After a very brief announcement and teaser at E3 this year, Nintendo used tonight’s inaugural Game Awards web stream and live presentation in Las Vegas to show off a more substantial trailer that highlights new gameplay features in the upcoming Legend of Zelda game, slated to release on Wii U sometime in 2015.
In the trailer Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto and project producer Eiji Aounuma discuss the game’s “massive world,” designed with “a number of high places with great views” for viewing distant targets (“It would take a very long time for Link to walk” across the map, says Aounuma). Distant landmarks can be marked via a first-person view, controlled by tilting the GamePad, then appear as markers on an interactive, zoomable map on the touchscreen.
Much of the trailer focused on Link riding a horse, who can now run through wooded areas and dodge trees automatically with minimal player interaction (as Aounuma gleefully puts it, “real horses don’t often run into trees. “) Without the need to control the horse directly, the player is free to do things like change the camera angle, wave at enemies, or aim and shoot arrows. Players can also jump off their mounts and flip in slow motion making it easy to shoot arrows. Oh, and you can pick and eat apples that grow on the trees if you feel like it.
Aounuma assured Miyamoto that it is still untitled Zelda project would be ready for next year and Miyamoto in turn was promised that his shadowy starfox project would come out sooner Zelda.
Elsewhere in the Game Awards presentation, Nintendo showed new images of Mario Maker with visual and gameplay themes of Super Mario Bros. 3 And Super Mario Worldas well as new footage of 3DS steampunk shooter Project STEAM. The show also included an extremely short teaser for two indie space-based exploration games: Tacomaby Went home creators Fullbright; And Adr1ftfrom Adam Orth’s 505 Games.
A newly announced game based on the Godzilla movie properties was announced during the show, coming exclusively to the PS3 and PS4 consoles in 2015. Sierra and The Odd Gentleman, meanwhile, showed off gameplay from the previously announced revamp of the Venerable King’s quest franchise.
Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima showed the first images of the metal gear online and growth of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Painwhile indie studio Hazelight (the creators of Brothers: A tale of two sons) showed a short, rail-riding tease of an untitled EA-published project. Robotoki’s zombie shooter Human element and long-delayed horror game Until dawn had new footage at the show, in addition to trailers for upcoming games like Extinguishing light, Battlefield hardlineAnd Nobody’s Heaven.
In the awards ceremony portion of the evening, Dragon Age: Inquisition won Game of the Year, while Nintendo won Developer of the Year and earned awards for mario kart 8 (Best Sports/Racing, Best Family Game) and Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U (Best Fighting Game). Destination took home awards for Best Score/Soundtrack and Best Online Experience, but lost to FarCry4 for best shooter.
Ken and Roberta Williams, co-founders of Sierra, were honored with an Industry Icon Award in a moving tribute segment, and Trey Parker won for Best Performance for his numerous vocal roles in South Park: The Stick of Truth. “Only in games could Trey Parker beat Kevin Spacey in acting,” Parker said upon receiving his award.