Nintendo's Cammie Dunaway confirms new Legend of Zelda in 2010 @ Gaming Target

Written by John Scalzo on February 26, 2010

News: Or does she? Yes, she does.

The release date of the next Legend of Zelda for the Wii is looking like a sitcom-style "Will they or won't they?" plot more and more every day.

When it was announced at last year's E3 expo, Shigeru Miyamoto said it would be out in 2010. Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata backed up that statement in an interview earlier this year but then producer Eiji Aonuma said it might be pushed back to 2011 to ensure it's perfect. This caused Iwata to downplay his release date predictions (as well as deny a DS2 even exists) in a followup interview.

And now Nintendo of America's executive vice president Cammie Dunaway has weighed in with her comments to Wired, making a 2010 release date sound set in store:

Wired.com: You've announced major games for the first half of the year. Do you see the game industry moving toward a more year-long release schedule, in general?

Dunaway: [...] And from some of the things that Mr. Iwata has talked about, and that we will talk about at E3, like Zelda, you know that we're going to have a good back half of the year, as well.

Sounds pretty concrete doesn't it? But then Wired's Chris Kohler did the smart thing and made sure it wasn't just a slip of the tongue:

Wired.com: I think people were really interested to know, are [you] going to release Mario and Metroid and Zelda all in one year?

Dunaway: And you said we wouldn't. You bet no, right?

Wired.com: I bet no. Are you going to hold me to that? Do I owe you a steak dinner?

Dunaway: I think you do.

While someone else might pop up with a desire for a delay of the next Legend of Zelda, as of right now, it sounds like it's on track for a 2010 release.

We'll have more soon (likely at E3).