Nintendo’s remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, the 1998 Nintendo 64 game, comes out Thursday, Nov. 5, for Switch 2 only. On Nintendo’s Canadian store, it’s listed at 4.99.
Midnight launches in Canada
Best Buy Canada is holding launch-night events at nine stores, selling the game from midnight Eastern time (that’s 10 p.m. Wednesday in B.C. and 11 p.m. in Alberta):
- Ontario: Bay & Dundas (Toronto), Bramalea City Centre (Brampton), Ottawa East
- Quebec: Centreville (Montréal)
- Manitoba: St James (Winnipeg)
- Alberta: near Sunridge Mall (Calgary), Edmonton South
- B.C.: Lansdowne Centre (Richmond), Coquitlam Centre
Each store will have at least 175 copies of the game, 75 Zelda 40th Anniversary Edition Switch 2 consoles and 50 matching Pro Controllers, limited to one per household. The Toronto flagship is running a cosplay contest with a 40th Anniversary console as the prize, and costumed fans at the other stores can enter a draw for a 00 gift card. Posters go to the first 200 people in line in Toronto and the first 100 elsewhere. No ticket is needed. MobileSyrup also has the store list.
Why remake it?
Producer Eiji Aonuma said in Nintendo’s own Ask the Developer interview that he wanted the remake to “trigger new insights” in the team’s younger developers, and let them make the game “their own,” VGC reports. He said he was surprised by how much of the original they chose to keep.
Or just visit 1998
Google has a tie-in easter egg: search “zelda” on the Google homepage, then click the Master Sword in the corner. You get a plain 1998-style results page, with no AI answers and the old “I’m feeling lucky” button.
Why it’s worth your time: It’s Nintendo’s big holiday release for Switch 2, timed to Zelda’s 40th anniversary. If you want a physical copy on day one without waiting for shipping, the Best Buy events are the surest bet. Online pre-orders from Best Buy ship to your home rather than going to the store.