I've been keeping an eye on sales figures and analysis for nearly a decade, and following them with deep precision for over three years - ever since I found this site. How long have you been tracking them? According to the site's registration record, you've got less than three weeks under your belt.

With that said, don't you think you could give the benefit of the doubt to me, on the grounds that perhaps I've got more experience in estimating these things by now?

Zelda games have historically sold comparably poorly on handhelds. Link's Awakening pulled six million through two different releases. The Oracle games sold roughly a little less than 4 million each. The re-release of A Link to the Past on GBA sold less than 2 million units, and Minish Cap made only over 1 million total sales. Thus said, trying to use Phantom Hourglass as a method of comparison simply doesn't work.

Meanwhile, Nintendo has stated repeatedly that Zelda Wii will be an entirely new thing, essentially the biggest change to the Zelda equation since Ocarina of Time. And Ocarina sold almost 8m total on a system that capped out at less than HALF the total userbase that the Wii has right now. Just assuming it follows sales trends identical to Ocarina, it would HAVE to sell a minimum of 15m. MINIMUM. And that's only assuming there aren't millions more Wii systems in ownership by that point in time, too.

Additionally, you yourself stated that Zelda Wii won't be the only game SUPPORTING "great motion controls". You have a few things your statement fails to realize:

• Zelda Wii is merely supposed to SUPPORT WM+, not require it. Sales very much likely won't be capped by WM+ ownership
• If, for some odd reason, they decide they WILL require WM+, for a title like that, Nintendo is likely to bundle the accessory. Either that, or they'll have done some other method of making ownership of WM+ not as big of an issue, such as...
• It won't be the only game that supports it. We already have over 12 MILLION units of Wii Sports Resort in consumers' hands, which means over 12 MILLION different systems - minimum - already have access to that form of superior control. Add to that the next ten months of WM+/Sports Resort sales, particularly considering the fact that many, MANY more people will be purchasing them as a result of these future "games supporting great motion controls", and there will be nothing to worry about.
• Since it's likely that they won't require WM+ to play the game, its sales will only be HELPED by this. You'll get give-or-take every single one of the roughly 7m people that bought Twilight Princess. You'll get the loads of other Zelda fans that didn't buy TP at the time. You'll get the tons of more "core" gamers that are interested in Zelda, but were uncertain or didn't own a Wii when TP was still new. You'll have the casual gamers that enjoyed WM+ usage in Sports Resort, and have heard about Zelda Wii so they want to check it out (and this crowd is most likely to buy Zelda Wii over anything else because it will very clearly be the best, and most family-friendly, title available WITH the "great motion controls"). And you'll have the rest of the gamers that keep an eye on review scores and hype before they go out and buy.

THEN, lastly, you're failing to consider how much larger the Wii's installbase is going to grow, and the fact that Nintendo will likely support Zelda Wii through to the end. I predict 16-18m because it makes sense. Zelda Wii will be the Wii's Diamond and Pearl. All the same types of sales figures, factors, and statistics will apply. Count on it.

I've been keeping an eye on sales figures and analysis for nearly a decade, and following them with deep precision for over three years - ever since I found this site. How long have you been tracking them? According to the site's registration record, you've got less than three weeks under your belt.

With that said, don't you think you could give the benefit of the doubt to me, on the grounds that perhaps I've got more experience in estimating these things by now?

Zelda games have historically sold comparably poorly on handhelds. Link's Awakening pulled six million through two different releases. The Oracle games sold roughly a little less than 4 million each. The re-release of A Link to the Past on GBA sold less than 2 million units, and Minish Cap made only over 1 million total sales. Thus said, trying to use Phantom Hourglass as a method of comparison simply doesn't work.

Meanwhile, Nintendo has stated repeatedly that Zelda Wii will be an entirely new thing, essentially the biggest change to the Zelda equation since Ocarina of Time. And Ocarina sold almost 8m total on a system that capped out at less than HALF the total userbase that the Wii has right now. Just assuming it follows sales trends identical to Ocarina, it would HAVE to sell a minimum of 15m. MINIMUM. And that's only assuming there aren't millions more Wii systems in ownership by that point in time, too.

Additionally, you yourself stated that Zelda Wii won't be the only game SUPPORTING "great motion controls". You have a few things your statement fails to realize:

• Zelda Wii is merely supposed to SUPPORT WM+, not require it. Sales very much likely won't be capped by WM+ ownership
• If, for some odd reason, they decide they WILL require WM+, for a title like that, Nintendo is likely to bundle the accessory. Either that, or they'll have done some other method of making ownership of WM+ not as big of an issue, such as...
• It won't be the only game that supports it. We already have over 12 MILLION units of Wii Sports Resort in consumers' hands, which means over 12 MILLION different systems - minimum - already have access to that form of superior control. Add to that the next ten months of WM+/Sports Resort sales, particularly considering the fact that many, MANY more people will be purchasing them as a result of these future "games supporting great motion controls", and there will be nothing to worry about.
• Since it's likely that they won't require WM+ to play the game, its sales will only be HELPED by this. You'll get give-or-take every single one of the roughly 7m people that bought Twilight Princess. You'll get the loads of other Zelda fans that didn't buy TP at the time. You'll get the tons of more "core" gamers that are interested in Zelda, but were uncertain or didn't own a Wii when TP was still new. You'll have the casual gamers that enjoyed WM+ usage in Sports Resort, and have heard about Zelda Wii so they want to check it out (and this crowd is most likely to buy Zelda Wii over anything else because it will very clearly be the best, and most family-friendly, title available WITH the "great motion controls"). And you'll have the rest of the gamers that keep an eye on review scores and hype before they go out and buy.

THEN, lastly, you're failing to consider how much larger the Wii's installbase is going to grow, and the fact that Nintendo will likely support Zelda Wii through to the end. I predict 16-18m because it makes sense. Zelda Wii will be the Wii's Diamond and Pearl. All the same types of sales figures, factors, and statistics will apply. Count on it.

Here are the reasons women Love Link.

Silent Men are more Manly

Link Listens to OTHERS very well

Link is Monogamous and only loves one girl no matter how many times she is reincarnated.

He reminds them of Legolas(which girl doesn't love Legolas)

He is the ultimate good guy.

Link is not afraid to wear tight clothes and is confident in his masculinity.

Ironically you're probably right on all counts.     Girls do love Zelda, my daughter did but found the controls too much of a hinderence and too much mindless fighting which eventually put her off it.   This is why I say if they can make it more accessible to girls and market it properly they can vastly increase sales as Wii's userbase in now about 50% female.