‘The Legend of Zelda’ 30th Anniversary: Four New Amiibos, Wii U ‘Skyward Sword’, and ‘Breath of the Wild’ Nintendo NX Release Date and News

Sep 02, 2016 01:14 PM EDT

Nintendo might have had a not-too-successful launch with their Wii U, but they still have the intellectual property of The Legend of Zelda.  This game is having its 30th Anniversary this year, and it is celebrating by releasing four new Amiibo figurines, as well as Skyward Sword on the Wii U.  Next year is going to be big with the release of Breath of the Wild on the next generation Nintendo NX.  This is what is known about these Zelda products release dates and news. 

For those that never bought Skyward Sword when it was on the Wii, it was released five years ago and was the last Zelda canon game, just before the Wii U came out.  According to Engadget, the game is available for purchase and download on the Wii U via Virtual Console today. 

According to Polygon, there will be four new Amiibos release that include an 8-bit Link from the main character's original NES days, and then Link from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (which some say was the best Zelda game).  The other two figures are the "toon" versions of Link and Zelda from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.

What is interesting is that these Amiibos will have functionality with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild when it comes out in March of 2017.  Yes, you will have to wait for that, but the Amiibos will be out until December 2. 

As for the latest installment of Breath of the Wild, you had better believe that so many future Nintendo NX buyers really want to see this game.  Some more new footage of the game has just been revealed, and it is just plain great. 

One of the great things about Breath of the Wild is that it will have an incredibly huge open world.  Not that the previous Zelda games didn't have a large open world, but giving the characters even more to explore is going to be a real bonus for characters. 

Especially when Link can paraglide, which means that he can go from high mountain tops into the valleys.  Not only that, Link can attack by dropping bombs.  He can even somehow shoot arrows from that amazing height, and seriously shake up his enemies when he lands. 

That is a lot of Zelda to celebrate for this year and the next year, and it is one gaming franchise that will probably not die until Nintendo does.  In fact, it is pretty obvious that Nintendo is betting its future on the strength of the next Zelda game and the release of the Wii U.