104-575: The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass is a 2007 action-adventure game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld game console . It is the fourteenth installment in The Legend of Zelda series and the direct sequel to the 2002 GameCube title The Wind Waker . Phantom Hourglass was released worldwide in 2007, with the exception of South Korea in April 2008. The game
208-472: A The Legend of Zelda game, calling it another successful video game for the franchise and a "must-have" for anyone that owns a Nintendo DS. The Onion ' s entertainment newspaper The A.V. Club remarked that Phantom Hourglass exploits the Nintendo DS's touchscreen to the fullest extent in an imaginative and genuinely fun way. In a perfect 5-star review, Empire stated that Phantom Hourglass
312-627: A fantasy " setting. Tutankham , debuted by Konami in January 1982, was an action-adventure released for arcades . It combined maze, shoot 'em up, puzzle-solving and adventure elements, with a 1983 review by Computer and Video Games magazine calling it "the first game that effectively combined the elements of an adventure game with frenetic shoot 'em up gameplay." It inspired the similar Time Bandit (1983). Action Quest , released in May 1982, blended puzzle elements of adventure games into
416-446: A joystick -controlled, arcade-style action game, which surprised reviewers at the time. While noting some similarities to Adventure , IGN argues that The Legend of Zelda (1986) by Nintendo "helped to establish a new subgenre of action-adventure", becoming a success due to how it combined elements from different genres to create a compelling hybrid, including exploration, adventure-style inventory puzzles , an action component,
520-571: A monetary system , and simplified RPG-style level building without the experience points . The Legend of Zelda series was the most prolific action-adventure game franchise through to the 2000s. Roe R. Adams also cited the arcade-style side-scrolling fantasy games Castlevania (1986), Trojan (1986) and Wizards & Warriors (1987) as early examples of action-adventure games. Games like Brain Breaker (1985), Xanadu (1985), Metroid (1986) and Vampire Killer (1986) combined
624-767: A subgenre of open world action-adventure video games in the third-person perspective . They are characterized by their likeness to the Grand Theft Auto series in either gameplay or overall design. In these types of open world games, players may find and use a variety of vehicles and weapons while roaming freely in an open world setting. Metroidvania is a portmanteau of Metroid and Castlevania ; such games are sometimes referred to as "search action", and are generally based on two-dimensional platformers. They emphasize both exploration and puzzle-solving with traditional platform gameplay. Survival horror games emphasize "inventory management" and making sure
728-472: A 3D view is shown on both screens, allowing the player to have a wider view of their surroundings. The player controls Link with the stylus, moves him by pointing to the sides of the screen, and uses the stylus to interact with objects and people or attack foes by pointing at them. To travel between islands on the Great Sea , the player controls a paddle steamer called the S.S. Linebeck . The player can plot
832-671: A DS or Wii game was sold, but not the system, there was no risk of the purchaser impersonating the seller. If a user needed to replace his or her DS system, then the old system's Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection ID could be transferred wirelessly, in order to maintain the user's original Friend Codes on the new machine. Some games required that the user had to use Friend Codes to use any online functionality. Many games have additional features that are enabled between registered friends. These may include customized matchmaking options, cooperative play, friend lists, text chat, and voice chat. Certain Wii games use
936-623: A Friend Code, a Friend Code was required to play with a specific person. Friend Codes were generated from an identifier unique to a copy of a game and the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection ID of a DS or Wii system. Using a different copy of a game or loading the same copy in a different system generated a new Friend Code. If users wanted to become "Friends", they had to mutually add Friend Codes and be authenticated as Friends once both of them were online. Nintendo introduced these features as conscious steps to preserve users' privacy. If
1040-697: A battle mode that was played over Wi-Fi to appeal to American players. The game takes advantage of the Nintendo DS's stylus in several different ways. The player can draw shapes to open certain doors and plot out the path of ships on the ocean, among other tasks. The device's touchscreen can also be used to direct Link's boomerang. Phantom Hourglass features cel-shaded graphics similar to those of The Wind Waker , with some influence from Four Swords Adventures . Link and Zelda's appearances in Phantom Hourglass resemble those from The Wind Waker . At E3 2007, Aonuma said that Phantom Hourglass "opened up
1144-404: A certain description (e.g. Mario without his cap). After the time period for sending a Mii has expired, the user had the choice of voting for three Miis featured on the judging panel, with ten random Miis being shown at a time. Once the judging period is over, the results of the contest could be viewed. Their selection and/or submission's popularity in comparison to others was displayed, as well as
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#17327810397891248-545: A choice of what to say. The NPC gives a scripted response to the player, and the game offers the player several new ways to respond. Due to the action-adventure subgenre's broad and inclusive nature, it causes some players to have difficulty finishing a particular game. Companies have devised ways to give the player help, such as offering clues or allowing the player to skip puzzles to compensate for this lack of ability. Brett Weiss cites Atari 's Superman (1979) as an action-adventure game, with Retro Gamer crediting it as
1352-448: A complex text parser and no free-moving character. While they share general gameplay dynamics, action-adventures vary widely in the design of their viewpoints, including bird's eye , side-scrolling, first-person, third-person , over-the-shoulder, or even a 3/4 isometric view . Many action-adventure games simulate a conversation through a conversation tree . When the player encounters a non-player character , they are allowed to select
1456-403: A course by drawing on a sea chart, redraw the course to make any necessary alterations, shoot at enemies that attack the ship using a cannon, and jump to avoid obstacles. The game includes a one-on-one multiplayer battle mode. In an arena, one player controls Link, while the other player, on defense, controls three Phantom Guardians. Players of both sides are aided by power-up items that appear on
1560-444: A guide built into set-top boxes and/or TVs. The Digicam Print Channel was a channel developed in collaboration with Fujifilm that allowed users to import their digital photos from an SD card and place them into templates for printable photo books and business cards through a software wizard. The user was also able to place their Mii on a business card. The completed design was then sent online to Fujifilm who printed and delivered
1664-528: A limited amount of time. In addition to the curse, Link must contend with Phantoms, a type of enemy exclusive to the Temple. Phantoms are invincible for the most part, necessitating the use of stealth in order to get past them. "Safe zones" are scattered throughout the Temple, and allow Link to avoid both the Phantoms and the Temple's curse. As Link progresses through the game, he is able to access deeper levels of
1768-641: A new feature for the Wi-Fi Connection called Pay & Play. Games that used the Pay & Play feature had additional downloadable content (DLC) or services that required extra fees. These fees were paid for using Nintendo Points . A special red Wi-Fi Connection logo with the words "Pay & Play" was used to distinguish these games from the regular Wi-Fi assessable games. The first games to feature Pay & Play were released in Japan as part of WiiWare on
1872-527: A press release which revealed the first titles would surface sometime in 2008. According to Nintendo, "The remarkable motion controls will give birth to fresh takes on established genres, as well as original ideas that currently exist only in developers' minds." The Nintendo DSi Shop is a defunct online storefront exclusive to the Nintendo DSi and Nintendo DSi XL systems, where people could download DSiWare games and applications. Nintendo announced that
1976-711: A side-scrolling platformer format with adventure exploration, creating the Metroidvania platform-adventure subgenre. Similarly, games like 005 (1981), Castle Wolfenstein and Metal Gear (1987) combined action-adventure exploration with stealth mechanics, laying the foundations for the stealth game subgenre, which would later be popularized in 1998 with the releases of Metal Gear Solid , Tenchu: Stealth Assassins , and Thief: The Dark Project . The cinematic platformer Prince of Persia (1989) featured action-adventure elements, inspiring games such as Another World (1991) and Flashback (1992). Alone in
2080-400: A single avatar as the protagonist . This type of game is often quite similar to role-playing video games . They are distinct from graphic adventures , which sometimes have free-moving central characters, but also a wider variety of commands and fewer or no action game elements and are distinct too from text adventures , characterized by many different commands introduced by the user via
2184-493: Is 12 minutes, assuming Link does not get caught. The game supports multiplayer both locally and online through the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection , as well as Download Play . The game is the third The Legend of Zelda game to include multiplayer, following Four Swords and Four Swords Adventures . Phantom Hourglass introduces the game mechanic of a large dungeon central to the game's story, in this case
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#17327810397892288-447: Is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Typically, classical adventure games have situational problems for the player to explore and solve to complete a storyline, involving little to no action . If there is action, it is generally confined to isolated instances. Classical action games, on the other hand, have gameplay based on real-time interactions that challenges
2392-557: Is a game that has enough action in it not to be called an adventure game, but not enough action to be called an action game." In some cases an action game with puzzles will be classified as an action-adventure game, but if these puzzles are quite simple they might be classified as an action game. Others see action games as a pure genre, while an action-adventure is an action game that includes situational problem-solving. Adventure gamers may also be purists, rejecting any game that makes use of physical challenges or time pressure. Regardless,
2496-424: Is heavily reliant upon the player character's movement, which triggers story events and thus affects the flow of the game. Popular examples of action-adventure games include The Legend of Zelda , God of War , and Tomb Raider series. There is a good deal of controversy over what actually constitutes an action-adventure game. One definition of the term "action-adventure" may be '"An action/adventure game
2600-510: Is one of Nintendo's greatest achievements and a contender for the best handheld adventure in console history. Issues that were mentioned in reviews regarding the game included its more casual gameplay compared to the previous The Legend of Zelda games, which was not well received by some. GameSpy felt that the game was both easy and approachable enough for casual gamers to play, but sufficiently rewarding and challenging to satisfy hardcore fans of The Legend of Zelda series. IGN believed
2704-684: Is teleported out to Linebeck's ship, where Tetra is freed. When Link and Tetra are about to hold hands, Bellum arrives and take Tetra away to the Ghost Ship, and apparently kill the Ocean King. While confronting him, Link is knocked unconscious, and Linebeck injures Bellum. However, Bellum possesses Linebeck, becoming the Phantom Knight and Link is forced to fight him in the Ghost Ship destroyed. Link kills Bellum to free Linebeck and rescues Tetra. The Phantom Hourglass's sand then whisk away in
2808-579: The Uncharted franchise, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Ark: Survival Evolved . Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection (sometimes shortened to Nintendo WFC ) was an online multiplayer gaming service run by Nintendo that formerly provided free online play in compatible Nintendo DS and Wii games. The service included the company's Wii Shop Channel and DSi Shop game download services. It also ran features for
2912-666: The Internet Channel , Everybody Votes Channel , Check Mii Out Channel , Nintendo Channel , Netflix Channel , Hulu Plus Channel and the Japan-only Television Friend Channel . all downloadable channels were free of charge. Nintendo announced the purchase and redemption of Wii Points would be disabled on March 26, 2018, and then shut down the channel on January 30, 2019, similar to the DSi shop two years earlier. The Virtual Console portion of
3016-538: The Mario Kart Wii disc into the console, but to compete in races and time trials the disc was required. The use of the Mario Kart Channel allowed for a number of options. A ranking option lets players see their best Time Trial scores for each track and compare their results to those of their friends and other players worldwide, represented by their Miis. Players will have the option of racing against
3120-576: The News Channel shows a news ticker in the Wii Menu. However, not visiting the channel for a period of time will result in the ticker not appearing, until the channel is viewed. A December 20, 2007, update only released in PAL regions increased the number of news feeds to the channel, sourced from a larger number of news resources and agencies, providing more news that is available per country. As with
3224-555: The Nintendo DS . In this capacity, the channel worked in a similar way to the DS Download Station . The channel provided game info pages and users could rate games that they had played. A search feature was also available to assist users in finding new games to try or buy. The channel had the ability to take the user directly into the Wii Shop Channel for buying the wanted game immediately. The Nintendo Channel
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3328-569: The Wii and Nintendo DS systems. Games designed to take advantage of Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection offered Internet play integrated into the game. When promoting this service, Nintendo emphasized the simplicity and speed of starting an online game. For example, in Mario Kart DS , an online game was initiated by selecting the online multiplayer option from the main menu, then choosing whether to play with friends, or to play with other players (either in
3432-818: The "first to utilize multiple screens as playing area". Mark J.P. Wolf credits Adventure (1980) for the Atari VCS as the earliest-known action-adventure game. The game involves exploring a 2D environment, finding and using items which each have prescribed abilities, and fighting dragons in real-time like in an action game . Muse Software 's Castle Wolfenstein (1981) was another early action-adventure game, merging exploration, combat, stealth, and maze game elements, drawing inspiration from arcade shoot 'em ups and maze games (such as maze-shooter Berzerk ) and war films (such as The Guns of Navarone ). According to Wizardry developer Roe R. Adams, early action-adventure games "were basically arcade games done in
3536-494: The 12 digit Friend Codes over more common screen names as the company feared that there could be conflict with people with the same screen name, and it would be potentially easy to guess at a person's screen name which created issues with privacy concerns. While the DS's firmware predated Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, the Wii and DSi featured more robust internet connectivity, in addition to software patches . In 2008, Nintendo announced
3640-465: The 16-digit Wii Number to share some data passively between mutually registered users via WiiConnect24 instead of using independent Friend Codes. Although, some of these games may use both the 16-digit Wii Number and its own 12-digit Friend Code, depending on whether the online connectivity requires either passive data-sharing or active multiplaying respectively. Through internal design documents inadvertently leaked in May 2020, Nintendo had chosen to use
3744-1014: The 2007 Spike Video Game Awards . At E3 2006, Phantom Hourglass was designated as the Best Nintendo DS Game by GameSpot and the Best Handheld Game at the Game Critics Awards . In 2008 , the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences awarded Phantom Hourglass with Handheld Game of the Year , along with a nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Gameplay Engineering . The game placed 38th in Official Nintendo Magazine ' s 100 Greatest Nintendo Games of All-Time. Action-adventure game An action-adventure game
3848-775: The BBC iPlayer Channel, which is free to download from the Wii Shop Channel . The service was only available to users in the United Kingdom . On February 10, 2015, the BBC announced on their website that they had removed BBC iPlayer from the Wii Shop Channel and terminated the service on the Wii due to resource limitations and infrastructure changes. The Wii Shop Channel is a defunct online storefront that allowed users to download games and other software by redeeming Wii Points , which could be obtained by purchasing Nintendo Points cards from retail outlets or directly through
3952-490: The Dark (1992) used 3D graphics , which would later be popularized by Resident Evil (1996) and Tomb Raider (1996). Resident Evil in particular created the survival horror subgenre, inspiring titles such as Silent Hill (1999) and Fatal Frame (2001). Action-adventure games have gone on to become more popular than the pure adventure games and pure platform games that inspired them. Recent examples include
4056-707: The European version was missing some of these new additional features, such as options for choosing video quality. In addition, a weekly show known as Nintendo Week began airing exclusively on the North American edition of the channel, while another weekly show called Nintendo TV , was available on the UK version of the channel. Mario Kart Wii allowed players to install the Mario Kart Channel on their Wii console. The channel can work without inserting
4160-558: The Forecast Channel, the News Channel is not available in South Korea. The News Channel was shut down on June 28, 2013, along with the Forecast Channel, due to both channels requiring the discontinued WiiConnect24 service. The Everybody Votes Channel allowed users to vote in simple opinion polls and compare and contrast opinions with those of friends, family, and people across the globe. Everybody Votes Channel
4264-568: The Ghost Ship to trap his preys. With the three Spirits rescued, Link locates the Ghost Ship and rescues Tetra, only to find her lifeless and petrified. the Ocean King then task Link to craft the "Phantom Sword", the ultimate weapon capable of defeating Bellum and rescue Tetra. Sailing the sea, Link finds the pure metals and, fused with the Phantom Hourglass, gains the Phantom Sword. In the Temple's slums, Link defeats Bellum and
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass - Misplaced Pages Continue
4368-574: The Ghost Ship. Tetra enters it and is heard screaming. Link fails to come to her help and falls into the ocean. Washed ashore on Mercay Island, Link meets Ciela and her grandfather Oshus, and both agree to help him rescue Tetra. Link enlists Captain Linebeck, who reluctantly agrees at the condition of a treasure. The group sails the Great Sea and learns the Ghost Ship can be found by collecting the three Spirits of Power, Wisdom, and Courage. After freeing
4472-524: The Internet even when the console was in standby mode. Games and channels that utilized WiiConnect24 could send and receive data even while the game was not being played. Players who wished to send data to friends only needed to register each other's Wii System Code and not individual Friend Codes. Players could also send messages to their friends using WiiConnect24 from the Wii Message Board. It
4576-628: The Internet with a downloadable browser . The Nintendo Wii and DSi browsers are powered by Opera , but the Nintendo 3DS browser is powered by NetFront . The Nintendo DS's web browser, also powered by Opera, requires a cartridge , and a RAM expansion through the GBA port. The Forecast Channel first became available on December 19, 2006, and was shut down on June 28, 2013, due to the discontinuation of WiiConnect24 which it required. The Forecast Channel allowed weather reports and forecasts to be shown on
4680-606: The Internet. News articles are available on a globe view similar to the Forecast Channel , and as a slide show. The content was automatically updated and viewable via WiiConnect24 with clickable news images supported. It, as with WiiConnect24, was shut down on June 28, 2013. The News Channel became available in North America, Europe, and Australia on January 26, 2007. Starting with the August 6, 2007, update,
4784-465: The March 25, 2008. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King , Kotoba no Puzzle Mojipittan Wii and Lonpos each had downloadable content available for 100 to 800 Wii Points. The first retail Wii titles to feature Pay & Play functionality are Samba de Amigo , Guitar Hero World Tour and Rock Band 2 . WiiConnect24 is a defunct service that allowed the system to be connected to
4888-468: The Mii was correct in its predictions or not, it was displayed on a statistics page, along with a counter of how many times that Mii voted. Up to six Miis could be registered to vote on the console. The channel was free to download. Each player could make a suggestion for a poll a day. Everybody Votes Channel was shut down on June 28, 2013, as with the other channels. On December 4, 2012, a LoveFilm channel
4992-529: The Nintendo DS Game of the Year award from GameSpot , GameSpy , and IGN . Phantom Hourglass was the best-selling game in its first month in Japan, with 302,887 copies sold. In the United States, it was the fifth-best-selling game in the month it debuted, with 262,800 copies sold. 4.13 million copies of Phantom Hourglass were sold worldwide by March 2008. A sequel, Spirit Tracks ,
5096-596: The Nintendo DSi Shop would be officially shut down on March 31, 2017, after it disabled the purchase of additional Nintendo DSi Points on September 30, 2016. The availability of DSiWare games and apps on the Nintendo eShop was discontinued with the eShop's closure on March 27, 2023. Flipnote Hatena was the online portion of the notetaking/animation creation app Flipnote Studio for the Nintendo DSi. It
5200-475: The Spirit of Power, Link obtains the Phantom Hourglass, which helps him explore the Temple of the Ocean King and find the remaining Spirits. While rescuing the Spirit of Courage, the group notices a similarity to Ciela. Oshus arrives and reveals Ciela suffers amnesia after being attacked by Bellum, a Demon Monster who consumed life and Oshus, as the Ocean King, banished him in his Temple's slums; Bellum then created
5304-424: The Temple and stay inside for longer. The Temple, including the puzzles within, will reset whenever Link leaves, but as he obtains new items, he can unlock new routes and shortcuts that enable him to travel through the Temple quicker. All this is done similarly to a dungeon crawler . Following the events of The Wind Waker , Link and Tetra travel the Great Sea aboard Tetra's ship to find new land, when they encounter
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#17327810397895408-409: The Temple of the Ocean King. Link visits the Temple multiple times during the course of the game's story, in order to obtain sea charts that allow him to sail to other parts of the ocean. Throughout the game, the Temple has a curse placed on it that drains Link's life whenever he is inside, but upon obtaining the Phantom Hourglass, Link is able to explore the Temple without being affected by the curse for
5512-597: The Virtual Console Arcade branding). The prices were generally the same in almost every region and are determined primarily by the software's original platform. the Wii version of this service was discontinued when the Wii Shop Channel was shut down on January 31, 2019. The WiiWare section of the Wii Shop Channel specialized in downloadable software specifically designed for the Wii, and usually for lower budget games. The first WiiWare games were made available on March 25, 2008, in Japan. The WiiWare platform
5616-557: The Wii Shop Channel specialized in older software originally designed and released for home entertainment platforms that are older, in order to make them more accessible on newer platforms. These games are played on the Wii through emulation of older hardware. this hardware included the NES/Famicom , SNES/Super Famicom , Nintendo 64 , Sega Genesis/Mega Drive , Sega Master System/Mark III , Neo Geo , TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine , Commodore 64 , and some arcade games, (referred to under
5720-484: The Wii Shop Channel using a MasterCard or Visa debit or credit card . Users could browse in the Virtual Console , WiiWare , or Wii Channels sections for downloads. A feature to purchase downloaded software as gifts for others became available worldwide on December 10, 2007. Additional channels that were not released at the console's launch were available for purchase in the Wii Shop Channel. These include
5824-569: The Wii U was released in North America. The YouTube Channel was disconnected on June 30, 2017, due to Google terminating legacy support for all Flash -based YouTube apps on that date. The Check Mii Out Channel (also known as the Mii Contest Channel and the WatchMii Channel ), was a channel that allowed players to share their Miis and enter them into popularity contests. It was first available on November 11, 2007. It
5928-472: The Year , including IGN and GameSpy. It was also mentioned in Best of the Year lists from Wired , Time , and Edge . The game received Editor's Choice awards from GameSpot and IGN . It was also named Best Adventure Game by 1UP.com. The game was designated the Best Handheld Game at the 2008 Golden Joystick awards, the 2008 Game Developers Choice Awards , the 2007 GamePro Editors' Choice awards, and
6032-442: The [ Zelda ] series and [gave] a fresh, new control scheme to the aging Zelda formula". He also said that, despite the disappointing sales of The Wind Waker affecting him personally, he still wished to continue the game's style in another Zelda iteration, leading to the inspiration for Phantom Hourglass . Aonuma believed that the game's simple controls, with the help of the Nintendo DS's touchscreen, helped make Phantom Hourglass
6136-489: The action-adventure label is prominent in articles over the internet and media. The term "action-adventure" is usually substituted for a particular subgenre due to its wide scope. Although action-adventure games are diverse and difficult to classify, there are some distinct subgenres. Many games with gameplay similar to those in The Legend of Zelda series are called Zelda clones or Zelda -like games. Popular subgenres include: A Grand Theft Auto clone belongs to
6240-543: The adventure is worthy of The Legend of Zelda series, and noted that it "has enough great stuff going for it" for them to consider it one of the year's best video game adventures. GameZone enjoyed the "spectacular blend of touch-screen combat, brilliant puzzles, and Wind Waker beauty" in Phantom Hourglass , calling it a "can't-miss adventure" and one of Nintendo's and the year's best games. Hyper ' s Jonti Davies commended Phantom Hourglass for its "perfect controls and supreme world and dungeon designs", but criticized
6344-506: The channel is active, the Wii Remote could be used to change the TV's volume and channel so that users could tune into their shows by way of the channel. The Television Friend Channel launched in Japan on March 4, 2008, and was discontinued on July 24, 2011, due to the shutdown of analog television broadcasts in Japan. It didn’t launch outside of Japan, as most countries, unlike Japan, have
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#17327810397896448-498: The channel. A video on-demand service channel was released in Japan on May 1, 2009. The channel was a joint venture between Nintendo and Japanese advertising agency Dentsu . The channel's interface was built around a virtual living room, where up to 8 Miis can be registered and interact with each other. The virtual living room contained a TV which takes the viewer to the video list. Celebrity "concierge" Miis occasionally introduced special programming. A food delivery service channel
6552-529: The completed product to the user. The processing of individual photos was also available. The Digicam Print Channel became available from July 23, 2008, in Japan. It was planned to be available in Europe, Australia, and North America, but was never released in those regions. It was shut down on June 28, 2013. The Today and Tomorrow Channel became available in Japan on December 2, 2008, and in Europe, Australia, and South Korea on September 9, 2009. The channel
6656-530: The console from the Internet via the WiiConnect24 service. The Forecast Channel displayed a view of the Earth as a user-spinnable globe (courtesy of NASA ), with which users could view weather in other regions. When fully zoomed out, an accurate star map was visible in the background. The Big Dipper and the constellation Orion are easily recognizable, for example. The Forecast Channel features included
6760-617: The current forecast, the UV index, today's overall forecast, tomorrow's forecast, a 5-day forecast (only for the selected country you live in), and a laundry check (Japan only). Certain games like Madden NFL 07 , Nights: Journey of Dreams , and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games could use the Forecast Channel to simulate weather conditions depending on the player's region. The News Channel allows users to access news headlines and current news events obtained from
6864-637: The end of the service, there have been various fan-made services to restore online functionality to games that Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection supported that remain operational, most notably Wiimmfi. On November 14, 2005, Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection was deployed with the release of Mario Kart DS . Having been developed under the direct supervision of president Satoru Iwata , Nintendo's Takao Ohara lamented that Nintendo's long history of online strategies had each quit due to unexpectedly insufficient userbases, but that Nintendo WFC had in four months garnered 2.9 million connections from over one million unique users. To achieve
6968-475: The few "masterpieces" on the Nintendo DS, which made it "worth every penny". Believing that Phantom Hourglass improves on everything that was great about its predecessor, The Wind Waker , GamePro predicted that the sequel would be another successful game in the franchise. Although feeling that the game does not live up to the standards set in Twilight Princess , Game Informer still felt that
7072-547: The first Zelda game to attract casual gamers . Phantom Hourglass was released in Japan on June 23, 2007, in the rest of the world in October, and in South Korea on April 3, 2008. According to Metacritic , it received "universal acclaim". Praise focused on the use of the Nintendo DS features, while criticism targeted its more casual gameplay compared to the previous games in The Legend of Zelda series. Phantom Hourglass
7176-571: The first time and presented a demo. Nintendo also revealed that the game would be released in late 2006. For the holiday season , Nintendo launched two special edition Nintendo DS bundles, each in a different color, on November 23, 2007. One of the bundles, the Gold edition, was emblazoned with The Legend of Zelda ' s signature Triforce logo and sold alongside Phantom Hourglass . The same development team that worked on Four Swords Adventures also worked on what would become Phantom Hourglass . In
7280-419: The game for only giving around 30 hours of gameplay. GameRevolution appreciated the game's graphics, and noted that it uses the Nintendo DS's features better than any other game for the console. Praising its "innovative" and "fun" control scheme, GameSpot felt that Phantom Hourglass gave a new life to several of the series' age-old concepts. X-Play wrote that Phantom Hourglass definitely felt like
7384-426: The game still had gameplay similar to Four Swords Adventures . At a press conference in Japan for the Nintendo DS in October, Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo said that they were thinking of bringing Four Swords to the DS, which was later confirmed by Eiji Aonuma at E3 2005. In 2006, Nintendo presented the keynote address at the annual Game Developers Conference , where they also revealed Phantom Hourglass for
7488-452: The game to be "more casual than we'd like", but still found it captivating, entertaining, and "a true adventure worthy of the Zelda name", calling it "different, but it's still the real deal". GameTrailers stated that the short dungeon levels and hand-holding exploration are "outright disappointing", but when comparing Phantom Hourglass to the other Nintendo DS games, they conceded that it
7592-435: The game's first prototype, the action took place in the upper screen while the touchscreen was a flat map that allowed Link to be controlled. However, the developers believed that this interface caused the player to be too disconnected from the game's action, thereby prompting them to switch the two screens. They felt that this interface would appeal to Japanese players, who they said prefer simple interfaces. The developers added
7696-409: The game's lack of alternative control schemes was a telling sign that Nintendo did not have The Legend of Zelda fans in mind when creating the game. They still described the game as "decent", but felt that it departs from the rest of the series and that Nintendo should have taken the risk in creating innovations for this game. The American newspaper The New York Times enjoyed Phantom Hourglass for
7800-549: The game. The Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection supported up to sixteen players on the Nintendo DS and thirty-two players on the Wii . Basic features of the Wi-Fi Connection included worldwide matchmaking, leaderboards, tournaments. Additional features were available between friends who exchanged Friend Codes. Each game that used Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection generated a unique twelve-digit Friend Code that could be exchanged with friends and be used to maintain individual friend lists in each game. Though certain games could be played online without
7904-406: The gameplay still follows a number of adventure game genre tropes (gathering items , exploration of and interaction with one's environment, often including an overworld connecting areas of importance, and puzzle-solving). While the controls are arcade-style (character movement, few action commands) there is an ultimate goal beyond a high score. In most action-adventure games, the player controls
8008-439: The goal of a truly sustainable online userbase with the most-used network service in the world, Ohara described a new strategy for identifying and relieving four main barriers. The proposed four barriers are difficult setup procedures, the psychological barrier preventing newcomers from joining in games, the unpleasantness of receiving abuse from other players, and the cost barrier. The company's proposed online strategy at this point
8112-455: The islands and their dungeons on foot. While on land, Link discovers and utilizes many items, including the classic boomerang, bow, and bombs. When sailing, the game shows a map of the area on the Nintendo DS 's top screen, and a 3D top-down view of Link and his nearby surroundings on the lower touchscreen . The player can bring down the map from the top screen to the lower screen to make notes. During certain events, including most boss battles,
8216-778: The local region or worldwide) at about the same skill level. After a selection was made, the game started searching for an available player. On January 26, 2012, Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection was succeeded by and absorbed into the Nintendo Network . This new online system unified the 3DS and Wii U platforms and replaced Friend Codes, while providing paid downloadable content, an online community style multiplayer system, and personal accounts. On May 20, 2014, Nintendo shut down Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, except for Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection pay and play branded games, Nintendo DSi Shop and Wii Shop Channel services (which were terminated on March 31, 2017, and January 30, 2019, respectively). After
8320-400: The most part, but complained about the timer in the Temple of the Ocean King as unnecessary and gimmicky, remarking that the game's dungeons are only "fun to go through once, but none of them are fun enough to go through 20 times". They noted that the time spent traveling through dungeons "removed all thoughts of it being perfect". Several websites named Phantom Hourglass the 2007 DS Game of
8424-489: The player has enough ammunition and recovery items to " survive " the horror setting. This is a thematic genre with diverse gameplay, so not all survival horror games share all the features. The Resident Evil franchise popularized this subgenre. Action-adventure games are faster-paced than pure adventure games, and include physical as well as conceptual challenges where the story is enacted rather than narrated. While motion-based, often reflexive, actions are required,
8528-400: The player's reflexes and eye-hand coordination . Action-adventure games combine these genres by engaging both eye-hand coordination and problem-solving skills. An action adventure game can be defined as a game with a mix of elements from an action game and an adventure game , especially crucial elements like puzzles inspired by older adventure games. Action-adventures require many of
8632-413: The playing field. Link's goal is to grab a Force Gem and carry it to his base. The other player, controlling the three Phantom Guardians, must find and catch Link before he returns any Force Gems. When Link is caught, or if the round is over, players switch sides. Each multiplayer game consists of three rounds, and in each round, each player takes a turn at both sides. The maximum length of a multiplayer game
8736-411: The random or selective ghosts, or improving their results gradually by taking on the ghosts of rivals, those with similar race times. Users had the option to submit these times for others around the world to view. Players could also manage and register friends using the channel and see if any of them were currently online. Another feature that the channel offered were Tournaments, where Nintendo would, on
8840-439: The same physical skills as action games, but may also offer a storyline, numerous characters, an inventory system, dialogue, and other features of adventure games. They are typically faster-paced than pure adventure games, because they include both physical and conceptual challenges. Action-adventure games normally include a combination of complex story elements, which are often displayed for players using audio and video. The story
8944-418: The sea. the Ocean King, having survived, reveals his true form as a white whale and leaves with the spirits. Link and Tetra are teleported away to the Great Sea, but not seeing Linebeck, when Tetra's crew insists their adventure was only a ten minutes long dream. Link is then confused when he notices the Phantom Hourglass in his hands, and see Linebeck's ship afar. Development started in May 2004, at which point
9048-436: The television. Content was provided by Guide Plus . A "stamp" feature allowed users to mark programs of interest with a Mii-themed stamp. If an e-mail address or mobile phone number was registered in the address book, the channel could send out an alert 30 minutes prior to the start of the selected program. The channel tracked the stamps of all Wii users and allowed users to rate programs on a five-star scale. Additionally, when
9152-589: The total price. The food was then delivered to the address the Wii user has registered on the channel. The Nintendo Channel (known as the Everybody's Nintendo Channel in Japan) was a Channel for the Wii. It was launched in Japan on November 27, 2007, in North America on May 7, 2008, and in Europe and Australia on May 30, 2008, and was shut down on June 28, 2013. It allowed Wii users to watch videos such as interviews, trailers, commercials, and download demos for
9256-469: The winning Mii and user. The Check Mii Out Channel sent messages to the Wii Message Board concerning recent contests. Participants in certain contests could add their user and submitted Mii to a photo with a background related to the contest theme. This picture could then be sent to the Wii Message Board. The Check Mii Out Channel was shut down on June 28, 2013, as with Wiiconnect24. The Television Friend Channel allowed users to check what programs are on
9360-669: Was available free to download from the Wii Channels section of the Wii Shop Channel . Users could post their own Miis in the Posting Plaza, or import other user-submitted Miis to their own personal Mii Parade. Each submitted Mii was assigned a 12-digit entry number to aid in searching. Submitted Miis were given 2 initials by their creator and a notable skill/talent to aid in sorting. In the Contests section, players could submit their own Miis to compete in contests to best fit
9464-420: Was available to download in the UK. It was discontinued on October 31, 2017. The YouTube channel allowed the user to view YouTube videos on the television screen and has the ability to sign into an existing YouTube account. The YouTube channel is currently only available in the North American and Australian versions of the Wii system, with the North American release on November 15, 2012, only three days before
9568-548: Was called "simple, safe, free". Nintendo believed that the online platform's success directly propelled the commercial success of the entire Nintendo DS platform. Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection then served as part of the basis of what would become the Wii . Individual account Services and apps discontinued prior to May 20, 2014: Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection was developed to be easy to connect to, safe for anyone to use, and free of charge. Games designed to take advantage of Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection offered Internet play integrated into
9672-420: Was developed in collaboration with Media Kobo and allowed users to view fortunes for up to six Miis across five categories: love, work, study, communications, and money. The channel also featured a compatibility test that compared two Miis, and it also gave out "lucky words" that had to be interpreted by the user. The channel used Mii birthdate data, but users had to input a birth year whenever they were loaded onto
9776-525: Was discontinued in 2014. The game's story follows that of The Wind Waker , focusing on series main protagonist Link's journey to save his friend Tetra from the story's main antagonist, Bellum, with the help of Captain Linebeck and his ship, the S.S. Linebeck . Phantom Hourglass received critical acclaim, with praise for its control scheme, world design, and graphics, while some criticized its online features, which were considered too simple. The game received several video game industry awards, including
9880-403: Was discontinued on May 31, 2013. The Nintendo Wii received Netflix on March 27, 2010. It was only for American and Canadian owners but a Netflix disc was required. As of October 18, 2010, American and Canadian Wii owners could watch Netflix instantly as a channel without requiring a disc. Netflix was discontinued for the Wii on January 30, 2019. The Nintendo Wii, DS and DSi can surf
9984-705: Was launched in North America on May 12, 2008, and in Europe and Australia on May 20, 2008. The WiiWare section was touted as a forum to provide developers with small budgets to release smaller-scale games without the investment and risk of creating a title to be sold at retail (somewhat similar to the Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Store ). While actual games have been planned to appear in this section since its inception, there had been no official word on when any would be appearing until June 27, 2007, when Nintendo made an official confirmation in
10088-536: Was launched on February 13, 2007, and was available in the Wii Channels section of the Wii Shop Channel. The application allowed Wii owners to vote on various questions using their Mii as a registered voter. Additionally, voters could also make predictions for the choice that would be the most popular overall after their own vote had been cast. Each Mii's voting and prediction record was tracked and voters could also view how their opinions compared to others. Whether
10192-504: Was re-released for the Wii U via the Virtual Console service in the PAL region in November 2015, in North America in May 2016, and in Japan in August. The game features 3D cel-shaded graphics with an overhead camera perspective, employs controls involving the console's touchscreen and microphone, and took advantage of the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection for online play until the service
10296-498: Was released in December 2009. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass is an action-adventure game with gameplay similar to the other games in The Legend of Zelda series. The player controls Link , the protagonist, and explores the world to find new items, information, and allies to help him save his friend Tetra and defeat the antagonist Bellum. The game is divided into two gameplay types: sailing between islands, and exploring
10400-412: Was released in Japan on May 26, 2009, and was discontinued on March 31, 2017. The channel was a joint venture between Nintendo and Japanese on-line food delivery portal service Demae-can. The channel offered a wide range of foods provided by different food delivery companies which can be ordered directly through the Wii channel. A note was posted to the Wii Message Board containing what had been ordered and
10504-464: Was shut down on June 28, 2013. When a message was received, the Wii's disc slot glowed blue. WiiConnect24 was succeeded by SpotPass on the 3DS and Wii U . On April 9, 2008, the BBC announced that its online BBC iPlayer would be available on the Wii via the Internet Channel browser. Some users experienced difficulties with the service. On November 18, 2009, BBC iPlayer on the Wii was relaunched as
10608-426: Was still an impressive game, but just a good game when compared to The Legend of Zelda standards. 1UP.com pointed out that the biggest problem with Phantom Hourglass is that it falls back on using innovations from the previous The Legend of Zelda games, rather than including new and original ideas. Finding it difficult for hardcore gamers to fully enjoy Phantom Hourglass , Nintendo World Report claimed that
10712-405: Was the best-selling game in its debut month of June 2007 in Japan, selling 302,887 copies. In the United States, Phantom Hourglass was the fifth best-selling game in its debut month of October 2007, selling 262,800 copies. As of March 2008, 4.13 million copies of the game have been sold worldwide, with 910,000 of those copies in Japan. Computer and Video Games called Phantom Hourglass one of
10816-486: Was updated with different Nintendo DS demos and new videos every week; the actual day of the week varied across different international regions. An updated version of the Nintendo Channel was released in Japan on July 15, 2009, North America on September 14, 2009, and in Europe on December 15, 2009. The update introduced a new interface and additional features, options, and statistics for users to view. However,
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