02 July 2007
25 February 2007
Cheat
I took the plunge today and picked up a strategy guide for Twilight Princess. I’m not categorically opposed to using cheats, but I generally prefer, and find it more fun, to play a game without them and figure things out for myself. For Zelda games, though, that just isn’t possible. You can get through the story and the dungeons on your own, but if you want to come anywhere near completing them, especially as regards heart pieces, you have to cheat.
I did debate, though, the necessity these days of buying a book when gamefaqs is often adequate. In the end the pretty pictures did me in and I have a nice thick book sitting on my coffee table full of maps and secrets. Anyone who wants is welcome to borrow it once I’m done with the game, but I don’t think that’ll be for a while. FWIW I’m in the third dungeon now, the water temple.
26 November 2006
13 November 2006
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for Wii Preview
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for Wii Preview
Two page article on how the controls work. Ah anticipation.
21 September 2006
Link Only Right-Handed on Wii
Wow, this is strange. Twilight Princess was designed with Link being properly left-handed. Late in the development cycle, they realized that they wanted to make him right-handed to accomodate the poor righties who couldn’t possibly be expected to hold the remote in their left hands, so they mirrored the entire game. If you buy the GameCube version, Link’s a lefty. If you buy the Wii version, he’s a righty, and the entire game is flipped. Right turns are left turns. The map is backwards. Says Shigeru Miyamoto:
Although Link is left-handed, at E3 we noticed people seemed to be using the right Wii controller to swing his sword. That’s why we decided to make Link right-handed. The interesting thing is, on the GameCube Link is still left-handed; because of the mirror mode the game map is reversed.
This almost makes me want to just buy the GameCube version instead, since the Wii is backwards compatible.
20 September 2006
Link, Left-Handed Hero No More
Outrage! So I’m, to say the least, excited about the Wii, and there’s little chance I won’t be playing The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess as soon as I can. However, I read something today that upset me verily.
Quick quiz: in the Legend of Zelda games, is Link left-handed or right-handed?
That’s correct, Link is one of the few characters in video games who’s left-handed. I of course noticed this at a very young age playing the original The Legend of Zelda for the NES.
Some screenshot proof:
The Wikipedia entry on Link presently (2006-09-20) contains the following passage regarding Link’s handedness:
Link is left-handed, although this detail is never particularly stressed in any of the games, save for a Nintendo Gallery figurine description in The Wind Waker, which states that Link favors his left hand, and the Adventure of Link instruction booklet, which describes Link setting off “with a magical sword in his left hand and a magical shield in his right.” He wields his blade accordingly in the 3D games. In the original NES and Super NES Legend of Zelda titles, Link can be seen alternately holding his weapon in the right or the left hand, depending on his orientation, due to sprite mirroring (Nintendo’s originally joking explanation for this is that he always keeps his shield pointed at Death Mountain, which in the 2D games that featured it was always North, towards the top of the screen). Starting with The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, however, the sprites are no longer mirrored and have been updated to reflect that Link holds his sword in his left hand and his shield in his right, no matter what direction he is facing. This occurs in the left and right-looking sprites. In The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, however, Link returns to alternately holding his weapon in the right or the left hand, depending on his orientation. At the beginning of the Four Swords Plus (Four Swords Adventures) manga, Link is referred to as the “left-handed hero” after defeating pirates that were raiding a Hylian town. However, in the animated TV series, Link is right-handed.
So there you have it. Aside from ocasional discrepancies and technical issues, Link has always been a left-handed character.
Today I read this article about the Wii, which contained some disturbing news:
In New York, Nintendo showed only an E3 level of Twilight Princess, refit with updated Wii controls. Shaking the remote-shaped controller in the right hand causes hero Link to swing the sword he holds in his right hand. Shaking the nunchuck controller in the player’s left caused Link to attack with the shield in his left. Those details might hasten the heartbeat of true “Zelda” fans who remember Link being a lefty ever since his 1987 original outing on the Nintendo Entertainment System. Link’s switched sword hands for this Wii version, though Nintendo Head of Localization Bill Trinen pointed out to GameFile that even the original Link sometimes held his sword in his right: When he ran to the right, since the primitive NES simply flipped the drawing it used for Link running to the left, a southpaw grip of his sword mirrored as a clutch in his right.
Here’ a photo from the upcoming game:
So it seems that in the upcoming Twilight Princess for the Wii, Link will be right-handed. Players will be able to wave the Wii controller around and have Link mirror their movements. Apparently so that all you weak righties don’t have to hold the controller in your off-hands, Nintendo has decided to change this important aspect of Link’s character, and destroy one of the few great icons in the left-handed world.
Lefties have to live every single day dealing with things that are designed for right hands, and now we’re losing Link. I am outraged.
19 June 2006
The Legends of Zelda
Article featuring the complete timeline of all the Zelda games that goes through when each game occurs in the series and explains how many Links there have been.
22 March 2006
TeleFragged -The Many Adventures of Link: Part 1
TeleFragged -The Many Adventures of Link: Part 1
Neat writeup on what all the Zelda games brought to the table.
07 March 2006
08 February 2006
The Legend of Zelda: The Complete Animated Series (DVD) | Gamers With Jobs
The Legend of Zelda: The Complete Animated Series (DVD) | Gamers With Jobs
Ah how fondly I remember this series. Ah how off I’m sure my memories are.
01 February 2006
Zelda: Twilight Princess Nintendo Trailer Collection - Google Video
Zelda: Twilight Princess Nintendo Trailer Collection - Google Video
Seven and a half minutes of footage.