Twilight Princess Mirrored on Wii

conigs writes "As some of you may or may not know, Link will appear right-handed in the Wii version of Twilight Princess (as opposed to the left-handed Link seen since Ocarina of Time). In order to accomplish this, Nintendo has mirrored the entire game. This includes maps, since they were apparently designed with a left-handed Link in mind." Kotaku says that this will even be true in the GameCube version of Princess, to avoid confusion.

cf titanic

[Yahweh Doesn't Exist (906833)]

apparently they mirrored the film titanic. most* of the budget was spent CGIing the signs to look right.

hopefully this ends the comparison of twilight princess and titanic.

*dramatisation. may not be true.

What?

[Mikachu (972457)]

Where in the second link does it say that the Gamecube version is also going to be mirrored? I don't see any evidence of that.

Oh kaaaay...

[Megane (129182)]

Since some people really will want to play left-handed (I'm a lefty only when writing and eating, so not me), why not just make it a configurable option?

But mirroring the whole freaking game? Someone couldn't have thought of just flipping the character model a year or two ago when they still had time to do it? Then people could even play the game a second time with their off hand.

Re:Oh kaaaay...

[HTH NE1 (675604)]

Since some people really will want to play left-handed (I'm a lefty only when writing and eating, so not me), why not just make it a configurable option?

Indeed, or even automatically switchable during game play when it detects you moving your Wiimote from one hand to another for your own little "The Princess Bride" moment.

Re:

[jZnat (793348)]

Oh, that'd be an awesome trip to see the world flip back and forth as you do that.

Re:

[grammar fascist (239789)]

But mirroring the whole freaking game? Someone couldn't have thought of just flipping the character model a year or two ago when they still had time to do it? Then people could even play the game a second time with their off hand.

Think animations. If they've got Link all lined up to interact with the world, they can't very well switch his hand and expect all the animations to line up properly. It's probably much easier just to reverse everything than to recreate all the animations.

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[steveo777 (183629)]

I assume that the sword combat isn't so intense taht you would have to be a Wii-mote master of Beatrix Kiddo [imdb.com] proportions just to win the game. Therefore, I don't see why it would be difficult to wield the sword left-handed. That, and I think having a mirrored charecter model would be a lot more difficult than most people think. Animations would be easy, but what about hit-detection and the like?

yeliaBnitsuJ

[LoverOfJoy (820058)]

yeliaB nitsuJ
------ ------

Oh wait...wrong game.

Re:

[miyako (632510)]

In case anyone doesn't catch the reference, it's a mirrored version of a code from metroid on NES
Justin Bailey ------ ------ which allows you to start on Norfair with everything except the ice beam and without samus's power suit.

And it's not even intentional.

[Myria (562655)]

"JUSTIN BAILEY -------- --------" just happens to be a valid password by the game's password checksum algorithm. The state of the game you get just happens to be what matches the setting of those bitflags. I would guess that a player named Justin Bailey tried this and found it worked well - and no other password at the time was known to allow a suitless Samus. In modern times, a password is known that gives you a suitless Samus at the starting point with no power-ups.

There is only one special-cased Metroid password: "NARPAS SWORD0 000000 000000", probably meaning "Narihiro's password". It gives you infinite life and ammo, and was not discovered until the assembly code behind the password system was analyzed.

Melissa

RTFA Zonk

[Karma Farmer (595141)]

Zonk says:

Kotaku says that this will even be true in the GameCube version of Princess, to avoid confusion.

The article says:

in the Wii version of the game, Link would be right-handed, although he's traditionally an elfin south paw... a character trait retained on the GameCube version of the game.

I say:

Zonk, learn to read and stop smoking the crack.

What? A right handed Link?

[Psykechan (255694)]

Twilight Princess to have a right handed Link? That's so sinister.

I still don't understand why the game would be mirrored. Also, what happens if you have a lefty playing the game? I know from the fishing videos [google.com] that it's backwards; I'm going to want to hold the fishing rod with my left hand and reel with the nunchuck in my right hand. I hope that this is allowed.

More serious design problem here

[DarthParadox (983868)]

This is masking a more serious design problem. A game designed for use with the Wiimote should have a setting that allows the game to be played either left- or right-handed, so as to not exclude anyone. Presumably the player's actions match up to the avatar's (in this case, Link's). Therefore, it should be possible to make Link either left- or right-handed, within the game.

The fact that this isn't possible is troubling for the prospect of lefties being able to play this game the same way righties can.

Re:

[XenoRyet (824514)]

I imagine many, if not most, games in which it matters will be good for both righties and lefties. However, apparently Link's handedness is a factor in the level design, so it's not as easy as just including a setting within the game.

Given that fact, and the fact that the downside is realitivly minor (I can't imagine it being too disconcerting for a left-handing motion to produce a right-handied onscreen action), it makes sense to make Link match up with the majority of the population. If the downside w

Re:

[RyoShin (610051)]

Considering that you'd likely have to individually map armor, animations, and such for both left- and right-handed orientation, this is no trivial task. I believe it's feasible, but increases the workload a bit.

However, since we've had to wait over a year more for this game because of the Wii version, I would have hoped they would work in both left hand and right hand.

We will see more options for left/right handedness in the second generation of Wii games, after developers have had time to really try it out

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[Baricom (763970)]

...the Nunchuck is shaped in the way that you must hold it with your left hand.

Would you mind explaining why? The nunchuck appears to be symmetrical in every picture I've seen of it.

Left handers need love too.

[Bakasama (554260)]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-handed [wikipedia.org]

You might be surprised to realize that almost everything is designed with the right hand bias. Most right handed people either don't realize that their design is nigh unwieldable for lefties, or don't want to spend the time and money redesigning for potential use in the left hand.

Nearly every gaming mouse and keyboard rig on the market assumes that you will have the mouse in your right hand, and the left will run the keyboard. This didn't become an irresolvable problem until the rise of ergonomics. Now, mice and keyboards are form molded to fit into the hand that they were designed for.

Try holding that nice Logitech bluetooth mouse in your left hand. You'll find that it's uncomfortable just sitting there. Never mind moving it around on your desk.

But that just the small stuff. Dangerous tools that could maim or even kill if mishandled are only available in right handed form. I've never seen a ambidextrous circular saw.

Ever try to find a left handed firearm?

Easily 90% of the auto loading sidearm designs have all of the controls positioned to be accessed by the thumb of the right hand. Almost every hunting rifle made by man has the bolt actuator on the right side. Revolvers are almost impossible to reload left handed.

So it is frustrating when Nintendo designs a controller that is so obviously ambidextrous, and the software developers ignore it and build everything right handed anyway.

The NPCs are now all left handed?

[Kalak (260968)]

Assuming Link is the only major character who is left handed, then all the NPCs are right handed. "Fixing" the game by merely mirror imaging makes *all* the characters switch. Now all of the NPCs are left handed. Most sword fighting, etc. is right on right handed (look at spiral stair case design in mideval castles), and an advantage is usually to the lefty who is used to fighting against a right handed opponent, while the right handed opponent rarely fights a left handed opponent.

This actually changes *a lot* and is disapointing as a fix. It does not balance the world, or make it correct. Making Link right handed fighting right handed opponents would be a more accurate fix, though it defeats the purpose of having Link being left handed in the first place.

Not having an option to play a left handed Link also disapoints me because I am a lefty. I would like the option to use the sword in whatever hand I choose to. This is one game I was excited about, but am now indifferent to. This is a deal breaker for the Wiimote to lefties. Left handed batting? Left handed catching? If these are not possible, I'm not buying.

I'm sure, given time, this will be adressed in other games if they don't want to cut out 10% of the population

Lefties shouldn't be concerned...

[7Prime (871679)]

...unless you've never played with a console controller before, it will feel more natural to use the Wiimote in the right hand, since it has the main buttons, which have ALWAYS been featured on the right side of paddle controllers. The nunchuk, held in the left, will have the control stick, just like in traditional controllers.

If you think about it, controllers have always been strangely left-handed. It's our left thumbs that do the precision controlling that is usually associated with the dominant hand, while the right hand does the button mashing more commonly associated with the subordinant hand. Joysticks and keyboards feature directional control with the right hand. Seeing that Nintendo both designed the first paddle controller and featured a left-handed Link, one wonders whether the lead design team was made up of mostly lefties at the time... not that it really made much of a difference in the long run.

Left handed since before Ocarina

[Mark Programmer (228585)]

From the summary:

"As some of you may or may not know, Link will appear right-handed in the Wii version of Twilight Princess (as opposed to the left-handed Link seen since Ocarina of Time)."

From the source material:

"Link nodded silently in approval, and left the room after taking a long glance at the altar. Then with a magical sword in his left hand and a magical shield in his right, he set off alone on his long travels."
          Instruction manual, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

... that's the first mention in the written text. If you look at the sprite in the first game, it's painfully obvious that link is left-handed.

The more you know!

This may warrant buying both versions...

[7Prime (871679)]

If it's true (unlike the blurb says) that the GameCube version will be un-mirrored, then this will make for an insane replay of the game if done a second time on the other system. Spacially, it will mean re-charting everything in reverse, which the human brain isn't really all that good at doing. You will be much more likely to not immediately remember the solution to each puzzle just by reconizing the room, since a reversed layout will many times look just "different". If this is true, I'm going to wait a few months, and then go back and play the other version... this could make for a REALLY interesting case study in spacial memory.

Re:Yeaa for me, but hmmm

[Chris Burke (6130)]

I'm amazed at the major changes they have to make to make the game work (the entire world gets flipped) but the biggest problems comes up simply "what about those who are left handed."

Actually that isn't much work, or at least doesn't have to be. Just add in a y-axis flip into your view transformation matrix and viola, the world is now a mirror-image. All that'd be left then is to make sure the rendering of mini- or full-screen maps are correct.

As far as "what about those who are left handed", I don't know. It seems odd to me that they would consider the handed-ness of people using the Wii to control the sword, but not make it an option. The blurb (RTFA? What's that mean?) suggests that the actual design of the gameplay depends on handed-ness, which is why to make Link right-handed they had to flip everything else as well. That doesn't make much sense to me.

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[geminidomino (614729)]

A few comments have been made on Link's handedness over the years.

In WW, he was described as "ambidextrous, favoring his left hand" but going back to LTTP, he swapped hands when facing east vs. west because of sprite mirroring. The Player's guide had a flavor text to explain that it was because of an old Hylian superstition that he would always swing his shield towards Death Mountain.

Re:Technology news that matters?

[frankthechicken (607647)]

If they have mirrored the entire game, then why not give an option to be either left or right handed? Surely that would be an ideal solution?

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[XenoRyet (824514)]

The in game dialog, among other things would have to be matched to both versions. You can't very well have someone tell you to go west when you should be going east. I'm sure it's technicaly possible, but not very feasable to correct for all the problems the two versions would cause. Particularly not to have 85% of your audience never touch the setting.