Nintendo is "obviously" having a meltdown over Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake after proving Star Fox leaker right, says ex-marketing lead, since it’s "the company that banks on" surprise
Nintendo's element of surprise "has been taken away, presumably, for a while."
Nintendo's former marketing lead says that Nintendo is likely to be very unhappy that the Ocarina of Time remake has been indirectly confirmed already, ruining the element of surprise.
Earlier this year, word that The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time will apparently be getting a remake on Switch 2 emerged from leaker Nate The Hate as part of a massive info blowout about Nintendo. The leaker also included other claims like that Rhythm Heaven Groove and Splatoon Raiders would both release later this summer, which has since been confirmed, but the big one was the existence of a new Star Fox Game to release within a few months. And since Nintendo confirmed its Star Fox 64 remake will arrive on Switch 2 next month, fans have figured that Ocarina of Time Remake is all but confirmed.
As such, Kit Ellis, Nintendo of America's former marketing lead, says on the latest episode of the Kit and Krysta podcast, "if you're Nintendo, you're obviously pulling your hair out at this, like this is a worst-case scenario." He adds, "You're the company that banks on surprising people – the surprise being a major factor to why announcements are impactful and work – like we saw that over and over again."
He adds that typically, Nintendo is "going to sacrifice a lot of things to maintain that element of surprise, and now that has been taken away presumably, for a while." Nate the Hate's leaks also covered some of next year, most notably that a 3D Mario game is planned to release in 2027, so this leak is even further reaching than just Zelda.
Granted, as much of a surprise Ocarina remake could be, I'd argue it's far more interesting to actually see what direction Nintendo is going to take with it rather than the simple fact that it exists. Let's just hope Nintendo has some surprises in store for us that we haven't heard about yet.
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Scott has been freelancing for over three years across a number of different gaming publications, first appearing on GamesRadar+ in 2024. He has also written for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, VG247, Play, TechRadar, and others. He's typically rambling about Metal Gear Solid, God Hand, or any other PS2-era titles that rarely (if ever) get sequels.
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