General Zelda What's With All the Gold?

[CynicalSquid]

i just want a little variety is all

i mean like

must everything be gold? idc if it's a staple to the series, get more variety or just start producing blank box art covers idk

I was kidding.

I see where you're coming from though. I kind of don't care, but variety would be nice.

 

[Terminus]

Well the Hylian Royal colors tend to be shown as Purple and Gold.

Also, the Triforce is Gold.

And Din/Nayru/Farore are the Golden Goddesses.

 

[Krazy4Krash]

I've noticed this to be especially more prevalent these last two years as well. Yes, it's been a tradition since the beginning, but what do we have before OoT3D, SS, TWWHD and ALBW? In the NTSC-US region, ST was gray, PH was brown, TP was brown and gray. TMC white, FSA black, and TWW is... gold. ish. Preceding this, gold was evident in all covers bar OoX and MM. To suddenly make every cover pure gold after almost 10 years without it is beyond me. The ALBW art looks better without the heavy gold layer on it to me, honestly.

 

[HappyMask]

I guess it is just eye catching. It also demands attention and looks adventurous.

 

[Salem]

Aside from the overkill with the gold, NA game covers for Nintendo tend to look more "plain" than the Japanese version, but not always, look at Mario boxarts for NES and SNES games for example.

 

[HappyMask]

I think I might agree with Sroa

 

[Mellow Ezlo]

It's a theme...

 

[Justac00lguy]

Gold is fairly common, yes and it's been somewhat staple in terms of cover art.

There are a few reasons for this in my eyes; one is that "Gold" is a colour that tends to be associated with the franchise a lot, it's definitely the stand-out colour or most significant -- the Triforce probably being a reference to the colour itself. Also, I see it as a neutral colour, if they used red/blue/green, then some may interpret that colour or associate with a certain race/element etc. while gold is more of a neutral colour and can represent the entire franchise.

It's possibly a marketing tactic too, they have the Zelda logo, but like any product; they need to make it stand out. Gold is a good colour to make something stand out and also; gold is a colour that tends to be related to quality and whatnot - Nintendo are probably trying to get across the message that this game is important and worth something to the consumer. The reason why this tactic is repeatedly done is because it's seen as successful and it's becoming a brand identity somewhat, people will now associate that colour with the franchise itself and therefore familiarise themselves with it.

---

Obviously I'm looking a bit too deep into it, but marketing tends to focus on small details and whatnot. To be honest, I do think it's a worn out usage, I'd like to see more variety in standard box art covers, it's not that important to me, but I would like to see some new and unique covers for once.

 

[Mangachick14]

In the Olympics, when you win a gold metal, it means you win first place. It's simply Nintendo's way of showing that Zelda is number 1.

In all seriousness, I think it's just the theme they've gone with. The Triforce is gold, the goddesses were gold, the original cartridge was gold. The use of gold isn't exactly new territory for this series. Though I kinda wish they would make the box art a little more colourful, but I don't really dislike it as is. As long as the in-game graphics don't look like everything's drowned in gold, I don't mind it at all.

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

ocarina 3d & skyward sword i can understand since it was the 25th anniversary and whatnot
link b/w & wind waker hd being gold is just unnecessary though,no special occasion or anything

 

[Mudora]

Hmm, I never really noticed that. I guess it looks pretty cool, plus there is gold symbols within the game, such as the Triforce. It just seems like a theme they've been going with. I don't mind it, though they could add a bit more colour.

 

[General Skel]

Maybe Nintendo is trying to do something in the style of the gold cartridges, but instead of the Game Pak or disc being gold, it's the game box or case that's gold. It also stands out better:

The Force Unleashed
New Super Mario Bros Wii
Wii Fit
Wii Sports
Skyward Sword
Quantum Of Solace
LEGO Star Wars

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

The Force Unleashed
New Super Mario Bros Wii
Wii Fit
Wii Sports
Skyward Sword
Quantum Of Solace
LEGO Star Wars

*

 

[Snow Queen]

Reason- The gold looks great.