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Was Legend of Zelda’s E3 Booth the “Best-in-Show?”

Was Legend of Zelda’s E3 Booth the “Best-in-Show?”

You want to make a big impression at E3 2016. Companies need to have booths and experiences that people remember. Nintendo’s been pretty good about this in years past. The year when Nintendo Land had its own space set up like a bit of a virtual amusement park comes to mind. But this year, Nintendo did something it’s never done before. It put together a The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wilds E3 booth experience so extraordinary, I wonder if it can ever be topped.

All the rumors you’ve heard about it are true. It started with a completely contained booth, one where it was near impossible to even catch a glimpse of the interior unless you skulked around the exits. Even then, you couldn’t see everything, due to the layout of the thing. Most people had to wait two to three hours to get inside. Which would seem like an instance of poor crowd control, until you realize the demo experience can take up to 30 minutes and is prefaced by a brief theater viewing.

I was worried about the theater viewing. You expect that from companies that are unprepared and don’t have demos, but Nintendo had this contained world for us to explore. I didn’t want to waste my time in a space adjacent to the one in which I wanted to be. I was a fool. This momentary delay was a perfect introduction to the experience. You entered the booth through a shrine door, one which resembled one of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’ s Shrines of Trials. Once inside, a huge screen spent a few minutes showing off some of the game’s new features.

Then, things got real. The theater screen displayed a door. To be more specific, it was a door that looked like the one in the resurrection shrine Link wakes up in within The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wilds . It separated into five parts, with each pulling upward to allow you access to the booth.

When speaking with Nintendo representatives, I was told construction began the week prior on The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wilds booth. It was set up in such a way as to provide demo stations in the field and dilapidated Temple of Time regions, interspersed with enemies, artifacts, and other hallmarks people will see throughout the game. Immediately to the right, as people entered from the shrine, Link was preparing to shoot an arrow at a glowing Guardian. Permanently suspended in space, with his bow drawn, he was constantly ready to make his move.

Was Legend of Zelda’s E3 Booth the “Best-in-Show?”

Before I could go further, the world changed. When I entered the booth, the skies were dusky and orange. As I passed Link, in the midst of his fight, everything had darkened. Night fell in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wilds booth. Time passed there, with five different times of day represented. After a few more moments, lightning struck and thunder shoot the booth. Weather was represented here, just as in the game.

As I headed to my demo session, movement caught my eye on the left. Across from Link and below a watchtower with a goblin in it was a cooking pot. I had passed over a pressure-sensitive plate in the floor, which caused the ingredients in the pot to start dancing as they “cooked.” Further in, I saw a treasure chest with shining golden eyes in place of purple, which signified it was ready to be opened. Though, an unguarded approach would be unwise, since another goblin stood nearby as he prepared meat on a spit.

All of these things lent a sense of authenticity to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wilds experience. Statues and ambiance aren’t uncommon at E3, but never to such a degree. Nintendo went out of its way to take its booth and recreate elements of the new world. Someone wouldn’t have to see the brief theater screening or play the demo to realize that this entry would have changing time, weather, cooking elements, enemies that would do more than just hunt, or take place in a world with open areas and dilapidated ruins. They could see it from the booth. And that, my friends, shows how truly special Nintendo’s E3 2016 booth was.

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