No Zelda until April at earliest
But it's still a Cube game.
Following yesterday's revelation that Zelda: Twilight Princess has been slipped into 2006, Nintendo of America has elaborated on the game's new timing, and poured cold water on speculation that the game will now appear on Revolution instead.
Perrin Kaplan, Nintendo's veepee of corporate affairs, said that the new launch date would come "after the conclusion of this fiscal year," which means the game won't be released until April 2006 at the absolute earliest.
When asked about reports linking the game to Revolution, which is due to launch in the second half of 2006, Kaplan said, "In effect, because of the backward compatibility built into Revolution, every GameCube game also will be a Revolution title. But we feel a commitment to the GameCube owners who've been patiently awaiting this new Zelda title, and don't want to force them to wait and buy a brand new system in order to play the game."
The game's new April-or-later release date could mean that it arrives with Xbox 360 firmly embedded and PlayStation 3 on the verge of being released - at least in Japan - but Kaplan dismissed suggestions that it was playing into Microsoft's hands with the delay. "Those who love Zelda will be thrilled when it arrives, and we believe will still want to purchase it even though the wait might have been a disappointment."