Nintendo Bets Its Holiday Season on a 28-Year-Old Horse

Nintendo's biggest holiday swing this year is a game it already sold once, nearly three decades ago. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake launched on Nintendo Switch 2 today, reimagining the 1998 original with overhauled visuals, full voice acting, and symphonic orchestration, for $59.99 digitally or $69.99 on a physical cartridge with foil cover art while supplies last.

The remake is also a hardware pitch in disguise. Nintendo released a Switch 2 "Legend of Zelda 40th Anniversary Edition" console a week early, alongside matching Pro Controllers and a Triforce-stamped carrying case, betting collectors will upgrade their console to play a game they may already own on three other systems. The cutest flex is technical: hum a learned song into the Switch 2's built-in microphone and Link will play it back on his ocarina, no button-mashing required.

The timing is not an accident. Switch 2 sales have cooled since last year's launch rush, and Nintendo needed something bigger than a port to justify a holiday hardware bump, especially with GTA VI targeting a November 19 release on rival consoles. Reviving the game widely considered one of the best ever made is the safest bet in the industry's current playbook: nostalgia does not need a marketing budget, just a release date.

Source: Gematsu

Kyle Duford, Founder & Editor, BRNDWIRE. More from Kyle →