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Bombshell E3 Announcement: The New Legend of Zelda Has a Jump Button

Nintendo is bringing out the big guns this year at E3, the video-game industry’s annual convention, dedicating the vast majority of their showing to a single game, the next entry in the seminal Legend of Zelda series. This, folks, is literally a game changer.

When it comes out next year, the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will be the first major Zelda console release in five years. It’s a substantial departure from the formula that Nintendo has hewn closely to in the past, featuring open-world gameplay, and other features cribbed from more modern games.

Also, Link can jump now. Into the air! There is a jump button players can press, so that Link can jump whenever he wants.

It is weird to celebrate the arrival of a jump button — the most basic of video-game-button functions — in 2016, but here we are. In past games, Link would only jump automatically when running off of a ledge. He could also kinda leap to the side while in combat. Now, players can jump whenever and wherever they choose.

Astonishing. This is an oddly big deal.

The New Legend of Zelda Has a Jump Button