New Zelda game on Wii this year, next DS to feature motion control?

Nintendo hasn’t released a Zelda game on a home console since The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess in 2006. That means we’re due another soon, and it looks like Nintendo agrees.

In an interview with Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata revealed that the company was preparing the next game in the legendary series for a 2010 release. Is that date for Japan or worldwide? More likely the former, but Zelda titles usually get localized for the west quickly – Twilight Princess enjoyed what was virtually a global launch.

Iwata also briefly discussed the next iteration of the DS handheld, suggesting that it might comes with motion sensors, much like the Wii itself:

“[It will have] highly detailed graphics, and it will be necessary to have a sensor with the ability to read the movements of people playing.”

Motion sensing on the DS has already been attempted by bedroom developers on the homebrew scene – it should be interesting to see what Nintendo produces.

[Asahi, via Kotaku]