This preview by Gamer2.0 is mostly positive toward the game. They are playing the full japanese version released (they imported) and they are impressed with the ease at which the touchscreen controls are learned. Mentioned is the fact that this game makes use of almost all of the DS's functions, including the microphone (though the way described was a bit gimmicky they liked it nonetheless). They like the graphics, they are nice and crisp, but they were unable to test out the Wi-Fi capabilities of the game.
This week's Media Create charts (Japanese software charts) has the game dropping a notch to 2nd spot with around 137k units sold. It lost only to a new PS2 game. Total lifetime sales in Japan is now around 439k. This game is showing good legs and will no doubt stick around in the charts not unlike other big DS titles.
Import Review: Most of you reading this live on an island - one of the persistently rainy British Isles, probably. And your correspondent lives on the Japanese island of Honshu. So we at least have that much in common with Link in Phantom Hourglass. Of course, part of the fun of living on an island is the opportunity to leave and visit another one. On a boat. And that's something else Link gets his kicks from in this magical DS debut, which has just been released here in Japan. All aboard, then, for another classic Zelda adventure!
Don't worry people, we're not giving away any major plot spoilers in this review.
What's continually interesting to me about games like this is their incredible potential for future sales bursts after the first millions have been sold. The greatest potential for this is the inevitable, but long time away, price cut as the game becomes a platinum hit or whatever the ds equivalent is. Once this happens, the game will see a momentary resurgence in all spheres.
The other thing to keep in mind is that unlike many systems, the ds is constantly in a state of growth and shows no sign of slowing down. The sales figures for this game should also be adjusted to incorporate the inevitable growth of the market in which it is sold. All and all, I'd peg this, over a lifetime, at 8 million sold. This may seem slightly high, but take into account that the ds is, over time, going to reach and probably surpass over a 100 million units sold. That' s one hundred million nintendo ds's. There are certain games that are and will become integral to that experience, nintendogs, pokemon, super mario, and I think, the legend of zelda.
Over the course of two or three years, which is a long lifetime but not at all unjustified, this game has no where to go but up.
Nintendo of America announced today that The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass will be hitting North America on October 1st. The Nintendo DS adventure, which serves as a sequel to the 2003 GameCube title, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, was recently released in Japan, where it received a near-perfect score from premier gaming mag, Famitsu.
Nintendo will also be making a special bonus available to members of the My Nintendo website, as those who register both their Nintendo DS system and the Phantom Hourglass game will be eligible to receive an exclusive stylus shaped like a quill pen. The stylus, patterned after an in-game item, appears to be available on a limited basis, so early adopters will want to jump on that on the release date.
We recently spent some time with the import release of Phantom Hourglass, so be sure to check out our first impressions to get some insight into Nintendo's next dual-screened smash.
June 29, 2007 - Earlier this week my long awaited package from the usual import house arrived. After spending a short couple of seconds shredding the envelope into unrecognizable confetti, I held in my hands the long-awaited, premiere Legend of Zelda Nintendo DS adventure, just released in Japan a few short days prior. It didn't take long for me to crack open the shrinkwrap, pop open the case and stick the cartridge into a freshly charged Nintendo DS system.
310k in first week in japan? very good. looking at the graphs on VGChartz for most of the big zelda games, american sales are about 2.5-3 times as much as japan and european sales are around 1.5-2 times as much as japan. Japan looks like it could clear one million. Europe would then be 1.5-2M and US would be around 2.5-3M
Total them up and we get between 5-6 M. This doesn't even take into account the fact that this is on DS which is outdoing even the GameBoy Advance for total worldwide sales for the same weeks released.
5
As I type this, it's at 93 with 6 reviews already.
Previous Zelda game rankings on Metacritic:
Legend of Zelda (GBA, classic) - 84 (16 reviews)
Link to the Past (GBA) - 95 (30 reviews)
Minish Cap (GBA) - 89 (56 reviews)
Ocarina of Time (N64) - 99 (22 reviews)
Majora's Mask (N64) - 95 (27 reviews)
Wind Waker (GC) - 96 (80 reviews)
Twilight Princess (Wii) - 95 (72 reviews)