YouTube Channel DidYouKnowGaming beats Nintendo in a legal battle over a video they created covering a lost and canceled Zelda NDS game called Heroes of Hyrule.

DidYouKnowGaming was able to reupload their video covering Heroes of Hyrule, a lost and canceled Legend of Zelda video game that was pitched by Retro Studios for the Nintendo DS, which the developers pitched to Nintendo as a sort of a break project away from their Metroid Prime series. The game was supposed to be a turn-based strategy game in the same vein as Final Fantasy Tactics and Fire Emblem but set in the Legend of Zelda universe instead.

The original video was uploaded in October 2022, but was taken down after a copyright notice from YouTube was brought to DidYouKnowGaming in December. The claim was from Nintendo of America, in again another effort to put down leaked materials that could help in video game preservation. Nintendo has been notorious for taking down sites containing dumps of Nintendo console ROMs and taking down anything that discusses leaked and canceled projects, including this lost Zelda NDS game called Heroes of Hyrule.

DidYouKnowGaming protested the Copyright Strike citing fair use policies and the interest of video game journalism and video game history preservation.

Information about Heroes of Hyrule is based on a 22-page design document sourced by DidYouKnowGaming's Shane Gill. Gill was also able to interview one of Retro Studios' developers to gain more information and insight about the lost Zelda NDS game. Unlike most Zelda games, this one wouldn't have featured Link as a protagonist. Instead, the main character stumbles upon a history book about defeating Ganon, which comes to life as he reads them (similar to Final Fantasy Tactics Advance). Just like most Zelda games, however, players get to improve their characters in this canceled Zelda game through puzzle-solving and exploration.

Thankfully, DidYouKnowGaming was able to restore their video talking about this interesting tidbit in history.