The Legend of Zelda Game I Never Bought

It’s this one.

I suppose I should bring this up. I really don’t want to. It’s… sort of embarrassing.

I’ve purchased every single home console version of every entry in the Legend of Zelda series on day one. The original? Yep. It took a lot of yelling at my mom as a tiny kid. Zelda 2? Yep. More yelling, but it got the job done. Link to the Past? Sure did, I was happy about the return to the top-down view. Ocarina of Time? Yep, first outing in 3D and what a massive success! Majora’s Mask, definitely, even for how creepy it was. Wind Waker, of course, even though I was a little worried about cel shaded graphics. Twilight Princess? Absolutely, I still feel lucky I managed to grab that and a Wii on release day. And Skyward Sword? Oh yes, I wasn’t missing out on that gold Wiimote Plus.

So what’s missing from that list? The newest one, Breath of the Wild. Now, it’s not because I don’t have a console for it. I do, I have a Wii U. It’s not like I don’t want to play it. I very much do. I’ve heard it’s the best Zelda game ever. That’s saying something because Ocarina of Time is fairly consistently referred to as the best game of all time. (They’re wrong, it’s Super Metroid, but anyway.)

The reason I didn’t pick it up is super petty. I want to play it on the Switch console that came out this year. I won’t buy a Switch because Nintendo’s practices of restricting production to increase demand is frustrating to the consumer. I couldn’t get an NES Classic because of low production and scalpers. I have a hell of a time getting Amiibos (the collectible figurines that interact with some games to grant bonuses) because of inflated demand due to scarcity compounded with some store exclusives. Some Link Amiibos are now over $50 when the standard price was $13 or so. The Switch has had some similar problems. I’ve seen them in stores once or twice. I’ve just been burned too many times on wanting a Nintendo product so badly and then being let down that I couldn’t purchase it without getting gouged on eBay.

So the reason I didn’t buy the latest entry in my favorite game series of all time is because the game company that creates it isn’t making enough stuff for me to spend my money on. So I reasoned, why keep trying to throw my money at them if they won’t take it? It’s stupid and embarrassing, but it is what it is, I guess. I hope they figure it out. I sure would like to play Breath of the Wild someday, the trailers for it got me almost hyped enough to buy it anyway.