Oh my! That tshirt is pretty sweet!!

We actually know nothing about this game. We haven't even seen a trailer or picture from it. They're supposedly going to show a trailer at e3 this year, and there's rumours about a potential 2014 release, or in 2015

A few goodies from Aonuma's interview with ONM. Interesting stuff about meeting fans' expectations, top-down perspective, and linear vs. open game worlds. I bolded the important stuff.

"ONM: Congratulations on creating one of the best adventure games ever made and our 3DS game of 2013. Is it a relief that it has been accepted so well?

EA: That's nice of you to say that. I was really glad to hear that so many people were enjoying our game and to see the numerous positive posts on Miiverse saying how much fun they were having.

ONM: Dedicated gamers must be extremely hard to impress these days as they have such high expectations of new releases, particularly when they are from a series as universally renowned as The Legend Of Zelda. Do you find it difficult to make innovations when you feel such pressure to deliver a game the fans will like?

EA: For Zelda, I think innovating is precisely what we need to do to meet the expectations of our fans. We will, of course, continue to question and reconsider the approaches we have taken in the past without any reservations.

[...]

ONM: What did you learn from making this game? Can you use any of these ideas in future titles? For example, the Merge (with walls) ability is amazing and it would be a shame if it was never used again.

EA: I think the top-down view made the ability to enter the wall really interesting. Also, in this game, I feel we've found a new direction in regards to the potential use of the good old top-down view for Zelda. It's the kind of point we will take in good consideration when thinking about the next Zelda game.

ONM: It's interesting that you chose to go down an alternative storyline path with this game. Does the story idea come first, or do you begin with the gameplay ideas?

EA: The recent Zelda games have been rather linear, as I thought players didn't like getting lost, wondering what to do, or where to go. However, I've come to question this 'traditional' approach as I felt that we couldn't gain the sense of wonder that existed in the original Legend Of Zelda, in which you made unexpected encounters and where what used to be impossible would suddenly become possible."

Source: Zelda Informer

The recent Zelda games have been rather linear, as I thought players didn't like getting lost, wondering what to do, or where to go. However, I've come to question this 'traditional' approach as I felt that we couldn't gain the sense of wonder that existed in the original Legend Of Zelda, in which you made unexpected encounters and where what used to be impossible would suddenly become possible."

This quote is a bit of a concern... It shows that Aonuma hasn't understood one of the core elements of Zelda until very recently, and that Miyamoto hasn't corrected him either. Hopefully this means that Wii U Zelda, and every Zelda afterwards, will go back to its 8 bit roots of exploration!!

I think Aonuma is selling himself short. Apart from Skyward Sword, I don't think any of the Aonuma Zelda games have been excessively linear. If he wants to build the next Zelda in the model of the NES original, I'm all for it, but he should be proud of what he's accomplished so far.

I'm not saying that the recent Zelda games haven't been good; on the contrary! I haven't played a single Zelda game that I haven't enjoyed, but the fact is that you have been forced to do the dungeons/temples in a certain order most of the time, and you "unlock" parts of the overworld one bit at a time. This wasn't the case in the original game. You got an unfinished map with the game, and went about exploring. I think that the first ever dungeon I visited some 20 years ago, was the 2nd or 3rd one, NOT the 1st one. And that's one of the reasons I still think the 1st game is among the best of the Zelda games.

I'd also like to add that I think SS did some really great things with the... overworlds/worlds(?); it made a challange of the WAY to the temple! I loved that! The game might have been a lot more linear, but that was ok, because the path was almost as important as the actual temple.

Well said!

In Skyward Sword, the Zelda team was able to merge the overworld and the dungeon in never-before-seen ways. The path to the dungeon, as you said, was almost a dungeon in itself. I thought it was very clever. Still, part of me yearned for a huge overworld to get lost in. 

Me too! I wish and hope that Nintendo will be able to blend the two into one with the up coming Zelda U! That would be so much epic awesome I wouldn't be able to stand it. It would be really cool to have a vast land to explore, a la Skyrim, but having (at least) parts of it a bit more dangerous and challenging like in Skyward Sword... So, Zelda: Skyrim Sword? ^^

I agree. Really the 'only' thing they have to do is just connect those areas with a big field, and we'd be golden .

Exactly! One biiiiig Hyrule Field, with lots of secrets and exploration, and then smaller areas with puzzles/dangers leading up to the actual temple/dungeon! And maybe add a few more villages to visit; I've always felt that Hyrule has a very small population!