The Wind Waker up for “Game of The Decade” Award

The Wind Waker has the slightly ominous distinction for being one of the most divisive Zelda games in the history of the series. Whether it be the graphics, the sailing mechanic or the infamous Triforce Shard Quest in the second half of the game, there are two fierce sides to each argument, arguing for and against the inclusion of each feature in the game. Despite this division however, there is no denying the impact it had on the series and on the industry; it is the fourth best selling GameCube title and one of the most highly rated and loved Zelda games today. But is it deserving of such a prestigious and all-encompassing title like that of Game of the Decade? Spike’s Video Game Awards seem to think so. Hit the jump to find out more!

The awards ceremony last year was quite a fruitful one for Zelda. Skyward Sword picked up awards for “Best Wii Game” and “Best Motion Game” while the Zelda series as a whole was acknowledged in the first ever “Video Game Hall of Fame Award”. Pretty good seeing as the last achievement the series picked up was way back in 2007, where Phantom Hourglass was honored with the “Best Handheld Game Award”. Zelda hasn’t been nominated for any main awards this year, but The Wind Waker has been nominated for a special award which has been wheeled out in honor of the the VGA’s 10th anniversary. The “Best Videogame of the Last Decade Award” has been recently announced to honor the most innovative and boundary-pushing games of the past 10 years. But why Wind Waker?

Well, according to Entertainment Weekly, the website which organised the list, the game has an “eccentric, eerily beautiful cel-shading aesthetic”, standing as “Nintendo’s last great visual experiment, a remnant from a bygone age before the iconic game company shifted its focus toward redefining The Controller”. EW also go on to say that the game” found a raw beauty in cartoonish primitivism” in a series which is “easy to play but difficult to master”.

Even if you don’t agree with the above statements and think that Wind Waker was more of a flop than a success, you’ll still be supporting the Zelda series in a list which has only one other Nintendo-developed game: Wii Sports. The awards ceremony takes place on Friday the 7th of December, so get voting! You can vote for the Game of the Decade here.

But what do you think? Are you surprised to see games like Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword left out? Do you think Wind Waker is even worthy of the title at all? Let us know in the comments below!

Source: Entertainment Weekly, via GoNintendo