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Wii U Deluxe Zelda bundle, and Wind Waker HD gets "hard mode"
Published on August 28, 2013 5:39 PM
2 minute read
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 photo wiiu_zps8847b943.jpgWii U Deluxe 32GB, Zelda gamepad, digital versions of Wind Waker HD & Hyrule Historia

$300

Today Nintendo announced a price drop for the Wii U, and an awesome Zelda bundle. The company is coming out with a bundle that includes the black Deluxe console with 32GB of storage, digital versions of Wind Waker HD and Hyrule Historia, and a gorgeous black and gold Zelda themed gamepad, all for $300 (the price of the white Basic console). It's a price drop of sorts, all the perks of the Deluxe model seem to be present (except Nintendoland) and you're basically getting Wind Waker HD and Hyrule Historia for free. Jeremy Perish reported on the news this morning and from what I gathered in Jeremy's article it seems the white Basic model will likely be phased out, and now all versions of the Wii U will be $300, with this sweet new Zelda bundle being quite a juicy carrot in that strategy.

My gaming expenses for the last half of the year are planned out and I won't be able to buy this, but this bundle is amazing and I wish I could get it. It's a shame, right when Nintendo has finally convinced me to get a Wii U I won't have the money for it for quite a while. If you've been on the fence about the Wii U is this new offer more appealing to you?

 photo wiiu2_zpscca4cecc.jpg

In other news that's every bit as interesting to me, I read in a Polygon article that the Wind Waker HD remake will have a Hero Mode difficulty setting. In Hero Mode enemy damage output will be doubled and you can't find hearts in breakables. The only way to heal is through potions and faeries, meaning you need to be more cautious in battle and thoughtful of your health item management. I never played Skyward Sword but I read an article that claims that game had a similar "hard mode" that could be toggled on or off. For those of you that have played Skyward Sword, does it have a harder difficulty setting, did you ever play with it on, and what did you think of it?

I've completed Wind Waker a few times before so I'd love to play it on Hero Mode and see how it feels. I've said before that Dark Souls is my new Zelda and I wish new Zelda titles could learn a couple things from the Souls series. Hero Mode won't make Wind Waker into a Souls game, but I'm certainly excited about facing tougher enemies and limited healing methods in this HD remake.

Comments
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Posted on August 28, 2013 5:44 PM

Man this bundle I like!! I may get it..but More likely will wait longer for another price drop..I have a backlok, so i do not see getting a wii u anytime soon..But then again I am loving this bundle!!!

Posted on August 29, 2013 4:05 PM

I'm with you, I love this bundle but won't be able to get it. I'm going to get a PS3 super slim this year hopefully and I have a bunch of games I want to play for it that I missed out on.

Posted on August 28, 2013 5:59 PM

This will be my way of entering back into the Wii U world. Im quite excited for this bundle. I had a feeling they would do one and I was hopeing so. I wanna play Wind Waker, I didnt get to play it that much on the game cube.

Posted on August 29, 2013 4:06 PM

You pre-ordered it right Nicole? I thought I saw that in a new blog of yours. When you do get your hands on it you should blog about it and tell us what you think of it all once you unbox it and get to play with it all and see that awesome black and gold gamepad.

Posted on August 28, 2013 6:01 PM

The remake of WindWaker is appealing to me, but I also know that I have had difficulty playing the 3D Zelda games.  I will say that I think that  a hard mode is a perfect addition.  I can replay A Link to the Past over and over and over again, but sometimes I wish that It was remixed and more challenging.

Posted on August 29, 2013 4:08 PM

Are you interested in the upcoming A Link Between Worlds for 3DS, the game that will take place in the same world as A Link to the Past?

Posted on August 29, 2013 4:18 PM

Definitely, A Link Between Worlds is one of the many games that I wanted to get a 3DS for...  

Posted on August 28, 2013 6:20 PM

Temptation! More and more i'm thinking maybe I do actually want a Wii U. Maybe i'm just getting sick of all this PS4 and Xbox One talk however. I've never played Wind Waker but it looks sweet. I'm still actually on my first playthough of Ocarina of Time....

Posted on August 29, 2013 4:10 PM

If you've never played Wind Waker before you would be in for quite a treat. It's a beautiful game, fun mechanics, nice music, characters, and you can get a good sense of exploration and agency if you're playing it for the first time.

Posted on August 28, 2013 7:57 PM

Upmuntil recently, I really hadn't thought much about getting a Wii U, but it certainly seems more appealing to me than either the Xbox One or the PS4 at the moment. Not in my budget, though.

Posted on August 29, 2013 4:13 PM

If I could shake the money tree and find $300 I'd like to get this, but I'll be backed up for quite a while. There's still a few games I want to get for 360, there's actually too many games coming out this fall and winter for me to ever buy. I have make priorities and pick a couple or a few for 360 I want most.

I also want to save up for a PS3 most of all since I've been waiting this whole generation to get one and now is the perfect time. I'll be playing a PS3 and catching up on all the Sony games I missed out on during the beginning of this PS4/Xbox One generation.

Posted on August 29, 2013 4:22 PM

You have so many, many awesome games to look forward to! Heck, I'm still catching up!

Posted on August 29, 2013 4:34 PM

There's so many games on PS3 to grab, I'll be busy for quite some time once I can pick one up. One thing I love about the PS3 is how Sony does a lot of collections, and most of those are pretty cheap now. it means I don't have to have as many cases taking up space, and I can get lots of games for cheap. Half the price of a new game or less. I can get the collection of Journey, Flower, and Flow or under $30. Killzone trilogy all in HD for under $40. Ico & Shadow of the Colossus for $20. I'm a Splinter Cell fan and PS3 has an HD collection of the first three games for cheap. They have Final Fantasy X and X-2 HD coming and I've never played either of those. I'd like to check out Heavy Rain, Beyond Two Souls, Last of Us, Ni No Kuni, Tales of Xilia, Demon's Souls, Uncharted. There's weird games on PS3 I've never even heard of too, and a lot of them look neat.

Posted on August 29, 2013 7:43 PM

And don't forget LBP!

Posted on August 28, 2013 7:57 PM

Wow, that bundle looks cool! I've always wanted to play Wind Waker more than any other Zelda game. I love cell-shaded graphics.

Posted on August 29, 2013 4:14 PM

The cell shaded visuals have held up quite well, better than any other Zelda game and most games from that generation in general. Now with the HD upgrade there's better lighting, softer edges, nice color, everything is only more beautiful now. Wind Waker HD looks really nice.

Posted on August 29, 2013 7:24 PM

That's the thing with cell-shading. It ages well.

Posted on August 28, 2013 10:32 PM

Oh my gosh you guys! Zelda/Dark Souls is happening. It's happening! Surprised

Posted on August 29, 2013 2:22 AM

I think Fry sums up my thought on this:

I have never played Wind Waker and this could finally be my chance to not only play the game, but also get a Wii U. Then again, i'm worried about the game being digital, not because I think it's a bad format and it's the work of the devil (if I thought that, I wouldn't have Steam), but it's because of region issues, as the 3DS digital shop isn't on Colombian territory yet, which makes me afraid it isn't on the Wii U either.

Posted on August 29, 2013 4:18 PM

That territory factor worries me, it sucks that you might not be able to get those digital versions. It's a fantastic game, I hope you could get the chance to play it.

Posted on August 29, 2013 2:50 AM

"I never played Skyward Sword but I read an article that claims that game had a similar "hard mode" that could be toggled on or off. For those of you that have played Skyward Sword, does it have a harder difficulty setting, did you ever play with it on, and what did you think of it?" - Michael117

It goes by the same name in Skyward Sword. You can't toggle it on or off.

I played it for about an hour after a finished the game, and I can say that it definitely got more challenging. You need to focus your attention on pattern striking a lot more because you can't go loosing hearts all willi nilly, and as a basis for comparison the "normal mode" of the game was harder than most recent 3D LoZ games. I wouldn't know how it faired in dungeons/bosses as I didn't go that far, but I can totally see it being a bitch to play.

Posted on August 29, 2013 3:56 PM

Thank you Joaquim! I like the way all of that sounds. Playing Souls games has made me quite fond of pattern striking and that style of cautious combat. I imagine Hero Mode will be quite challenging when it comes to keeping those hearts up. When you start out Zelda games you have very few hearts until you begin collecting heart pieces, and with enemies doing 2X damage it will likely be perilous, especially early on. I wonder what those boss battles will feel like. It should be pretty cool, I'm even more excited now.

Posted on August 29, 2013 4:26 PM

Hmm I don't know. Wind Waker was a bit too easy, and I think that hero mode ain't going to make it that challenging. Skyward Sword added the element of precision to pattern striking, and that's something that Wind Waker doesn't have. Unless they added motion controls to sword fighting, but even then the bosses weren't designed for such element. In conclusion, go play Skyward Sword in Hero Mode if you want a LoZ Souls kind of experience... hahahahahaha sorry Michael.

Posted on August 29, 2013 4:37 PM

Thanks for destroying all my dreams Joaquim lol! Wii U is backward compatible with Skyward Sword isn't it? The only reason I never played SS is because I don't have a Wii, if I could get a Wii U and still play some Skyward Sword I'd love to check it out.

Posted on August 29, 2013 4:43 PM

You bet your ass you can play SS on a Wii U. Although you have to play the game through once before unlocking Hero Mode, that's the only caveat I see other than hoping that the Motion Plus controls work for you (some people had a hard time with them, and others had a fantastic time).

Posted on August 29, 2013 3:45 AM

Can't wait for this. Wind Waker is my favorite Zelda and the jump to HD is just the excuse I need to replay it.

Posted on August 29, 2013 4:18 PM

Do you have any interest in Hero Mode for WW Casey?

Posted on August 29, 2013 5:55 PM

He'll yeah I do!

Posted on August 29, 2013 4:21 AM
I already have a Wii U but I'm going to get WW day 1 like I did on the GCN. I'm getting the Collectors Edition with the figure because why not? WW is my favorite GCN game and glad that they decided to remake it in HD.
Posted on August 29, 2013 4:22 PM

I think you made the right move, that Ganondorf figure looks pretty great.

Posted on August 29, 2013 12:07 PM

Zelda with a hard mode? Hell yea!

I've never played Wind Waker before, but I'm really looking forward to this HD release so I can finally give this game the attention it deserves!

Posted on August 29, 2013 4:00 PM

You never played Wind Waker Chris?!

I think you'll be in for quite a treat. Just pop the game on Hero Mode and play through it for the first time with all the HD upgrades, new mechanics, etc. This remake will likely be the best version of the game and you'll be able to play it for the first time. You won't even have to search for all those horrible triforce pieces in the ocean like all of us did, they reduced the number of shards to 3 I think, it used to be quite a bit more and it was tedious. There's so many awesome things about the vanilla game, and this remake just fixes a lot of the things that weren't great about the vanilla game, introduces some cool new ideas, and is in HD of course. You'll be in for a treat, it's a fun one and this will be the best version.

Posted on August 30, 2013 12:18 AM

If only I did not have a Wii U already, I would jump on the bundle! Regardless, I will be more than happy to sail the Great Sea once more!

Posted on August 31, 2013 7:54 PM

That is an amazing bundle, and I hope they get a bigger user install base out of it. It is really tempting, but I think if anything I will still be getting a PS4 or using my laptopo for gaming ... eventually.

Posted on September 4, 2013 4:43 PM

A great bundle. I remember getting the wind waker gamecube bundle way back and this is going to probably entice me to get a wii u