Nintendo unveils new Zelda for DS

GDC 2009 - Nintendo announces a new handheld Zelda game, much to the delight of fanboys worldwide
GDC 2009 - Nintendo announces a new handheld Zelda game, much to the delight of fanboys worldwide

Just when we thought GDC was going to be all about 3D gaming and streaming fun through your cable TV set-top box, Nintendo goes and announces a new Zelda.

Yep, you read that correctly. Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata has just told the packed auditorium at GDC in San Francisco that a new Zelda title for the DSi called Spirit Tracks (trailer link) will be released later this year.

"Link is riding on a train! A train that shoots cannonballs! Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks is the name. Awesome," reports Chris Kohler over on Wired.

Stay tuned for further details as we get them.

New climbing game

Prior to dropping this megaton announcement in San Francisco, Mr Iwata went through the usual malarkey of reminding us of the hugely successful Wii and DS sales figures as well as heaping praise on visionary games designer Shigeru Miyamoto.

Gamers can also look forward to a new Wii title called Rock n Roll Climber, a Wii Balance Board title developed by Giles Goddard's renowned Vitei studio.

Rock n Roll Climber lets gamers use the Wiimote to control their hands and the Wii Fit balance board to control their feet.

Retro arcade

For retro gaming fans, Virtual Console Arcade introduces a bunch of classic titles to be made available for download soon, including Sega's Space Harrier, Mappy, Return of Ishtar, Souvalou, Gaplus, Space Invaders, Druaga, and more.

Finally, in news that is welcome but hardly (technically) groundbreaking, the Wii can now store and run games from high-capacity SD cards (up to 32GB apparently). Useful for fans of Virtual Console, in particular.

You can download Nintendo's new Wii System Menu, version 4.0, right now.

Chop chop! Get to it!

Adam Hartley