Why Nintendo is betting on a nearly 30-year-old game remake to win the holiday

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“Saturday Night Live” poked fun at characters from two of the holiday season’s most anticipated video game releases last month: Link from the upcoming remake of “The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time” and Jason from “Grand Theft Auto VI.”

The segment , which aired on October 3, highlighted how different the two games are: Link, in his green tunic, described how he started his day in Hyrule by buying magic beans and playing his ocarina, a wind instrument. Jason, seated next to him with a bandaged bloody arm, bragged about stealing cars and spending $1 million at a strip club.

Beneath the humor, the sketch hit on a key point. Nintendo is the only gaming company willing to go toe-to-toe with GTA VI, which is expected to be the biggest game launch of all time. It’s a testament to Nintendo’s faith in its strategy over the last four decades: bringing back its mainstay characters in new formats across console generations. It’s a tactic that’s recently expanded to movies, concerts and theme parks.

And it’s paying off: The gaming giant reported a 52% year-over-year increase in gross profit during its second-quarter earnings, despite declining sales of its latest Switch 2 console. This was thanks in part to surging income related to its “Super Mario Galaxy Movie.”

Still, gaming still accounts for most of Nintendo’s business. Between skyrocketing memory prices and increased competition from free games that aren’t on Nintendo devices, like Roblox, it can be a tough time to be in the console gaming business. Nintendo is betting that its remake of “The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time” will help drive Switch 2 sales this holiday season.

“The stakes are high for Nintendo, and they have to come across come out of this holiday season very strong,” said Joost van Dreunen, a professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business who has published a book about the gaming industry.

The Nintendo Switch 2 was off to a strong start, with roughly 24 million consoles sold since its June 2025 launch. But Nintendo needs to keep giving fans reasons to upgrade, especially with such a broad library of games available for its predecessor, the first-generation Switch.

Nintendo said in its most recent earnings report that Switch 2 hardware sales declined 34.4% year-over-year, but that’s largely because many gamers bought the system last year when it launched.

Its roster of exclusive games is key to that push. After launching with “Mario Kart World,” Nintendo has trickled out new games in popular franchises like “Donkey Kong Bonanza,” “Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave” and “Pokémon Pokopia.”

But while those franchises all have their fans, they’re not Mario or Zelda.

The original “Ocarina of Time” was released in 1998 for the Nintendo 64 and is “recognized as one of the best games ever made,” said Mat Piscatella, executive director of games coverage for market research firm Circana. He expects the majority of Switch 2 owners to buy the new version.

It’s not the first time Nintendo has re-released “Ocarina of Time”; the game was also released for the GameCube, Wii U and 3DS. But the new version isn’t just a direct reboot; Nintendo has updated the controls, dialogue, graphics and other elements, bridging the classic story and familiar characters with the more modern gameplay introduced in newer Zelda games like “Breath of the Wild” and “Tears of the Kingdom.”

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Nintendo also launched a 40th anniversary edition Zelda-themed Switch 2 console in late October, which is currently sold out. A Zelda orchestra concert and movie are planned for next year.

It’s part of Nintendo’s classic playbook: betting big on the characters its fanbase grew up with.

“It’s a broad opportunity to provide different experiences that connect with the players and fans, and then open up the door to Zelda for new generations of players to come in,” Devon Pritchard, president of Nintendo of America, said in an interview with CNN.

The new Zelda game is launching just before GTA 6, which is expected to break sales records. However, NYU’s van Dreunen says Nintendo likely won’t have to worry about the competition because the games appeal to very different audiences. But that may not always be the case.

“Over time, it’s like, yeah, what are you going to offer this aging audience, the generation that grew up playing Nintendo? At some point, they’re going to want more mature content,” he said.

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Nintendo’s strategy has worked for decades. But like other gaming companies, it is grappling with rising prices in video games.

A shortage in memory has caused Nintendo and other console makers to raise their prices, with Nintendo increasing the Switch 2’s price from $450 to $500 in September. Consumer spending on hardware across all console makers is down 9% so far in the US this year compared to last year, Circana’s Piscatella said.

And video games themselves now cost around $70 to $80. (The digital version of the new Zelda game is $60, and the physical edition is $70).

That could make it harder to convince players to shell out for games, especially as free-to-play multiplayer games like Fortnite have grown in popularity.

“You have increasingly sort of a velvet rope in the games industry, where there is the crowd that can afford it early and for a high price and is willing to pay a premium to have great hardware, great experiences, and then there’s everybody else,” van Dreunen said.

Nintendo is better positioned to weather the memory shortage because its consoles don’t require as much computing power as those made by Sony and Microsoft, according to Piscatella.

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Microsoft and Sony also sell pricier consoles than Nintendo; the Xbox Series X digital edition is listed at $750 on Microsoft’s website, while the PlayStation 5 starts at $649. Microsoft also sells a cheaper version of the Xbox called the Series S for $500. Those costs reflect price hikes announced by both companies earlier this year.

But the shortage has made it more challenging for companies to produce cheaper electronics, an audience that Nintendo has traditionally catered to. After the first Switch’s launch in 2017, Nintendo released the less expensive Switch Lite in 2019 as a cheaper alternative for those who just wanted to game on the go.

Pritchard said Nintendo was focused on the Switch 2 platform and didn’t comment on whether the company has plans for a Switch 2 Lite. Nor did she say how long Nintendo plans to support the first-generation Switch, which makes up the majority of Switch users with about 156 million units sold.

When I sat down with Pritchard, our conversation started with a simple question: What game am I playing right now? That’s the kind of impact Nintendo wants its games to have, regardless of the console or platform.

“It goes back to that relationship with the player and fan,” she said. “We want to build these experiences that connect with people that they want to come back to time and time again.”

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上个月，《周六夜现场》节目拿两款假日季最受期待的电子游戏角色开起了玩笑：一款是即将重制的《塞尔达传说：时之笛》中的林克，另一款是《侠盗猎车手VI》中的杰森。

这段于10月3日播出的节目片段突显了两款游戏的差异：身着绿色长袍的林克讲述了他在海拉鲁的一天是如何开始的：购买魔法豆，吹奏陶笛——一种管乐器。而坐在他旁边、手臂缠着绷带、血迹斑斑的杰森则吹嘘自己偷车，并在脱衣舞俱乐部挥霍了100万美元。

在幽默的表象之下，这段小品触及了一个关键点。任天堂是唯一一家敢于与《侠盗猎车手6》（GTA VI）正面交锋的游戏公司，而GTA VI预计将成为史上最成功的游戏首发。这证明了任天堂过去四十年来对其战略的坚定信念：在不同的主机世代中，以全新的形式让其经典角色回归。近年来，这一策略已扩展到电影、演唱会和主题公园等领域。

而这些努力也得到了回报：这家游戏巨头公布的第二季度财报显示，尽管其最新款Switch 2游戏机的销量有所下滑，但毛利润仍同比增长了52%。这部分要归功于其电影《超级马里奥银河》带来的丰厚收入。

尽管如此，游戏业务仍然占据任天堂业务的大部分份额。然而，由于内存价格飞涨，以及来自非任天堂平台免费游戏（例如 Roblox）的竞争日益激烈，主机游戏行业如今的处境可谓艰难。任天堂寄希望于其重制版《塞尔达传说：时之笛》能够推动 Switch 2 在假日季的销量。

“任天堂面临着巨大的风险，他们必须在这个假日季取得非常强劲的成绩，”纽约大学斯特恩商学院教授 Joost van Dreunen 说，他曾出版过一本关于游戏行业的书。

Nintendo Switch 2 开局强劲，自 2025 年 6 月发售以来已售出约 2400 万台。但任天堂需要不断给玩家提供升级的理由，尤其是在其前代产品——第一代 Switch 拥有如此丰富的游戏库的情况下。

任天堂在最近的财报中表示，Switch 2 硬件销量同比下降了 34.4%，但这主要是因为许多玩家在去年该主机上市时就购买了它。

其独占游戏阵容是推动这一发展的关键。继《马里奥赛车世界》之后，任天堂陆续推出了《大金刚大冒险》、《火焰之纹章：命运之织》和《宝可梦：宝可梦世界》等热门系列的新作。

虽然这些系列游戏都有各自的粉丝，但它们毕竟不是马里奥或塞尔达。

市场调研公司Circana的游戏报道执行总监马特·皮斯卡特拉表示，原版《时之笛》于1998年发行于任天堂64平台，并“被公认为有史以来最优秀的游戏之一”。他预计大多数Switch 2玩家都会购买新版本。

这并非任天​​堂首次重制《时之笛》；该游戏此前也曾在GameCube、Wii U和3DS平台发行。但新版本并非简单的重启；任天堂对游戏的操作、对话、画面和其他元素进行了更新，将经典的故事和熟悉的角色与《旷野之息》和《王国之泪》等较新的塞尔达游戏中引入的更现代的游戏玩法相结合。

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任天堂还在10月下旬推出了塞尔达传说40周年纪念版Switch 2主机，目前已售罄。明年还将举办塞尔达主题交响音乐会并推出相关电影。

这是任天堂的经典策略之一：大力投资粉丝们从小就熟悉的经典角色。

“这是一个提供不同体验的绝佳机会，可以与玩家和粉丝建立联系，然后为新一代玩家打开塞尔达的大门，”任天堂美国总裁德文·普里查德在接受 CNN 采访时表示。

新款塞尔达游戏将在《侠盗猎车手6》发售前夕推出，而后者预计将打破销售纪录。然而，纽约大学的范·德鲁嫩表示，任天堂可能不必担心竞争，因为这两款游戏的目标受众截然不同。但情况未必总是如此。

“随着时间的推移，你会想，你能为这些逐渐老去的观众，也就是玩着任天堂游戏长大的那一代人，提供些什么呢？总有一天，他们会想要更成熟的内容，”他说。

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任天堂的策略已经奏效了几十年。但和其他游戏公司一样，它也正努力应对电子游戏价格上涨的挑战。

由于内存短缺，任天堂和其他游戏机厂商纷纷提价。例如，任天堂在9月份将Switch 2的价格从450美元提高到了500美元。Circana公司的Piscatella表示，今年迄今为止，美国消费者在所有游戏机厂商的硬件支出比去年同期下降了9%。

而电子游戏本身现在的价格大约在 70 到 80 美元之间。（新款塞尔达游戏的数字版售价 60 美元，实体版售价 70 美元）。

这可能会让玩家更难为游戏付费，尤其是像 Fortnite 这样的免费多人游戏越来越受欢迎。

范·德鲁嫩说：“游戏行业越来越像一条天鹅绒绳，一部分人能够负担得起早期的高价硬件，并且愿意支付溢价来获得优秀的硬件和绝佳的体验，而其他人则只能望洋兴叹。”

皮斯卡特拉表示，任天堂更有能力应对内存短缺问题，因为其游戏机所需的计算能力不如索尼和微软的游戏机。

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微软和索尼的游戏机售价也高于任天堂；微软官网显示，Xbox Series X 数字版售价 750 美元，而 PlayStation 5 起价 649 美元。微软还推出了一款名为 Series S 的 Xbox 低价版，售价 500 美元。这些价格反映了两家公司今年早些时候宣布的价格上涨。

但原材料短缺使得企业生产价格更低廉的电子产品变得更加困难，而任天堂历来都瞄准的就是这类消费群体。继2017年第一代Switch上市后，任天堂于2019年推出了价格更低的Switch Lite，为那些只想随时随地玩游戏的玩家提供更经济的选择。

普里查德表示，任天堂目前专注于Switch 2平台，并未透露公司是否有推出Switch 2 Lite的计划。她也没有说明任天堂计划对第一代Switch（销量约1.56亿台，占Switch用户总数的大多数）提供多长时间的支持。

我和普里查德坐下来交谈时，我们的对话从一个简单的问题开始：我现在在玩什么游戏？这就是任天堂希望其游戏能够产生的影响力，无论游戏主机或平台如何。

“这要归结于球员和球迷之间的关系，”她说。“我们希望打造能够与人们建立联系的体验，让他们一次又一次地想要回来。”