Yesterday, the Zeldaverse was all atwitter[1] at news that Nintendo was pushing back to spring 2023 the release of the sequel to Breath of the Wild. Since last June, when the second BOTW2 trailer aired at E3 2021, Zelda fans had been hoping for a return to the skies and lands of Hyrule in 2022.
Legend of Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma delivered the message, as shown below, in a tweet from @NintendoAmerica:
The Legend of Zelda series producer, Eiji Aonuma, has an update to share about the launch timing of the sequel to The Legend of #Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Please take a look. pic.twitter.com/7OhayhiuM9
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) March 29, 2022
Reactions to the announcement varied. Not surprisingly, many, many expressed disappointment. Others moved rapidly to Nintendo’s defense, pointing out that it’s better to release a great game later than to release a game before it’s ready.
We take no argument with either of those points of view, which we do not consider mutually exclusive. Yes, we were certainly disappointed. Indeed, we had already carved out large swaths of our lives in November and December in hopes of playing then; jobs, family, and travel plans are– er, important, to be sure, but able to wait on the side for a bit, no? At the same time, if a delay was needed to make BOTW2 as spectacular as we expect, then we would rather wait for spectacular.
The Zeldaverse also hastened to opine on whether the delay was expected or unexpected. Not surprisingly, most offered that they had expected the delay. (Who wants to say, wow, caught with my Hylian trousers down!)
That does beg the question, however: Has Nintendo not considered queuing theory, which explores, among other things, how long people are willing to wait patiently in line (or, in this case, for a sequel to Breath of the Wild)? One aspect of queuing theory is that people will happily wait – or at least, less grumpily – as long as they know what’s going on.
So, tell us, Nintendo, what’s going on?
One can’t discount COVID. We don’t. The ramifications of the pandemic on work and supply chains and just about everything else in life are legion. Nor do we want the game’s development team collapsing from exhaustion.
But tell us. Is it largely a COVID-caused delay? Or are they enabling a two-player game, with Zelda as a playable character? Are they hiding Easter eggs, which we would love to discover? (We could understand and forgive all these reasons.) Or is it because someone had a grand idea to embed the Rohta Chiga shrine, a Spiral Charge tutorial, the wagon chase to Kakariko, and the Yiga Clan Hideout all in one super-dungeon? (Because then we could not forgive.)
Just tell us.
There has been speculation that the delay signals that Nintendo is working on a new console, with the sequel to BOTW to be playable on both the current Switch or Switch OLED and on another console, perhaps the long-rumored Switch Pro or some other console-to-be-named-later. And, the speculation goes, if that new platform wasn’t ready, then BOTW2 was perforce delayed in kind.
If that speculation has merit, we’re inclined to believe that the release of the Switch OLED signals less possibility of a Switch Pro and more of a different, albeit still hybrid, console. Personally, we love the portability of the Switch, since it enables us to take our play with us wherever we go, whether it’s just across town or the state or to another country. (In Demelza’s case, having a spouse who does not play Nintendo, the travel in question is most often to the spare bedroom.) And we don’t see Nintendo elbowing out the Playstations or Xboxes of the world with a console that plugs into the television alone. Unless…unless…could it be something in the realm of Virtual Reality? Not, it must be said, like the Labo lineup? Something exceptional? Something that effectively transports the gamer to Lurelin Village, replete with sounds and scents, color and texture, and….Mai Tais?
We can but dream.
In the meantime, we also “can but” continue with the DLC expansion pack, fiddle with Ocarina of Time, don Majora’s Mask, and set the alarm clock for Link’s Awakening.
Speaking of clocks: We’re tapping our watches, here, @NintendoAmerica. You’re late. For a very important date. (Which you still haven’t told us yet, by the way.)
So pull a White Rabbit out of your hat and give us something – a name for the game, a definitive release date, or a reason we’re still tapping our watches and waiting in this cyberqueue.
We promise we’ll understand.
[1] Literally, there was a tweet storm. And figuratively, in our feelings.