Nintendo Launch Party: The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword

Back in September I agreed to do a fencing demonstration and run a ‘Go Fence’ session at the launch of the new highly anticipated Zelda sequel for the Nintendo wii. I’m glad I did.

Last Thursday I entered the gaming world for the very first time, or should I say Zelda’s Universe? Either way, I was impressed and completely taken in by the whole experience.

The event was held in South Kensington in a recently renovated Victorian building. It looked magical and every bit the enchanted world. The stairwell leading up to the launch was covered in foliage and fairy lights while green lighting set a mystical tone for the evening.

Liz Ng and I set up the new white ‘smart’ piste that Leon Paul had kindly lent us for the event which looked brilliant, and very, well... smart. We fenced in front of a hand-full of gaming journalists and took to the floor to teach some of them the basics of fencing with ‘Go Fence’ equipment. I think they really enjoyed it and one chap even tweeted afterwards to say: “Huge, huge thanks for showing me how to fence with a foil and live every worker’s dream by fighting my boss to the death.” Not literally obviously, but needless to say, fencing with ‘Go Fence’ at events like these is a fantastic way of bringing a group together and having fun at the same time. It went down a storm.

After our demonstration and a promotional photo-shoot for Nintendo we were allowed to take to one of the wii gaming pods set up especially for the event. I was honoured to be handed a limited edition gold wii-mote to play Skyward Sword but, sadly, my attempt was less than gold.

I was frantically swinging my wii-mote around in a vain attempt to fence my way to victory. Not my finest hour. Smaller, more contained wrist actions would have probably sufficed.

Despite my frenzied attempt, I really enjoyed playing Skyward Sword and the sword fighting scenes were impressively realistic. The wii-mote was very responsive and I really felt involved in the action. It was fun!

Thank-you Nintendo for inviting us to help launch ‘The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.’ It was a wonderful introduction to the gaming world and a special evening for everyone involved. A big thank-you goes to Leon Paul for supplying the equipment and helping the evening come to life.

I will post some official photographs of the event soon so watch this space.

The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword is available to buy on 18th November 2011.