Zelda Might Be Going Casual

We already know that Nintendo is working on a new Zelda game, called Spirit Tracks. What we don't know is what direction it will take. Will it be an upgrade, visually and in terms of gameplay, for the Phantom Hourglass? Will it be something completely new?

Nintendo is keeping its cards close to the chest, not offering any details. But a small line that has cropped up in its financial report for the last fiscal year seems to indicate that the company is thinking of making one of its most “hardcore” titles more “casual.”

There's just one mention of Zelda: Spirit Tracks in the said report but it says that the upcoming videogame is set to “appeal to a wider age group of people, and will launch in the latter half of the year.” So, expect it in time for Christmas, so that it can drive up the sales of the Nintendo DS and make the parent company a lot of money and expect to see a Zelda game that can sell even more than the previous installments, even if the so-called hardcore group of Nintendo fans declare that their favorite company has betrayed them.

The first look at Zelda: Spirit Tracks looks pretty much like Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, with the main difference being that there is no annoying boat but with the caveat that the train might prove just that. The initial announcement has failed to generate the kind of excitement created by the previous games in the series, which have proved to be huge earners for Nintendo and attracted a huge crowd of gamers to the publisher.

As always, Nintendo is not commenting on speculation related to its upcoming titles, so we'll probably have to wait to see more of the game before deciding whether it’s hardcore enough.