The Soul of a Game

a part of The Missing Link series of articles

Article By Hylian Dan

Will video games as a medium be forever relegated to the pop cultural ghetto? Or will they establish themselves alongside such revered media as film, literature, and music? Designer Chris Hecker tackled this question in a keynote address covered by Gamasutra. As I reviewed his points, they strengthened my conviction that the game industry could learn a lot through a closer examination of Nintendo’s Legend of Zelda series.

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Is there a need for a bigger sense of threat in Zelda? This article by Dathen Boccabella from ZeldaInformer explores the subject of threatening (or in this case, non-threatening) villains in our beloved Zelda franchise.

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By Dan Merrill, aka Hylian Dan

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David Cousens from PSDFan has posted a Photoshop tutorial describing the process through which he created a pretty impeccable work of art depicting Link in his Deku Scrub form from Majora’s Mask. The artwork is top-notch, but the tutorial is not for the faint of heart. If you’re not 100% comfortable in Photoshop and lack artistic skill, I wouldn’t give this tutorial a go for yourself – but for looking into the fanart-making process, Cousens’s tutorial shines. Anybody looking to create Zelda fan art – or any art at all – could use the tips presented in his tutorial. Even seasoned artists might find a few basics they’ve been overlooking inside.

Check it out for yourself here. You won’t regret it!

It’s time! For those who didn’t read the post directly below this one, we’re celebrating the launch of The Bank of Hyrule with – what else – a contest! We’re giving away two prizes: Four volumes of VizKid’s The Legend of Zelda manga, and an X-Rocker II gaming chair (with speakers built-in!).

To enter, all you need to do is the following:

1. Be living in the US or Canada. Sorry, we didn’t make the shipping restrictions!
2. Take a photo of something in real life you feel represents or reminds you of Zelda. It could be anything – we’re not being strict here – but don’t push it too much.
3. Upload that photo somewhere – to Flickr, ImageShack, we don’t care where.
4. Post a link to the photo in the comments of this post, and we’ll tally ‘em up for a raffle.

The contest will run from now until 11:59pm this coming Sunday, July 12. Please use this post’s comments for entries only – anything that isn’t an entry will be deleted. Make sure to submit your entry in the comments system before 11:59pm on the 12th if you want a shot at winning anything. The winners will be selected by raffle out of the comments, so everyone has an equal shot at the prizes no matter what your photographic skill is.

For more details on the prizes, some elaboration on the rules, and to enter, read on!

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Immortal Childhood

a part of The Missing Link series of articles

By Hylian Dan

Contents

1. Introduction
2. Home, Sweet Home…
3. Good-bye, Great Deku Tree
4. Transformation
5. The Playground
6. Mortal Life
7. The Child’s Wrath
8. The Guardian Tree
9. The Seeds of the Future
10. Immortal Childhood

Introduction

Restless souls wander where they don’t belong…
—Ocarina of Time

As Link roams across the mysterious Koholint Island, a ghost begins to follow behind him. It whispers, “…The house… …take me… …the house… …at the bay…” Link brings the ghost to its former home. The floors are cracked, the lights have dimmed. The spirit sadly drifts across the room. “…Nostalgia… …unchanged… …boo hoo…”

“…Enough… …cemetery… …take me… …my grave…”

There is a common theme that runs through Link’s Awakening and Ocarina of Time. It is expressed more fully in Majora’s Mask, and summarized at the end of The Wind Waker. These four stories express what it means to live bound to the flow of time. They are stories about the beauty of mortality, the journey from childhood to adulthood and from life to death. They are about growing up and leaving behind the immortal playground of childhood, letting go of the familiar to venture out into the world that lies beyond.

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Nintendo has released Majora’s Mask for the Virtual Console in the US – you can download it right now for 1000 Wii Points (or $10 in “real money”). If you’ve never played Majora’s Mask before, or did and got frustrated (like yours truly), this is your shining moment to redeem yourself and play the sequel to Ocarina of Time.

And remember that ZU’s Majora’s Mask section is always around, in case you get stuck or want some more in-depth info about Majora’s Mask. Now, if you don’t mind, I think I’ve got a game to go play…

I know that Majora’s Mask is nothing new (aside from its recent Virtual Console release), but when someone walks up to me and tells me they see something wrong – well, I just have to fix it! As a result, three pages have been changed up and revamped in the Majora’s Mask section. They are the following:

• The main index image has been updated and corrected – MM was released for N64, GC and now for Wii on the Virtual Console. It previously listed N64 as the only console.
• The Ocarina Songs page has been updated and changed to include playing instructions and images.
• The Cheats and Hints page has been generally updated and overhauled.

If you think ZU could fix up any other pages, just let me know. I’m happy to do spring cleaning on any and all content around ZU, especially in the realm of error correction, though I’d hope all of our Zelda information is entirely accurate!

Hyrule.net reports that Majora’s Mask was released on the Virtual Console today for Europe and will cost 1000 Wii Points. With Europe getting Majora’s Mask first, it is looking like the release for the US won’t be too far behind.

Word of caution though, there is talk across the net that the VC version of MM may be the same port as the Collector’s Edition with the same bugs and glitches. So please keep that in mind while you play.

Official Nintendo Magazine of UK is reporting that Japan will be releasing Majora’s Mask on the Virtual Console sometime in April.  This is significant because the game will more than likely be released on the North American VC service sometime this year.

So if you never purchased the original cartridge for the N64, or received The Legend of Zelda: Collectors Edition (when you renewed a Nintendo Power subscription earlier this decade), then you have a chance to purchase and play the game finally.

So much Zelda news in the past few days.  Is it leading to a nice announcement at E3?