After Robin Williams passed away, a petition surfaced online, asking Nintendo to include Robin Williams as an NPC in the new Legend of Zelda game. To date, the petition has gained approximately 109.000 supporters, nearly three times the number of needed signatures.
As a response to the fan-issued petition, Nintendo has released a statement today: “Robin Williams was loved at Nintendo. Our hearts go out to his entire family, and especially to Zelda Williams who we’ve worked with multiple times. We appreciate the outpouring of support from the gaming community, and hear the request of fans to honor him in a future game. We will not be discussing what might be possible for future games during this difficult time, but we will hold our memories of Robin close.”
Through this statement, although they don’t promise anything, the people at Nintendo show their appreciation for the actor and acknowledge the gaming community’s wish. Williams was an avid gamer and a fan of “Legend of Zelda” since 1987. He liked the game so much as to name his daughter after the titular character. In November 2011, subscribers to Nintendo emails received an email of her and her father playing “The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword” for the Wii console. Recently, Robin and Zelda have worked on a series of ads for “Ocarina of Time 3D”.
In addition to this statement, a Nintendo spokesman from the Tokyo branch said that “nothing has been decided, but we won’t rule out the request”. This means that Nintendo is probably considering it and that Robin Williams might make an appearance in Hyrule in the next installment. If he appears in the next Legend of Zelda game, this would be the second game that pays homage to Williams. Last week, Blizzard announced that he will appear as an NPC in their popular MMORPG, “World of Warcraft”. Robin Williams died last week, at the age of 63, by committing suicide after a long battle with depression. The comedian is also told to have suffered of Parkinson’s disease.