Why Nintendo Was Wise to Not Show Zelda U at VGX

Thought we were alone in wanting Zelda U? This was a poll result from GameSpot before the event, the second-most visited video game site in the world.

By now I am sure all of you know about my incorrect prediction that

Zelda U would be shown off this past Saturday during VGX. If you didn’t, know that I firmly believed VGX made sense as an overall platform to unveil Zelda U. It had the right audience in my mind to try and bring non-Nintendo gamers back in the fold, and Zelda is one franchise Nintendo has that seems to have fans outside of the Nintendo faithful. I was wrong, and Nintendo went the safe route in showing off Cranky Kong as a playable character in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. Now that the show has come and gone, I understand why Nintendo chose to show what they did. Furthermore, my reaction since Saturday may be a bit surprising: I’ve done a complete 180 and now fully believe Nintendo did the right thing in not showing off Zelda U.

This, of course, isn’t because I don’t want to see the game. We all do. Outside of me being the Editor-in-Chief of two video game related websites, I am first and foremost a gamer. I enjoy video games immensely and wish I had more free time than I currently do to play more of them. I long to revisit

A Link Between Worlds, Super Mario 3D World, and yes… even NBA 2K14. Having Zelda U make an appearance at VGX would have made me almost instantly forgive any other short comings the show presented. Of course, missing that type of announcement was part of the problem with VGX in general, as it lacked any major announcements to begin with. Still, now that it’s all over with, Nintendo made the correct call.

It’s true,

Zelda U can probably be shown off anytime Nintendo feels like it. It could be a Nintendo Direct, it could be GDC, and it most definitely will be shown off during E3 2014.

Zelda fans, myself included, are going to be anticipating practically every venue it could be shown off at until it ultimately is. However, after watching VGX, it clearly wasn’t the right venue, and it’s something I should have recognized a lot sooner.

VGX definitely had millions of viewers, but it also lacked the professional aptitude a reveal like Zelda U truly deserves. You had Geoff badgering Reggie because all he had to show was Donkey Kong. You had Joel making some downright insulting remarks to various developers. Heck, worst yet you had Joel making fun of gamer stereotypes, such as being virgins and living in our parents’ basement. All extremely unprofessional and the exact opposite of how we wish to be portrayed, let alone treated. It’s one thing if video game developers get sick of fans and lose respect for us—it’s another if a show dedicated to gamers treats us with disrespect, let alone treats the industry figure heads we love like crap at the same time. Voice actors matter to us. These developers matter to us. Why are they being belittled publicly in front of the people that love their work? Who cares if Laura Croft’s voice actress is beautiful? She does a damn fine job, and sex related jokes are not appreciated.

This sort of sentiment seemed to be permeating out of the show’s aftermath. Even those supposed “dudebro” gamers, which is an insulting term in that of itself, found the whole thing to be a big sham. Which is sad considering that there was in fact a slew of great games there. This had a chance to be a great venue for real time interviews, if nothing else.

Zelda U deserves more respect than a show like VGX allotted. Heck, every game in VGX deserved more respect. It may have had a large audience, but that doesn’t make it a good venue until it proves otherwise. After what many considered a failed reboot of the VGAs, they are going to have a lot of work to do in order to drive any respect back into the idea. I feel many gamers do want a true awards show that does kick ass with great news, interviews, and all that. That may be what we want, which is why the idea of VGX is far greater than what it actually is.

Zelda U is going to be unveiled when Nintendo feels the time is right. E3 2014 naturally makes sense because Nintendo will be beyond Donkey Kong, Mario Kart, and even Smash Bros. at that point. However, they could easily show it during a spring Nintendo Direct showcase. We simply don’t know, but it definitely deserves something better than what VGX offered. VGX ended up needing a Zelda U announcement more than Zelda U needed VGX. Donkey Kong got some needed twitter buzz, some good and some bad, but more people talking about the game is always a positive for Nintendo. Any Wii U game could use the attention. Too bad The Wonderful 101 never got such buzz.

Now the question becomes… when do you want Nintendo to unveil

Zelda U? What venue would be ideal? How should they go about it?