Case Study 1:

Zelda

By: Franki
Gjoza

HISTORY

Shigeru Miyamoto was in the process

of creating another very different
video game. Unlike the linear
platforming found in Super Mario,
this new game was to be an open
world adventure, with almost no
clear sense of direction, granting a
different experience than any other
game ever before. This game is The
Legend of Zelda.

As a child, Miyamoto would trail off

into caves and small forests around
his home in Kyoto. His experiences
during these short adventures
became the inspiration for Zelda,
Miyamoto wanted to replicate this
feeling onto the game, which he did
superbly.

HISTORY
The first game of the series, was first
released in Japan on February 21,
1986, on theFamicom Disk System.A
cartridge version, using batterybackedmemory, was released in the
United States on August 22, 1987,
and Europe on November 27, 1987.
After a five-year hiatus, the series
made the transition
to3DwithOcarina of Timefor
theNintendo 64, which was released
in November 1998. This game,
initially known asZelda 64, retains
the core gameplay of the
previous2Dgames, and was very
successful commercially and critically.

HISTORY
Ocarina of Time ranks highly on IGN and EGM's
"greatest games of all time" lists, and scored
perfect scores in several video game
publications. In February 2006, it was ranked
byNintendo Poweras the best game released for
a Nintendo console.
In April 2008, Miyamoto stated that
"theZeldateam is forming again to work on new
games".Miyamoto clarified in July that
theZeldateam had been working on a
newZeldagame for theWii.In January 2010,
Nintendo ExecutiveSatoru Iwatastated that the
game would be coming out at some time in 2010,
and confirmed that the game would make use of
the Wii's Motion Plus feature. Since then, the new
Zelda game, Breath of the Wild, will be coming
out on Nintendo's latest technology, the Nintendo
Switch.

PRODUCTION
During the early 1980s, the video game
industry had been suffering. In 1983,
the video game industry amounted to a
peak revenue of $3.2 billion, only to
experience a depression and shrink to
$100 million (97% drop) in 1985.
However, when the Legend of Zelda was
released it revolutionized Nintendo and
the gaming community. Nonetheless,
the Zelda line sold 6.5 million copies,
and set a standard for almost every
adventure game to come.
Ever since the first Zelda game, there
have been 8 main series titles, all of
which have been met with praise from
players and critics everywhere.

PRODUCTION
Among these 8 games are titles
including: A link to the Past, Majoras
Mask, and Ocarina of Time. The
Ocarina of Time is worshipped by
many as the greatest video game of
all time, followed closely by the
other main series titles.
Nintendo, unlike other companies,
focuses more on the interactive
aspect of gaming rather than
performance. They are adapting to
new technology as well, for example,
the new Nintendo switch is being
relsead in March and it features The
Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

OWNERSHIP
The owner of Zelda is Nintendo. Originally named Nintendo
Koppai, the small business based in Kyoto started by
Fusajiro Yamauchi produced Hanafuda Cards. These are
simple playing cards that are used to play multiple games
much like the more common standardized 52 playing card
sets. Nintendos cards were hand made and quickly gained
in popularity.
In 1956, Yamauchi visited the U.S to discuss business and
manufacturing tactics with the United States Paying Card
Company, the worlds biggest playing card company. He
went to the U.S only to find out the limitations of the
playing card business, it was such a trivial business that he
decided to continue, but later endeavor into other areas of
technology and business.
In 1959,Nintendostruck a deal withDisney to have them
allow Nintendo to use Disney's characters on Nintendo's
playing cards.

DISTRIBUTION
The Legend of Zelda series is mainly
distributed by Nintendo; however,
multiple smaller companies. Some of
those companies include:
The Nintendo Entertainment Planning &
Development division was created on
September 16, 2015, as part of a
company-wide organizational
restructure that took place under
Nintendo's then newly appointed
president,Tatsumi Kimishima. The
division was created after the merger of
two of its largest
divisions,Entertainment Analysis &
Development(EAD) andSoftware
Planning & Development(SPD).

DISTRIBUTION
The Nintendo Platform Technology
Development division was created on
September 16, 2015, as part of a
company-wide organizational
restructure that took place under
Nintendo's then newly appointed
president,Tatsumi Kimishima. The
division was created after the merger
of two Nintendo's divisions,
theIntegrated Research &
Development(IRD), which specialized
in hardware development, andSystem
Development(SDD), which specialized
operating system development and its
development environment and
network services.

MARKETING
Valiant Comicsreleased a short series
of comics featuring characters and
settings from theZeldacartoon as
part of theirNintendo Comics
Systemline.Manga adaptations of
many entries in the series,
includingA Link to the Past,Ocarina
of Time,Majora's Mask,Oracle of
SeasonsandOracle of Ages,Four
Swords Adventures,The Minish Cap,
andPhantom Hourglass, have been
produced under license from
Nintendo, mostly in Japan. These
cartoons are usually not involved with
the chronology of the actual games.

MARKETING
A 13-episode American animated TV
series, adapted byDiCand distributed
byViacom Enterprises, aired in 1989.
The animatedZeldashorts were
broadcast each Friday, instead of the
usualSuper Mario Bros.cartoon which
was aired during the rest of the week.
The series loosely follows the two
NESZeldagames (the originalThe
Legend of ZeldaandThe Adventure of
Link), mixing settings and characters
from those games with original
creations. The show's older
incarnations of both Link and Zelda
appear in various episodes ofCaptain
N: The Game Masterduring its second
season.

CITATIONS
Barton, Matt (2008).Dungeons & Desktops: The History of Computer Role-Playing Games.A K
Peters, Ltd.pp.20910, 216, 385.ISBN1-56881-411-9. RetrievedJanuary 24, 2017
Pichlmair, Martin; Kayali, Fares (2007)."Levels of Sound: On the Principles of Interactivity in Music
Video

Games"(PDF).Situated Play, Proceedings of DiGRA 2007 Conference.

Lane, Pete (February 26, 1999)."Review: Legend of Zelda".BBC News. RetrievedJanuary 24, 2017
McDonald, Glenn (February 26, 1999)."A Brief Timeline of Video Game Music".GameSpot.
Archived f romthe originalon October 18, 2007. RetrievedJanuary 24, 2017