The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword will feature an item upgrade system, as revealed in the above Gamespot interview with Nintendo of America's Bill Trinen at Comic-Con. After 13 minutes of discussing the game's art style and motion controls, Trinen drops the bomb about the shield, explaining that while Link begins with a traditional shield, he can craft different ones throughout the game by combining rupees with artifacts left behind by defeated enemies.

Trinen said upgrades will apply to Link's beetle, shield and "other items," which we guess would include his sword, bow, whip and slingshot, but probably won't be applicable to the game's graphics.