It’s almost impossible to remember the time when fans became outraged about “The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker,” due to its cel-shaded Saturday morning cartoon looks. The Nintendo faithful follow their lords and masters with enough feverish intensity that it takes quite a lot to rile them up, but as soon as the first real trailer showed a childish Link feasting his buggy eyes in a bright and colorful world, you could almost feel the hatred seeping through your internet connection.

Of course, it would all turn out to be for naught as “The Wind Waker” would end up being among the greatest “Zelda” games of all time, and even the two main releases in the franchise since, both done in the more “mature” style that fans initially clamored for, have not been able to quite reproduce its brilliance.

It’s no surprise then that the HD re-release has been met with feverish anticipation rather than the dread that accompanied the initial release, as both those who got to experience the game the first time, and those who wrote it off and never got the chance, eagerly await the game’s HD arrival on the Wii U.

Now those fans know exactly when to expect it, as Nintendo has revealed that “Wind Waker HD” will release on Oct. 4 in North America and Europe, and bring along with it not only the original classic with enhanced graphics, but new gameplay as well,  including an intriguing “Hero Mode” which is essentially “Zelda” on hard mode.

While it’s debatable if “Wind Waker HD” justifies the purchase of a Wii U, there are few if any arguments against every Wii U owner snatching this game up, as it’s truly timeless and in all honesty may just be the greatest “Zelda” game of all time. 2013 may be one of the busiest years in video game history, but this almost 11 year old title is still destined to be one of the top releases available during it.

In his latest Q&A session, Shigeru Miyamoto said he’s prioritizing the Wii MotionPlus for the next game in the Zelda series. One of the biggest complaints about Twilight Princess was that the swordplay didn’t closely enough mimic the motions of the controller.

“In this (installment of the series), we’re using MotionPlus to make you feel much more like you’re actually fighting while holding a sword in your hand,” said Miyamoto. At E3 this year Shigeru had said he wanted to make the next Zelda Wii MotionPlus exclusive, but that might not be the best idea as far as sales are concerned.

“In the previous game, you aimed at things by pointing at the screen, but this time we’ll use MotionPlus to create a much more convenient targeting system and a more pleasurable playing experience.” Sounds like music to my ears. I really despised the point-for-aiming thing, and if the Wii MotionPlus can solve some of the fencing woes, it should be a nice improvement.

The Q&A is in Japanese for now, but Nintendo usually posts an English translation shortly after.