The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will not use the Gamepad features due to in game distractions

While the notion of having gimmicks attached to the Gamepad has been the norm for Nintendo when it comes to many of their games; their next biggest title, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will not utilize the Gamepad. Instead, the only use that the Gamepad will have is to be a controller or to play the game off the TV. The choice in removing any other Gamepad features was made by fairly early on in the development cycle due to not wanting the player to lose immersion from playing by looking down and away from the screen every so often."We realized that having something on the GamePad and looking back and forth between the TV screen and the GamePad actually disrupts the gameplay, and the concentration that the game player may be experiencing... You have your car’s GPS system on your dash. If you had it down in your lap, you’re going to get into an accident!"Furthermore, Aonuma had stated in an interview with Wired that with development on the NX version of the game, having too much focus on one mechanic that may or may not be in the NX would lead to experiences that would be inconsistent. Aonuma explains that:

• Patrick Nguyen
• June 19, 2016
• in Gaming

While the notion of having gimmicks attached to the Gamepad has been the norm for Nintendo when it comes to many of their games; their next biggest title, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will not utilize the Gamepad. Instead, the only use that the Gamepad will have is to be a controller or to play the game off the TV. The choice in removing any other Gamepad features was made by fairly early on in the development cycle due to not wanting the player to lose immersion from playing by looking down and away from the screen every so often.

“We realized that having something on the GamePad and looking back and forth between the TV screen and the GamePad actually disrupts the gameplay, and the concentration that the game player may be experiencing… You have your car’s GPS system on your dash. If you had it down in your lap, you’re going to get into an accident!”

Furthermore, Aonuma had stated in an interview with Wired that with development on the NX version of the game, having too much focus on one mechanic that may or may not be in the NX would lead to experiences that would be inconsistent. Aonuma explains that:

“I’m not going to create something where the users are going to have a different experience.”

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will be out on the Wii U around March 2017. The NX version (and subsequently the NX itself) has yet to receive a release date, but signs point that Breath of the Wild may be a launch title with the device.