Nintendo has announced that The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time will release for the 3DS on June 17th in Europe.

The game is a remake of the exceedingly popular Nintendo 64 Zelda title first released in November 1998. It's commonly cited by critics as being among the best games of all time. The Nintendo 3DS version will feature overhauled, full-3D visuals, with tweaks to the interface to allow easier equipment changing. "You know the Water Temple" asked director Eiji Aonuma. "Who thought it was tough or even horrible? I've lived with that for the last 10 odd years. But with the 3DS we have a touch screen. You had to take off and on the iron boots constantly, right? So I'd like to lay the evil shame to rest and add a feature to make the iron boots' control much easier."

Historically, New Zealand release dates have been in line with those of European titles, although the launch of the Nintendo 3DS and some of its launch titles (including Pilotwings Resort) proved to be exceptions. We'll keep a close eye on any developments.

There's still no firm release date for the next Zelda offering on Wii, Skyward Sword, although Game Console understands its still on track for release sometime this year.