This nice poster was to be found in Japan around the weeks before the release of the game over there. The main purpose behind this poster was not to promote Kaze no Takuto (The Wind Waker) itself, but rather the bonus disc that came along with the game for those who got it within a certain date.

Another nice Japanse advertisement, this one is a flyer which would be obtainable in various stores that promoted the game. It features some of the first artwork that was ever seen for the game, as well as some information on the game itself.

Also to be found in stores that promoted and helped Nintendo hyping up the game was these booths that featured tons of posters and ads, and better yet, a demo version of the game itself, playable for everyone!

Same as above, only this is a different booth in a different store. Who wouldn’t want to go here and play the demo many weeks before the game itself was released? Needless to say, these booths became a huge success!

This poster which is looking pretty smooth was to be found various places including retailers, cinemas and even schools! Thankfully it does it include screenshots from the game itself, though the rest of the poster seems to be trying to sell the game off as something it is not, a real-looking medieval stylish kinda’ game.

This was one of the last promotional stunts to see the light of day before the release of the game in America, a nice website featuring lots of information on the new game (nothing new, however), in a nice design which copied the look of the game very well!

Around Christmas times 2002 this trailer was screened in American cinemas, allowing for everyone to get a taste of the game that was to come around three months later. The trailer featured a cloaked character (presumably a girl) talking about the legend, and this is what she said:

“In the land of Hyrule
there echoes a legend:
A legend held dearly by the royal family,
that tells of a boy who became a man.
He embarked on a great journey
through the deepest, darkest corners of thee earth
battling the forces of evil
testing the limits of his will
all to fulfill his destiny
which is, above all else
to save
me.”

This movie trailer eventually went on to become a TV Commercial as well, as we closed in on the release date of the game. The commercial can be downloaded in the Video Clips section.

Finally some poster advertisements that made it to the US — This one is promoting the legendary deal with the bonus disc, as well as some general GameCube advertising as well! This ad was for K-Mart.

A few weeks before The Wind Waker was released in Europe, Nintendo of Europe launched this contest in which the participants could win The Wind Waker, a Platinum GameCube and much more cool stuff.

To enter the contest you had to create something that had a relation to the Zelda universe in one way or another.

The internet advertising market is always looking for new and created ways to expose various products, and the way they marketed The Wind Waker was rather impressive. The entire main portal for the IGN network was designed to celebrate the launch of the game.

Nintendo have obviously figured out that the internet is the fastest growing media of today, and therefore launched a heavy marketing campaign with various ads running on a multitude of different sites, including your very own Zelda Universe! To the left you can see an example of what the ads looked like.

This is another example of an internet advertisement that was featured on many various gaming related websites, and this one is even animated to give a small, initial impression of the game’s story.