#5: Always Cut the Grass

"I'm gonna get me some rupees and bombs!"

If there’s one thing that parents love about the Legend of Zelda, it’s that it gives their children an obsessive-compulsive urge to cut down any grass that they see. Every LoZ player knows that by cutting grass, you can often find rupees, bombs, arrows and even hearts.

Be warned though that these children may not discriminate between long grass and your prized bushes.

#4: Wear Heavy Iron Boots When Walking Into Lakes

Can't see Link swimming? That's because he's doing it right.

I’m sure everybody knows some people who could use this valuable advice. The Iron Boots are a staple of underwater exploration in the Zelda series, and without its help Link could never have explored the temples at the bottom of Lake Hylia.

As humans generally cannot breathe water, this is not a recommended course of action until you find some fishmen to make you a blue version of your clothes that will allow you to breathe water indefinitely.

#3: Pots Must Be Destroyed

This pottery cannot be trusted.

By far the most common of the minions of Ganon that Link encounters on his adventures, pots are dangerous creatures, which often hide in the houses of other people. If you see one, pick it up and smash it against the wall.

#2: Break Into Every House You See

This hero is on a heroic adventure!

Breaking into the houses of strangers is a necessary and important part of Link’s quests. Nobody will mind if you randomly wander into their house with a sword and shield and start attacking their pots – in fact, they will be happy to share valuable information with you when you do so!

#1: It’s Dangerous to Go Alone

A friendly member of the local Neighborhood Watch provides Link with help in the form of a sword.

The most important lesson of all. The world can be a dangerous place, so whenever you go on any sort of “adventure” remember to have backup, whether it is a wingman for a social event, a partner for a scuba diving expedition, or a spiky stick for a walk through the slums.

If you can think of any important life lessons taught by the Legend of Zelda that I missed, feel free to mention them in the comments.

The eye symbol has appeared in several occasions in different games. There is no general consensus given by any of the games that explains this image in detail, leading to speculations and mystery. Many fans wrongly make an impulsive connection towards the Sheikah when they see an eye emblem. Although the Sheikah emblem does contain an eye, it does not mean every eye image is connected to them as well.

These eye symbols normally appear as an emblem to evil beings. Not only this, but it also seems to represent dark magical powers aside from being an evil icon in the series. But why an eye? There are some historical and cultural facts which the developers may have thought of when assigning this symbol.

Origin of the “Evil Eye”

Many worldly cultures hold a superstitious ideal called the ” evil eye”. The evil eye is a belief that the envy elicited by the good luck of fortunate people may result in their misfortune. The perception of the nature of the phenomenon, its causes, and possible protective measures, varies between different cultures.

In some forms, it is the belief that some people can bestow a curse on victims by the malevolent gaze of their magical eye. Some cultures report afflictions with bad luck; others believe the evil eye can cause disease, wasting away, and even death. Some cultures even hold that the evil eye is an involuntary jinx cast unintentionally by people unlucky enough to be cursed with the power to bestow it by their gaze.

The amount of literary and archaeological evidence attests to the belief in the evil eye in the eastern Mediterranean for more than a millennium starting with Hesiod, Callimachus, Plato, Diodorus Siculus, Theocritus, Plutarch, Heliodorus, Pliny the Elder, and Aulus Gellius.

The origin of the belief can only be guessed, but it can be traced back to the earliest of human records and the references in Deuteronomy indicate that the evil eye was known in the Hebraic world.There are also speculations that claim Socrates possessed the evil eye and that his disciples and admirers were fascinated by Socrates’ insistently glaring eyes. His followers were called Blepedaimones, which translates into demon look, not because they were possessors and transmitters of the evil eye, but because they were suspected of being under the hypnotic and dangerous spell of Socrates.

In the Greco-Roman period a scientific explanation of the evil eye was common. Plutarch’s scientific explanation stated that the eyes were the chief, if not sole, source of the deadly rays that were supposed to spring up like poisoned darts from the inner recesses of a person possessing the evil eye

The belief in the evil eye during antiquity varied from different regions and periods. Belief in the evil eye is strongest in the Middle East, East and West Africa, South Asia, Central Asia and Europe, especially the Mediterranean region; it has also spread to other areas, including northern Europe.

All of this ultimately indicates that the “evil eye” is a form of evil magic and thus a symbol depicting it is probably in reference to it. This phenomenon was mostly believed in Europe and Asia, around the times of the middle ages. This coincides with the era in which the Legend of Zelda games take place.

All of the hexing and witchcraft mentioned above is commonly used by the evil beings who bear the eye symbol in many of the games.

“Evil Eye” in the Series

Agahnim

When Hyrule became plagued by an onslaught of terrible misfortunes , the King of Hyrule offered a reward to anyone who could put an end to these disasters. A mysterious stranger named Agahnim came and put an end to these troubles with a previously unknown magic.

Agahnim is the first one in the series to be seem with the eye symbol, which can be clearly seen in his robe. He brainwashed the entire castle guard and made the seven wise men disappear into the dark world. Eye symbols can be seen throughout the corrupted Hyrule Castle as well.

Vaati

Vaati was fascinated by the evil that could come from the heart of man. When his master, Ezlo, fashioned a powerful magical cap as a gift for the humans, one that could make one’s wishes come true. Vaati stole the cap, transformed into a sorcerer and cursed his master into the shape of a living cap, so that he would not stop him.

Vaati, when in his demon form, develops an “evil eye” that is seen in the symbols. Vaati is a sorcerer who can use powerful magic and employ powerful curses such as Turing Princess Zelda into stone. Again the evil eye appears when depicting evil magical powers and curses.

Veran

Veran is the Sorceress of Shadows and has the ability to possess anybody she wishes to. She possesses the oracle Nayru, in order to reach the past and alter to her liking.

As usual where there are dark powers, there is the evil eye. An eye symbol can be seen in her gown.

Fused Shadow

The pieces of Fused Shadows hold the magical power used by the Dark Interlopers who sought entry to the Sacred Realm to claim the Triforce. The enormous power of the Interlopers was sealed away within the Fused Shadow by the Gods.

The picture above is of the back of Midna’s helmet, which is a piece of the Fused Shadow. As always, the evil eye is there when referring to evil magic.

What we can draw from all of this is that the eye symbol does have a connection with evil and a stronger connection with the dark arts. Every time the evil eye appears, evil is the subject at hand. Although the eye symbol is usually portrayed as malevolent in the series, there is one specific type of eye that is just the opposite of that, the Sheikah eye.

The Sheikah Eye

Taking what the game tells us about the Sheikah, they are not evil at all. They are the people who serve the Royal Family of Hyrule and are considered as a tribe of good. But following the logic we have developed until now you may think they must be evil as they use the eye symbol.That is not entirely true. They do use the eye emblem but this one has a distinctive trait, a tear. This eye is different in both it’s design and background. Here we have the Sheikah eye:

That distinctive tear is what separates it from the evil eye. This is the emblem of the “shadows fol” of Hyrule. There is a reason it is an eye with a tear, we must explore the annals of history once more.

The ancient Egyptians believed in something they called ” The Eye of Horus”. The Eye of Horus is an ancient Egyptian symbol of protection and royal power from deities, in this case from Horus or Ra. This is the Eye of Horus:

There are several details that help link the Sheikah eye’s background to the Eye of Horus. I write this to try and understand the depth behind the creation of the Sheikah eye by the designers.

Tear

Although it may not seem like it, the Eye of Horus is confirmed by the Egyptians themselves to have a tear. The teardrop is the vertical marking under the Eye of Horus. This offers a clear link between both eyes as the Sheikah eye is distinguished by having the teardrop.

Guardian

The Eye of Horus “was intended to protect the king in the afterlife” and to ward off evil. Although the Sheikah don’t protect the Royal Family in death, they do guard them in life, but they definitively ward off evil the same way the Eye of Horus does. A connection can definitively be made here, although not as clear as before.

Foresight

The right eye of Horus represents a Peregrine Falcon’s eye, which is a kind of absolute vigilance. The same can be said about the Sheikah. They Guard and watch the Royal Family from an extended viewpoint, which is a reference to the Lense of Truth. It can be said that the Sheikah have Peregrine Falcon’s view as well, as they utilize Gossip stones and any other means in order to have an information network and have a wider view of everything in the kingdom of Hyrule. They also seem to be the makers of the Howling Stones in Twilight Princess, which are scattered all over Hyrule.

The Sheikah eye can be seen in many different locations. In The Wind Waker there is a Sheikah symbol in the boat atop Forsaken Fortress.The Egyptians painted the Eye of Horus on their ships for good luck, there may a reference there as well.

There is also a Sheikah eye on the back of Princess Zelda’s cloak in Twilight Princess.

All of these eyes scattered throughout the lands on each of the games indicate that the Sheikah are always vigilant and are aware of many things. Who knows if they are truly extinct or simply in hiding.

Artifacts

Many Egyptian artifacts have the Eye of Horus in them. The same goes for all of the Sheikah artifacts. Both use their respective eye as a label or symbolization. Here are some of these artifacts:

The Sheikah eye and The Eye of Horus seem to have a lot in common. It is a very real possibility that the developers based the Sheikah emblem from the Egyptian symbol, Eye of Horus. It has also been proven how different the evil eye and the Sheikah eye from each other. One is representative of evil and one represents good.

There is another possibility as to their backgrounds. This idea is one that they both share equally. It is the concept of the “third eye”.

Third Eye

The third eye (also known as the inner eye) is a mystical and esoteric concept referring in part to the ajna (brow) chakra in certain Eastern and Western spiritual traditions. It is also spoken of as the gate that leads within to inner realms and spaces of higher consciousness. The third eye is often associated with visions, clairvoyance, precognition, and out-of-body experiences.

All of these abilities have been mentioned above. Visions and clairvoyance are a common theme with the Sheikah eye. The lens of truth is a prime example of this. The evil eye can also be attributed with these abilities. Veran is able to posses other beings, which is an out-of-body experience as described above. Agahnim is also able to brainwash others into doing his bidding.

The concept of the Third Eye can also be used to explain the reason behind the eye symbols in the series. It doesn’t involve magic as the others do, but it focuses on psychic behavior as exerted by many characters seen with the eye symbol.

Symbolism is a hard thing to interpret, specially if no concrete confirmations are made. That is the case with the eye symbol in the Zelda universe. Whether you wish to interpret it as an evil eye, the Eye of Horus or the Third Eye is completely up to you. Nothing can be done apart from informed guesses. The secrets of the eye symbol seem to have been uncovered for the most part, its iconization throughout the series will always have a mystic sensation nonetheless.

Capable of killing? You bet!

The immortal, helpful but sometimes demonic chicken beasts known as the Cucco, though not listed as an enemy, have been known to injure and kill Link on many occasions. Since the Cucco debuted in A Link to the Past, they have been both helpful and hurtful to Link by giving a helpful wing to the next dungeon and retaliating to one too many sword-slashes. Cuccos have been known to appear throughout the Legend of Zelda universe in such places as Hyrule, Koholint Island, Terminia, Labrynna, and Holodrum. Their purposes have changed throughout the games but one thing is for certain, Link  has fun harassing them when he is not using them to aid his quest.

The Helpful Fowl

When not retaliating against abuse, Cuccos have been assistants, mini-game participants, and quest items to Link. Some of the well known assistants are the blue Flying Rooster from Link’s Awakening/A Link to the Past, Rusl’s Golden Cucco from Twilight Princess, and the random Cucco used to wake up the narcoleptic Talon in order to get to Princess Zelda in Ocarina of Time. All of these Cuccos assist Link to progress further in his quest to a new level or for transport.

In Link’s Awakening, the Flying Rooster aids Link in his part of the quest dealing with Eagle’s Tower. Without the Flying Rooster, Link would be unable to get to and complete the level itself. The Flying Rooster also aids Link in crossing bottomless pits or gaps Link could not jump across on his own. A small appearance is also made by the Flying Rooster. In A Link to the Past, the Flying Rooster assists  Link traverse quickly across the map. There are also blue Cuccos in Oracle of Seasons that help Link up and around Goron Mountain. These appear to be influenced in design by the Flying Rooster.

Rusl’s Golden Cucco lends some wings to Link in Twilight Princess. Without this Cucco’s help, Link would not be able to gain access to the Sacred Grove and of course, the Temple of Time. This Golden Cucco was able to fly further distances carrying Link. Link was also able to speak to the Golden Cucco while transformed. The Golden Cucco even had his own saying, “Twinkle, twinkle, little Cucco… I am gold and not for you-oo….”

Other normal Cuccos are also known to help Link as an alternative to Hover Boots. They aid him by helping access places he would not normally be able to reach. By letting Link glide down off of taller structures while he holds on to their feet, the Cuccos flail about wildly. Cucco gliding is utilized a lot in Ocarina of Time as a way to grab Pieces of Heart, especially as Young Link.

Another victim?

Cuccos have also been participants in many mini-games that reward Link with some items. The other more well-known mini-games earn Link rupees instead. Child Ocarina of Time Link had to find Talon’s three “Super Cuccos” among all of the Cuccos in the Lon Lon Ranch house. If Link completed the task, he got a bottle of Lon Lon Milk and jokingly, a marriage proposal (to Malon, not Talon you disturbing people). Later in Kakariko Village, Link earned another bottle (this time empty) by capturing Anju’s loose Cuccos and bringing them back to their pen. This type of task was later turned into a mini-game. In The Minish Cap, Link has to capture Anju’s Cuccos and put them back in their pen before time runs out earning some easy rupees. Falbi’s Flight by Fowl is the Cucco related mini-game featured in Twilight Princess. Utilizing Cucco gliding, Link earns prizes that include more rupees, Pieces of Heart, and Poes.

As I mentioned before, Cuccos have also served as Link’s quest items. In Ocarina of Time’s Biggoron Sword side quest, Link came across two special kinds of Cuccos in the trading sequence. The first one, Link hatched himself from the depths of space-time where he carries all of his items. This is the Pocket Cucco. Anju bred it specifically as a designer Cucco where it was allergy free (because we all know raising animals we are allergic to is a great annoyance) and a convenient travel size (”Is that a Cucco in your pocket or are you happy to see me?”). In order to continue the quest, Link had to make the Pocket Cucco happy (no innuendo meant) by waking up a very sleepy person. Who else but Talon, the lazy narcoleptic former Lon Lon Ranch owner? After Link partakes in the game standard of breaking and entering, the Pocket Cucco becomes happy from waking up the lazy ranch owner. After running across the village again to Anju, she takes her novel Cucco and gives Link another, her brother’s pet Cucco named Cojiro. Cojiro, a blue Cucco, will only crow for his owner which is Grog, Anju’s brother. Link takes Cojiro to Grog in order to complete the next part of the side quest.

Other smaller parts of side quests/obtaining items are found in Majora’s Mask and Minish Cap. In Majora’s Mask, Cuccos play a little part in helping Link gather masks. After receiving the Bremen Mask, Link can march around Grog’s Cucco Shack and help Grog’s dream come true. While wearing the Bremen Mask, Link will march around playing his Ocarina with the Cucco chicks following. After some time, the chicks will magically poof into full grown roosters. As a reward for this, Grog gives Link the Bunny Hood. In Minish Cap, Link can fuse kinstones with certain Cuccos.

The Flock of Doom

“Cluck cluck… What?! You turned me into a human. I can even speak! Aha, it must be you who is always teasing my friends. The Weathercock is always watching you harass them. Well, this human shape is uncomfortable for me. Ahhh, I want to be a chicken again. Cluck cluck…” —Kakariko Cucco Lady, A Link to the Past

Cucco disguised as a lady?

When retaliating against abuse, Cuccos have been relentless and immortal beasts. They have been seen dive bombing Link to hurt or kill, trying to eat him, and even have their own Dark World counterpart. 

Once Link betrays the trust of the adult Cucco, disastrous results will occur. I remember when I first played A Link to the Past, I went around the towns slashing bushes and noticed that I affected the nearby Cucco. Now knowing I could sword-slash the Cucco, I did it over and over again to see what would happen. I died or should I say Link died. Below is an example of what I saw.

First documented case of the "Cucco Revenge Squad."

When Link assaults a Cucco enough, whether it is by sword, bomb, slingshot, or by other means, the assaulted will call for backup. This backup is usually referred to as the “Cucco Revenge Squad.” It is basically an immortal swarm of Cuccos that Link has little no defense against. This death swarm appears in most of the Legend of Zelda series with the exceptions being Link’s Awakening, Majora’s Mask, Wind Waker, and Twilight Princess. The only time Link can kill these these normal Cuccos is in Link’s Awakening. Link can use the Magic Powder or Magic Rod. In any other game, Cuccos are immortal.

The best defense to not die by this swarm is for Link to run into a building (usual breaking and entering stuff), leaving the area, hopping onto Epona, and use Nayru’s Love depending on the game. Most “Revenge Squads” attack Link until he is dead. This can lead to a prolonged death/resurrection cycle if Link is carrying bottled fairies.  However, the ones in Phantom Hourglass only attack for a few seconds before ceasing.

Some variations of this death swarm can be been in the Oracle games with use of  the Mystery Seeds. A Cucco will turn into a chick if hit with a Mystery Seed before calling for back up and will harmlessly retaliate against Link. However, if Link hits the Cucco in question after it calls for back up, the Cucco will triple in size and injure Link until the hero leaves the area along with the swarm.

Even at a young age, Cuccos can kill.

Normal Cuccos have been known to try and kill Link before without any provocation. In The Minish Cap, Minish-sized Link faces certain doom if he goes into Anju’s place. The vicious little Cucco chicks will attack Link on sight. Was hatred for Link taught or was it that he looked like a bug? Probably the latter. If Link is caught in a corner, he is doomed to die by the beaks of these murderous little chickens out for a meal. If he has a bottled fairy, the death and resurrection process will torture Link even further.

There are enemies in A Link to the Past that are Cucco-like monsters. These are sometimes referred to as Bone Cuccos. They are found in the Dark World and look like skeletal versions of the normal Cuccos complete with the same reactions, movements, and sound effects. These Bone Cuccos are not the ones Link should be worried about.

An Eggcellent Future

Considering that Cuccos have been in the Legend of Zelda series for so long, I can only suspect that we will see them in future games. I believe that the “Cucco Revenge Squad” will make their apperance again.  They have been in most of the games so far and gives the games a nostalgic feeling to tie into the rest of the series. I would also like to see more. Lately, Nintendo has been playing with the idea of controlling a Cucco (as seen briefly in Twilight Princess). I would like to see Cuccos work like the Sea Gulls in Wind Waker. In Wind Waker, Link was able to control a Sea Gull with a Hyoi Pear to collect items and the sort. Nintendo can use some of this to further incorporate the use of Cuccos in the games. Cuccos are able to do much more than give rides, be used as a parachute, and amusement for Link (and the of course, the player). They can be made a required sidekick for a dungeon like Medli and Makar (Wind Waker). This will make things a bit more interesting since we have seen this element used before and we have heard that Link will utilize a sidekick in Spirit Tracks.

So there you have it. Cuccos are Link’s friends and enemies capable of great help and horrible death. We can only hope to see them in future games with even more dynamic game elements than what we have already seen.

Every day we are bombarded with scary information – the mysterious stock market has crashed around us as we suddenly find ourselves in a recession strong enough to rival the great depression. Truth be told we are living in scary times, companies are either dropping out left and right or they are feeding off federal funds to keep going. I do not know about you, but I wonder about the future of video games in this bleak economic stagnation, and with good reason.

Video games are seen as a luxury item, something that is good to have but not a necessity to everyday life. Because of this one might immediately put the survival of Companies like Sony, Microsoft and especially Nintendo in doubt. Unfortunately, while two of the big three bring in heavy profits from other ventures, Nintendo’s luxury items are the only thing keeping it going. So what does this mean? Will the stock market consume Nintendo? Hardly, Ninny is about making games, and that is both a blessing and a curse.

First we have to look at the negative aspects of having such a niche company. The most dangerous aspect of Nintendo’s cache is that it has no other financial backing, if for some reason the gaming industry bombed then Microsoft or Sony could potentially feed of the larger companies until they could sustain themselves again; Nintendo does not have that luxury. Further more, as people spend less and less- fearing for their pocket books- Nintendo might have to cut back on what it produces giving it’s competitors an edge on them.

Of course that is all speculative, if the gaming industry falters Nintendo will be in trouble. However that does not seem to be the case. That chart I posted is the stock market price of Nintendo over the past year –and it certainly does look bad- however that is not the full story. Anyone who knows the Stock market realizes that stocks are sold not based on current value, but their speculative value. Simply put; they are selling at a price they think the stock will be worth later, now. So does this mean the stock market is not actually a running barometer of the economy? Yes, especially in times like these where stocks are taking a nosedive simultaneously. To get a clearer picture of how Nintendo is doing we have to look at sales.

Looking at this chart gives a much brighter impression of not only Nintendo, but the gaming industry as a whole. It’s not really that hard to figure out why either; Nintendo is doing well for two main reasons, Price, and people.

Price is not hard to figure out, people want to play video games and they don’t really wont to pay a lot of money. A Wii or a DS is a perfect combination of those two wants. Further more with Nintendo’s emphasis on “everyone can play” it makes the price of the equipment more negligible when explaining to ones wife why they bought it. If you don’t believe price could draw people in just look at the sales of the 360 and the PS3. These two systems are often thought of being similar, and having similar games, so why then does the 360 have twice as many sales? The only thing making the 360 a better buy is it’s cheaper price tag.

Of course one might ask why people are buying video games in the first place, I had figured everyone was living off of mud water and canned beans by now. However, it is a little known fact that when the economy tanks the entertainment industry flies. Escapism is the most appropriate word I can think of; people trying to escape their lives turn to movies, music or video games. Of course trying to escape reality doesn’t mean they can, people still have little money no matter how much they dream of being Link…going full circle here it’s clear that the Wii is the best choice for the weak check book.

What does this all mean? In two words: Don’t panic. Nintendo might not have the genius of Bill Gates, or the backing of a entertainment giant behind it, but what it does have is the fact they make games. They make them well. And they make them cheap. In the end that is all the consumer cares about, and that is what will keep Nintendo afloat.

The clock with the Triforce pieces.

As Zelda fans, we often discuss, debate about the series and so on. As fans we can become very excited over news, whether it be a new game annoucement or something such as competitions and the like. In this case, people becoming excited over a possible new game is very much true. On January 14th, 2008, fellow ZU member TourianTourist had discovered a countdown page for a new game on Marvelous Entertainment’s website. As everyone has probably known by now, it depicts a triangle-shaped clock floating above the countdown. The hands on this clock did not point to numbers, but rather pieces of what appears to be the Triforce. A triangle shaped clock, Triforce pieces instead of numbers… the first thing to pop into your mind would probably be a new Zelda title being announced.

And the thread was filled with countless theories and speculation as to what the countdown may be for, others have strongly disagreed and passed the countdown as being not related to Zelda at all. Indeed, the Triforce is not just used in gaming but in various other places. For example, it is often used as the symbol of the Hojo clan in Japan. In other countries, it is used for other things such as on the back of a truck. Yet as Zelda fans, it is only natural that we discuss and speculate and so it continued. But then on January 18th, just four days after the discovery of the countdown, Jason, webmaster of ZU, made an announcement that strongly told of his feelings on this matter. He dubbed that the countdown was not related to Zelda at all. He also mentioned the patent that Shigeru Miyamoto had sent about a year ago and dubbed it as being too old and outdated to really matter in present day.

However as a few have stated earlier, Jason did not provide evidence that the countdown was not related to Zelda at all. Let us look on both sides of the story.

First of all, the Triforce pieces. It is very true that they are indeed used as symbols for other things in real world and not just the gaming industry. Obviously this countdown is supposed to be for a game, and, although we still don’t know what it is yet, the clock indeed has Triforce pieces. When you see the Triforce symbol used in conjunction with a video game, the first thing that anyone is going to think is Zelda. How many times has the Triforce been used in the real world? Countless times. But how many times has it been used in a video game or something closely related to a video game? Only one series so far: Zelda.

Marvelous has worked with Nintendo for years, especially since they are famous for their titles such as Harvest Moon and Legend of the River King. They’ve been around with Nintendo since the NES days and continue to be with them as a third-party developer. Zelda is a very popular series, so its only obvious that Marvelous would be very well aware of the series and know of its most well known symbol, the Triforce. Is it a coincidence that Marvelous used the Triforce on this clock, a triangle shaped clock? Was the Triforce used to get a lot of attention? Maybe so, maybe not. While the symbol is used a lot in every day life, it holds a different purpose in the gaming industry and is mostly used in the Zelda titles or as a reference to Zelda titles. Nintendo has had third-party developers work on several Zelda titles, such as Flagship (a division of Capcom) working on Oracle of Ages, Oracle of Seasons, The Minish Cap, and Flagship also even helped with the development of Phantom Hourglass. A third-party developer also developed Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland. Nintendo has had third-party developers work on some of their titles before, and it can always happen again, especially by a company that has been with Nintendo for awhile.

Marvelous probably knows that if they used the Triforce symbol to simply gain attention, it would result in one big disappointment for many people. Marvelous obviously knows that and if they really want people to try out this new game they’re planning, they wouldn’t use the Triforce just as a marketing ploy.

Finally, the translation. People discovered that Google was also linking to the site, complete with a short summary in Japanese. There have been people who are quite experienced in the Japanese language who have translated the summary. All it really mentioned was a new game, something about a “new lap of time”, and nothing about Zelda. While this is true indeed, I have to disagree on something. That summary alone does not rule out the possibility for a new Zelda title.

What is the purpose of the countdown? Its meant to bring hype, to make people wonder what it is, and to surprise them with an announcement. That is the true point of the countdown: to surprise people. If the quote had blatantly stated what the game was about, people would find out what the title was before the countdown ended, completely ruining its original purpose. If anything, the ambiguous summary is merely supposed to make Japanese-speaking people more curious about this mysterious game.

Curiousity. The human mind is naturally curious, hence all of the theories and speculation comes from. While we wait for the at least four days to pass, we can speculate what this is. It is a pastime, but unfortunately we’ve had some people like Jason telling us “No, no, no. Stop speculating NOW, ‘cause this thing isn’t Zelda!”

But then again, who is to say? Maybe I am wrong. Maybe Jason is wrong. Maybe everyone is wrong. Jason has only been telling us that this is not Zelda, using the Triforce pieces and the translated summary as his reasoning. Yet as I have just pointed out, the Triforce is used much more differently in the gaming industry and that the countdown is meant to surprise people whenever it ends.

We have also heard that people fast forwarded their internal computer clocks to the countdown’s ending time, but all this did was either keep the countdown or cause the words “Coming Soon” to display with no other real change. However, many webmasters are smart and can know what visitors are thinking. They would probably only put the actual thing up whenever the countdown nears its end at their time. They do that to prevent people like us from discovering sooner by fast forwarding.

The only way to know for sure what game this is is to wait for the countdown to end. There is no other way. Marvelous is being secretive about this and no matter how many quotes you translate, it won’t reveal what this countdown is. Maybe it is Zelda, maybe it isn’t. We will never know until the countdown ends, and I suggest that everyone else waits, too, and doesn’t their hopes up too high.

Patience is the key to everything.

Signed: The Goron Moron, Hero of Mountains (and guest writer).

The purported new Zelda game. Yeah, right!

Does the legal-looking picture to the left look familiar to you? With all the press surrounding this nearly year-old patent, I wouldn’t be surprised if some of you in the comments said it was a frame from the next Zelda trailer. But with all the emails both the news staff and I have been getting about this story – and one other, more recent story involving a stopwatch with some Triforce-like symbols on it – I think it’s about at that point where we all took the time to take a deep breath, look at this hype, and come back down to Earth. Rumors are great; since we report news, we generally love to mess with your heads and give you false hope (it’s one of our pastimes, you see), but we can’t bring ourselves to do it with these clearly bogus stories being hyped up by supposedly reputable journalists.

First, I’ll address the patent – everything I’ve heard said about it so far indicates that nobody who has reported on the patent has also read it. Trust me – as soon as you lay eyes on that actual, unequivocal text of the patent, you can see plainly that this has nothing to do with Zelda. Which is why I find it remarkable that some news sites such as Zelda Dungeon, another Zelda fansite that specializes in detailed original walkthroughs, even went so far as to say there will soon be a new trailer for Zelda coming soon because of this patent. I don’t think Nintendo has ever released a trailer for a Zelda game outside of an international media event – ever! And E3 isn’t for a good while, kiddos.

To get my point across, however, I first need to get all of your heads out of those diagrams. Yes, the diagrams depict Link. Yes, it says “Legend of OO”. But this all goes back to the software world, and in the software world ideas are presented as something called “metaphors.” These aren’t the same as literary metaphors, instead a metaphor is really a fancy name for “user interface.” Palm, Inc. recently introduced a mobile device called the Pre, which introduces a new metaphor for application switching called Cards. Apple’s iPhone has a desktop metaphor called the Springboard, because launching applications looks like they pop up from a spring-loaded board, like a gymnast would. Don’t think that simply because those two examples are Operating Systems that they don’t correlate to the gaming world as well – they’re all software, and those presenting this software, even Mr. Miyamoto, are software developers. And they know how to present their ideas: With a metaphor they can be commonly known for.

This is why it is logical for Miyamoto to pick a common metaphor for his patent. Reading the patent, it is clear that this “hint system,” to put it loosely (it’s really a special “digest” mode that turns the game into an interactive movie for those who cannot figure out gameplay), could easily be implemented in any game. The patent text makes no mention of Zelda, nor of Mario, nor of any major franchise or, for that matter, any game at all. Strip away the diagrams and send this patent to a patent lawyer for analyzing, and he’d come back and tell you it’s just some bogus general hint system. And although the diagrams do state “Legend of OO,” it is not because this is the hidden title of Nintendo’s next Zelda game. No company is stupid enough to put the title of their next game into a publicly available patent – Miyamoto was simply using one of his better-known metaphors to demonstrate the system described in the patent.

A lot of you will launch off of that statement saying “Well, that PROVES he has it in his head to use it on the next Zelda game!” Completely false – as with most patents filed by major companies, this one will probably never see the light of day. Nintendo is like Apple – the fanboys are become almost equally rabid, I think – they file a ton of patents for nearly every idea they have for future posterity. Simply because a diagram depicts something does not mean it will ever be implemented, or that there are plans for it to be implemented in the way depicted in the diagrams. The text of the patent frees them from the diagrams.

Of course, all this not to mention that the patent was filed in August 29, 2007. That thing is a year and a half old! You wonder why somebody decides to jump on this patent now. Even though it was only recently approved, the idea has been sitting, gathering dust for a year and a half. Companies generally go along with their ideas even if the patent is still pending (hence why products say “patent pending” on them much of the time).

Don’t believe anything I just said? Read the patent for yourself.

Rumor #2: The Floating Clock

The Countdown Clock - Zelda? I think not.

Does that picture look familiar to you? You might have been one of the twenty or so people who sent this story in to us, but rest assured it, too, has nothing to do with Zelda. Ignoring the heinous possibility of Nintendo outsourcing the next major Zelda game to a 3rd party – the first time this would have been done since The Minish Cap, discounting Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland – the only thing connecting this rumor to Zelda is people’s lack of ability to read Japanese and their sniper-like ability to spot Triforces. Even if Marvelous Entertainment is responsible for the well-known Harvest Moon series, there’s no reason for Nintendo to suddenly bring them into the development of Zelda, and especially in such a low-key way.

The Triforce is a common symbol; Nintendo actually doesn’t hold any intellectual property over this iconic design. Why? Because the three triangles have been used throughout history. Look at a Sierpinski Triangle, a fractal that is, basically, made out of Triforces. The general idea is that there is beauty in dividing one large equilateral triangle into four separate and equal equilateral triangles – not to rip off Nintendo.

The triangles, in this clock’s case, are the numbers. 3, 2, 1. They could have used squares, but hey – guess what? – the clock is triangle-shaped. he triangles, by design, and by Sierpinski’s wonderful fractal, fit into that shape perfectly. The following thought graces my mind: The local mall in this area has a giant 3D statue of something that looks just like a Triforce. How come Nintendo isn’t at my mall presenting the next Zelda game?

Several people who can actually read and understand Japanese, and not just use Google Translator, have told me that this has nothing to do with Zelda. Although I cannot read Japanese myself, I trust these sources very much.

And to solve the “magic” that was the clock page showing up on Google searches for things like “http://www.mmv.co.jp/ + zelda” – Google’s algorithm gathers keywords from the internet and groups sites to those keywords. If you talk enough about a site being related to Zelda, Google is going to think that it is and group the search terms. In essence, it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy – you want the site to be related to Zelda so much that you talk about it enough to cause Google to group the site to the false keyword. And when somebody runs the search and discovers that the site is linked to the keyword, then screams “It MUST be Zelda!!”, they think that some prophecy has been fulfilled and that it really is Zelda, not knowing that they – and the countless others who linked the site to the Zelda keyword – inadvertantly caused this false connection to occur.

I hope the Zelda community has just a tiny bit more sense now, so that we can all get excited over a real announcement.

Link Gets Canned

>Aonuma: I want to assert that the game will have a much more complicated story in the sense that our hero is no longer mute.

>Kyle: Because he isn’t Link, right?

>Aonuma: I see you’ve already heard.

>Kyle: Rumors mostly.

Yes, it is true. After so many years of Link getting to rescue Hyrule and save the day, it seems Nintendo is taking a feather out of the cap of such series as Devil May Cry and Metal Gear Solid by having their main character removed for the majority of a game in favor of a new protagonist that acts, looks, and speaks like the former main character. In Project Deluge, conversely, we are supposed to have a speaking character as opposed to a mute one, black hair instead of a natural blonde, and a complete psychopath. In any gaming series, you grow to love the main protagonist, so replacing one, even for a single game, is difficult. Metal Gear Solid 2 tried, and failed, to get its audience to like Raiden as much as Solid Snake, simply because they were too different. Devil May Cry 4, on the other hand, had a new protagonist exactly like the old one, and thus fared better. Deluge’s hero will be an ordinary boy who simply snaps and starts thinking he’s Link, going as far as to act, dress, and speak like Link.

When I said psychopath earlier, I meant that in the best possible way. This guy isn’t an evildoer, he’s just a person driven insane by the events that surround him. So much so that, in order for a Hero of Time to be present, he assumes the role himself and starts fighting Ganon and his minions. Now, while this might sound similar to the plotline used in almost every Zelda game to date, this one is different because the main guy literally is not Link. No Master Sword, no Light Arrows. Just him, an imitation sword and shield, and a horse against the forces of evil. It’s a concept that might not sound all that different, but when you remember that the Master Sword and the Light Arrows are all that separate Link from a fiery death from Ganon’s hands these little tools will probably be missed.

Valley of the Flood

>Kyle: How big is the world going to be?

>Aonuma: My third point. I think Wind Waker had it right, but it needed to approach travel with more variety. Sailing was a very polarizing aspect of the game, and I think we need to look at the sheer number of possible modes of transportation. Of course our hero in Deluge will have a horse—a black one actually, with these ethereal white spots that illuminate in the dark; I think it’s quite interesting and captures the otherworldly tone I’m looking for in the game. But yes, he has a horse and access to a train, as well as an unusual method of flight. I’ll talk about all of this at E3 and I don’t want to spoil much, but I want to emphasize that this game will be breathtakingly massive. Not just in scale, but in the amount of sidequests and secret items and even mini-dungeons we’re trying to implement. It’s the largest Zelda so far in terms of land. We want realism and consistency in the world, such as believable rivers and brooks and water effects. Especially water effects. [laughs]

>Kyle: Amazing. Do you have any concept art I can look at, or is that too much to ask?

>Aonuma: Not this time, I’m afraid.

The world of Hyrule is changing. Once, it was a two-dimensional land of people who spoke prophetic one-liners and monsters that appeared from off-screen. Now, it has become a spiraling place, possibly because Hyrule is the British Empire of the Zelda universe and gets its giggles from conquering nearby territories. It is, in fact, so large now that we apparently need different means of transportation. As fans, we are no longer satisfied with sailboats and warping! Well, Nintendo has allegedly listened to these complaints this time, unlike in Phantom Hourglass, because we now apparently have a train that can traverse the land, a brand-new horse that is not Epona, and an unknown flying ability (could it be the return of the Roc’s Cape?).

As we all know, though, we need a land to traverse in order to whine about how we’re going to traverse it. Twilight Princess really showed us what Nintendo could do when it comes to top-quality graphics, but there were some areas of the game where the visuals seemed…less so, like the grass or bushes or the little things. Even the water sometimes looked a little too fake. But, even though it came out on the Wii, Twilight Princess was a Gamecube game through and through. Nintendo is a company that has always believed in game play over graphics, but I’ve seen that little white box pull of some truly amazing visuals when push comes to shove. That being said, I am really excited about the potential for graphics Deluge could have: better rendered backgrounds, better facial expressions for the characters, and just overall detail touches that would really absorb the player into the game in ways not available for past generations of gamers to experience.

Turn on the Waterworks

>Aonuma: Remember that this game is centralized around the Great Flood of Hyrule, and concerns, in part, the salvation of various Hylians from total destruction, which the hero will influence in part.

>Kyle: So that’s his purpose, then? Is he occupied partly with saving Hyrule’s people?

>Aonuma: You’ll have to wait a while, because this is still very integral to the core plot, which I can’t spoil right now. I can tell you that his primary motive is destroying Ganon, but you can imagine how difficult this is without the Master Sword or Light Arrows. So battling Ganon and saving Hyrule are both key components of his journey, and in order to immerse the characters as fully as possible, I want to draw the sense of urgency present in Majora’s Mask. The flood doesn’t occur until later in the story, but when Hyrule floods, it does so in real-time. What I mean is, Link will not have the opportunity to wander the world aimlessly at that point, as Hyrule Field and the Gerudo and Kokiri territories—all the towns aside from the Goron tribes in Death Mountain, essentially—will become huge bodies of water. And of course there will be an immense variety of new enemies and such to add depth to this.

So, I’m guessing everyone here’s played Wind Waker. Or, at the very least, you’ve at least gone to an Internet forum and either praised or denounced the game’s graphics. Think back to the opening sequence, where the game provided you with a little bit of back story about how the world flooded. Well, from the sounds of this interview, you the player are going right back to the beginning of how Hyrule became flooded in Deluge. So the game pretty much sets you up for failure then, since the flood must happen, or we don’t get Wind Waker. But, since the game’s tone is going to be darker than previous titles, maybe the object of this game isn’t saving the world. Maybe it’s about the people of the land, who finally stand together to take charge of their own destiny, without the Hero of Time.

Actually, this game kind of reminds me of Majora’s Mask, and Anouma even goes as far as to compare Deluge to Majora’s Mask. As the interview indicates, Hyrule will become flooded, but slowly, to truly give a sense of panic and need to the player. And best of all, the flood doesn’t wait for you. It’ll come, whether you do something or not, so the timer that was introduced in Majora’s Mask takes on a whole new meaning as you watch the cities and lands of Hyrule transform into nothing but a sea as you struggle to rescue the people from their impending doom.

Another thing to keep in mind is the styles of the different directors. In the beginning, it was Shigeru Miyamoto who headed the Zelda games. Now, he still works with them, but the show running job has been passed to Anouma, who differs greatly in game design from Miyamoto. Deluge is set to have a much wider world with an even deeper storyline, something Miyamoto doesn’t like, as he prefers a much more linear story and a more straightforward world. Deluge will allegedly be more free-roaming. Which would be cool, it’d be a bit like Fable, only less of a letdown.

Zelda Gets Steampunked

>Aonuma: Now I’ve heard many fans tell me that they’re interested in a steampunk-influenced Zelda, even though the series has always maintained a very medieval foundation. I thought about this shortly after completing [Wind Waker], and I started compiling ideas in my head and eventually relayed them to Miyamoto-san, who seemed surprisingly pleased with the idea of a more progressive Hylian history. We had a meeting halfway through development of Twilight Princess and agreed to set aside an entire portfolio of ideas for a more industrialized Hyrule. We figured that if Hyrule has enough time to develop its kingdom, it would eventually discover the steam engine and gunpowder and such. Well gunpowder was there to begin with. We’ve had cannons in Zelda, so I suppose you could say that Zelda was always really in a kind of medieval-steampunk limbo.

>Kyle: What exactly do you have planned for this kind of transition? I mean, do you actually want guns in the Zelda universe, or is that just wishful thinking on my part?

>Aonuma: Muskets, certainly. They wouldn’t be the kind that you’re familiar with though, and all items we create in the universe will retain their respective fantasy styles. So for instance, you can expect a deku musket that fires gunpowder-filled deku nuts. It sounds a bit obscene, but when you see the concept art and visuals in July, you’ll realize how well it all merges with the world. I don’t want to spoil too much, but we intend to have a railroad system in Hyrule. It’s actually something I’ve wanted to implement since Majora’s Mask, but we’ve never had a large enough world, you know?

Yes. After all these years, after all the waiting, it appears that Nintendo have apparently decided that Hyrule’s a bit too slow-paced. It’s technology needs an upgrade. It’s people, despite having a good amount of magic, need some evolution. Theories have always run rampart through the forums of the Internet about the possibility of a futuristic Zelda game, in which the mighty Epona is replaced by a motorcycle, the Master Sword by a gun blade, and Link’s tunic for a regenerative nanotech suit that looks suspiciously like the Kokiri tunic. Now, while we can’t all be like Halo, Nintendo is taking baby steps into the future with its favorite fantasy epic with the alleged introductions of a musket which will undoubtedly replace the bow and arrows and the slingshot. But what about other, steampunk-tech weapons? Like instead of the hookshot there could be a grapple launcher wrist mounted to the hero. Or a flash bang bombs made from Deku nuts. The possibilities for new weapons are endless, while still keeping the charm and wit of Zelda games of old.

In Closing

>Aonuma: We’re drawing more power out of the Wii than ever before with this. I’m very excited. [laughs]

>Kyle: I am too, you have no idea. Well I’m very grateful for your willingness to speak with us today. You can expect to read the interview shortly after the E3 showing and I hope to see some concept art soon. This game sounds incredible so far.

>Aonuma: I’m glad you think so. I’m very pleased with its progress as well and I hope gamers will find it our most compelling game so far.

Remembering of course the copious amounts of salt that should have been ingested prior to reading this article, let’s stop here and think about this new potential Zelda title. While it is nice to see the series trying something new, I wonder if new is good. Aonuma himself has said that this title might not even be classified as a Legend of Zelda game, since it’s so different from anything Zelda’s ever tried before (this is including Freshly Picked Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland). Personally, if this interview holds true, I look forward to the game. If it doesn’t, well, at least I have entertained the ten people that actually read my stuff.

First off, the next TP caliber game need to take place in a land that is completely different than the Hyrule we know. It need to be highly detailed (like Doom 3/Fable), with all kinds of little interaction that can be made, that really don’t matter to the outcome of the game, but make it more realistic. Of course this would make it difficult to build a large overworld that doesn’t have to load constantly, but I for one don’t mind loading screens, as long as there is a payoff. The overworld would change in various ways throughout the game, whether it be by war, construction, or natural disaster. A tornado in the world, awesome.

War. The game need epic battles with legions of knights pitted against legions of enemies. The war would have several battles fought throughout the game; heck! Each one could have a boss that appears near the end and Link has to fight it while a battle rages around him. Battles would be fought in daylight, rain, snow, and night just for good measure. Each climate would force both armies to change strategy, and so would the player. The battles would take place in a field, a forest, a wall, a castle/fortress, and even a mountain side! All of these would be truly epic, and even if it had a ton of cinema scenes, if the player could fight most of the battle, I’d be happy. Battles are a must for the future of Zelda.

Dungeons need a change. The player shouldn’t realize that they are entering a dungeon; they should feel like they are in the overworld while still technically in a dungeon. That way, dungeons would feel like they are as big as the overworld, and it would improve gameplay if the player felt they could navigate out of the dungeon and restore their health/ammo/magic and then re-enter the dungeon to find it unchanged. Don’t stick to the same key/key/dungeon map/key/compass/key/mini-boss/item/key/boss key/ boss idea, change it up, have temples that interact with the environment. Formulas must die.

Link, he needs new clothes, and a new attitude. I think that being mute is one of Link’s staples, but as we saw in TWW Link can have on different (even cooler) clothes and still feel the same. He needs to be more of the hero type; I just don’t see that in the course of a game that a humble farmer can change into the Hero. I think it should be set up more to a tune like: Link grows up in metropolitan (place-that-the-game-takes-place) in a temple as the chosen boy, a boy who must train constantly to one day become the Hero. That way it sets Link up to be a leader of an army that repels the evils of the outside world; fighting from one end of the land to other to save the world. It would be much more epic and enjoyable than the save old save the princess thus save the world.

The game needs to have variety like Majora’s Mask and Halo 2, where you can change characters and fight differently. That way the player must develop all new strategies for all the characters he must play, and thus the game would be harder and more fun. Different parts of the story would be played as a different character, and a change like that would be well taken by me. I’d love to see these improvements in Legend of Zelda. Now, do you agree?

Playing through Twilight Princess I observed a few things that seemed out of place. Apparently, Twilight Princess’ map is based around Ocarina of Time’s map and in most cases it makes sense – Death Mountain is right off Kakariko Village and Gerudo Valley is near of Lake Hylia – but in other cases places known to us seem to be in the wrong area.

First and most obvious of these out-of-place landmarks is just the presence of Snowpeak which bears a striking resemblence, mostly in name and theme (ice,) to Snowhead. As most of us know, Snowhead is from Majora’s Mask and is in the alternate universe of Termina. This one just puzzles me because a snowy mountain isn’t even mentioned in Ocarina of Time.

The next, and perhaps more obvious, landmark that seems out of place is the Temple of Time. In Ocarina of Time, the Temple of Time was located right outside Hyrule Castle. But, in Twilight Princess it’s located right outside the Forest Temple, which is on the complete opposite side of Hyrule. Not only is it located in the wrong place; it’s also in complete ruin. As much as Snowpeak puzzled me, this one is almost worse. How could a whole building move from one side of Hyrule to the other? I was thinking maybe they rebuilt it but that seems strange because that would require two things: a reason to move it and removing the Master Sword – two things which are never explained and not very explainable.

As all of you should know, the map for Twilight Princess is enormous. After studying it for a while I noticed something: Ocarina of Time’s map might just be the Eldin Providence because of it’s proximity to all the major landmarks of Ocarina of Time. Now, if this is true then a few other things must be valid. First, the Faron Providence must be the old Kokiri woods and both the Lanayru and Peak Providences are completely new areas from Ocarina of Time. Peak and Lanayru must be new areas because lands north of Hyrule castle are not even included in Ocarina of Time.

On another note, after a few hours of playing I decided I was going to do some research on where the Deku Tree is located. I assumed that it would be a huge tree sitting in a forest. The most obvious one is the Forest Temple. The Forest Temple is a huge tree which looks much like the Deku Tree but without the branches. The second one I found was a curious tree near Lake Hylia which seems a bit too small for the Deku Tree but could still be it, nonetheless. The obvious answer is the Forest Temple and it definitely makes the most sense. It might also be an interesting note to Timeline Researchers that the Deku Tree is dead so that would lead us to think, if the split timeline is true, that this is the timeline where Link doesn’t exist (which would also only be true if you believe that he gets stuck in Termina) because the Deku Tree was destroyed and the new Deku Tree was never given a chance to survive.

Well, that’s all the oddities and curiosities of Twilight Princess I can think of at the moment. I’ll continue to think about these and probably make another article if I think of enough. At the moment, I have no idea where Twilight Princess fits into the timeline mostly for the fact that it doesn’t even address the timeline in its story. Hopefully the next game, Phantom Hourglass, will have some sort of timeline explanation in it and perhaps explain some of the oddities of Twilight Princess. Until then, we all can think and wonder.

But at the same time, there’s something that plenty of fans, I included, are probably going to miss from this period of waiting, this time where we’ve only received the tiniest of news about TP; and that is the fun of anticipation.

I’m in no way saying that I don’t want the game to come out, because like most of you, I’m sick of sitting here not enjoying it. Though, I won’t deny that there have been a lot of experiences that I will have fond memories of from these two years. No doubt, we’ve argued and debated over this game more than probably anything else. And from my perspective, that’s the perfect way to have a good time on the internet, bickering with people you don’t know.

Okay, so I did more than bicker, but I think you guys should get what I’m saying here. The fact that we knew so little about Twilight Princess, but that we were so hyped for it lead to the most activity the Zelda community has seen in years. It’s not even just the online fandom, this goes for every single fan across the globe. There hasn’t been this kind of excitement, this kind of zeal for the franchise since Ocarina of Time was on its way. I mean, just look at me, every article I’ve done on here in relates to Twilight Princess in some way. If it weren’t for that game, well darn, I don’t think I’d have a job as a Zelda Universe writer.

That’s a great thing, to see the fans so eager for something, to see them have so much zest for a thing that they have a very big interest in. We haven’t even played the game yet, and still it’s the single hottest topic across every Zelda site. There’s so much that we don’t know about the game, and as a result, we’ve been able to participate of thousands of discussions about what we think the game will be like. Because Nintendo didn’t flat out tell us fact after fact about the game, the community became robust with the fans’ unending interest. People’s minds opened up to the possibilities.

And anyone’s opinion was fair game. This was not a time where someone’s personal point of view could seem crazy or illogical, because it contradicted the truths about the game. No, you could say what you want, back it up, and you had created a solid argument. You could believe whatever you want, and in most cases, you could very well be right.

That creates life in the fans, the ability for them to speak their mind about any topic and have a legitimate opinion. This would probably be the single greatest factor for the incredible amount of activity in the community, and as result, we got to interact with one another more than ever, hear all kinds of perspectives, and enjoy one of our favorite game series without actually playing a game.

It’s a sign of a terrific franchise when the fans are equally excited and active about a future title as they are when it’s in their hands.

And alas, the time for speculation is all but over. Come November 19th, we won’t be able to throw around our guesses of how it’ll play, or what character will do what in relation to the plot. Instead, we move onto the next act, one which will definitely last us an innumerable amount of years; trying to figure out the game.

It’s not outside the realm of possibility, either. Twenty years later, there are still new ideas and debates going on about the original Legend of Zelda, or the Adventure of Link. In Twilight Princess’s case, we’re getting the most detailed Hyrule that Nintendo’s ever created, in addition to what they considered the deepest storyline yet. Unless they come out and explain every last detail about the world we’re going to explore, there will always be room for the fans to study it and put the pieces together. And like all good creators of a fantasy culture, they’ll leave the tiny details for us to decide on, just as Nintendo always has.

But when all is said and done, there’s something far more important then realizing the universe in Zelda, and that of course, is the gameplay. You can have a video game with the most detailed world, the greatest of voice-acting and graphics, and a blockbuster storyline, but it could still fall short because of mediocre play-mechanics. And lucky for us, the Zelda franchise has only rarely disappointed with its entries. Twilight Princess, of all titles, is shaping up nicely when it comes to letting the player indulge in the many different scenarios.

If you’re getting it for Wii, then you’ll be able to execute all of Link’s moves in a totally different manner using the motion-controls of the Wii remote. Aiming the bow and arrow like it was actually in your hands, flicking your wrist just as Link slashes with the Master Sword and the many other actions which have continuously been praised by critics. But if you’ll be getting it for Gamecube, there’s still nothing to worry about, because either way this game is looking to have excellent gameplay overall. There seems to be such variety in the campaign, with a plethora of dungeons, and all kinds of different quests in between. Not only that, but the game is really giving the fans a lot of new experiences, including things like horse-combat and the in-depth mechanics of Wolf Link. This will help to set Twilight Princess apart from all other Zelda games, and better yet, all other adventure games.

The road to Twilight Princess was a story in itself, and now it appears that it has lead to one of the greatest video games ever produced. Sure, some of us may miss the fun of anticipation, but no doubt that it doesn’t come close to matching the fun of exploring Hyrule one more time.

Enjoy it as much as you can, all.

Nintendo posted on its official Revolution site that the name of the new system would be Nintendo Wii. A major bit of news only weeks away from the biggest tech show of all, The Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, as most know it. It was a shock to all in many different ways. Many were trying to figure why the name was released before the expo. Some were trying to figure out why it was changed in the first place. Almost all thought why such a ridiculous name was assigned to the new revolutionary gaming system.

On the site, Nintendo claims that the name is based on the fact that Wii (pronounced like We) are the gamers and that console is for everyone. Unfortunately for many, Wii started as a big joke, circulating the worst puns ever by anyone. Seriously, most blogs and sites dedicated to anything gaming used very lame puns to make fun of the name.

There is the possibility that Nintendo wanted that to happen. It would be really odd to watch the executives at Nintendo finally decide the name. You have to think that someone in the room made fun of the name. How can you not make fun of the name? Even though it is a simple name to pronounce, some gamers are immature and this name was fodder for that immaturity.

However, maybe that is exactly what Nintendo was playing at. The board meeting could have gone like this: “We have finally decided on the name Wii. However, gentlemen, we know that the general public is going to make fun of this name, it is inevitable. So, why not release the name sooner than E3 to get rid of that general awkward behavior and puns that may result. Let people dig the name into the ground before we impress them with the system specs and graphics and games that the name will just be what it is supposed to be: A name.”

So what is in a name? A name is just something to characterize something. We all have names. Many people absolutely dislike the name they were given and actually change their name to reflect that. Really, Wii is just a name, a name to a system that is supposed to revolutionize the gaming industry. They could have named it something even more random and people would have been interested.

However, they chose Wii to reflect the people who play it. We are the people who take the system to the next level. We are the people who play the games on the system. We are the people who decide the fate of the gaming industry. So, Wii is perfect for the name.

People need to look past the initial giggle of a silly name and look to the impressive quality of the system itself. Wii has the same specs as when we knew it as the Revolution, so there isn’t anything to worry about. The controller will still be the same, the backwards compatibility will still be there, and the virtual console will still be intact. Wii will surely be the next great system on the market. It is up to Nintendo to make it truly worth its value with extraordinary games that clearly make the name obsolete in discussion.

At E3 this week, Nintendo surely made us forget that silly name when they showcased the system at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3. Not only did all of the footage of games for Wii shock and amaze many, it made any doubt that loomed over many of our heads disappear. Nintendo accomplished what they must have thought of at that supposed meeting; announce the name, get rid of the giggles and amaze everyone with the display. Touché, Nintendo, touché.

Now that the initial fallout from the name has come and gone, what is there to look forward? A new generation console that seems to be able to fight in the PS3’s and XBOX 360’s market. Numerous franchise games were announced, many third party supported games, and of course, Zelda. So now that “Wii” have gotten over the name, we can finally move forward and welcome the uniquely named console into our houses. Since, “Wii” are the gamers and “Wii” will decide the fate of the console, whether “Wii” like it or not.

Twilight Princess is the next chapter in The Legend of Zelda series and takes place somewhere around Ocarina of Time. Link is a teenager living in a small village outside Hyrule. Here he is a peaceful cowboy and lives happily in his town. About all we know after that is he is invited to Hyrule Castle where he gets sucked into the Twilight. After that, the information is far and in-between and most of it is speculation.

Currently, much more is known about the game play. It has already been announced that the game will be released with the Wii and an alternate Gamecube version for the unfortunate people who can’t buy a Wii the day it comes out. The Wii is the most exiting part but I’ll start with the Gamecube version to get it out of the way.

The GC version is going to be much like Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask in the ways of style and some gameplay. We have a few new or reintroduced items such as the magnetic iron boots, the gale boomerang, and the returning lantern. All of them give some information about the game.

Can these boots be any cooler?

The wonders of the Gale Boomerang.

Taking a relaxing trip in the boat.

Is Navi really back?

Since the E3expo is less than a month away (the conference starts on May 17th, Norway’s national day!), I think it would be suitable to start off this new series of articles by taking a look at all the facts we know about this game, since judging from the e-mails that people send me, there is a lot of confusion going on about what’s real about the game, and what’s mere rumours.

Public Footage and Screenshots

As of today, the amount of “teasers” released from this game can be counted on one hand. The first we ever saw of this game was the E3 Trailer that was showcased 11 months ago. Some “industry insiders” got to see an extended version of this trailer, which featured two minutes of gameplay footage, but the extended E3 2004 trailer has never been shown to the public, and chances are it never will be.

In December 2004, right before Christmas, Nintendo generously released a whopping three new screenshots. Yes, it’s true, three screenshots. These featured Link sitting on his horse, an enemy facing Link (while we only saw Link’s back), and Link swinging his sword while on the horse.

And then finally, in March this year, at the Game Developers Conference, they showed the second trailer. This was not the extended trailer from E3 last year, but a brand new trailer. In addition to this trailer, they also released ten new screenshots which weren’t taken directly from the trailer, but they were from the same “scenes” as the trailer featured.

Additionally, there are currently two pieces of official art available from the game, one of very high quality which was released at last years E3 convention, and a low quality cropped image which we got out of the GDC together with the second trailer and the screenshots. That’s it, and if anyone else tells you that they have seen anything else from the game today, well they are telling fairy tales.

Release Date

I don’t think there exists a number large enough to display the amount of e-mails I have gotten about various “confirmed” release dates for these games. As late as today I got one saying something like this:

“OMG I am so disappointed in Zelda Universe that you don’t have the release date updated for the new Zelda game, when it is listed on [ insert random online store here ], where you can even pre-order the game. LOSERS!”

Newsflash : Nobody knows the definate release date for this game as of now. Chances are that Nintendo will reveal it at the E3expo in less than a month, but for now the closest thing we have to a confirmed release date is “Q4 2005″, which Nintendo stated in their online press section, and this was backed up by Reggie Fils Aime who said that the game was most likely coming out around the holiday season (Christmas) of 2005.

Online stores (or any stores for that matter) are not reliable sources for release dates, and you can quote me on that. If we were to listen to the stores, well then according to some (I won’t mention names) you would be playing the game right now instead of reading an article in a series entitled “While We Wait”.

The Storyline

The facts about the storyline which are known today are more or less non-existant. Everything you have read about the storyline until today is pure fiction and speculation. The closest thing to an official revelation of the storyline we have gotten from Nintendo as of right now, is Eiji Aonuma (Producer) being quoted saying that this game will take place after The Wind Waker. Of course this is grounds for some serious speculation, but as said, there is nothing definate known about the storyline yet, and the statement doesn’t even say that it will be a direct sequel to The Wind Waker, only that it will take place some time after it.

As can be seen here, there is also speculation about that Ganon will be in the game going on, and what his role in the game will be, but just as the rest of the storyline details, this is just speculation and must be taken with a grain of salt. We can expect E3 to reveal more about the storyline, but don’t get your hopes up too high, because we basically knew nothing about the “true” storyline in The Wind Waker before the game was released.

Gameplay

Not a whole lot has been revealed about the gameplay either, but we have seen two trailers from the game, both of which focus on different details of the gameplay. It is for certain that the game will be featuring a lot of horseback riding, picking up where Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask left off, and even taking it to the next level by introducing battles while on the horseback. This should certainly be very interesting.

Other than that, there has been a lot of speculation about Link’s connection to animals after the second trailer was showed, and some reputable sources have speculated about the opportunity that Link will be transforming in to different animals in the game. Needless to say, these are pure rumours for the time being, and I for one hope that they will stay that forever. Time will tell however.

Bonus Disc?

Yes, there will be pre-order Bonus Disc, at least according to Reggie Fils Aime. However, he has said nothing more about it, and there certainly won’t be a “realistic remake of The Wind Waker” on this disc, which some were lead to believe by an April Fools joke courtesy of EGM.

All we know today is that Reggie Fils Aime has stated in an interview that there will be a Bonus Disc for those who pre-order the game, but don’t run off pre-ordering just yet, because if we learned anything from The Wind Waker’s pre-order deal, it was that pre-ordering before you know exactly what you are pre-ordering might leave you with a feeling of being cheated. Once Nintendo officially announce this offer, and exactly what will be included in it, that’s when you can start to contact the various stores to see which ones can guarantee you these exclusives. Don’t pre-order before you have a guarantee from the store you’re pre-ordering from that you will receive the promotional offer, as many did with The Wind Waker.

The End

Well that’s about it for this time. I think I got most all of the most important facts, as well as the most annoying rumours about the game covered, but if I forgot something feel free to e-mail me with your comments at webmaster[at]zeldauniverse.net. Be sure to stop by next week, as I will then be exploring the possibilities of how this game will tie in with the rest in the oh-so-famous Legend of Zelda Timeline.