GC TP only available in JP on the WWW. O Rly?

In an interestingly unpredictable move, Nintendo of Japan have announced that the Gamecube version of the much-anticipated The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess will only be available to Japanese gamers through the internet.

The Wii version, however, will still be sold through the normal retail channels as per usual.

What does this mean? It's a little hard to judge, frankly. Looking at the weekly sales figures in Japan it is clear that the "Third Pillar" - the DS has clearly stepped over the other Nintendo consoles in terms of popularity. Buoyed, no doubt by a slew of new and interesting titles, it far outstrips the other "pillars" in weekly sales.

Perhaps Nintendo are finally acknowledging the demise of the Gamecube and wish to ensure maximum exposure for the Wii version - sure to be the systems' top seller this coming holiday period. No news, however, has been forthcoming regarding the European and US releases of the game for the Gamecube, so it is perhaps safe to assume that it will still be available in the normal way. We will keep you posted.

Update: Worrying News for Europe?

Further to the news that Twighlight Princess on the Gamecube will be available only via online services in Japan, at least one European retailer has stated they believe that there may be "severely limited" copies of Twighlight Princess for the Gamecube available.

In another development, latest retail lists have the GC verison of the game to release on an undisclosed "2006" date, whereas the Wii version is still slated for a hardware launch date of 08.12.2006.

At the moment, this is first and foremost speculation, this is entirely unconfirmed and based on the internal information of retailers. However, it is important to note that Japan is a far more important market for Nintendo: therefore Europe is likely to suffer the same sort of fate - only with much-reduced numbers.

Stay tuned for any more information.