Nintendo and HAL Labs have made quite a few announcements regarding the upcoming Super Smash Brothers iteration, many of which imply that Masahiro Sakurai is attempting to score points with the competitive gaming market. In addition to the Super Smash Bros. Invitational announcement late this April, Nintendo has announced that Super Smash Brothers for the Wii U will utilize a new peripheral that allows Gamecube controllers to connect to Wii U consoles.

We already knew that Zelda 3DS took place in the same world as A Link to the Past, but to what extent? It didn’t take long for fans to take to the game to try and find the exact spot in A Link to the Past that was displayed earlier in the Zelda 3DS announcement trailer. They have come back with the below comparisons showing us that, while the terrain may have changed slightly it really is the same world and terrain as A Link to the Past. GameXplain also presents us with a video displaying side-by-side gameplay of both zelda 3ds and A Link to the Past.

 

German Nintendo newsite and youtube channel NiNTENDOMiNATiON bring us 13 minutes of gameplay for the next Zelda 3DS game, dubbed A Link to the Past 2 or A Link to the Past Sequel. The video shows us what could be the first level leading up to the boss battle against Moldorm, from A Link to the Past.

Nintendo announced in today’s Nintendo Direct that a new Zelda game for the 3DS is in the works and is slated for December 2013. The game is said to be taken in the same world as A Link to the Past and will feature “layered gameplay,” by allowing Link to jump up to another level of a dungeon.

More details and image gallery after the jump!

We’re back this week with a new batch of zelda drawings, posters and even a Kickstarter! Take a look at this week’s zelda fan creations and let us know what you think!

An Album of Ocarina Music!

YouTube user David Ramos or docjazz4 frequently posts videos of him playing the Ocarina of Time is putting on a Kickstarter to fund his goal to release an album of ocarina music.

If you missed out on The Legend of Zelda Symphony of the Goddesses in 2011-2012, you’re in luck as they are starting up again for 2013. The earliest US dates are June 10th in San Francisco and June 12th for Los Angeles. Tickets are already on sale so hurry up and get your tickets!

The show starts May 23rd in London and will end October 19th in Grand Rapids, MI for a total of 11 shows.

Press Release and full schedule after the jump…

http://www.hurricanesandython.com/ is currently doing a 100 hour speed run marathon in effort to help raise money for victims of Hurricane Sandy.

Show your support by watching their marathon and donating via their website: http://www.hurricanesandython.com/

As of this post they are currently 2 hours into the Skyward Sword speed run.

YouTuber MikGtr9 has created a great guitar cover of “The Great Sea” from Wind Waker. He has covered multiple other songs including Dragon Roost Island and Pokemon Center. Check out a bunch of his other videos on his YouTube channel: MikGtr9

Is your body ready? Nintendo is (presumably) set to announce the Wii U release date and pricing tomorrow, September 13th, at 10am EST.

You can check back here for all the news, but if you want in on the action, Nintendo is streaming the event from their Wii U Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/WiiU?ref=ts

If you don’t want to watch, or you’re too busy to watch, fear not. I will post all the latest Wii U info after the event, so come back to Hyrule.net to get informed!

Who is looking forward to the Wii U? What questions do you hope Nintendo will answer?

All of this Nintendo-social-network stuff came upon me by accident. I was chatting with Iwata at Nintendo’s San Francisco-area offices about Nintendo’s new 3DS XL and their latest Mario game. We were running out of time and I remembered an intriguing comment Iwata had made in a pre-recorded video address before the E3 show in June about how the company was going to start an online service called Miiverse for this fall’s new Wii U console and how this new service would, among other things, increase gamers’ sense of “empathy” for each other.

“Empathy.”