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In today's The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom gameplay trailer, we found out that yes, Link can indeed build vehicles. And he does this using the brand new ability 'Ultrahand'.
Now, if you've been around these parts for a while, then you probably spotted this name and went "wait, what, Ultra Hand? Like the 1960s toy?" And we're pretty sure that's what this big gameplay feature is referencing. The toy was created in 1966 by Gunpei Yokoi, who played a pretty major role in video game development, as he designed the D-pad, Game Boy, and WonderSwan.
Ultrahand, in Tears of the Kingdom, allows Link to pick up one large material from a distance and fuse it to whatever he's building. In comparison, the Ultra Hand (keeping up?) is a grabber toy where you hold two handles at the end of a cross-cross-connected plastic device and use them to grab things from far away. The toy usually came with objects like balls or ball-like objects with cylinders which you had to try and grab.
Sense the similarities? Lots of others certainly do.
Nintendo is always keen to acknowledge its past, and we reckon it's doing just that here. The Ultra Hand was most recently spotted in Splatoon 3, with Harmony sitting and playing with the stretchy device. But it also has been in a Zelda game before, too.
In Majora's Mask 3D, the Ultra Hand can be spotted as decoration behind the counter at the Bomb Shop. So while its return to the series is in name alone, it's got some history in Hyrule. Perhaps the Bomb Shop owner is responsible...? And hey, what if Link's weird hand is actually the Ultrahand?
Are you excited to build your own vehicles with your new to- we mean, new ability? Share you thoughts in the comments!
Comments 16
That’s pretty interesting and silly. Surprised they made it a core mechanic even more so.
Wait, I thought he said "Fuse" is used to connect things and "Ultrahand" was simply an ability to disconnect things that you've fused. Did I misunderstand this?
I giggled as soon as he said it knowing it was a reference. I love that type of culture where you are just proud of the things your company (and thus the people)make. I know that people love to hate companies but at the end of the day they are filled with mostly hard working people that want to make or do something great.
Noticed this as soon as it was announced in the trailer...I absolutely adore little references like this.
@sketchturner That is what I heard too. I think in general, it can be used to pick things up. Where as in BOTW, Magnesis can only pick up metal objects.
I think there was also a WiiWare game you could buy using credit from Club Nintendo named Ultrahand that had you using the Wii Remote and Nunchuk as motion controls for handles of the "ultrahand" in the game.
Smash Bros. should have 9-Volt as a Fighter, bringing not only the Ultra Hand, but many other classic Nintendo toys.
@sketchturner Fuse is used to combine weapons/objects/items whereas Ultrahand is similar to magnesis and allows you to combine large objects to create vehicles and potentially more
@Zeldinion Thanks for clarifying!
@sketchturner what I understood is that Ultrahand is used to glue things (maybe not itens) together without changing sizes. Fuse, on the other hand, fuses two itens together to create a third item, and the sizes may change.
Looking forward to all the tweets of Link’s Ultrahand playing with his logs.😂
I'm still waiting for a remake of the toy, but wonder if we can make Ultrahand's ourselves from tree trunks and such in game. And maybe eventually be able to recreate the whole Grill Off experience in Zelda.
@AlanaHagues Now hang on a minute... You say it's a 60s toy, then say it was invented in 1996, then one of the tweets says it's a 70s toy. Is this article a collaboration between three different parallel universes?
@Matroska Oh no... My secret has been discovered!
(Zapped the typo - thanks )
Yep, got and absolutely loved the reference as soon as they mentioned it!
Oh man, I KNEW it sounded familiar... Nice catch!
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