Zelda 'surprise' planned for E3 2010

Nintendo certainly brought Mario to the party at the 2009 Electronic Entertainment Expo, announcing such titles starring the portly plumber as Galaxy 2, Bowser's Inside Story, and New Super Mario Bros. Wii. However, the publisher's other workhorse franchise, Zelda, went largely unnoticed, save for Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks for the DS, which had been announced several months prior at the 2009 Game Developers Conference.

However, Nintendo's creative mastermind Shigeru Miyamoto did drop some hints about the franchise during the show, saying a new console installment is "targeted" for 2010. Today, producer Eiji Aonuma told the UK's Official Nintendo Magazine that the publisher should have a few details to share on the as-yet-unnamed Zelda game come E3 2010.

"I hope that we can show you something at the E3 show next year, and it is something we are hopeful will be surprising," Aonuma said. The Zelda producer also noted that the game will support Nintendo's Wii MotionPlus controller add-on.

While Aonuma did not specify the exact nature of the surprise, he did say that Nintendo will be tinkering with the Zelda formula. "It is something we used to talk about with Mr. Miyamoto, and he and I agree that if we are following the same structure again and again, we might not be able to give longtime Zelda fans a fresh surprise," he said.

"So we have been trying something new in terms of the structure of the Wii version of the new Zelda game this time," he continued. "I am really hopeful that people will be surprised with the changes we have implemented for this Wii version."

E3 2010 is scheduled to return to the Los Angeles Convention Center June 15-17. Nintendo traditionally holds its press conference during the morning of the first official day of the conference.