million Gamecubes in North America, yields under 5% of the Gamecube owners.

I'm not saying that I'm unexcited about Zelda. I've had mine preordered for a month, and I picked up my bonus disk yesterday. It's just not coming close to any kind of "record" that I could find online.

50 million PS2 is worldwide and not just North America.

GTA: VC
1,412,429 - Oct
1,452,729 - Nov
1,581,519 - Dec
4,446,677 - Total

Unless people waited two months for their pre-order, GTA: VC did not have 4 million pre-orders. GTA: VC could be the fastest selling game as it top a million plus in its first three months.