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In a perfect world, we wouldn’t have time to write another Roundtable capping off the year. We’d be too busy for anything but rushed praise of Twilight Princess (originally slated to bow in mid-November), only able to break ourselves away long enough to celebrate its unequivocal crowning as Game of the Year. Read more »

One thing about Zelda that I’ve always enjoyed is that although it is obviously meant to be a medieval-like story, we see very advanced technology in some points of the games. Now, this isn’t anything new in fantasy stories, but the way it’s implemented in the Zelda series is very unique, in my eyes. I mean, for the most part, you’re in what appears to be an ancient world, like you’re thrown back to the Middle Ages. Castles, knights, all that, and rather, out-dated living. There are towns and villages, yes, but we see no major concrete cities or anything. Transportation is mostly by means of boat, horse, or feet. People use fire to heat their homes and to have light. Read more »

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When the ‘revolutionary’ aspect of Nintendo’s next system was first announced in September, there was one question on the minds of Zelda fans: how will Zelda evolve to fit the new controller? Read more »

When it comes to damselling, Princess Zelda tries to take it all in stride.

“Well, you sort of expect it to happen eventually. I mean, it’s a hazard of the job, isn’t it? Look at poor Princess Peach – can’t so much as get a cup of coffee without being kidnapped and dragged off by some disgruntled fungi as bait. Puts a bit of strain on relationships. Plus you never want to make plans too far ahead – I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve had to put off a trip to the country because I’ve been pulled into another dimension. Still, we all have our parts to play.” Read more »

Anyone who reads my articles probably knows the things I consider most important in a Zelda game. They will have heard me discussing how exploration of a beautiful land and the atmosphere created by it is the most important factor in creating a Zelda experience. They will have read my long-winded explanations of why this is so, how to replicate it in future games, and why Zelda rules. You’ll have read about how great of an influence a game like Link’s Awakening can have on a young mind. You’ll have witnessed me waxing lyrical about weather, and clouds, and how they symbolize… whatever. You’ll probably think I’m either insane or a genius, depending on your own grasp of reality. Either way, there’s one important aspect of the series that I have never really touched upon, but which had a deep impact on me nontheless. Read more »

I was driving home from the airport the other day. I had just spent a week in Michigan and I had a karate tournament (with my girlfriend, no less) to look forward to the next day. When you’re driving on a highway after a tiring day, with nothing much to hold your attention then unfamiliar radio stations (my vans CD player’s broken, so none of my usual music for me), the mind tends to wander. As do the eyes. I found myself looking at these cloud formations ahead of me, looking at the way they curled and repeated themselves, looking at the way the light and the beginnings of the sunset played with them. It occurred to me that clouds… do not look real. They look, and always have, to me, like a painting, or a cartoon, given form and thrust into the sky of our down-to-earth little world. They look like… oh, something from a cel-shaded game, or an anime. This was especially apparent since I had been on an airplane earlier that same day, looking out at a vast and wholly unreal cloudscape, the sort that it looks like you could walk on but of course you can’t. Read more »

There are quiet a few factors that shape someone’s life, things which combine to form someone’s opinions, thoughts, philosophies… A cup of parental opinion here, a dab of friendship there, a pinch of the right piece of literature there, all stirred up by the atmosphere and shape of the society around them. It can be quite an interesting exercise to look back through your life, and try to trace all the different influences and factors that make you who you are. Trying to map everything out precisely is an exercise in futility, of course, but a general sense of the major things was not hard for me to come by. Read more »

*Sigh* It’s been twenty minutes. What the—what the hell am I supposed to do?

You know the feeling.

Getting stuck has taken on a new dimension lately for me with my BtR column. I just couldn’t think of what to write. I had an idea, started to develop it, got maybe a page and a half with no direction and purpose. Read more »

First things first, there are a few things which are certainly not confined to one individual scene in this lovely trailer. The music, for instance. The trailer features some great orchestrated stuff… though we’ve yet to see whether this will make its way into the final game. Hopefully we’ll get a glimpse of the in-game music during the playable demos that will be present in the E3 for the next few days. Read more »

Can you feel it? A new Zelda is coming. I’ve been in the online Zelda community long enough to know the feeling well by now, to recognize it, and embrace it as an old friend. I felt it for Ocarina of Time – even all those years ago, when I was hardly able to think for myself, I knew that Zelda was special. I felt it for Majora’s Mask, devouring every bit of news with eager eyes (and spoiling the ending for myself in the process. Now that was a mistake I’ve taken pains to never repeat). It was stronger for the Wind Waker then it had ever been before, almost consuming. I remember I pre-ordered it, and paid around ten extra bucks for the one-day shipping. And then my parents announced that we would be going on vacation in Florida for a week, and it just so happened that we would leave the day before it came out. That was the worst week of my life, let me tell you. I spent the entire week, almost, on Zelda forums everywhere. For those readers from Zelda Universe, that was when I went from a pointless newbie to a noticeable regular. I must have racked up about five hundred posts that week alone. A similar thing occurred at the Legends Alliance forums. But it was a two-edged sword of course – after all, everyone at both those places had the game and were talking about it. Read more »

Zelda, as a franchise, has one of the richest collections of races and cultures to be seen in the industry… if you go by the numbers, at least. Hylian, Shiekah, Gerudo, Goron, Zora, Rito, the list goes on and on. You’re all Zelda fans, and I hardly need to tell you this. Fans love these different groups, even ones that are physically similar, such as the Shiekah and the Hylians. I know someone who is obsessed with Gorons, for instance. His screen name is based off of that race, his favorite themes, items, and characters are related to that race, and he’s even talked of getting a Goron tattoo. There are similar fanatics for each tribe, whether you’re talking Subrosians, or Shiekah, or Deku. I’ve even seen people with lots of interest in the Zuna, a tribe that nobody knows anything about. Read more »

Today I was a seagull.

The fish told me what I needed to know. Another island, another chart – what, am I new? Kargorocs circle the many peaks. On the flat behind me I find a gate barring a treasure chest. Read more »

It’s been a good week and a half or so since Satoru Iwata showed the newest trailer to the public at the GDC developer’s conference. Now THAT was an interesting day, especially for those of us who work for Zelda sites. Scrambling to take screenshots, gather details, and get stuff of the highest quality… I hardly even had time to put much thought into the trailer itself, or the upcoming game. Read more »

There is a hero whose legend has been whispered on the wind for an age. A boy of destiny, dressed in green and bearing the sword of evil’s bane, or the golden arrow of evil’s bane, or… well, let’s just say evil is sufficiently baned whenever he comes swinging random objects at it. Read more »

The Minish Cap, Link’s most recent outing for the GBA, is a fun little game. From a graphics standpoint it’s bright and bubbly with Capcom’s trademark fluidity infusing every movement The visuals echo The Wind Waker eerily well for the context of such a small screen. Sound-wise, the GBA pipes out familiar Zelda tunes as best it can with a speaker barely an inch square. The controls take best advantage of the buttons at your disposal – I’m the unfortunate possessor of giant man-hands, but  I can hardly fault the game for the fact that when I get excited I stab, gust and roll all at once, usually off a cliff. No, overall I’d say tMC has proven to be a good way to whittle away the morning subway commute. Read more »