Opinion: Shard of Nightmare is Fake, Plus Other E3 Rumor Mongering

Some folks really want to believe anything that seems like

something they would like. I mean, why not? I could see an error on my online

course grade book that says I have an A, but reality is I may already know I

have too few points to achieve that A. I really want to believe I got that A,

but I know it’s just a mistake.

That’s what pre-E3 rumors always feel like. So much stuff we

desperately want to believe, but many of us know better. We know it can’t

possibly be true, but we want to believe it anyway. We’ll search for reasoning,

or even come up with excuses. I’m guilty of all of the above.

We came across a list of games for all the major 1^st

party press conferences and promptly posted

it, mostly because it contained the potential name of Zelda U. That name is now somewhat well known as The Legend of Zelda: Shard of Nightmare.

I firmly believe it is 100% fake – not just

the name but that entire document. I also believe the image I posted just

yesterday that was supposed to be some sort of “leaked” image was a fan

fake. Heck, we got yet another supposed leaked image today, except this one was

of actual gameplay.

It is also completely fake. From the one long line of hearts to the thin

lines that supposedly represent magic, stamina, or any other possible mechanic.

Even in Twilight Princess such things

were far more stylized. That aside, the GamePad is probably required, and much

of that HUD would not be there. Then there is the somewhat high quality

character model with the very last gen (Wii) styled grass. This is before we

get into the fact it is a blurred image and angled, which has always been a

sign of being fake. More so the angled part than the blurred image (we’ve seen

blurred cell phone pics in years past be legit, but never at such an angled

position).

Why Post What You Know Is Likely False?

This is a question we’ve wrestled with for years. Do we post

something we know isn’t going to be true, even if we want it to be? Do we

contribute to the pre-E3 rumor mongering by spreading what is likely completely

false information? I mean, we’re Zelda Informer – are we truly informing people

when what we present is likely falsified information, even if we state it is

and/or use the rumor tag?

I think in some ways we are, but in others it isn’t so

clear. On one hand, generally when we post something… our inbox, social media

pages, or even our forum accounts are being spammed with the images that end up

being the cause of the rumors. So, in part, we are informing folks of these

rumors which are already surely spreading in other corners of the internet and

letting them have fun with it. We’re even more careful these days – sometimes outright

saying they are fake and other times, using grains of salt, or whatever popular

expression is used to express extreme skepticism. This is the internet, leaks

do occur, but when something is too good to be true (or too fan service like to

be true)… it likely isn’t.

On the other hand, it can be frustrating for those that get

their hopes up. They hope for something to be as they see it, and then get disappointed

when it ends up not being the case. It either

makes them expect something else and we end up with something like The Wind Waker (masterpiece of a game

that is), or they can come away less trusting of rumors we post. This is a completely

fair reaction and one we must balance when deciding to post any rumor. Heck, we

had rumors about the release date for Hyrule

Warriors and Zelda U that we

posted. We know they are probably totally made up, even if somewhat

reasonable to assume. This sort of stuff can really upset folks or give them

unrealistic expectations.

There is also the other side of this, and as a Zelda fan

first and foremost, it is the side I fall on. I love discussing the Zelda

series, and chiefly, I love speculating on the possibilities. How many articles

have we had talking about various games that have yet to come out and what we

might possibly get? We often have no realistic reason to expect what we talk

about, but we do anyways because it is fun to dream. It is just plain fun to

speculate about the series we so love.

To me, rumors fall right into that category, even if fake.

Sure, it’s all made up, but many times it is fun to talk about, to speculate.

It’s like someone is just taking a guess at the name and premise, and giving us

something to debate about or consider. Sometimes in rare cases it even furthers

some folk’s education of the series – like the fact The Minish Cap’s subtitle in the logo actually overlaps the Z on

The Legend of Zelda. Everyone presumed this had never happened and used it to

claim a fake image. It’s interesting finding out those little tidbits because

of stuff like this, at least for me. It seems like it is interesting for many

of you too. In times when you are lacking anything concrete to talk about, it

really makes for good conversational pieces.

That really gets down to the heart of the matter. How do we

decide what is a good conversation piece and worth posting, and what is not

worth anyone’s time? Maybe the real problem is that we label them as rumors –

it is possible we may need to find a new way to label this stuff moving

forward. Who knows, you find folks can probably come up with a much cleverer

name than I can.

For Those Holding Out Hope

Do yourself a favor and forget you ever read any of them.

You’re just creating unrealistic expectations. Besides, when has Nintendo ever

had anything leak like this before? We’ve had leaks, but nothing close to this.

Two images, a full page, etc. If the leaks happen, they are well known (Zelda

Wii image leak).

Nintendo are the ones that are the industry standard for not

letting information slip through the cracks. We’ve had Microsoft and Sony stuff

leak on many occasions, but Nintendo is like a giant vault, and we’re not

allowed to even sneak a small peak. Like Reggie Fils-amech, our batteries run

out just short of getting a good view.

So, What About the Future?

I am unsure right now what we’ll do with rumors in the

future, but for now, I would love to work on a way of rebranding them for

conversational purposes. I am open to any and all ideas, so have at it and

discuss away. That way we can have our fun in discussing the possibilities

while giving people even the slightest nod that something is real. If something

then ever does end up being real (haha, that will be the day), we’ll have at

least had a nice discussion about it already.