Does want!!!

I'm not understanding the contest.  Are we supposed to come up with a new item for Link and photoshop something totally unrelated into the picture, or are we supposed to photoshop the item into the picture, or are we supposed to photoshop the item or something totally unrelated into the picture?

Photoshop the item into the picture. But the item can be anything.

What MegaByte said. Replace the item Aonuma is holding with something funny or cool using Photoshop or any other image editing program.

Since you guys sorta forgot to write any contact email:
Here's my entry
http://i54.tinypic.com/28aklyu.jpg
Symbolic of Eiji's handling of the zelda series.
THANK YOU FOR KEEPING ZELDA FIRMLY LODGED INTO 1998 N64 GAMEPLAY MECHANICS AND DUMBING IT DOWN TO THE POINT WHERE IT PLAYS ITSELF FOR THE MOST PART AND WHO DOESN'T LOVE HANDHOLDING?
Zelda 1-4 were gems and then Eiji came along and shat all over them.
Bring back Tezuka like in NSMB for the Wii.
I want a proper NEW ZELDA and not another terribly rehashed OoT clone straight from N64-gameplay hell with another funky gimmick.

Contact e-mail is in the second to last paragraph. We've had a number of entries already.

*applauds*

It's about time someone else besides myself has had the insight to bring this up. Although, I hope you were excluding The Adventure of Link and counting OoT as #4, because if you were including OoT itself in that generalization, you're an idiot.

In Aonuma's defense though, it's not as if his games are bad-- they're actually great games on their own (specifically, Majora's Mask)-- they just weren't good as 'Zelda' games (the same can also be said about AoL). Majora's Mask would have been brilliant if they had replaced Link with a new character and present it as a new IP. Unfortunately, they didn't go that route and it simply didn't work as a 'Zelda' game.

Nintendo needs to take Aonuma off the 'Zelda' series and let him focus on new original franchises of his own.

I think it's more likely he wasn't counting Link's Awakening, which, if it were up to me, would be a bannable offense on these forums.

I would say the last truly amazing Zelda was Majora's Mask.  Of course that is Aonuma's first Zelda game so I wouldn't immediately isolate him as the problem with the more recent titles.  I also at one point would have had similar ideas about Mario not being the same since Super Mario 64 and then that series re-invented itself with the Galaxy games.

Since the N64, Nintendo has farmed Nintendo off to Capcom, which resulted in some great games but it they aren't quite the same as Nintendo's own titles.  Nintendo has also introduced Zelda spin-offs like Four Swords (yeah!) and Link's Crossbow Training (boo!)  As a result Zelda titles are more frequent.  Back when there was only six titles the spacing between releases could be several years.  You could argue that Zelda has become overexposed and thus the concepts appear less interesting.

Nintendo also changed when Iwata took over.  They like the big mainstream hit.  They like casual appeal.  They have become a company that is very afraid to offend.  Every game has to be suitable for everybody and have huge sales potential.  Zelda was always a very progressive and ambitious series.  As popular as it has been it is not really a game for everyone.  It has too much depth and complexity to it.  It's user-friendly but it is not for everyone.

Majora's Mask was probably the least accessible Zelda game ever.  It was very dark and it had this three day cycle thing that you just knew not everyone would like.  It's a game that says "this is how it is, take it or leave it."  The thing is this is not the sort of game Nintendo typically makes and every Zelda since then has overcompensated in a way to appear more accessible.  Wind Waker overcompensated on tone going from the darkness of MM to super bright happy cartoons.  That resulted in some backlash from the existing fans (due I feel largely to the Spaceworld bait-and-switch; a huge PR goof) so Nintendo overcompensates again by ditched the cartoon look but being incredibly derivative.  Then we've got the DS games which use some outright broken forced touchscreen controls in what I think it pretty obviously the result of Nintendo's assumptions that casuals are intimidated by buttons and will find touchscreen controls more intuitive.  Skyward Sword is going nuts with motion control, a concept also introduced to attract people intimidated by traditional controls.

Nintendo is bending over backwards to make Zelda safe and inoffensive and suitable for all audiences.  The problem is Zelda is a non-linear game with incredible scope and ambition which requires a combination of action game skill and puzzle game thinking.  It cannnot be truly accessible to everyone while also being a good Zelda game and I think that is why it hasn't been the same.  Metroid is the same way - attempts to make it more accessible have resulted in subpar games.  Mario's gameplay is less complex so it suits itself better to universal appeal.

You know how a cool person will just be himself while those who specifically TRY to be cool never are?  That's Zelda.  Nintendo is too afraid to let Zelda be itself.  They try too hard to make it a hit so they compromise it for this group or that group.  Fuck it.  Just make Zelda.

Say what you will, but the touchscreen controls for the DS Zeldas are far from outright broken.

Umm, you must not follow Nintendo all that closely, because that's just straight out wrong. It definitely is true that Nintendo changed when Iwata took over... but what you're describing is precisely the opposite of how it changed.

I can see how you could get that impression if you focus solely on the 'Zelda' series, but even then you'd have to ignore Twilight Princess.
The truth is, trying to make every game suitable for everyone and being very afraid to offend is how Yamauchi ran things.

If what you were saying were accurate we'd never have gotten games like Advance Wars: Days of Ruin (a 1st-party developed game, with cursing and plenty of death), Metroid: Other M (it may have had overly-simplified controls, but the game's story was definitely NOT intended to appeal towards everyone-- and Yamauchi certainly wouldn't have let it through), Super Smash Bros. Brawl (never would have been as hardcore), and Twilight Princess (Yamauchi would have strongly discouraged a Zelda that could get a 'T'-rating... and do keep in mind that Wind Waker's development started when Yamauchi was still at the helm), as well as countless others.

Unlike Yamauchi, Iwata has encouraged games aimed at specific audiences. Let's face it, we never got games like Nintendogs and Brain Age under Yamauchi either and those never would have appealed to core gamers. Instead what we got were games with in-depth gameplay but light-hearted  themes, meant to cater all, but often ended up only appealing to even smaller niche groups.

I will agree with you that recent Zelda games seem too afraid of being what Zelda was meant to be, but it's not for the reasons you seem to think. The way I see it, it's due to Aonuma's lack of understanding of the series. With each new game he makes, he makes mistakes, and then overcompensates in the next game in the areas he thinks he failed in the previous one, meanwhile re-making the real mistakes he misidentified in the first place. I don't think it has much to do with interference from his higher-ups.

Well I disagree.  In fact, aside from Advance Wars, I would actually use the examples you gave as proof of Nintendo desire to have more universal appeal with each game.  Twilight Princess is derivative to not offend.  Brawl added more random elements like tripping and final smashes because they feel that random chaos makes a multiplayer game more inviting to beginners as it gives people a chance to win by fluke.  Other M's changes were to give the series more Japanese appeal.  It's a very linear game, a clear attempt to dumb down the gameplay for people put off by Metroid's backtracking.

However I think the theory that Aonuma makes mistakes and them overcompensates in the areas he thinks he failed sounds very plausible.  But I find I see that with Nintendo more as a whole.  If they don't get the sales they want they start tinkering in a way to make it sell with those that didn't like it.  Metroid is a great example of Nintendo not being cool with it being a profitable series that sells to a specific cult audience.  They always want to make it easier and more linear.  Got to get it to sell in Japan.  Got to sell Metroid Prime to the people that didn't like its controls and wanted an FPS.  I notice a lack of confidence in the games that are critically acclaimed but don't quite sell as much as they would have liked.

But whether it's Aonuma or Miyamoto or Iwata or Nintendo as a whole, Zelda doesn't seem to have confidence in itself.

The problem with your theory is that Metroid Prime actually got a sequel called Metroid Prime 2: Echoes that was harder then Prime 1 and more nonlinear then Prime 1 as well.  Even though Prime 1 sold terrible in Japan, Prime 2 was still allowed to be made with only the West in mind because Prime 1 sold very well in the West.

Not to mention saying Other M was made to make the series more popular in Japan is completely false.  Other M wasn't made because Iwata woke up some day and wanted to make the Metroid series a symbol of Japanese national pride, it was made because the creator of the series, Yoshio Sakamoto wanted to make another Metroid game since he hadn't made one since Zero Mission in 2004.  All the complaint you have about Other M being to linear already existed in Fusion which was a Metroid game Sakamoto made over 8 years earlier.  Metroid Fusion started development before Iwata ever became president and was released about 6 months after Iwata was president so all the things that Sakamoto was doing that Metroid fanboys hate like the story and being more linear were all being done while Yamauchi was still president.

So to blame Iwata for all the problem you have with Other M is very foolish at best since all the problems you have come from the series creator Sakamoto who started doing the same things before Iwata even became president.

Oh and on the issue of Zelda even though I'm a huge fan of Aonuma's work and would love to get into an argument with some of you, it pointless since he's not the director of Skyward Sword.  The director of Skyward Sword is Hidemaro Fujibayashi, who was the director of the Oracle Zelda's and Minish Cap.  Yes, Aonuma is the producer and overlooking the project, but Fujibayashi is the actual director and the director is the most important person who is responsible for how everything is made.  Aonuma now plays the same role Miyamoto played for Majora's Mask, Wind Waker and Twilight Princess.  Yes, he's still involved in certain aspects but majority of the work is being done by the director, Fujibayashi.

Hell, if you look at the video's and pictures we've seen for Skyward Sword so far you can tell Fujibayashi has a lot of control since the environment looks like a 3D version of Minish Cap at the moment.  So once again, complaints about Zelda not changing are rather foolish since Skyward Sword is being made by someone who's never even made a 3D Zelda before.  Now you can complain about how the change might not be good but to say that Skyward Sword is going to be playing it safe is also very foolish since there's everything we know of so far with a new director and a whole new control scheme points to the complete opposite.

So yeah, all of you who complain about Aonuma have no reason to even complain anymore.  He's not directly making the Zelda games anymore and is just the producer now.  If your going to continue to blame him for any of the upcoming Zelda's, then you have to start blaming Miyamoto for Majora's Mask, Wind Waker and Twilight Princess since he was the producer of those games just like Aonuma is now the producer of Skyward Sword.

I'm tempted to make a new rule that says that you have to enter the contest in order to argue in this thread.

Aaron, you don't need to have rules in order to enforce them. Welcome to my fiefdom, fists of iron.

No arguing, just humiliate Aonuma.

That party was fantastic though.

Well, yeah, but that doesn't encourage more shops :-p

I counted LA in Zelda 1-4.
OoT was already broken crap the day it released.
OoT ain't got shit on LA.

You, sir, are a crazy person.

FISTS OF IRON

Wrists getting hit hard lately.

Where dem forthcoming pictures at?

Um, did you guys decide the winner yet? :)

Yes they did, in my dreams.
Last night I dreamed that there were three winners announced, none of which were me :(

O.K., due course was yesterday. Who won? :)

Well, I'll give it to NWR, not announcing the winner yet does keep me coming back to the site every hour. Oh . . . oh no . . . this wasn't a contest at all, just a stunt to bring viewers coming back to the site! I've been duped!

Is your avatar a little pig man?

It'll be announced in the 3DS mailbag


continues waiting.......

^ lol, I see what you did there.

My avatar is a pigmask soldier from Mother 3.

Happy Birthday, Aonuma-san!

We should have the contest decided by this weekend.

What?! I didn't even get him anything...

The weekend is drawing to a close...*cough* *cough*

Um, any chance of the results?
:)

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_xzlxRwOrL2s/TYbfS7BkkaI/AAAAAAAAAXk/HNQIJdlgs3M/s512/aonumaClock.jpg
That's the clock from Clocktown. I am making lite fun at the fact that you's taking longer than expected. ;D  :) 
(smiley faces mean I just joking. We have good fun on this site.)

oh    on a totally unrelated subject  a re release of MGS3 is coming to 3ds in the near future  look it up on youtube its pretty sweet looking even on a 2d video

i know thats sort of old news but i just found out and it was very exciting

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_xzlxRwOrL2s/TYg_VCJ-T9I/AAAAAAAAAYM/cQuG0HX_poE/s512/aonumaWhy%20utake%20sollong.jpg
;D :D ;) :) :P: :'(

Yeah, guys.
Where is my prize?

Haha  ;D
nice one turd

I've never entered this contest, BUT I WANT TO COMPLAIN TOO

Ha ha. You know, you're pretty fly, for a ShyGuy.

I see what you did there...  :cool;

You think I'm fly, come to the James Jones' Funhouse to meet the others. http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/forums/index.php?board=35.0

:D

It would be awesome if they made a 3DS Majoras Mask game. If you were  deku scrub you could like fly off the screen with the deku flowers and cool stuff like that. :cool;

^ Hmm. That would be cool but, do you know what would be cooler? If we knew who won this contest.
And with that, I have single handedly brought this discussion back on topic.  :cool;

Come on guys, just announce the winner so you have one less thing to worry about :)

I triple chili dog dare you to announce the winner. Ha! Now what!? You have to do it now, you've no other choice. Ha ha ha!  :P

MMMMMM... Chilli dogs sound really good right now

I bet all the entries were so horrible they just want to forget the entire contest happened at all.

I know mine was. :D

u should post it so we can laugh ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

someone should make a Photoshop Contest Re-entry Thread where all who entered can post their submissions and let the Funhouse decide who won.

TurdFurgy begins to chant
  Post the winners *clap clap*  Post the winners *clap clap*  Post the winners *clap clap*  Post the winners *clap clap* 

Maybe they meant by THIS weekend, but they accidentally posted that last week so it confused people.

I just realized this, but the contest has been going on for over a month!

I now have to click on "older features" to get to here. tisk tisk

They forgot about it!

Whatever. I don't even care if we never see results. :@


(reverse psychology)
 

Really guys? A week late? What the heck?  :-\

What if I said please?

What if I threw a pretty please at you?

Here guys. I made a poll so you can post your submissions in the FUNHOUSE and let everyone see and vote on them. I'll update the options as they come!

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/forums/index.php?topic=33909.new#new

^Nah, I would prefer NWR actually doing it as originally specified, I just wish they would hurry up.

That contest ended almost a month ago. Just accept that it's not gonna happen and salvage your hard work in the Funhouse where it can be mocked & criticized accordingly.

The staff is really busy and stuff. I bet they're playing Zelda instead of working on the contest. THE NERVE

There's no reason why you can't do both.

If I were Neal I'd just never post a winner, so that people will continue angrily posting in this thread, eventually turning it into the next UncleBob's Bumps thread.

I don't wanna somehow be disqualified from the contest. All my photoshops are belong to NWR. " All entries become property of Nintendo World Report" and such.

They grifted you good. This whole contest was just a ruse to collect all your Photoshop submissions, and then they skipped town. What a bunch of rubes....

It's the old Monorail scam...

"That contest ended almost a month ago. Just accept that it's not gonna happen and salvage your hard work in the Funhouse where it can be mocked & criticized accordingly."

Do you honestly think that it's a fact that it's not gonna happen? If so, you assume things waaaaaaay too easily. Yeah it was a month ago, that doesn't necessarily mean that all of the NWR staff forgot about it or that they decided to cancel it after getting loads of submissions-as already stated-with no announcement as such.

Welcome to Funhouse 2.0

trollface.jpg

This is the most popular thread in Talkback. Visit often and don't forgot to click the banners ads.

Now a word from our sponsers.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/forums/index.php?topic=33879.0

I've sent an email. That ought to move things along. ...Right?

:confused;  Say, what's going on here?

What happened to your name and avatar?

If you sit tight, they may throw in extra goodies that you weren't expecting.

Place your bets! What comes first;
The announcement of the winners
or
The delayed Pokemon Global Link (http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/25794) launches.


Also, if we go to the Funhouse for judging/ridicule, we are admitting defeat. That is the last option.

I've already told you all, The winners will be announced in the 3DS Mailbag.


Now quickly, everyone go enter the 2nd Chance Contest in the Funhouse.

I won?......................I WoN??????.......I WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wooooohoooooooo!!!! I never win! This is great!
I had so much fun on this....I hope we continue to have fun and creative contests like this. Great idea NWR!!!!! And THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There was a contest?

Come on now. Timone and Pumba weren't even in that scene.  :P:

I told you sending that letter would move things along. :P

Now you guys really have no reason to post your terrible submissions for us all to laugh at.

Worth the wait ^_^ I didn't win but these are some funny entries xD

Congrats to the winners.

LOL at simba.

I should have entered. I would have done the whole Roots thing. Ahem...

"Behold! The only thing greater than yourself!"

It's not too late to enter your own 2nd Chance Contest you know.

whats the link to the results

you would think that someone wouldn't updated the OP, but it appears you have to go through the main site to find the results
direct link: http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/contest/25733

@BlackNMild2k1

Since my entry was already shown on the list of all of the submissions, should I still enter in the funhouse contest? If so, could you please give me a link to it, I'm still sort of new to NWR.

Sweet, I came in third. Well, this was fun... Bye!

Mine was so horrible they didn't even bother to show it...