The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess to be the hottest video game for 2005 holiday season. Three-hour lineups to play Nintendo's epic adventure game has retailers salivating at anticipated Christmas sales

VANCOUVER , July 5 /CNW/ - Six months in advance of its launch, Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is being hailed by leading Canadian retailers and critics as the biggest video game of 2005. The latest installment in Nintendo's CDN $2.58 billion Zelda franchise captured several awards and garnered mass critical acclaim since a preview was unveiled at the video game industry's mega conference Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, last month in Los Angeles .

"We're incredibly excited about the launch of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess," said Jim Tyo, Vice President of Canadian Operations, EB Games. "This is the must have game of 2005, and we expect to sell tens of thousands of units at launch."

Legend of Zelda fans and video game industry pundits lined up for more than four hours for a chance to preview the much-anticipated addition to the popular Nintendo franchise that has already sold more than 43-million units worldwide. The Nintendo GameCube title took top honors at E3 from gaming media, including being named Best Console game and Best Action/Adventure game by the Game Critics Awards: Best of E3 2005. These accolades add to Zelda's stable of awards, including Game of the Show by leading video game websites 1UP.com and GameSpot.

The Legend of Zelda franchise was introduced in 1987, transporting millions of Nintendo gamers to a genre-busting world of never-before-seen puzzles and challenges. As the hero Link, players undertake exhilarating quests to rescue Princess Zelda from a series of marauding enemies. Fourteen Legend of Zelda sequels have appeared on Nintendo consoles to date. The title's predecessor, The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, released in 1998, remains Number 1 in overall game ratings compiled by industry leader Gamerankings.com.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess promises fans bigger, more elaborate worlds to explore, a more realistic visual design, new powers for Link, and darker, more intense battle scenes. As the most anticipated game on any video game platform this year, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is also expected to drive hardware sales for Nintendo GameCube.

Source: Bloomberg