The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword: What You Need To Know

Did you hear that Nintendo is making a new Zelda game? Okay, so Nintendo will never be not making a new Zelda game, but…

New Zelda game!  You swing a sword!  There’s bombs!  And arrows.  And a clawshot.  And a pony.

What more do you want?

Information?  We got that.

• It’s going to come out in 2011.  :'(  Look on the bright side: when we get it, the game will be that much better for not being rushed.
• It is the first Zelda game made specifically for the Wii.  Twilight Princess was designed for the GameCube, and later scaled up for compatibility with the Wii’s controls.
• Will use WiiMotion Plus for one to one sword and shield controls, from directional strikes to shield bashing.  See this Kotaku post for example.
• Yes, the somewhat intrusive HUD can be turned off.
• The game will have a map system that Nintendo promises will be simpler and more useful than in previous games.
• Musically, it will take lessons from Super Mario Galaxy 2.  Hooray for swelling orchestral scores!
• Link still comes from a village in this game, but it’s a little different.  He’s from the floating island of Skyloft.  The land below is full of horrible monsters, so I’m sure the game has NOTHING TO DO with beating the pants off of every last one of them.

Here’s a trailer!

(via Kotaku and IGN.)