Small little report. Mostly just mailbag answers. Enjoy, nonetheless.

Hey! Listen! The Gaming Report for June 17, 2007

Community News

New Layout For You – I don’t mean at ZU, but at LoZ.com. LoZ.com launched a brand new layout, that deviates from their usual green style (or so I read). They went to blue this time, which isn’t a bad thing, since ZU pulled it off a while back. You can check out their site and the new layout at the link. – Link

Fan Game Update – Zelda Dimension has shown off a nice little screenshot of the fan game they are working on. Looks like it will be a great game to play and more than likely I’ll try it out. Check it out at their site. – Link (click the only image you see on the site)

If you have community news, send it at James (at) Zeldauniverse (dot) net

Gaming News

Video Mosiacs FTW – In a nice show of art and gaming, a Dutch artist decided to create a mosiac of gaming lore. The mosiac includes such classics as Donkey Kong, Pokemon, Pac-Man, an RPG that I cannot name at this time, and other nice pieces of work. You can check the pictures at the link. – Link

Intraweb Moment/Article of the Week

Best video ever. Apparently, those wonderful people in Japan know how to have a game show. Human Tetris is what the game appears to be, but the actual show name is not known. Check it out, it’s really funny.

Mailbag

If you want to submit to the mailbag, send it to the Nifty submit box we have.

Tyler Simensen writes:

I took a test online about The Legend of Zelda and it asked qwestions about personal stuff like, “What was Ganon’s last name?” After knowing there’s more to the story by first and last names I started wondering if even Link had a last name. I my hypothises resonable?

James writes:

You would be reasonable to think that all the characters in the Zelda games have a last name. However, after reading around the net, this statement makes the best sense: Link is named as such because he is a “Link” to the player who is playing the game. Therefore, a last name is really not necessary.

It’s also useless to know that Zelda has a last name in the Ocarina saga, and that’s Hyrule. That is based on the fact that the king is Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule.

mon da hoops writes:

I would just like to ask if you knew anything at all about the next zelda game. Also what do you think should be in the game.

James writes:

There is nothing known about a new Wii Zelda game except that there is a rumor that it was started way before Twilight Princess was released. As to what should be in it, I have no idea. It seems like that from what I’ve read online, it should deviate from everything Zelda is, which might be a blessing and a curse.

CShawnS writes:

this isnt so much a zelda question. but i’l doing it anyways.

When did ZU first go online? I just realized that I have no idea. I was looking at the list of the games at the top of the page, and realized

the list may have been half the size when ZU first started!

James writes:

Someone should read the Site History we have on display. But, to answer your question, the site as you really know it launched on February 21, 2001. Lars, the original creator of this site, launched his personal Zelda site a year prior. The most recent games that were being discussed on it’s launch were the Oracle games, which were released in May 2001 (in the USA). The game that really made Zelda Universe known was probably The Wind Waker, which at the time was a big deal and caused this site to go into overload. If you want, take a trip down memory lane and visit the past of the universe. Go on, I know you want to.

Also, for some diehard Zelda fans keeping track, February 21, 1986 was when Zelda was originally released. I don’t know whether Lars was trying to be funny when he launched on that date, but ZU and Zelda share the same birthday. You should have known that, since we had a nice little 20 and 5 Celebration in 2006.

sean writes:

I have to say that was not very impressed with TP and these are the reasons as to why:

the bosses were short lived.

THE PUZZLES ARE HARD ENOUGH, SO WHY NOT MAKE ENEMYS HARD AS WELL?!!!!!!

once you’ve beat the game…thats it!

you can’t climb on basically anything..or backflip onto things (which you can do TONS of times in majora’s mask, like the reception counter at the mayors place!)

some items you get are only needed like 5 times (gale boomerang, dominion rod and ball and chain)!

thats all I can do to make TP look like crap (which it is)!

My favourate zelda game is Majora’s mask, cause you can do all the dungeons again and again and V.S the bosses till your hearts content.

Its also good you get to wear cool stuff like the Garo’s mask (gotta love those eyes!).

And there is tons of glitches and its fun to discover glitches.

P.S whats your fave zelda game? (you probably mentioned this but I could not be bothered to look for it!)

Do not hate me for disliking TP, I am NOT a bad person!

James writes:

The bosses were short, but most of them were fun to beat. Some looked immense, but most were just easy. You also say that once you finish TP, that’s it. There are still sidequests in the game for you to complete, that’s why they were put into the game to begin with. That’s like saying once you beat OoT, that’s it. My fave is TP at the moment, because of the reasons I stated.

Hey! Listen! The Gaming Report for June 10, 2007

Community News

Fan Game Update – Zelda Dimension posted an update to a fan game they have been working on. Not much was given in the update, just a little progression on what their Link is going to look like. You can check it out at the link. – Link

Another Bites the Dust – Jack of The Desert Colossus announced on June 1st that he will no longer be updating TDC. This comes almost a week after TML of the ZeldaBlog announced similar intentions. Jack cites similar roadblocks causing his to stop TDC, including his 9-5 job, freelance writing, and a political blog. Like TML, we wish Jack luck on any and all adventures he takes part in the future. – Link

Really Getting to Know the Community – Zelda Dungeon has a nice little feature going on right now. They are going around the Zelda Community and interviewing the various Zelda Webmasters around. They have TSA of the Hylia and Cendamos who is more of a freelance Zelda discoverer than anything. You can check them out at the link. Also, Zelda Dungeon updated their layout recently on May 14, so check it out when you go there. – Link

Satire Galore – Exploding Deku Nut restored their Satire section last week, including a new one for Twilight Princess. Satire, for those who don’t know, is a very refined form of humor, meant to poke fun at someone’s faults. While we all regard Zelda as infalliable, there are some faults in the game. You can check out their satire section at the link. – Link

Wii Points for You – Zelda Legacy is throwing a contest with a nice prize: 2000 Wii Points. They are looking for a number of submission ideas, from Fan Art, Fan Fiction, an Article, forum posting, or anything unique. The winner will be chosen at the end of the month, so get cracking. –
href=”http://www.zeldalegacy.net/news.php?id=63″>Link

If you have any community news, I will use it if you send it to James (at) Zeldauniverse (dot) net

Nintendo & Friends

Upcoming Games – The Wii first: Big Brain Academy will be released on June 11; you can check out a video of the game in action here. Scarface and Sims 2: Pets will be ported over to the Wii on June 12. The game for the movie Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer will be released on June 15. Resident Evil 4 finally ports to the Wii on June 19. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix will be having you raise your wands on June 25, two weeks before the movie release. Pokemon Battle Revolution, The BiGS, Ratatouille, and Transformers: The Game will be all yours on June 25th as well. Not many DS games noteworthy, though, just a lot more puzzle games.

(Not So)Shocking Sales News – If you are shocked by this news, you’ll need to sit down after you hear it. Famitsu magazine (which Bloomburg reported) stated that in Japan the Wii is outselling the PS3 almost 5 to 1 in the month of May. The Wii sold a little more than 250,000 units, while the PS3 was at about 50,000 units. The 360 (which I understand, seeing as though it’s been out for a while), only pulled in 11,000 units. – Link

Hope You Don’t Have a Weak Bladder – Mature games seem to be making there way onto Nintendo consoles more and more nowadays. The newest one, Dementium: The Ward, looks like it could be a winner. The game is a mix between Trauma Center, Resident Evil, and F.E.A.R. (well, to me anyway). The game centers around a guy who wakes in a very old hospital that is frozen in time. Going around the hospital, you must face horrors, solve puzzles, and figure a way to get out of the hospital with your life. If you don’t scare easily, this game is probably for you. No release date yet, as it was just announced, but we’ll keep you informed. – Link

Same Great Game; New Great Look? – Last week, IGN posted some new videos of Guitar Hero III, only to scrap them seconds later. However, since the internet doesn’t forget, the videos still found their way around the net faster than you can say WHAMMY BAR! IGN finally re-released the videos of the game, only this time in screaming HD. The videos showcase the new look of the game, which is because Harmonix, the makers of the first two games, left to create Rock Band. Neversoft put their touches on the game, but even though it looks different, it still seems like it plays the same. You can check out the videos on the link. – Link

Avast, Ye Land Lubbers – I am not kidding when I say that the developers behind this game are named area/code. The game is called Plundr (which seems like a play on Flickr, but that’s just me), and the game is the first GPS related game. The game is a pirate type game, which has you going around different locales to find treasure. The best part is where the GPS comes in. The game will use the DS’s WiFi to actually make a new location in the game based on your current location. So, if you travel with your DS, you’ll get more booty than your opponents. Or, something like that. – Link

File This Under Weird – Last month I told you that Nintendo wanted you to create a video for their new “Short Cuts” competition. Well, Tanooki.com created theirs and posted it on their site. It is appropiately named “I Am Error” and is a mix of everything Nintendo. It’s like playing the Nintendo games on drugs but without the drugs. Enjoy it at their site. – Link

The Odd Couple of Gaming – In a really interesting turn of events, those wacky fellows at Penny Arcade flirted with the Dark Side a little, when they planned on having Jack Thompson at PAX (their annual gaming expo) for a little debate. They wanted Jack to be hush-hush about the date, but Jack just couldn’t keep his mouth shut (which really isn’t that surprising). Penny Arcade then decided that since Jack couldn’t keep his video game hating mouth shut, they called off the date, sending Jack into a spiral of hatred. Don’t you just love High School drama reenacted by grown men? You would think what I just said was funny, but in fact it was true. PA did invite Jack to PAX for a debate, told him to be quiet and increase the dramatic tension (and his safety) when he showed up to PAX, but Jack decided to tell everyone he was going. Notch one more stupid point for Jack. 1UP has a nice little story about this story, including a nice interview with Tycho of PA, check it out at the link. – Link

How Low Can You Go – It wasn’t bad enough that Gamestop has been notorious in the past for being annoying. I mean, you can’t go to any site nowadays and not hear a story about Gamestop is annoying. But this takes the cake. Sony has implemented a system for Gamestop employees that if they sell enough PS3’s (which, remember are $650-$800 a pop), they can get “rewards”. The rewards are 20,000 points for the store in a market with the best sales. The 20,000 points adding up to around $350 in Sony dollars used to buy (more than likely) PS3 games. What kind of incentive is that? You can only use the money to buy Sony games. Whoo, what an incentive. – Link

Speaking of EB/GameStop – I read a nifty little article over at bits bytes pixels and sprites. It’s an article from a former manager of EB Games, that giant company that merged with GameStop and won’t stop bugging us about games. Well, this guys dishes the dirt and comes clean on why EB and GameStop do what they do in terms of Preordering and Buying Back Games. It’s part one of a two part series. Check it out, but be warned there is some language not suitable for children. Also, be sure to read the article, otherwise you might get confused (and that’s not really an insult, I myself got a little confused halfway through with all the business jargon). – Part One and Part Two

Playing With Legos – You thought Lego’s were just for little kids? Well, think again. Lego Group, those wonderful people behind Lego Star Wars games and the upcoming Lego Batman, have decided to run the MMORPG field… with Legos! The tenatively titled game, Lego Universe, will be the kid friendly version of World of Warcraft. Not much is known about the game, but who know, this probably will be the next big MMO hit. – Link

Best Arcade Games Ever – CNet has decided to name off the best of the best arcade games of the 1980’s, a time when arcades were booming. All the classics are there, Asteroids, Centipede, Galaga, Donkey Kong. You can check out the entire list at the link. – Link

Intraweb Moment/Article of the Week

Well, found a nifty little picture that was kinda cool. It’s a picture of where all those dead Mario’s go when they are killed in a level a la Super Mario Bros. Check it out, it’s kinda funny.

Of course, what would a report be without a giant replica of the old NES controller? This nifty site showcases a giant NES controller that actually does work. Check it out, it’s quite cool.

Mailbag

Mailbag submissions can be sent to the Nifty Mailbag

Submission Box.

jens writes:

Do you think it is possible that Keapora Geabora is an oocca. I mean Keapora Geabora is probably the light sage Rauru and he’s the sage of the temple of time which is made by, THE OOCCA. the owl statues in twilight princes which are made by, THE OOCCA even resemble Keapora Geabora as if they want to honour him. And every major race has it’s sage so why not the Oocca. So that’s my opinion. I hope you share it.

James writes:

I don’t think he’s an Oocca. He doesn’t look like an Oocca. He doesn’t act like an Oocca. If anything, he might have been treated as Deity to the Oocca, a god if you will. Plus, where in the game does it say that the Temple of Time was made by the Oocca? All I saw was that the ancient device that helps get back to the City in the Sky was within the Temple of Time, which is why Ooccoo wanted in.

ganny gamboa writes:

none of the members or staff sent me anything in weeks so if you can send me a sequal of any game or the awsome info got it i want to have fun with this website and no more glitches please from danny gamboa your bro

James writes:

First of all, what are you talking about? Seriously, last week I had no idea what you’re talking about and the same goes this week. SPEAK ENGLISH, MAN!

You know, I thought something was up when I got this email like a week later:

its danny an i just wanted to say that i showed the boa productions w/e to my class so if you can send me more of your work.

Considering that I don’t know a Boa Productions, that makes me want to ignore this guy from now on. Unless, of course, they are funny emails.

Zack W. writes:

On the staff page, it says that “Yusuf” is ZU’s owner. His picture is the image of a child. My question is this, is the owner of ZU a child? Or is that his son or relative?

James writes:

That is his son, if I do remember correctly. Scott told me the reason why he chose that image, but I forgot the reason. You can ask him, but he’s kinda away at the moment.

The Missing Link writes:

“The right thing…what is it? I wonder, if you do the right thing, does it really make everyone happy?” – Majora Child of the Moon, Majora’s Mask

In Majora’s Mask, a child gives you the Fierce Deity mask. Once worn, Link becomes a powerful adult. He is covered in what appears to be tribal paint. The mask isn’t given much background. Do you think it originated in the same tribe as Majora’s Mask did? What do you think that the quote above meant?

James writes:

From the text dump on GameFAQs:

It is an accursed item from legend that is said to have been used by an ancient tribe in its hexing rituals.

It is said that an evil and wicked power is bestowed upon the one who wears that mask.

According to legend…

the troubles caused by Majora’s Mask were so great…

the ancient ones, fearing such catastrophe, sealed the mask in shadow forever, preventing its misuse.

I would take it that the mask was created by this ancient tribe, but another tribe saw that the mask was too powerful, and created another to balance out the evil. It’s a similar concept like anything in media, like Obi-Wan to Vader, Neo to Agent Smith, and Link to Ganon. Where there is evil, there must be something equally good to balance it out. Who made the Fierce Deity’s Mask is just as mysterious as who made the Majora’s Mask. That quote can be taken in different contexts. Hitler could take that quote and say that what he did was right, but it didn’t make everyone happy. That’s really all I have to say.

Hey! Listen! The Gaming Report for June 3, 2007

Nintendo & Friends

Coffee Table…of the Future! – All I can say when I saw this was “Holy Crap”. Welcome to the future, really, is another phrase that is uttering through my brain. Microsoft unveiled their newest endeavor into the world of technology and I must admit, I am very pleased with what they are trying to accomplish. The project is Microsoft Surface, and it is literary the Coffee Table of the Future. The thing is a freaking table with a computer lodged in the middle of it. The thing is completely touch screen, holds videos, pictures, music, and all the essential computer functions. The differences are the touch screen, the fact that it recognizes what you place on top of it (like phones, cameras, and ATM cards) and it seems like it will be useful in restaurants and hotels. Microsoft claims that unit won’t be available until late 2007, but there are going to be places around the world where you can test them out. It seems that the future is upon us. The link is the Surface website, where you can check out the nifty videos showing it off. – Link

Rumor Alert: Mario Kart Wii? – Well, it seems there are rumors spreading before the start of E3, which is typical. The site Jeux-France reports that E3 will tell us the release dates of Mario Galaxy and Super Smash. There will also be some new hardware news, as well as the announcement of Mario Kart Wii. While it does seem possible, we will have to see til E3 to see if it’s true. The link is Kotaku, which already translated the site for you. – Link

CBS To Show Gaming – For those who don’t know, there actually is a World Series of Video Gaming. They hold it annually, with different games each year. This year the games will include Guitar Hero 2, Quake 4, WoW: Burning Crusade and Fight Night Round 3. These games will be played in a tournament style format with different ways to “win” a game round. More rules and such at the WSVG site. But, the best part is that CBS will be showing off the World Series this year. There will be four days they will air the tournament, at different venues. So, now you can check out people who are better than you and feel so better, or something like that. – Link

Intraweb Moment/Article of the Week

I am sorry, I couldn’t leave this out. There was a video on bits bytes pixels & sprites of a WWE game (that’s wrestling) featuring Winnie the Pooh and Piglet. It’s both creepy and hilarous at the same time. So check it out.

Mailbag

You can submit a question to the mailbag by Filling out the wonderful box we have.

Akilis writes:

What do we do if we spot a flaw in on-site content? Who should we contact?

James writes:

James (at) zeldauniverse dot net. Send me an email and link me to the page and what is wrong. I check my email daily, so if you send me an email, I will check it. Whether or not it lets me respond is another story, but I will check out the problem and try to fix it.

danny gamboa writes:

no one can go without a twilight princess sequal i mean come on im not a fan just to watch you not do anything oh yeah the creator needs more less spazness got it

James writes:

Well, seeing as though I didn’t understand a word you just said, I will do my best to answer this. I don’t know what direction those people at Nintendo are planning, just that the new game will be different from what Zelda has been. We will probably not know anything about the new Zelda game until possibly next year.

There is one minor change to this week, something you wouldn’t have noticed if I didn’t say anything. I am changing “The Zelda/Nintendo Report” to “The Gaming Report” since these have been more gaming than just Nintendo. That way, you have an idea what going on outside of Zelda.

Hey! Listen! The Gaming Report for May 27, 2007

Community News

Here is a nice little shoutout to Jacob Stutsman, the man behind The TP Transcript we have on the site. Jacob started a blog on whatever is on his mind at the time. It only has two entries at the moment, but hopefully he updates it more often. I just this is “he scratched our backs, now we’ll scratch his” kinda moment.

Nintendo & Friends

Jack Thompson vs. Microsoft – I must say, if this story is true, Jack Thompson seriously has to have some huge ones if he is going after Microsoft. I mean, seriously, I believe Bill Gates can buy, sell, and maybe rebuy Jack Thompson a few times over. In any case, Jack has decided that Halo 3 will probably cause another Virginia Tech massacre, and therefore should be kept out of those 17 and under. He calls the game “hyper violent” and claims that he will make sure Microsoft will hold to standards by appropiate legal means. He will even hold all retailers who carry Halo responsible. Many sites are claiming this letter might be just a farse, but it does seem like something Thompson would do. If you hear Jack Thompson’s body was found in a desert somewhere, don’t blame Microsoft. Thompson brought it upon himself. – Link

Reason for Halo Delay – I just find this funny. Halo 2 was supposed to be ported to Windows Vista earlier this month, but was delayed. Microsoft finally came out Friday and announced the reason for all the delays. It was because there was a little bit of hidden nudity in the game. The partial nudity stems from a certain error in the game that causes someone to show their bare backside. Someone’s butt delayed Halo 2, can you just imagine? – Link

Modfree Wii – Ever since the Wii has been out, people around the world have been hacking around the Wii to find ways to “improve” it. I found a couple of hacks on Joystiq that had the Wii’s Cube controller slots in the front instead of the top. Another had a Wii able to play burned discs with the aid of a chip. Now, Nintendo states that their new Wii coming out will have new hardware revisions to prevent this from happening. I just have to say that nothing is impossible with us, and they will be hacking the “hackfree” Wii not long after it’s release. – Link

One Reason to Buy a PSP – Wow, this edition of H!L! seems to have it all from the competition. This time, I found on Joystiq a video of an emulator for the PSP that plays old Game Boy games in full color. This isn’t Game Boy Color game, I am talking actually big gray Game Boy games. The video of the guy playing them is the link provided. – Link

We Didn’t Start the Fire – What do the XBox, Wal-Mart, and an unnamed power supply manufacturer have in common? They are getting sued! This makes me laugh a little bit more because I am currently employed at Wal-Mart. But, a Illinois family is suing those three over a death that was allegedly caused by a faulty XBox. The suit claims that an XBox 360 caused it, but the incident was in 2004, so that is unlikely (unless they can time travel, in which case they should tell me how I can). We’ll see how this one is taken care of. – Link

Intraweb Moment/Article of the Week

I don’t know what it is, but when you mix two wonderful things, it makes something even better. This is the case with This Video I found on bits bytes pixels & sprites. It’s a video of Homer Simpson beating on Anakin Skywalker in Jedi Academy. Enjoy.

Another two-peat this week. I found this image on Kotaku, which is another Mario Cake, however I like this one the best. Just because the fact that Mario is actually “popping out of the cake” instead of just being decorated on. I think this cake beats all Nintendo based cakes ever.

Mailbag

Mailbag submissions can be sent here

Linkedblade writes:

As everyone knows Zelda’s community has been strong for years, nonetheless I think it’s starting to fall. I just think as the older fans start to have lives, there just haven’t been enough younger ones to fill their place. Like Dampe, TRM, and TML, have started to fade from the community. So all I’m asking is where is our community going and what will happen if it starts to fade. . .?

James writes:

I think that as long as all of us continue to remain Zelda fans, this community will never truly die. You also to add in the fact that the Zelda community is kinda like a business in this sense: There will always be someone with the same skill level to replace those leaving. What I mean is that in any company, you’ll find that the new people are trained to take over for those leaving the company. The knowledge of running sites is also one of those things that really isn’t that difficult, you just have to be very competent at it. The only way I really ever see the Zelda community dying is if the games die. Which, the way they are going, I don’t see that happening for a long time.

The Missing Link writes:

Hello, I am ‘the Missing Link’ wanting your opinion on this thought:

When Link was teleported to Termina, he left Hyrule and when into an alternate diminsion. In Wind Waker, Link’s clan still remains. I believe that time slows down in Termina. Here’s an example:

Ten years in Termina = 1000 years in Hyrule

If you are one of the ones that believes that Link reencarnates, then it must be logical that after he spent some time in the land of Termina, he returned to Hyrule to find that it has sunken under the water. I think that if this was true, it may’ve been a “last hope” by King Hyrule to use the Triforce to sink it. Link might’ve fled to an island and had children.

Also, in the beginning of Majora’s Mask, it says that Link set off on a journey to find a “close friend”. A lot of people interpritted that they meant Skull Kid, but I beg to differ. I belive that he was searching for Navi. It was a direct sequal to OoT, meaning that Navi was around at the time. Your thoughts?

James writes:

First, I believe that most people actually believe the close friend was Navi, he just ended up never finding her and saving Termina. Plus, I think you may have to look up the word “reincarnate”. If are reincarnated, you don’t necessarily have to procreate. You die and then you come back in the form of another lifeform, which in the case of Link, is the same blonde haired, green tuniced body. I do not really see any evidence, though, that could allow time to be slower in Termina, other than the fact that Link keeps going back in time and is in a Groundhog Day loop.

Zack W. writes:

Any chance of reviving the Interactive Story? I use to spend hours reading it! It was astounding. What happened to it? Will you ever revive it?

James writes:

I believe that there would have to be a lot of people who would want it back. If I get enough response, maybe we could bring it back.

Only one note: if you wish to submit to the mailbag, you can do so Here.

Hey! Listen! The Zelda/Nintendo Report for May 20, 2007

Community News

ZeldaBlog No More – In a bizarre twist of fate, The Missing Link, the webmaster of the ZeldaBlog, has decided to shut down his site effective immediately. The site is home to many wonderful fanfiction pieces that work as a double for the timeline, as well as just general Zelda talk. TML cites his decision being based on the basic fact that he has lost the interest of keeping the site up, and the site is more a chore than a fun hobby nowadays. He does note that he isn’t leaving the community altogether; he will still contribute to Zelda Legends every so often and still post around the message boards. We at ZU wish TML the best at whatever he decides to do from here on out and hope he accomplishes all he wishes to do. – Link

If you have any community news, I would appreciate a drop at James (at) Zeldauniverse (dot) net.

Nintendo & Friends

Mario Through the Ages – I found this nifty little thing on GayGamer.net. It’s a chart of how well each Mario game in the series has faired over the others. It should come as no surprise that the original SMB has sold the most since it’s release at 6.8 Million units. The surprise is probably number 2, which was the New Super Mario Bros. on DS, which has sold 4.4 Million units. The top five rounds out to Super Mario Land, Super Mario 3, and Super Mario World. If you can’t read the text at the top (if you click their link), the games are all four Mario Advances, Yoshi’s Island DS, Mario Sunshine, Mario 64 DS, and a Famicom game. – Link

Best Use of the Wii-mote Yet – If you know me, I am a huge Harry Potter fan. I have read all the books more than once looking for things Jo has hidden. I have watched all four movies. I am waiting until July to declare it Harry Potter month. But, I have also played all the games. While the first two were good, the third was meh, and the fourth flat out sucked, I actually can’t wait for the fifth game. Especially for the Wii. There is a video on GameTrailers (while the link I give is bits bytes pixels & sprites) of the gameplay of the fifth Harry Potter game for the Wii. I must say, July is turning out to be the best month ever. The game uses the Wii-mote almost perfectly in conjuction with spells and the world and characters look amazing. This, my friends, is the true potential of the Wii. – Link

Multiplying Rabbids – If you were a fan of the multiplayer game, Rayman Raving Rabbids, on the Wii, they are planning a sequel. Ubisoft announced that they are making the sequel and they are planning on adding a little more dialogue and background on the Rabbids. They have not shown many new mini-games, but hopefully the dancing game will still be in there. – Link

Console Wars! – Joystiq posted something that another site posted about the trend of sales the next-gen consoles have had since PS3 and Wii were released. Not surprisingly was the Wii dominated the field with 2.4 million units sold. The best part of this was that the PS2 did better than the PS3, and the Gamecube (a now “defunct” gaming console) did better than the 360 and the PS3. I can understand the 360 not doing so well after a year of existance, but the PS3? With a nice $600 price tag and next to no good games for it right now, that shocks me. You can check out what they said at the link. – Link

May 19th 2007: Internet Goes Boom – Apparently when Blizzard has a hold on the gaming market, everyone gets happy at the same time over a huge announcement. Well, Starcraft 2 was finally announced Saturday after the first game was released almost ten years ago. Everyone knew it was coming, but no one knew when. They announced it at a Blizzard event in South Korea. Thousands waited in line just to hear the announcement of the game, so who knows what the actual release will bring. – Link

Intraweb Moment/Article of the Week

I don’t know how many people remember the Atari 2600, but without it, gaming probably wouldn’t have had a chance to evolve. Well, someone decided to make a candle out of the controller. Now I need this, although I never use candles. It still would look cool.

Mailbag

Jose writes:

Hi. Well You know that commercial of the Wind Waker that the girl is talking bla bla bla, and say in the ending to fulfill his destiny which is to save me. Whos me? Is it Aryll or Zelda? i was a zelda webmaster myself and tons of people asked me this.

James writes:

For those wondering which commerical, let my friends at YouTube refresh your memory. Now, remembering that video and playing through the game, it could be both. The initial reason why Link left his island was to save his sister, Aryll, from Ganondorf. He doesn’t accomplish that until halfway through the game. Now, if you want to go deeper, it could be Tetra/Zelda for this reason: Ganondorf wanting both Link and Zelda for the Triforce causes Link’s purpose to change slightly halfway through the game. After saving his sister, he goes on his journey, goes back to Hyrule, and then has resave Zelda from Ganondorf. So, I don’t have a definite answer, but I would say Aryll. But, what I want to know is why she has a british accent if this game is essentially a Japanese game?

Happy Mother’s Day everyone! I hope you didn’t forget to tell your mom you love her. I mean, seriously, she gave birth to you and had to put up with your crap, give her some love. Now, some news. Two Mailbag questions also, this week. Mail me some more, If you would, please?.

Hey! Listen! The Zelda/Nintendo Report for May 13, 2007

I would love some stories. Please? You can email them over at James (at) Zeldauniverse dot net. Piece it together if you aren’t an adbot.

Nintendo & Friends

Upcoming Games – Shrek the 3rd, the console version of the upcoming movie, will be released alongside the movie on May 15th on the Wii. Another movie to console release will be Pirates of the Caribbean 3 will be released on May 22nd for the Wii as well. Mario Party 8, one of the rare Mario Party games that might be worth buying, will be released on May 29th on the Wii. If you want, Mortal Kombat Armageddon will be released on May 29th on the Wii.

The month of May for the DS shows nothing much. Diner Dash, Marvel Trading Card Game, and NY Times Crosswords are being released in May.

Wii Previews – If you were annoyed by the fact that you weren’t able to preview the games on the Virtual Console, worry no more. Nintendo launched a site for the Virtual Console games, with either some screenshots of the game or a short video of gameplay. They have pages up for most of the games already launched, with new pages launching each Monday. Check it out at the link if you were wondering about the games on the Virtual Console. – Link

Drawn to Life – There seems to be an interesting game to be released later this year for the DS. The game is Drawn to Life, which will be one of the first games to allow you to choose your hero, literally. If you ever played Okami for the PS2 last year, then this game will be a mix of that and other elements. The game allows you to use your stylus to create tools, characters, and other elements to the game to help you along. The game will be a platformer, and it seems like it will be a very unique hit on the thriving DS. I mentioned it to let you know that I am picking it up and you guys should think about it. – Link

The Simpsons… Rendered – Seriously, if you have never heard of the cartoon family from Springfield, you apparently have been living under a rock for the past two decades. Well, with a motion picture due out this summer, someone thought it would be great to make a game as well. But, not those games you’ve been playing (like Hit and Run and Road Rage, the most recent two), this game will be The Simpsons game to end all Simpsons games. Many sites around have been billing this as a true adventure game, which will run more like a long episode of the show than an actual game. They also claim that the game will be chock full of comedy, that you will be laughing for a while. There is a video of the gameplay so far, but the game is still 6 months from launch. You can also expect this game on every platform under the sun. – Link

Be A Pal and Take Me Here – I am now more jealous about things nowadays than ever. First, a huge wrestler is coming to a town 15 minutes away from me at a local event. Not only that, but the champion of this local wrestling organization is in the main event, which this wrestler is refereeing. I am jealous. What does this have to do with anything? Nothing really, just a good segue to the hall of Final Fantasy Awesomeness. Squarenix has been throwing a party over the past couple of days (for what reason I can’t find), but one of the main attractions has circled the net. There is a display there of all the Final Fantasy games ever released, including remakes and movies. You can look at the pics at the link. Now, I know I’ll never be able to go there and see it (and this looks like a one time event), so does someone want to take me to Nintendo World instead? Please? – Link

Intraweb Moment/Article of the Week

Well, Thursday brought me to 4 Color Rebellion, a nice little gaming site on the net. It produced a lovely Prom Idea for you gamers to wonder about. A group of students actually decided to have a Mario Bros. theme prom. This basically means the gamers outvoted in the Prom Committee. See, we do win in some aspects. Some.

Let’s see how many people remember this commercial. This, my friends, is a commercial.

Mailbag

mr.T writes:

In the end of the game, when Midna is leaving to the Twilight Realm, she says to Link that they will meet again. But she destroys the Mirror of

Twilight!!! So can you tell me how they can possibly meet each other again??

James writes:

It’s called a very obscure plot device that only Nintendo could pull. That, and she probably said it mockingly, since she knew it couldn’t be.

linksta35 writes:

I know this is late but a while ago you said there was a majic bar in TP in the hidden village. Were you serious. Same about the Triforce in OOT.

James writes:

I believe you should go back to that Mailbag and reread the last part. That’s the problem with internet sarcasm… It doesn’t pass off the same as the real life stuff.

HEY EVERYBODY. HAPPY MY 21ST BIRTHDAY. Yes, that’s right, I turn 21 when you read this. So, where’s my present? Fine then, I’ll give you one. Here’s another Hey! Listen! for you to enjoy. I am adding something on a somewhat regular basis. If I dig into the mailbag and find that there are 1-3 pieces of mail, I am just going to answer them here. So, that’s where you see the Mailbag Answers at the end. That’s all I have to say. Enjoy what little I have for you again this week. Now, it’s off to party! (Yea, right)

Hey! Listen! The Zelda/Nintendo Report for May 6, 2007

This is my email: James (at) Zeldauniverse (dot) net. This is the purpose: send me stories that you think should be written. You get credit, we all happy. Dig?

Nintendo & Friends

Old School Controllers – Now, I am not the kind of person to take apart controllers, work them around, and make them something else. But, if that’s your cup of tea, then I have the link for you. Someone actually found the time to rip apart a NES and SNES controller, rework it, and make it workable (wirelessly) with a Wii. This makes the Classic Controller pretty much obsolete if you can make this (it also saves you some money if you’ll willing to gut your old controllers). So, check out the link if you are good with wiring and figuring out the internal workings of controllers. I, however, must state that I do not suggest that you DO this unless you have the skills. Perform at your own risk. Once again I find more. The second link is for the Sega Genesis controller, which I found on another site. – First Link Second Link

Going Too Far – Seriously, since when is creating a map in Counterstrike a crime? According to some police type peoples in Texas, it is. They arrested a Texas Senior the other day, sent him to an alternative education facility, and told him he couldn’t march with his class at Graduation. The reason? He created a map of his High School to be played in Counterstrike between him and a couple of friends. They really couldn’t hold the kid with anything, since the police couldn’t find any plans or any weapons in his house. They found swords, but when swords become as powerful as a Lightsaber, then we can talk. Why is it that security heightens after a tragedy for about a month, settles, then picks up again at the next tragedy. Seriously, pick whether or not you are going to be really paranoid or do nothing. – Link

Miyamoto Somewhat Influential – Well, I mentioned last week that Miyamoto was nominated to be a influential person of the year. Well, the announcement came out and he grabbed 92nd of 100. In the user polls, he placed 9th of 100. So, we think he’s more influential than everyone else. Not surprising. – Link

A Touchy-Feely Game – I was reluctant to post this on here, because of the nature of the story. But, since everyone and their mother decided to post it, I guess I will too. Be warned, though, that the link I provide has some (somewhat) adult content, not enough for it to be Not Work Safe, but something your parents might yell at you for. There is a prototype floating around of a game where a couple plays together. By together, I mean, they both wear the controllers. The male wears a special pair of shorts with buttons on both sides, one in the front, one on near his butt, and one on his butt. The female wears a special top with buttons on both sides, one on the shoulder, one on the side of the breast, and one on the breast. Can you see where this is going? The game is just a very sexual version of Pong, where each button on your body has a different shape on it. The screen displays a shape in either blue or pink, and if it’s blue, the girl has to touch the guy. If it’s pink, the guy has to touch the girl. You’ll get it more if you watch the video. It seems interesting, if you like that sort of thing. Plus, if anything, the music is VERY catchy. –
href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMg5ay9N6mM”>Link

Field Trip to the Uncanny Valley! – Now, I was one of the last people to learn about the so-called Uncanny Valley. For those who were as clueless as I, the Uncanny Valley is pretty much the realm where things that shouldn’t be/look real are. That’s the basic gist of it, however, there is a little more to the subject. Basically, it concerns the fact that robots shouldn’t exist and CG should not look TOO realistic, otherwise, we start to wonder what’s real and what isn’t. The most recent journey into the Uncanny Valley was from an artist named Max Kor, who took it upon himself to create an elf creature for World of Warcraft. However, he never finished the creature in time, but he did end up finishing it. At first glance, the main picture looks like a photograph, but he goes into such detail on how he did it that it makes you wonder if it indeed is CG. You judge for yourself, because I linked it up for ya. – Link

Intraweb Moment/Article of the Week

Well, I actually have an article this week for you to laugh at. It comes from Mexico, actually. Reportedly, a woman down there was being stalked in the game World of Warcraft by another man. The man apparently lived nearby the woman and even let her know his address in-game. He followed her in-game, stopped her from progressing in the game on numerous occasions, and was being a total jerk to this woman. He even told the woman that if her husband was man enough, he would come and take care of him. Well, the woman did indeed send her husband and few friends over to his house, had them beat him up, and even smash his computer. I love the world, there is always something to make me laugh.

Mailbag Answers

ZenZodiac writes:

I have not heard anyone talking about twilight princess time line placement, but wouldn’t it seem logical,that it place in the alternate time line theory, in the time line where Link is sent back form ocarina of time and there is only Zelda.(Because in tp it showed the sages sealing ganondorf away and not the hero) Or could it be that the sealing of ganondorf was just a retelling of the sealing that happened in oot during the final battle. What are your thoughts on this?

James writes:

I believe that the powers that be announced that Twilight Princess takes place years after the child timeline of Ocarina of Time. Meaning, Link went back in time, went to Termina, and never returned. Ganondorf was sealed by the Sages and sent to the Twilight Realm, because he was still technically wondering about, because the future that Link and Zelda gave him never happened. They also claim (I could be wrong) that Ganondorf in The Wind Waker was the one that was sealed at the end of the Adult Timeline. This makes NO sense to me or many, but that’s what they claim.

zelda_geek writes:

For all those people that played Twilight Princess and beat it you know that it was easier than you expected don’t get me wrong I absolutely loved this game and the boss battles are amazing but the final boss battle was pretty disappointing but some what hard. I played through the cave of ordeals which was really hard especially the final stage where you fight the darknuts. That’s where I died. Overalll I would give this a game a 5 out of 5 for being awesome.

James writes:

I will admit, I died A LOT in this game compared to the others before it. But, most of the times I died, it was mainly out of stupidity and it was early in the game. Overall, the game was easy, with the occasional challenge. The two most challenging bosses of the game, in my opinion, were Stallord and Agrorok. Stallord’s first part was annoying just because of those ghosts that blocked his spine. Getting around those were annoying. His second part was a challenge as well, avoiding traps, his attacks, and hitting him the right way. Agrorok was just a challenge due to it being in the air and having to keep grappling around and around and around. But, alas, I rant.

Arturo writes:

Do you think Nintendo is sincerely concerned that Zelda games follow a story? Or at least, are they aware of all these timeline theorizing?

James writes:

First part of the question: They are not really that concerned with the timeline, but they have been trying over the years to implement one. I believe many interviews given it was said that gameplay and graphics rule over story and timeline placement. They get their fair share, but it’s not high on priority. I still don’t think they know themselves where it’s going, but that’s just me. As for the second part: They have to know about the timeline theories. If they know about the speedruns, they HAVE to know about what we think. They probably get a kick about many of the theories we pull out of the air.

If you have a question you would like answered in the Mailbag, be sure to send it in.

That’s right, kiddies, this is a dual update! Not only do you get the lovely Hey! Listen!, but you also get a nice little Mailbag as well. If you think you have a question that you would like to have answered, feel free to send it in. Just remember, it may take me some time to answer, since I like to have a bulky mailbag before I post it. So, enjoy my answers to you, as well as the news I gathered over the past week.

As for Hey! Listen!, there isn’t much to report. For someone who scours numerous sites that Pipking left behind, I couldn’t find much that interested me or seemed interesting to report. But, this was also on top of working, having a teeth filled, and suffering 6 hours of hell in the ER. So, I still hope you enjoy this enough.

Hey! Listen! The Zelda/Nintendo Report for April 29, 2007

Once again, if you have any community or Nintendo news, send it over to James (at) Zeldauniverse (dot) net

Nintendo & Friends

NiGHTS Information – There was an interview recently with Takeshi Iizuka, the man behind the latest NiGHTS game, about the mechanics of the game and anything NiGHTS related. – Link

Vote for Miyamoto – Well, no, while Shiggy isn’t running for President, he is in the running for another great title. Time has put Miyamoto in the list of candidates for their Most Influential Person of the Year award. You can help him get some more attention by going over to the Time site and give him some love. Seriously, without Shiggy, Zelda Universe wouldn’t be here, now would it? – Link

Jack Thompson Plays Sue City – Apparently Jack Thompson is playing a nice game he created called Sue City. In it, you win by suing everyone who has a pulse. Recently, he filed a suit against the Florida Bar for basically consistant harrassment against Thompson. The more interesting part of the suit is the involvement of Gawker Media, which owns the website Kotaku. In the suit, Thompson alleges Kotaku of pretty much the same thing, which started over the lovely Virginia Tech shooting. If you remember last week, they went on a rampage against Thompson over every little thing he said about the shooting. Kotaku was on every word and rebutted every word to basically be false. A lot of death threats and angry messages stemmed from this, most of which came back to Thompson. Jack told Kotaku numerous times to remove all the death threat comments from the site, but Kotaku refused. So, interesting stories coming out from the internets. – Link

There’s No Need to Fear – For those doubting that the Wii would be seeing more games, Nintendo President Iwata stated to the press on Friday that Nintendo is in the works of 45 Wii titles and 79 DS titles. Whether or not all of the games see the light of day is up in the air. However, in the mix of those games were some games we are waiting for. Super Mario Galaxy and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, he stated, were expected to be released between the time of the end of summer and the end of fall of this year. A USA release date of Phantom Hourglass, though, is still a mystery. – Link

Wii-Mote hacking – If you are one of the many “hackers” of the web, you already know about this story. However, for the majority of viewers, this is a bit of fine news. The Wall Street Journal of all places had an article about the versitility of the Wii-mote beyond just playing the Wii. Many hackers have gone in and redone the software code for the Wii-mote to make it do more things than just play the Wii. Most of the applications of the hacking is to play virtual instruments, like the Guitar, Drums, or even a whole DJ setup. Some have done what Nintendo initially used it for, to play sports. One even set it up to run his robot vacuum. The many different uses that hackers made up can be found at the Link I provided. Interesting note: Nintendo does not endorse hackers using the Wii-mote other than to play it with the Wii. However, WSJ states that this could help Nintendo in the long run, by generating buzz over the system and the unique controller. – Link

Tribute to Miyamoto – Seriously, how many times can I say that Miyamoto is getting a tribute? GameTrailers and SpikeTV has a segment called “Game Head” and in the latest episode did a tribute to Miyamoto. The video has many reporters and game designers talking about the legend, as well as segments of the man himself. They also delve deep into the games that are Miyamoto’s love child. Also, they take a trip to the I am 8-bit Art show that recently took place. Watch it, it was a good view. However, when you click the link, it should be segment one. There are four segments. – Link (Segment 1)

Intraweb Moment/Article of the Week

I really don’t have anything interesting this week. However, if you enjoy Mosaics, you will enjoy this. It’s a Mosaic of Mario made entirely of Fridge Magnets. You can view it here.

Alright, I LIED. There is something interesting I found, but many have already known about. There is an 8-year-old Guitar Hero II nut that you should check out if you haven’t already. He has a profile at YouTube you can check out. Now, before you people out there go “well, of course he’s good, he’s probably playing Medium or Hard.” Well, he’s playing Expert. On fast songs. With his back facing the TV screen. In some cases, without the notes showing (in performance mode which I just learned about). Enjoy.

Hopefully, next week is more promising. So until then, enjoy the rest of your week. I’ll be back next week with more.

Hey! Listen! The Zelda/Nintendo Report for April 22, 2007

Site News

The Start of the Bombers – Staff member Leminnes recently took it in his own hands to create the best of the best in the category of theorizing. In case you missed it, Leminnes recently announced the inaugural group of Bombers that will start posting articles on a regular basis. Also this week, the first article was indeed published for all to see. MDK posted an article about the Skull Kid and who he really is. You can check that article out here. – Link

Community News

While there is no real community news this week, I am always looking for news to report. If you have an interesting story to report, simply email me at James (at) Zeldauniverse (dot) net

Nintendo & Friends

Non-existent Third Party Online Support – I read a nice little piece at a blog called “bits, bytes, pixels & sprites that claims that Nintendo is essentially blocking third party developers from using the Wii to go online. This claim is based off an interview with SNK America President, Ben Herman, who claims this: “Nintendo is still not letting Wii third-party publishers include online capabilities in their games and it doesn’t look like they will during 2007.” Whether or not this is true, don’t be surprised if you get a third party game on the Wii and expect online play from it. – Link

Guitar Hero III Finally Confirmed – Last H!L! I reported that there was a rumor floating that Guitar Hero III may be coming to the Wii. Well, a Gamespot article recently more or less confirmed it’s coming to the Wii. All rockers may rejoice. Even better news is that, on the heels of a recent revealation of third party games getting no online support, the Wii version of Guitar Hero may have online play. I say “may” because the article I link to has the creator of the game state that they are working on online support, but he failed to mention if it was for all systems. Guitar Hero III is slated for a release later this year on many platforms, including the Wii and DS (which I don’t think will be as fun, but that’s me). This isn’t related to Guitar Hero, but it is related to Guitars on the Wii. There was interesting video to pop up on YouTube recently of a guy playing air guitar with the Wiimote. Check it out. – Link

Virginia Tech Shooting (A Medley) – This story is for those living under a rock the past week. It’s a story of Jack Thompson shocking us again (and by shocking I mean not-at-all shocking) by upsetting the gaming community yet again. However, Rush Limbaugh had something interesting to say as well. So, first, what did Jack Thompson do this time? He blamed the entire Virginia Tech Shooting on, you guessed it, video games. How did he manage to make this claim, you say? He managed to find his way onto Fox News as a “school shooting expert”. He then made his claim that whoever went shooting around the school must have learned the shooting techniques from a video game. I could make that same exact claim about eating hamburgers. I could say that anyone who has ever visited a McDonald’s and ate a Big Mac has played a video game. It doesn’t necessary mean it’s true, but I can claim it. I think Jack Thompson needs to get off his high horse and shut up. Seriously. If you want to read up on what he actually said and what Kotaku says is utter crap, you can click on This Link. The interesting thing that Rush Limbaugh had to say was in the defense of video games. Basically he said what all of us gamers have been saying since Jack Thompson started blaming them. I read this on Kotaku, but basically it stated that there are so many that play video games and so many that own guns that it’s really had to tell where they intersect. You can read the entire article at This Link. I have another interesting video for you to watch over here. It’s Chris Matthews trying to figure out Jack Thompson and his warped logic. (If you can’t tell, I was updating this as the week progressed) I think this the last article I have for the week. It’s MSNBC (the same company that runs Hardball) and they have an anti-Jack Thompson article up and running. Or at least, that’s what I read (Note: One of the links I provided does have some harsh language.)

Wii Warm-ups – I found this wonderful article off of Joystiq which linked me to Times Online in the UK. The article is yet another in the long line of the Wii being no more than a fancy console. It continues on the same path as many others, claiming that even if you do play Wii Sports, you won’t burn too many calories. However, if there is one bright side to the article (which I wouldn’t have posted it otherwise), it gives you some nifty warmup exercises you can use before playing the games. This limits the amount of times you suffer Wii Elbow while playing. These could also be used in conjuction with Guitar Hero, which we were informed is coming to the Wii anyway. – Link

The Humor in Video Games – I know over the years I have become well aware on how crappy MTV has become on playing Music. But, with that said, MTV News actually posted an article about Super Paper Mario. The article is an interview with the NOA Localization team (AKA The Treehouse people) about Super Paper Mario, which is mainly about the humor the game is dripping with. The article is a great read, especially when the Treehouse guys say that this game was meant to be funny, no other way around it. Check it out, it’s a good read. – Link

Steam Hacked! – Alright you Steam users, you best listen up. I have some news for you that you may want to pay attention to. According to some reports online, Steam may have been hacked “hardcore”. A user named MaddoxX (not to be confused with the other Maddox of internet fame) claimed on an anti-Steam forum that he hacked Steam so bad that he obtained many credit cards of cafe owners and users. He also claimed that he would release the spreadsheet containing all the credit cards he has. So, if you use Steam or have used Steam in the fast, pay attention to you credit card statement carefully for a while. However, 1Up claims that this whole issue might just be one big episode of Internet Punk’d. They claim that while this person was able to “hack” his way into a cafe server, he may never have touched Valve itself. – Link

Consoles Rated – If you are looking to take down memory lane, have I got a nice little video for you. GameTrailers released a video on Thursday counting down the top 10 Video Game consoles ever. While two of the three top spots were Nintendo based, someone else grabbed Number 1. However, it is nice to see that neither XBox consoles were even mentioned, which makes me smile somewhat. Check out the link to watch the video. (It’s labeled as Top Ten Consoles and it should be the newest one.) – Link

Get Your Worm On – I have always been a fan of the Worms games, even though I haven’t played one in ages. However, that all just might change. You see, Worms is really a game that is better played when you are playing others and killing their group of Worms. Well, THQ has done one better. They are releasing Worm Open Warfare 2 on the PSP and DS with online support. This means you can sit on your DS, in your own bed, and kill someone’s worms who could be living in Ireland. Ireland because I’m Irish and no other reason. No release date has been set, though, so you’ll have to wait to kill some worms. – Link

This is my Dream House – I have now found my dream house, given that I win the lottery sometime soon. Kotaku showed a couple of picture of a house with a NES roof, a lightgun staircase, and a Duck Hunt lawn. The inside of the house is even better, it’s filled with random Nintendo characters. You must check this out, it is truly awesome. – Link

Intraweb Moment/Article of the Week

I love when it not that far into the week, I find my intraweb moment. This week I found two very unique hacked videos from Guitar Hero II on the PS2. They don’t just have one hacked Mario song in the game, but they have two hacked Mario songs in the game. The former being from Super Mario Bros. 2 and the latter being just the classic Mario theme. Enjoy. Oh, and don’t ask me how to do this. I have no idea, but really want to find out myself (hint, hint, wink, wink)

But it would seem that I once again found two for you to enjoy. I found lovely video actually when surfing through Penny Arcade. It’s a mash of the Matrix, Metroid, and Halo. So, if you are a fan of any of those three, you should enjoy this video.

One last thing. If you feel I am sending out too much Nintendo News, let me know. I try to fill this thing up, but it’s too much, I need to know. Comments should do fine.

Happy Tax Day everyone! I hope all of you who have an income didn’t forget to send in those taxes today. Otherwise, Uncle Sam is going to find you and possibly take your Wii. You don’t want that do you? Well, to take your mind of that, here’s a nice edition of Hey! Listen!.

You will also notice, too, that if you click that lovely News Archive link on the side, that Hey! Listen! now has it’s own little section. Isn’t that nifty?

HEY! LISTEN! The Zelda/Nintendo Report for April 15, 2007.

Community News

I’ll Take My Zelda With Anime, Please – The Missing Link over at the Zelda Blog posted a recent update in his blog about his recent trip to Sakura-Con 2007. While there, he was able to witness first hand the wonders of Cosplaying, bid on Zelda items in a silent auction, and meet up with the two masterminds of Penny Arcade. If you want, you can check out his post in the link provided. It is an interesting read, as well as containing a nice picture of a Skull Kid costume. – Link

Dampe Isn’t Dead – A few weeks ago many Zelda sites and forums posted a message saying that the creator of the fan game OoT2D had died in a fatal car crash. We at ZU even posted this point. However, it surfaced days after his “death” post that he was indeed alive and well. It seems that Richard Denton, aka Dampe, decided to fake his death so that people would stop bugging him about the game. Many sources around the net point out that he was even “receiving phone calls” about the game and his parents were getting upset over the fact. The link I provide is one of many stories I read, but I must warn that it does contain harsh language, so read at your own risk. – Link

ZREO Dead Again – Unfortunately for the Zelda community, ZREO (The Zelda Reorchestrated Project) had to once again shut down operations for an unknown reason. The site is still operational, however, there is a big farewell post on the main page. For those who didn’t know, ZREO was a group of Zelda fans who were remixing songs from the Zelda series onto MIDIs, like you see on VGMusic.com. They were trying to make it feel like an orchestrated band, given the songs already created. You can visit the site and catch all the work they had done before the doors shut in the link provided. However, as I continued to read more into this story, I found there is more. Apparently, the people over at HTLOZ, the people who initially hosted ZREO, a collection of video game music community members accused FireGS, the originator of ZREO, of plagarism. The claims on him brought forth a massive banstorm on the HTLOZ forums and resulted in the demodding of FireGS. All of this is specluation. Everyone is trying to get the stories straight and we’ll keep you posted. – Link

Once again, if you find something around the Zelda Community that I don’t mention (and it’s of some importance), feel free to email me at James (at) zeldauniverse dot net. I check that email at least every other day, so you’re email will be read if you do send it. Please, don’t be shy about it.

Nintendo & Friends

Upcoming Games – The list according to EB Games and the Nintendo Master Game Lists for the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS:

Legend of the Dragon (Wii; May 1, 2007)

Spiderman 3, Shrek 3, and Pirates of the Caribbean 3 will all be on the Wii when their respective movies are released as well.

Pokemon Pearl and Diamond (April 22, 2007)

Touch the Dead (DS; Rated M; May 2007)

Marvel Trading Card Game (DS; May 2007)

Announced/Rumored Games – Rumor: 1UP pointed out something interesting about the RedOctane site regarding the Guitar Hero franchise. They found that in response to whether Guitar Hero 2 would see some play on other systems, they responded with “Guitar Hero 3 for the Playstation 2, PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii are currently scheduled for release in the United States in Fall of 2007.” So, Wii fans might be seeing Guitar Hero on the Wii later this year.

Zelda Miis – Awkin sent me this bit of news to pass along. Apparently over at Nintendo, they are offering some Mii tutorials for certain game characters or people in Nintendo. The first two were Link and Zelda. The link I provide starts with Link, but unfortunately, the Zelda link wasn’t working. You can keep trying in the near future to create Zelda, but here it is nonetheless. Thanks for the tip, Awkin! – Link

Twilight Bugged – It seems that Nintendo finally is taking a step in the right direction. The major issue many found with Twilight Princess was that there was one major bug in the game that caused many headaches trying to figure what to do next. I am talking about the Sky Cannon glitch with Shad. If you save in the initial room where you find the Sky Cannon and then restart in that room, you can’t move the Sky Cannon. The reason being is that Midna doesn’t want to acknowledge that Shad has left the room and won’t let you change forms. The link I have provided has noted that Nintendo will take all discs and send you a replacement with a fixed version of the game. Nifty. – Link

Twilight Models in Funny Poses – There seems to be this funny fad on the net right now that involves the character models of Twilight Princess. A few sites around the internet (I linked to Joystiq, but many other sites cited it) have a few images of Link, Midna, Ilia, and others from the games in poses you never saw in the game. And of course, you will find certain shipping occurs in some of the photos (shipping, for those who don’t know (the 1% of you who don’t) is when fans link two characters together that necessary isn’t part of canon. Like Link and Midna). You can view the fun photos at the link provided. – Link

LittleBigPlanet Was Wii Bound? – One of the biggest stories to come out of GDC this past March was the PS3 title of LittleBigPlanet. The mostly unknown title, which amazed audiences and critics alike, was something that Reggie over at Nintendo wanted to bring to the Wii. Next-Gen reports that Mr. Fils-Aime wanted the title to be a Wii exclusive, but Phil Harrison beat him to it. “Frankly, Nintendo wanted to do some business with those folks, but to give Phil some credit, he got there first. That product, I think, is quite intriguing. I’m not sure how well it will do on the Sony platform, quite frankly, but I think that the product they showed was outstanding.” You can read the rest of the article on the link provided. From what I see about this game so far, it might have been a lot more intriguing to play it on the Wii. – Link

Bedazzle This! – Kotaku posted a few images the other day of a few interesting DS Lites the Nintendo World Store in NYC. This may just be one of the many reasons why you should visit NYC and the Nintendo World Store. They are DS Lites covered in sparkly crystal beads. However, you may only want to look and not touch, because they run around the same as that nasty PS3. But, if you still have your PS3 money left to blow, I suggest one of them. – Link

Oops, We Picked the Wrong System – I think we also could have seen this coming. There was a nice article on Bloomberg (which I found linked to from the Hylia) about third party developers making the mistake of picking the PS3 over the Wii. This is one of the many reasons why you haven’t seen many “good” games come out for the Wii since it’s launch. This trend may change by the end of the year. Many companies are finally releasing that more people are buying the Wii instead of the PS3 and the XBox 360, that they are beginning to “freak out” if you want to put it simply. Electronic Arts noticed this first and that’s why you see 6 Wii titles already from them, which that number may grow to 12 before year’s end. Also on the bandwagon is Activision, which is planning for an 11 game total by year’s end. Another reason why the Wii would be the best choice for developers is due to the cheap production costs. An average XBox 360 or PS3 game takes $20 million to $30 million to make compared to the $2 million to $5 million price tag on a Wii game. You can read the entire article over at Bloomberg. – Link

Get Ready to Exercise – Seriously, kids, who needs fresh air and real exercise when you have a Wii! According to Joystiq, a recent interview with a Greek Nintendo Distributor CEO revealed that Wii Music, as well as a Wii Health Pack are slated for a late 2007 release. Wii Music is more than likely the game you saw Shiggy rocking at E3, while Health Pack seems to be an exercising game similar to Wii Sports. While Joystiq says the interview might not be as reliable as the Big N themselves, I still imagine this is the road they are taking. So, put away the exercise bike and whip out the Wii, baby. – Link

Wii Browser Available… Again – If you were living under a rock on Thursday, then you missed the fact that Nintendo launched the full version of the Wii Browser. Nintendo was listening to you when they went back to fix it, so now the full version fixed many issues you had with the trial. The full version has a better scrolling system built in, easier to use favorites, as well as a better zoom system. Also, Nintendo built in two search engines for you to use right off the bat. If you haven’t downloaded it yet, do it. Of course, you could also use your computer, which gives you the internet, too. – Link

You Know You Want It – This is partially old and new news. Back in July of ‘06, it was announced that an Animal Crossing movie would be released. At the same time, in a promotion with the trailer, a site called National Console Support released not one, not two, but three Animal Crossing sets. The third just being released most recently. You can check out all three sets at the links provided, however, set 1 at the time I write this is sold out. Not too shabby, really.

Intraweb Moments/Articles of the Week

I guess I shall reintroduce an idea I made up a long time ago in the chatroom that never really stuck. If I find something around the net that makes me laugh or is just plain amusing, I shall post it here. I will try to pick something safe for everyone, but if I do find something otherwise I will post so. It will also be something of pop culture, not necessarily video gaming. I guess the first thing I would point out was a interesting little article 1UP posted on Easter Sunday. The story of how Easter came to be is infamous, so what better way to celebrate than to write an article about characters that just won’t stay dead. It was a funny read, especially the Bowser one and, of course, Ganondorf.

There was one more thing I found that interested me as well. Over at Destructoid, they posted a video of a very hard version of the Original Super Mario Bros. In it, you just start in the underworld on one block. You must make your way from block to block without falling or you die. MUHAHAHAHA. So evil, yet so funny and brillant. Check it out. (You are warned though, that that post has some foul language).

That’s all I have for this week. I shall return next week with more. If you have any issues with this or anything I do, please comment so. I will do my best to please everyone. You can also send me some news at my email James (at) zeldauniverse (dot) net.

{moscomment}

Well, it seems that doing this segment is cursed. Here is what happened for those who missed it.

Pipking started Hey! Listen! a while back as a way to step up the updates on ZU, which were lacking at a time. Pip’s life caught up to him, so he decided to leave ZU as site staff and on the forums. GDwarf, another forum mod and site guy, decided that this was too good of a thing to pass up, so he took over the reins. His life decided to catch up to him as well and he couldn’t find time to do it.

That leaves me. If you haven’t noticed, I haven’t really been updating that much on the site. Well, the site itself is lacking again. I decided that I have no life to catch up to me, so I decided to take over the reins of this, as well as keep up with the mailbag.

Now, the reason this is being released on Friday/Saturday is because I figured I would release this ASAP to know why you haven’t been getting your weekly dose of Zelda/Nintendo from ZU. So, enjoy it this week, it will be back on it’s regularly scheduled day next week.

So, without further ado, here is what I found around the Zelda community.

HEY! LISTEN! The Zelda & Nintendo Report for April 6, 2007

Community News:

Back to the Basics – TSA over at The Hylia have finally decided to go back to being just a pure Zelda site. Most of the community seemed upset when he decided to make it a full gaming site, so this news should please some. However, if you were beginning to like the format over there, TSA has decided to still throw his hat into the General Gaming site format. In the near future, he will be opening up a site named Zentendo which will include Wii and DS games, with the possibility of branching out to the other markets. Look out for that in the near future. – Link

April Fools! – I really don’t have a link for this piece because this is a list of all the April Fool’s jokes that Zelda sites posted last weekend. Just so you know, ZU did not pull a site/forum prank this year. We decided it was for the best. Instead, some chat trolls (*coughcaptaincornflakecough*) decided to have some fun. We didn’t mind, it made everyone laugh for a few minutes.

Zelda Dimension released a fake flash of a “secret project” that they have been working on for some time. The flash plays out as a mini-advertisement and cuts out right at the end.

Zelda Blog posted a serious article about questions they would love to ask Nintendo. In the article, they posted a fake question about Twilight Princess, which included the fact they found a “secret ending”. They have since struck through the fake question and added the real one.

Hyrule.net posted that they were “hacked” by Land of the Legend and became a Tingle Fan Site. They also posted fake information about the new Wii Zelda that Nintendo is working on.

Zelda Infinite states that a Web 2.0 company buy them out and changes the layout of the site. It seems that they have since changed it back to normal. They don’t have a link to the site they did create for April 1.

Wii.tv (which is a Wii site and not a Zelda site) posted a trailer for a fake Zelda game that would be set in the future. The trailer showed Link wielding futuristic weapon and castles set in modern day architechture.

Zelda Realms posts that all updates will be started with Moo. Nothing too major there.

Exploding Deku Nut posts the entire front page backwards. I would have hated to be the one who coded that.

Once again, folks, if you have a piece of community news that you found on your travels, feel free to email us. But, once again, we have changed the email again. That happens when the person changes. The new one is for me, James at zeldauniverse dot net. I think you can figure that one out. Any news you find would be much appreciated. Who knows, you might get a cookie for it.

Nintendo & Friends

Upcoming Titles: I am going to start a new feature exclusive to Hey! Listen!. This section will highlight any title that is coming out in a next week (from the current Sunday I release this to the following Sunday) for Wii, DS, GBA, and (if I find any) Gamecube. This will help you remember what you might have to go pick up. This section will include anything I find on EBGames, however, and will include small titles that you may not care for. This week the list included: Super Paper Mario (April 9 – Wii), Cake Mania (April 10 – DS).

Announced Titles: Another new feature I’ll add. This will be for games that were announced for the Wii/DS, as well as any delays to existing games being developed. Nintendo announced that Resident Evil 4 will be ported to the Wii, which would include Wii functionality for certain aspects of the game. Metroid Prime 3: Corruptions was delayed to after June; while the game never had a definite release date, many believed it would be released early 2007.

Mario and Sonic together…somewhat – While this isn’t exactly really new news, it is still something to report. Nintendo and Sega announced that Mario and Sonic (the two companies mascots) will finally team together for the first time in a game. Now, while it’s not Super Smash (yet), it is still a game. Whether or not the game will actually be a hit, remains to be seen. For those who wonder, the game will include the Mario cast and Sonic cast of characters competing at the ‘08 Olympic Games. To me, it sounds like a really hyped version of Mario Party 10. But that’s me. – Link

Cult NiGHTS – You know what the downside of never owning a certain console is? You never get to enjoy good games and even those which became cult classics. NiGHTS into Dreams… would more than likely be on the top of my list of Games I Have Never Played, But Probably Would If Given The Chance. You would like that list, it probably is about two pages long now. Now, why would I bring this up? Because I may have a chance to find out what the fuss was about. A NiGHTS sequel, dubbed NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams, will be released for Wii later this year. Who knows? Maybe this will kick me in the butt enough to finally go find a Sega Saturn/Dreamcast and find out why everyone loved them. – Link

Nintendo Sales Up – Would anyone be shocked if I said that Nintendo thinks they did well last year? No, alright. Well, according to various sites around the net, Nintendo estimates that they made over 966 Billion Yen ($8.1 Billion USD) from April 1, 2006 to March 31, 2007 (the Japanese Fiscal Year). Most of the profit, it would seem, came from DS Systems, as well as the many of the DS games that were released. I think it would be safe to assume that the release of the Wii and Twilight Princess probably helped boost that number as well. It should be noted that Nintendo has changed their prediction of the profits four times since the fiscal year ended. It started at 120 Billion Yen, jumped to 185 Billion Yen, and continued to climb to 900 Billion and 966 Billion. Just to give a perspection, 120 Billion Yen is about the equivilant to $1 Billion USD. The link I am linking has a really funny picture that I figured you would all enjoy (it’s from Joystiq). – Link

That’s all I have for now. Once again, if you find something interesting that you think I should post, please, feel free to email James at zeldauniverse dot net. If you do send something in, please make sure you post a valid link to the story and not just a bit of an article you find. I like to keep some journalistic intregity and I like to check my sources. It would be greatly appreciated. Hey! Listen! will return to it’s normal day of Sunday next week. Hopefully, I will be on top of news stories next week, since I will only have a week to trample through. So, until next week, have a fun week and stay out of trouble.

A couple of days ago Pipking decided to step down from the ZU news team. He was responsible for getting us updating the main site on a regular basis, and always had some witty comment to make about the news he posted. He will be missed.

When he stepped down he offered me the chance to run HEY! LISTEN!, so that’s why I’m writing this. With luck I’ll do as good a job as he has.

Now, on to the news.

Community News:

Link – Exploding Deku Nut started their “Hyrule Trivia Season” on Saturday. Unfortunately that means that if you haven’t already signed up, it’s too late. However, best of luck to the current contestants.

Link – Zelda Dungeon posts part 2 of their five-part “Top 10 Zelda Websites Countdown”. So far there’s been no mention of ZU, presumably because we’re at number one. :p

That’s about it for community news. Pipking stressed this, and I shall also, send us links to any community news. (However, the e-mail address for HEY! LISTEN! Has been changed. Send any news you have to gdwarf at zeldauniverse dot net.) After all, I can’t report news I don’t know about. Don’t worry about annoying me with stuff that’s too small to bother posting, I’d much rather have too much stuff then not have enough.

Nintendo & Friends:

Link – Bad news for those of you who want a complete VC collection, Nintendo of Europe has confirmed that there are currently no plans for a Wii external Hard drive. Of course, they haven’t ruled out the possibility that one will be made in the future. (I can hope.)

Link – So, in an interesting move, the amazing Shigeru Miyamoto has posted a question on Yahoo Answers, asking people when they first heard the name Nintendo and what the name means to them.

Link – More bad news, it has been confirmed that, despite the Gamespy matchmaking service, Nintendo will continue to give individual games their own friend codes.

Link – Peer-IGN (I must confess that I don’t know the names of the IGN staff) has posted a blog entry about some minor technical issues that the Wii has, at least I know I’m not alone in experiencing the “black hole”.

So, that’s it for this week’s HEY! LISTEN!, next week it should update on Sunday and (with luck) will be longer.

Until then, remember to send in news (Again, that’s gdwarf at zeldauniverse dot net) and enjoy yourselves.

Here we are again with the fourth installment of HEY! LISTEN! The Zelda Universe World Report. This week we focus almost exclusively on COMMUNITY NEWS, and dedicate a chunk of space to a new, not-promised-to-be-regular feature – the PIPTORIAL.

Also say hello to our new logo, designed by yours truly.

COMMUNITY NEWS

Best Of – explodingdekunut.net announces the results of it’s annual Golden Item Awards. Winners include The Desert Colossus (Lifetime Achievement), Zelda Reorchestrated (Most Unique) and HTLOZ II (Most Lively Forums). Completely shut out? Zelda Universe. Sniff. There’s always next year. LINK

Fresh New – after a brief repose, Zelda Dungeon continues its march into the future with a handsome new layout and another video update on the state of the site. LINK

l33t – another episode of Accidentally Linked sees a guest director take over. Market research is the pits. LINK

Arty – TSA over at the Hylia presents a mess of official Twilight Princess art. Also, there’s some sort of watermark drama. LINK

Flashy – D3stiny_Sm4sher, also from the Hylia, fishes the deep, dark, polluted waters of NewGrounds to hook the Best of Zelda flash movies. LINK

Darkly – Zelda Blog hands over editorial directorship for “Whose Blog Is It Anyway?” The topic, as chosen by readers, is a self-described “metafiction” about Dark Link. LINK

Bossily – jngeorge at Zelda Dimension proves that Zelda does not begin and end with Twilight Princess in this newly minted guide to boss fighting in The Minish Cap. LINK

PIPTORIAL: US, THEM & THE OTHER

The longer I do this column, the more I wonder about it’s purpose.

While I thoroughly enjoy the hours spent scouring over two dozen different gaming and community sites to bring you your weekly ZU link dump, I have noticed a disturbance in the fandom. There is seemingly an endless string of Zelda-related fan sites out there, some fresh, some old, that for all appearances are dead in the water. Sites like The Grand Adventures and Ganon’s Tower have become shadows of their former selves; as reported a few weeks ago, new sites like 5rupees start strong but die due to disinterest shortly thereafter.

This is nothing new for the internet, where abandoned sites line the link highway like ghost towns, monuments to faded interest, stemmed enthusiasm and ambition outstripping reach. Population: tumbleweeds.

ZU has, at times, skirted the edge of relevance – weeks without front page news, lagging section updates. We’ve restructured our news and content management to address these problems, and as the last few months show, the results are paying off. We hope you agree.

It has been said that each of the bigger Zelda sites (of which we proudly can call ourselves one), serves a specific function in the fandom. Zelda Legends is the place for hardcore Zelda fans. The Hylia was once exclusively dedicated to TSA’s impressive speed-runs and a wealth of Zelda info. Relative newcomer Zelda Blog is the premier place for quirky, thoughtful discussion on the series.

And Zelda Universe is about community.

In a quick scan of the dozens of Zelda forums out there, ZU’s are noticeably the most active, boasting on average about 50 registered users online at any given moment. While we would never claim to be the heart of online Zelda fandom, we are very much a gateway to the larger online Zelda community. Currently we are working on returning our Fan Works section to it’s former glory, as well as beefing up the general, comprehensive Zelda info we’ve been known for. It is a slow and steady process. We strive to bring you relevant news about what’s doing in the franchise. We are constantly examining our purpose in the broader context of fan sites.

The initial idea behind HEY! LISTEN! was very simple – the internet is evolving. Sites like Digg, You Tube, Wikipedia and My Space have shot into the stratosphere by being community driven content providers. Increasingly, the people of internets are taking control. HEY! LISTEN! hopes to be a part of this movement, offering comprehensive social bookmarking of active Zelda sites, as well as various bits and pieces from all around Nintendo. As an independent fan site, we do not have impressive access to exclusive, official information – but we can provide a map to that content and put it in perspective. ZU will always provide compelling, original material, but in addition, we want to take our position as community gateway and use it to benefit both our dedicated visitors and the online fandom as a whole.

There are three sections to each HL – SITE NEWS (which is us), COMMUNITY NEWS (which is them), and NINTENDO & FRIENDS (which is the other). Readers can actively participate in the latter two – all you have to do is send me an email at heylisten.zuwr@gmail.com with a link and a brief description of why it would be of interest to the community. Not everything sent will be posted, of course – we still have to exercise our editorial muscle – but HL is one of the few places in the fandom that does not pretend to exist in a vacuum. It’s true purpose is to act as a community newsletter to keep all Zelda fans up to date on what’s going down with our people, regardless of site fidelity.

Please use the Comments below to discuss your thoughts on the column, and what you’d like to see for it in the future.

I wonder what Ganon’s doing to celebrate?

Happy Chinese New Year, folks. Lots of stuff to get through this long and lazy Sunday, and I’m late. So off we go without ado.

SITE NEWS

Megaton – in the next few days expect something huge to hit our TP section. Jaws will drop. Fans will gasp. Servers will crash. All thanks to a remarkable young man named Jacob.

COMMUNITY NEWS

Easy Life – over at zeldablog.com, TML turns his impressive talents to dissecting the decline of difficulty in the Zeldish empire. Hearts ain’t worth what they used to be. Link

Down Time – big things a-brewin’ for zeldalegends.net. Site is offline while l-o-s and crew gear up for a massive overhaul. Keep your eyes out for the new improved ZL in the coming weeks. Link

New Direction – Mases over at zeldadungeon.net goes live for this video update about the state of his site. To keep relevant in the sea of competitors, he has big plans for the future – not the least of which is the promise of tons more video content. Good luck, brudda. Link

Hello Goodbye – after about a month online, newbie Zelda resource 5rupees.com shuts down with a whimper. Site will likely be scraped by the end of this coming week, so check out what could have been while you still can. Alas, we hardly knew ye. Link

“I vote you” – explodingdekunut.net with another installment of Accidentally Linked. Keep it coming. Link

NINTENDO & FRIENDS

Gentle Genius – in an interview with Talk Asia posted on CNN.com, Shigeru Miyamoto touches on his philosophy toward game violence when asked why Nintendo hasn’t gone down the lucrative guns-n-gore route: “My personal thought is, and I think it is the same with Nintendo, that before thinking about how to handle violence in video games, I think it is important to think about pain people feel.… Looking at the overall picture, it is important to understand and feel the pain that people might have. We make our games based on that philosophy, using means other than violence.” Some nice tidbits on his start with Nintendo, play for everybody, naming it “Wii” and risk assessment. He says Nintendo has the opportunity to take the lead. Wherever Miyamoto goes, I follow. Link

20/Twitchy – older than it should be for inclusion in this column, but an important weapon in the war on concerned parents. Eureakalert.org sings this little ditty about a 20% increase in visual acuity for gamers trained on action-heavy titles. “When people play action games, they’re changing the brain’s pathway responsible for visual processing. These games push the human visual system to the limits and the brain adapts to it. That learning carries over into other activities and possibly everyday life.” Games are good for you – spread the word. Link

Sound of Silence – Mike Jackson (fear not, young ones – not that MJ) over at computerandvideogames.com problematizes the Wii’s declining momentum in Japan and crappy ports as the hype winds down and the possibilities sink in. It’s not all gloomy – he sites that most 3rd party developers didn’t get final Wii kits until close to launch, and the overwhelming success (read: license to print money) of the VC as reasons to keep hope alive. Link

Wii Want! – MTV.com catches up with Reggie and asks the big question – where the heck is the hardware? Nintendo’s now set to crank out a million Wiis a month so supply should start satisfying demand on that front, but the DS Lite will be scare until March. Nintendo literally sold out in mid January. One of the many problems your company can face when you’ve gone from industry disappointment to darling in just a few short years. He also mentions Metroid’s delay-guaranteed brilliance again and ends with good things come to those who wait. No disrespect, Reggie, but you might want to switch up the message a bit between DICE interviews so people don’t think you’re just a corporate shill. Oh, wait. Link

Garden Grows – ex-patriots of the now defunct Clover Studios form a new company called Seeds. Translated from their intro: “We are the Seeds that caused the vibrant flowers Resident Evil, Devil May Cry, Steel Battalion, Viewtiful Joe, and Okami to come into bloom. Although we alight upon a different earth, even though the soil is different, our hearts – closely pursuing the dream of “play” – have not changed.” That’s a damn fine pedigree for a new studio. And they’re hiring, so if you are Japanese and something of a genius you might be in luck. Link

i versus p – engadget.com digs through the Nintendo of America forums to find a possible problem with 480p versus 480i output on component cables. Truth time folks – I haven’t got a clue what these things mean. I just bought a TV I don’t have to wind. Link

Meta-Midna – 4colorrebellion.com snagged this pretty-pretty of Midna playing the Wii. Ooo, existential. Produced by Litonico from the N-sider forums, who has a whole gallery of 3D Nintendo eye candy for your shock and awe-ing. Link

Highbrow – Not for the faint of brain, gamepolitics.com posts an excerpt from Dr. Henry Jenkins’ blog about game culture and the politics of fear. New Massachusetts legislation would have violent games equated to hardcore pornography – Jenkins puts the smack down on folk out of touch with the New Media. Link

And I’m spent. heylisten.zuwr@gmail.com

{moscomment}

This new Sunday feature will be a weekly round-up of site, community, franchise and console news not covered in the daily updates, as well as anything else we stumble across that you might be interested in.

Wait a darn minute, pip, you might say – how do you know what we’re interested in? Has the staff of ZU been replaced by psychics and soothsayers? BURN THE WITCH!

Here’s the deal: come across an obscure link, operate a fan site, have an idea of what you’d like to see covered in ZUWR drop me a line at heylisten.zuwr@gmail.com . ZU is the biggest and best Zelda community on the net, and we want to do you right. Like Kentucky Fried Chicken.

(dead catchphrases revived= 2)

Enough.

SITE NEWS

The New ZU News – Zelda Universe would like to formally welcome long-time community members andi, GDwarf, Aex and sadida to the ZU News Team. These four sturdy souls join myself, James, Lem and Scott to beat back the forces of Inactivity and brave the perilous cliffs of Relevancy. They will handle news and content updates, and be awesome.

Feel free to put your hands in the cage and feed often.

COMMUNITY NEWS

Abandon Ship – TSA of thehylia.com definitively states “we are no longer a fan site” in this February 4th update explaining why the Affiliates have disappeared and need to re-apply. Turns out being associated with Zelda is a “stigma” that needs to be overcome. While many applaud his efforts to grow his site, there is increasing skepticism over this new approach. Even still, the Hylia remains one of the most thoroughly updated sites around. Best of luck to the new Hy-GN. Link

True Believers – The Missing Link over at zeldablog.com posts this articulate examination of religion in Legend of Zelda called “The Balance of the (Tri)Force”. Believe it! Link

lol Link – explodingdekunut.net updates their increasingly amusing “Accidentally Linked” official webcomic. Rare among fan works, this includes both clever writing AND an attractive art style (Hyrularity, RIP). Three installments so far. Link

NINTENDO & FRIENDS

Shiggy’s Army – IGN Gear breaks wind over a Wii Weights prototype. Like an Apple re-imagining of those embarrassingly 80’s workout weights your mama used to wear, this prototype contains four pockets, each capable of carrying 1 pound of sand. All part of Miyamoto’s devious plan to turn Nintendo fans into a race of super-strong arm wrestlers ready to smack down Mircosoft and Sony. Link

Tingled Pink – thehylia.com posts a scan from the latest EGM where they suggest Phantom Hourglass is coming out this summer, and Tingle’s Freshly Picked Rose Coloured Rupee Land RPG is set to bow on North American shores late this year. Earlier reports had PH landing in time for Christmas; there’s been no official word on a stateside release of Tingle’s solo outing. What does EGM know? How do they know it? BURN THE WITCH! Link

Splinter Cinema – Quoth the Globe and Mail, “Paris-based Ubisoft, which now employs about 1,600 people in [Quebec], says it will invest up to $454-million over the next six years and set up a new production centre in Montreal specializing in the creation of digital cinema content.” Yep. Ubi’s in the movies now, and doing it up here in Canada. 500 digital cinema specialists are expected to be hired by 2013, to “produce short films whose inspiration is drawn from games based on Ubisoft brands.” First up is an eight minute short film based on Assassin’s Creed. Link and Link

35.6 – That’s how many millions of units the DS has sold worldwide. They’re making millions each month – but still can’t meet market demand. Remember all those folk saying the PSP would T0t4lly 0WN the DS when they both bowed two years ago? I bet they all own DS. Mercury News chatted up Reggie Fils-Aime on the red carpet outside the 2007 DICE summit where he glowed about his handheld behemoth. He says it’s “not unthinkable” that the DS should surpass the installed user base of 360 in a year’s time. He also mentions how Sony misjudged its market; that Metroid Prime 3 will end the debate about FPS on Wii; offers Zelda up as an example of a deep Wii game… with 90 hours of gameplay? Maybe he’s just not very good at games. In short, the DS is awesome, the Wii is a phenomenon, and if you had the foresight to invest in Nintendo a year ago you’re bloody rich. Link

Killer App – On February 6th Rockstar Games announced a new Manhunt title for the PS2, PSP and Wii.

Yes, Wii.

While the internet took a collective gasp, GamePolitics.com asked Nintendo what the deal was. Sr. Director of Corporate Communications Beth Llewelyn said: “Manhunt 2 is not developed or published by Nintendo. It is one of many titles released by third party publishers for our system that appeal to people of all ages and interests. Just as with movies, television, and books, different video games appeal to – and are appropriate for – different audiences.” Link

That’s it for this week. Enjoy your Sunday.

heylisten.zuwr@gmail.com