8 Video Game Tech Demos Which LIED To You
1. The Zelda HD Experience
Fool us once, Nintendo, shame on you. Fool us twice, Nintendo, shame on you again, you absolute cads.
That's right, some 11 years after their SpaceWorld bait and switch, the Big N pulled the same devious trick with a dazzling trailer for a potential Wii U Legend of Zelda game, in the sort of sparkly HD hitherto unseen in the series.
The 'Zelda HD Experience' sees an achingly gorgeous Link, accompanied by a pestering but equally pretty fairy, breach a temple's inner sanctum, only be faced with an arachnid adversary in the form of a supremely souped-up version of Twilight Princess' Armogohma. It's really more a demonstration of the Wii U's unique GamePad controller; the fight is non-participatory, but the camera can be adjusted with the touchscreen, which also displays information such as health and inventory. A button press transfers the action to the handheld display.
The upcycling of Twilight Princess resources in the E3 2011 showcase was technically augurous, given a HD version of Link's last lupine adventure was later ported to the new console. However, the promise of an all new Wii U Zelda eventually proved, if not entirely false, somewhat hollow; when Breath of the Wild finally launched on the system, it did so in parallel with a Switch edition. Zelda fans could have skipped the Wii U altogether and missed nothing.