Links to the Past: Part 2

As I suggested in my previous post, there are two main target groups for Ocarina 3D: First, we have gamers who are new to the game. They will never have played Ocarina before, though they may well be familiar with The Legend of Zelda series from its more recent instalments (which include The Wind Waker for the Gamecube in 2002, and Twilight Princess for the Nintendo Wii in 2006). For these people, Ocarina is appealing for a number of reasons.

1. Old Becomes New:

It may be an old game, but for gamers yet to play it, Ocarina is fresh, a new experience. But, then again, how new is ‘new’? Even if one has never played the game in its original form, there is a good chance that they will know more about the title than I did when I first played the N64 version back in 1999. This is due largely to the Internet, and the abundance of information about the game that now exists – everything from a full plot synopsis on Wikipedia, to videos on Youtube showing the entire game being played from start to finish. Of course, not everyone will necessarily seek out all this info. But consider before the 3D version was even announced. For those who had never played Ocarina 64, yet were keen on the Zelda series (for instance, who had played the newer games in the series), it would be logical for them to want to know more about the game that had passed them by. For some of these ‘new’ gamers, then, the ‘freshness’ of the Ocarina 3D experience will have been coloured by the sheer wealth of content available to them on the web.

2. An Intro to the Zelda Series:

But assume that new gamers had no prior interest in the earlier Ocarina game, or even the Zelda series as a whole. Perhaps they were too young, new to video-gaming altogether, or merely encountering a Nintendo system for the first time. The novelty of the company’s latest 3D-capable device would likely attract some of these ‘Zelda virgins’. For such people, Ocarina 3D offers a fresh experience, one that Nintendo is likely counting on to maintain and increase interest in the franchise.

3. Essential Purchase:

One of the key ideas Nintendo is focussing on in their marketing campaign for Ocarina of Time 3D are the improvements that have been made to the original classic. The other is the very ‘classic-ness’ of the original title. “The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D takes the Nintendo 64 classic – one of the most critically acclaimed games ever made…” - so starts the promotion for the game on Nintendo of Australia’s website. Ocarina is an essential purchase for anyone who would consider themselves a ‘serious’ gamer. This concept relies heavily on the hype that was generated before, during and immediately after the original’s release, but also the way this hype has been successfully maintained over the last 13 years. Those who would claim the mantle of ‘core gamer’ would be expected to at least know something of Ocarina. This is especially true of newer Nintendo fans, who will have encountered Ocarina in a number of forms in recent years (one example would be references to the game in Nintendo’s franchise-merging Super Smash Bros. Brawl). In short, this is not a ‘new’ game to a lot of people. Thought the extent to which the experience is new will certainly vary from gamer to gamer, Nintendo has adopted a variety of tactics to ensure that the new version’s glowing reputation preceded it.

Part 2 will turn to, what I consider the more interesting of Ocarina 3D’s players: the gamer who has both played, and owned the original version. Are the enhancements (such as 3D) enough to justify the re-purchase (and in some case re-re-purchase)? For many, including myself, the answer is YES! I will look at why this might be the case. In the meantime, feel free to sound off on any of these ideas below...