No Zelda this Year for First Time this Decade

Killman · No Zelda this Year for First Time this Decade

For the first time this decade, the gaming world has gone without a single new entry in the long-standing, and much beloved Zelda franchise.

Not since 1999, during the gap year between the fabled Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and the love-it-or-hate-it Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, has an entire calendar year passed by that didn’t bear witness to a Zelda game.

1998 - Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX
1999 – No releases
2000 – Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
2001 – Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons
2002 – Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (GBA) and Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures
2003 – Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time/Master Quest
2004 – Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures
2005 – Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
2006 – Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
2007 – Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and Link’s Crossbow Training

*All releases listed according to their North American release.

In the past, the Zelda franchise was far more conservative, releasing only four games in over 11 years. In this new day, however, The Legend of Zelda has emerged as a premier cash crop for Nintendo, and they have released 13 games in only 11 years (or 14, if you really want to count Link’s Crossbow Training).

Could Nintendo be taking a year off in order to give the series some time to reboot? Does Zelda need to be held back for a few years in order to become fresh again? TGR recently held a writer’s round table in order to answer some of these questions, as well as to chat about what’s next for the Zelda franchise, and where it needs to go in the future.

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