Nintendo Approving ZREO’s Twilight Symphony

If you haven’t been living under a rock, you should know that Zelda Reorchestrated (ZREO) has almost released their enormous Twilight Symphony project. In fact, it was supposed to be released by the end of November, but there’s a good reason why that date’s been pushed back to mid-December.

Nintendo is now on board. After a good deal of sorting through legal mumbo-jumbo with ZREO, the album should be good to go around mid-December. Hit the jump for more!

As odd as it seems that Nintendo would “join in” so late in the making of this, Nintendo will stamp the Official Nintendo Seal of approval on Twilight Symphony! Well, maybe not literally, but instead of killing this fan project as Nintendo has done before, our favorite company has seen the potential of ZREO’s project and decided to make it more in line with Nintendo’s goals.

As a result, this means there’s a slight delay in the release of Twilight Symphony, but the ZREO team has told us via email that the physical edition should ship before December 25th. Digital downloads will most definitely be before that date.

Here’s is the full text of the statement from the Twilight Symphony team:

“Some of the top people at Nintendo have taken notice of the project and have become involved in an advisory capacity. This is the largest fan-project of its kind, and the first time that a lot of this material will be legally available to the public beyond the game that made it popular.
Nintendo wants to make sure our entire project is consistent with their brand identity. Joypad Records is currently working with Nintendo’s head of copyright to make sure that this release complies with their wishes, above and beyond what is required by law. However, most of the changes Nintendo has asked us to incorporate are cosmetic, and should not affect the audio quality or physical packaging of Twilight Symphony as originally advertised.

“Because of this, discs aren’t expected to be finalized, pressed, and shipped until early-to-mid December. Unfortunately this also impacts the digital release, so we are unable to distribute the digital album until we receive the green light from Nintendo. Fear not! Pre-order customers are still alotted a download code for the digital album, which you will recieve by e-mail, before the physical albums ship! The time frame has simply shifted. We hope that you now understand why.

“Our hope and desire is that everyone receives their order before December 25th, however if you are an international customer, your order may not arrive until after that date. These dates are purely estimates, but we ask that you please understand the situation and know that we are working very hard in conjuction with Joypad Records and Nintendo to bring this release to you as quickly as possible.

“As soon as your order ships, you will receive an e-mail confirmation with a tracking number.

“Thank you for your interest, your commitment to our project, and most of all for your patronage! This is the end of a very long road for our team, and we appreciate your patience and understanding as we bring all of this to a proper, successful, celebratory close.”

Your friends,
The Twilight Symphony Team

If any of you had pre-ordered, donated to the ChipIn or Kickstarter, or otherwise bought the album and were wondering why it hadn’t arrived, you now know. Though I’m a bit disappointed that the release has been pushed back a little, I’m glad Nintendo thinks highly of the project, and I’m now even more excited for the release.

What do you think of Nintendo’s decision to collaborate with ZREO (even if it’s mostly legal collaboration)? Tell us in the comments!

Source: GenGAME, Zelda Informer