I’ve heard from several people that rather than turning to the radio or music store for their tunes, they’ve been listening to video game soundtracks. I, myself, frequently find myself putting one in rather than listening to whatever the radio has to offer (which, unless you’re listening to satellite, is usually only commercials). There are several reasons why videogame music has been steadily gaining in popularity … I’ll attempt to go through some of them here.
1. As the video game consoles improve, so does their sound hardware. This allows for a much higher sound quality than has ever been heard before. While the blips and bloops are music to a lot of people’s ears (including my own), there is definitely something to be said for realistic instruments. In many cases, the instruments sound better than real. Not only has MIDI-programmed sound in games gotten better, but the use of digital music has become commonplace on many game systems. This opens the door for literally anything the composers and sound team can think of.
2. We’ve grown up with videogame music. Most of the people that read this blog are in the 30 and under crowd, and we’ve grown up with these games. They’re not strange to us, like they are to older generations. The sound isn’t (usually) annoying or grating. Play some blips and bloops for someone in their 60’s, and watch them squirm. Most of us don’t think a thing of it.
3. Repetition is the key. How many times do you hear the Zelda overworld theme repeated? If you’re playing the original Zelda, it’s about once every 30 seconds if you’re roaming around. It’s natural to “get used” to something and even like it if you hear it enough times. They say that you have to taste a new food ten times to like it. If music is the same way, then you only have to play Zelda ten minutes or so to like the music!
4. Videogame music is a lot more available than it used to be. We can download it at our favorite sites or P2P networks, we can import it a lot easier from common sites like Amazon, etc. Not only that, but I dare say that most of the MIDI files on the internet are videogame-related. People who like videogames generally like computers.
5. For the most part, video game music is actually getting BETTER. More composers are being added to the mix. Composing for games is now a real career, not something that random people just “fall in” to. Games are being treated more like movies, and more care is given to their graphics, marketability, and yes, their music.
6. Some secular music is actually getting worse. Boring beats, stupid lyrics, cliché songwriting … for some people, it’s time for a change.
It should also be noted that game music is being appreciated in another way: people are remixing it. There are several people out there who spend a great deal of time putting fresh spins on video game themes. There are concerts put on to celebrate game music. But yeah, all of that will probably be explored in a future post.
Articles here don’t usually actively ask for the reader’s opinion, but I’d like to know some things. Do you spend a lot of time listening to music from games? If so, why? If not, why not?
Saturday, August 26, 2006
Interview without a Vampire
It seems to be an in-thing to do to requisition your opinions, so I’m going to follow up with that with an idle curiosity of mine.
Being just a lowly webmaster of a fansite, I know I have about all of zero chance of getting to interview the likes of, say, Reggie or Miyamoto any time soon. In fact, so long as any of us webbies are part of the community proper, I don’t think we’ll ever get the privilege of getting a truly exclusive interview with anyone important… at least within the vein of famous Zelda people.
As a result, several webmasters have went for the second best strategy when it comes to interviews: interviewing each other.
I’ve always found this practise of interviewing “big names” in the community rather strange. For starters, in the grand scheme of things, us webmasters (at least in my opinion) are virtual nobodies, no closer to Nintendo than the rest of the community, even though we’d love to say such. (We just have a lot more free time to burn–HA!–and a propensity to writing vast quantities of HTML, CSS, and PHP.) I’ve never contributed anything to the official world of Zelda in my life, and, though I’d love to change that some day, the chances of changing that are slim at best.
Beyond that, my personal view is that us webmasters are really no different than the readers of all of our sites. Perhaps it’s just that I don’t think that I have an exciting life or anything. (No, I don’t go where no man has gone before. No, I am not part of any super secret Zelda club. No, I’m not Wisconsin Indiana Jones.) The only reason why people know my name–and really, they only know my Internet moniker at best–is that I happen to try to entertain you with some random thought about Zelda every few days. What’s so special about that?
Yet even then, I’ve never turned down an interview request from another webmaster. I know there are several out there, one being over at The Hylia and another at Zelda Radio and at least another being somewhere else. I don’t know why I do; I figure maybe someone will get a kick out of what I say.
So I’m curious. I’m turning the mike over to you; is this a silly practise that should be stopped immediately, or do you guys have some burning questions that you’ve been dying to know about me?
Being just a lowly webmaster of a fansite, I know I have about all of zero chance of getting to interview the likes of, say, Reggie or Miyamoto any time soon. In fact, so long as any of us webbies are part of the community proper, I don’t think we’ll ever get the privilege of getting a truly exclusive interview with anyone important… at least within the vein of famous Zelda people.
As a result, several webmasters have went for the second best strategy when it comes to interviews: interviewing each other.
I’ve always found this practise of interviewing “big names” in the community rather strange. For starters, in the grand scheme of things, us webmasters (at least in my opinion) are virtual nobodies, no closer to Nintendo than the rest of the community, even though we’d love to say such. (We just have a lot more free time to burn–HA!–and a propensity to writing vast quantities of HTML, CSS, and PHP.) I’ve never contributed anything to the official world of Zelda in my life, and, though I’d love to change that some day, the chances of changing that are slim at best.
Beyond that, my personal view is that us webmasters are really no different than the readers of all of our sites. Perhaps it’s just that I don’t think that I have an exciting life or anything. (No, I don’t go where no man has gone before. No, I am not part of any super secret Zelda club. No, I’m not Wisconsin Indiana Jones.) The only reason why people know my name–and really, they only know my Internet moniker at best–is that I happen to try to entertain you with some random thought about Zelda every few days. What’s so special about that?
Yet even then, I’ve never turned down an interview request from another webmaster. I know there are several out there, one being over at The Hylia and another at Zelda Radio and at least another being somewhere else. I don’t know why I do; I figure maybe someone will get a kick out of what I say.
So I’m curious. I’m turning the mike over to you; is this a silly practise that should be stopped immediately, or do you guys have some burning questions that you’ve been dying to know about me?
Can You Feel the Love Tonight?
I have a theory. Feel free to debate and discuss this in the comments section.
My speculation: Nintendo will not (and should not) actually hook up Link with anyone in Twilight Princess.
Now, let me confess to you all that, yes, I am a shipper of sorts. I have always been a huge fanatic within the sageshipper crowd (that’s Link/Zelda for all of you not in the know) since my step into the Zelda fandom (which happened a long tim ago in a galaxy far, far away…). Since then, I’ve come to terms with nearly every other possible shipping pair their is (except for the ones that Masamune probably came up with); yes, I can even accept the validity of such “abominations” as Link/Ruto. However, I hear the warning bells alerting me that I am starting to go off-topic, so let me steer this train back to the crux of this article.
Nintendo, in recent games, has tried to spend a lot of its time these days creating oodles and oodles of plot for its Zelda titles. I mean, if you look at the general progression of the primary console Zelda games, you always seem to be getting more and more useful information per game with each successive game. In The Legend of Zelda, people spoke to you in broken Engrish; Link to the Past basically used text as a plot device to shove you towards Ganondorf;Ocarina of Time actually bothered to create a brief history of the world of Hyrule, while Wind Waker created rich backstory for its characters that would rival those of a few lesser-known superheroes and villans.
“But TML, that’s what you’ve said was great about video games! They’re just like novels! And novels have romance in them all the time! That’s all the better reason to have it in a Zelda game, right?”
Well… yes and no. (I bet you never tire of me saying that, don’t you?) Sure, those of you who are responding predictably to my theory are absolutely correct, but allow me the small indulgence (though I guess you really don’t have a choice in the matter… unless you stop reading now, but you guys are nice enough not to do that, right?) of relating to you my experiences from another game… a game which included a relationship between the protagonist and a certain someone else in the game. That game (dare I say it?) is Final Fantasy VIII.
The first half of FF8 made the game look as if it was going to be something that I would always look back upon fondly. Sure, it was more clichéd than a cucumber is cool, but even I have to admit that the beginning was fairly rock solid. Sure, an absolutely atrocious “plot twist” (plot destruction is probably more apropos to this) takes over in the beginning of Disc 4 when time gets compressed (whatever that means), but the beginning was still good.
Yet that wasn’t the thing that really stuck out in my mind; the thing I absolutely hated about the game was that Squall falls for, out of all the girls flinging themselves at him in the game, Rinoa. On what planet to those two even possibly make sense? Alright, alright, some people probably will take offense to that, but I just do not get them. At all. I’m sure someone finds the idea perfectly agreeable, but, as for me, I always believed that Squall and Quistis made such a better match than the pair that was forced upon us players. Every time someone ever made mention of the fact that it was Squall and Rinoa forever, I just wanted to toss my cookies to the floor. (Perfectly good waste of six white chocolate chip macademia nut cookies… grr…)
Ahem. Anyways…
Even though games are becoming more novelesque as the days and years pass by, I do believe that there is some risk involved in having the game developers make such important plot choices for us, the gamers. Though our perception of the protagonist (and all characters, for that matter) is driven by his or her actions and lines of dialogue (and occasionally thought), there is still a lot of characterisation work that is done within our own minds. I feel fairly safe to say that, when gamers play games, they make assumptions about characters beyond the scope that mere words and voice acting can convey about them. Video games are, unlike movies and novels, interactive; the fine line between reality and fantasy, at least for me, becomes very fuzzy the moment I set foot into any RPG.
This goes doubly so for Link since Nintendo doesn’t let him speak; gamers fill in Link’s lines of dialogue within their own head, coming up with their own image of who Link is and how he acts. By the time such a romance would come along in the game… our perception of Link’s character will already be formed, and our notion of the character could very well be shattered by Link’s sudden(!) change of heart for character X, a decision that we very well would not have made for Link. Such a shattering of plot could very well ruin the experience for a good number of gamers since the plot since plot is liable to be one of the biggest projected components of Twilight.
Yet is having Link remain purely celibate a proper alternative? Let’s face it, he’s a young adult… a teenager. Nearly every single one of you reading this will know what it’s like being that age. Yeah, you know what I mean. Hero or not, he’s human Hylian, and I doubt he’s a eunich either. No more needs to be said.
The only way I truly thing this aspect can be properly brought into a Zelda game is if the player gets a lot more control over the fate of our beloved hero’s future. I’m talking about something like Harvest Moon, where you, the lovely and talented player, get to choose your spouse-to-be. Sure, this definitely tilts the game’s genre away from RPG and more towards a love simulation (certain someones would be happy about that!), but I think this also is (a) more realistic given our extended insight into Link and (b) a much safer way to make sure that all the players of Twilight Princess will enjoy the game.
Because, let’s face it, I could very well be wrong. After all, not all of you would jump at the chance to date a certain princess. Even if she were real.
My speculation: Nintendo will not (and should not) actually hook up Link with anyone in Twilight Princess.
Now, let me confess to you all that, yes, I am a shipper of sorts. I have always been a huge fanatic within the sageshipper crowd (that’s Link/Zelda for all of you not in the know) since my step into the Zelda fandom (which happened a long tim ago in a galaxy far, far away…). Since then, I’ve come to terms with nearly every other possible shipping pair their is (except for the ones that Masamune probably came up with); yes, I can even accept the validity of such “abominations” as Link/Ruto. However, I hear the warning bells alerting me that I am starting to go off-topic, so let me steer this train back to the crux of this article.
Nintendo, in recent games, has tried to spend a lot of its time these days creating oodles and oodles of plot for its Zelda titles. I mean, if you look at the general progression of the primary console Zelda games, you always seem to be getting more and more useful information per game with each successive game. In The Legend of Zelda, people spoke to you in broken Engrish; Link to the Past basically used text as a plot device to shove you towards Ganondorf;Ocarina of Time actually bothered to create a brief history of the world of Hyrule, while Wind Waker created rich backstory for its characters that would rival those of a few lesser-known superheroes and villans.
“But TML, that’s what you’ve said was great about video games! They’re just like novels! And novels have romance in them all the time! That’s all the better reason to have it in a Zelda game, right?”
Well… yes and no. (I bet you never tire of me saying that, don’t you?) Sure, those of you who are responding predictably to my theory are absolutely correct, but allow me the small indulgence (though I guess you really don’t have a choice in the matter… unless you stop reading now, but you guys are nice enough not to do that, right?) of relating to you my experiences from another game… a game which included a relationship between the protagonist and a certain someone else in the game. That game (dare I say it?) is Final Fantasy VIII.
The first half of FF8 made the game look as if it was going to be something that I would always look back upon fondly. Sure, it was more clichéd than a cucumber is cool, but even I have to admit that the beginning was fairly rock solid. Sure, an absolutely atrocious “plot twist” (plot destruction is probably more apropos to this) takes over in the beginning of Disc 4 when time gets compressed (whatever that means), but the beginning was still good.
Yet that wasn’t the thing that really stuck out in my mind; the thing I absolutely hated about the game was that Squall falls for, out of all the girls flinging themselves at him in the game, Rinoa. On what planet to those two even possibly make sense? Alright, alright, some people probably will take offense to that, but I just do not get them. At all. I’m sure someone finds the idea perfectly agreeable, but, as for me, I always believed that Squall and Quistis made such a better match than the pair that was forced upon us players. Every time someone ever made mention of the fact that it was Squall and Rinoa forever, I just wanted to toss my cookies to the floor. (Perfectly good waste of six white chocolate chip macademia nut cookies… grr…)
Ahem. Anyways…
Even though games are becoming more novelesque as the days and years pass by, I do believe that there is some risk involved in having the game developers make such important plot choices for us, the gamers. Though our perception of the protagonist (and all characters, for that matter) is driven by his or her actions and lines of dialogue (and occasionally thought), there is still a lot of characterisation work that is done within our own minds. I feel fairly safe to say that, when gamers play games, they make assumptions about characters beyond the scope that mere words and voice acting can convey about them. Video games are, unlike movies and novels, interactive; the fine line between reality and fantasy, at least for me, becomes very fuzzy the moment I set foot into any RPG.
This goes doubly so for Link since Nintendo doesn’t let him speak; gamers fill in Link’s lines of dialogue within their own head, coming up with their own image of who Link is and how he acts. By the time such a romance would come along in the game… our perception of Link’s character will already be formed, and our notion of the character could very well be shattered by Link’s sudden(!) change of heart for character X, a decision that we very well would not have made for Link. Such a shattering of plot could very well ruin the experience for a good number of gamers since the plot since plot is liable to be one of the biggest projected components of Twilight.
Yet is having Link remain purely celibate a proper alternative? Let’s face it, he’s a young adult… a teenager. Nearly every single one of you reading this will know what it’s like being that age. Yeah, you know what I mean. Hero or not, he’s human Hylian, and I doubt he’s a eunich either. No more needs to be said.
The only way I truly thing this aspect can be properly brought into a Zelda game is if the player gets a lot more control over the fate of our beloved hero’s future. I’m talking about something like Harvest Moon, where you, the lovely and talented player, get to choose your spouse-to-be. Sure, this definitely tilts the game’s genre away from RPG and more towards a love simulation (certain someones would be happy about that!), but I think this also is (a) more realistic given our extended insight into Link and (b) a much safer way to make sure that all the players of Twilight Princess will enjoy the game.
Because, let’s face it, I could very well be wrong. After all, not all of you would jump at the chance to date a certain princess. Even if she were real.
Phantom Hourglass Likely Next Year
The simply fabulous people over at Joystiq have brought us the first-party games lineup for the rest of this year for the Nintendo DS and GBA. While there are some fantastic titles on there that I am excited about, you will notice the lack of a certain Zelda game that we’re desperately waiting for information on.
Yes, Phantom Hourglass doesn’t appear to be in the crystal ball for release this year. Truth be told, that isn’t entirely surprising for me. We know precious little about the game other than a single video, an interview or maybe two with Nintendo folk not giving us much substantial, and a notion that this will be somehow tied to Wind Waker. Beyond the basic framework, I’d say the game is still several months away from completion, much less release. Plus, it could easily get overshadowed by Twilight and the Wii (although we wouldn’t forget you, Hourglass!). So this is expected. Trust the TML.
Yes, Phantom Hourglass doesn’t appear to be in the crystal ball for release this year. Truth be told, that isn’t entirely surprising for me. We know precious little about the game other than a single video, an interview or maybe two with Nintendo folk not giving us much substantial, and a notion that this will be somehow tied to Wind Waker. Beyond the basic framework, I’d say the game is still several months away from completion, much less release. Plus, it could easily get overshadowed by Twilight and the Wii (although we wouldn’t forget you, Hourglass!). So this is expected. Trust the TML.
First Paper Mario… Now Paper Zelda?
It’s now confirmed; all you naysayers who’ve been saying that 2D is better than 3D are just plain wrong.
Who could possibly say that having one these babies isn’t at least 10 times as cool as a mere 2D Zelda poster, hmm?
I found the link to this over at The Hylia. They’re currently highlighting a very talented individual by the way of Ninjatoes who makes papercraft models of people, vehicles, or whatever floats his (or her?) boat from various video games, TV programs, and animés. He’s made tons of models from the Advanced Wars series, Tomb Raider, Star Trek… and most recently, everyone’s favourite video game (or at least everyone who reads this!), The Legend of Zelda.
Currently, there are models of young Link, young Zelda, and Majora’s Mask. You can find the other finished models for both of them below. Each of the models are incredibly detailed, emulating the polygonal polyhedral models of the N64 characters remarkably well (as you can obviously see with your own two eyes). Even as bad as I am with hands-on activities, I am highly tempted to go steal borrow from my “sources” the materials needed to (attempt to) make these.
You can find his Zelda models here.
Somehow, I never cease to be amazed by what fans will come up with. Next thing you know, people will be modding the GameCube in an attempt to make it portable…
Zelda NES!
There is a French Blog online in the land of the bloggers, and within that blog is the Zelda NES. A very talented person has managed to get ahold of a NES, and completely Zeldafy it. The unique, Zelda NES is the same coloured gold as the GBA SP Zelda console; however, instead of using the typical, and more known symbol of Zelda, the Triforce. The creator opted to use something a little different.
The symbol is one that has been debated about within the Zelda Community for a long while, and this is where we see it come to shape
If you head on over to Go Nintendo, or my own site, you’ll see that this news is being reported. As these images are on the chunky side, you can probably already see that they’re awesome looking.
Zelda NES
The creator has opted to use the Hylian symbol of the Triforce and the Phoenix, arguably. This makes a change from the usual Triforce, and is not unwelcome in my opinion.
Zelda NES!
When the NES is switched on, we can see that there is a blue light coming out form the inside, almost like a completely pimped out car. Which is something to worry about!
I just want to know if they’re going to make more the one so someone out there can have a limited edition version!
The symbol is one that has been debated about within the Zelda Community for a long while, and this is where we see it come to shape
If you head on over to Go Nintendo, or my own site, you’ll see that this news is being reported. As these images are on the chunky side, you can probably already see that they’re awesome looking.
Zelda NES
The creator has opted to use the Hylian symbol of the Triforce and the Phoenix, arguably. This makes a change from the usual Triforce, and is not unwelcome in my opinion.
Zelda NES!
When the NES is switched on, we can see that there is a blue light coming out form the inside, almost like a completely pimped out car. Which is something to worry about!
I just want to know if they’re going to make more the one so someone out there can have a limited edition version!
The End of E3?
[UPDATE: Joystiq is reporting that the head of the ESA has decided to keep E3 around despite the fact that the major players in the expo are moving out. They’re going for a more “intimate” experience, or so they say… whatever that means. Even though E3 will still be around, it remains to be seen if it’ll just be there to hobble on one foot or if it will be as good as it once was.]
[UPDATE 2: Also in the news is that the “new” E3 will be pushed back two months to July rather than May in order to give the companies more of a chance to prepare their holiday lineup. I think this is good… considering that it will happen during the traditional summer slump when nothing comes out. If we cannot get games; we might as well get news about games.]
A bombshell was dropped in Los Angeles today, and it’s still got the pundits reeling. No, it isn’t an act of terrorism; it’s just the highly speculated death of E3.
According to a lot of media sources, major publishers (read: The Big Three, although that probably includes other larger companies as well) have come to the conclusion that the millions of dollars being spent on renting convention space, constructing booths, and sending employees to man said booths for a week is too expensive for the return, namely gathering the hype of hundreds and thousands of E3 goers… and inevitably the gaming universe at large. Instead, there’s talk about focusing on the smaller shows, such as GDC among others as well as publisher-specific venues (that could be open to the public).
The official announcement of E3’s permanent closure has yet to come, but analysts are expecting some form of announcement either Monday or Tuesday. There is the possibility that E3 will live on–if only just in name–carried by the weight of smaller developers who are willing to come, but at that point the event becomes something quite different than the E3 we all know and love.
Joystiq is reporting a few plusses and minuses about the news, and they’re analysis on this is worth the read. Simply put, never again will people like us be reading and writing information 24/7 about what has just been announced just an hour ago (e.g., less stress!), but at the same time it’s as if Gamers’ Christmas has just been taken away (e.g., no presents).
Be that as it may, I’m expecting many things to come directly over the online components of the “next-generation” consoles. Microsoft dumped HUGE amounts of content over Xbox Live on the 360 this year, and with the WiiConnect24 service with Nintendo and the vaporware blatant idea theft speculative online component of the PS3… well, we’ll probably get the goods delivered directly to our living rooms anyways.
Expect this to get updated and bumped when the announcement comes in.
[UPDATE 2: Also in the news is that the “new” E3 will be pushed back two months to July rather than May in order to give the companies more of a chance to prepare their holiday lineup. I think this is good… considering that it will happen during the traditional summer slump when nothing comes out. If we cannot get games; we might as well get news about games.]
A bombshell was dropped in Los Angeles today, and it’s still got the pundits reeling. No, it isn’t an act of terrorism; it’s just the highly speculated death of E3.
According to a lot of media sources, major publishers (read: The Big Three, although that probably includes other larger companies as well) have come to the conclusion that the millions of dollars being spent on renting convention space, constructing booths, and sending employees to man said booths for a week is too expensive for the return, namely gathering the hype of hundreds and thousands of E3 goers… and inevitably the gaming universe at large. Instead, there’s talk about focusing on the smaller shows, such as GDC among others as well as publisher-specific venues (that could be open to the public).
The official announcement of E3’s permanent closure has yet to come, but analysts are expecting some form of announcement either Monday or Tuesday. There is the possibility that E3 will live on–if only just in name–carried by the weight of smaller developers who are willing to come, but at that point the event becomes something quite different than the E3 we all know and love.
Joystiq is reporting a few plusses and minuses about the news, and they’re analysis on this is worth the read. Simply put, never again will people like us be reading and writing information 24/7 about what has just been announced just an hour ago (e.g., less stress!), but at the same time it’s as if Gamers’ Christmas has just been taken away (e.g., no presents).
Be that as it may, I’m expecting many things to come directly over the online components of the “next-generation” consoles. Microsoft dumped HUGE amounts of content over Xbox Live on the 360 this year, and with the WiiConnect24 service with Nintendo and the vaporware blatant idea theft speculative online component of the PS3… well, we’ll probably get the goods delivered directly to our living rooms anyways.
Expect this to get updated and bumped when the announcement comes in.
Legend of Zelda Vs. Final Fantasy
GameFAQs, that site we all love to love, is having one of their annual mega-polls, the like where characters, villains, and games face off against each other, one by one, in elimination-style to find out which character, villain, or game is the best darn character, villain, or game there ever was! (Provided that the polls actually have scientific meaning and such, of course.)
This year, they’re going with the best videogame series ever made. After seeing so many solid series get clobbered by still better series, we’re down to the final two: The Legend of Zelda series versus the Final Fantasy series. It seems that, in nearly every GameFAQs mega-poll, that these two are always facing each other, whether it be Link versus Cloud or Ocarina of Time vs. Final Fantasy VII.
I’d say go and vote Zelda, but I know the vast majority of readers here already swing that way, so just go vote for your favourite series. Right now, Zelda is up 54.5 percent to FF’s 44.5 percent, but it is still very early with only some 2,000 votes separating the two. So what are you waiting for? Hop on over! Show your Zelda pride!
This year, they’re going with the best videogame series ever made. After seeing so many solid series get clobbered by still better series, we’re down to the final two: The Legend of Zelda series versus the Final Fantasy series. It seems that, in nearly every GameFAQs mega-poll, that these two are always facing each other, whether it be Link versus Cloud or Ocarina of Time vs. Final Fantasy VII.
I’d say go and vote Zelda, but I know the vast majority of readers here already swing that way, so just go vote for your favourite series. Right now, Zelda is up 54.5 percent to FF’s 44.5 percent, but it is still very early with only some 2,000 votes separating the two. So what are you waiting for? Hop on over! Show your Zelda pride!
Twilight Tingle? Nooooooooo!
From what I heard 10% of people say I want Tingle to be in the Twilight Princess,30% said I don't care if he's in it or not,and 60% of people said i'd be anoyed,forget him.Please tell me if you do or not or whatever.
Our friend, Tingle
A lot of people say bad things about Tingle. A terrible, terrible thing to do. I mean in reality, besides charging you obnoxious prices for stuff you absolutely need, what has Tingle ever did to you? People overcharge you for stuff you don’t need in life all the time and they don’t get knocked as nearly as much as Tingle does. And you know what? It’s not fair.
But you know what? Tingle knows. He hears what people say to him. Do you think he cares that you say horrible things about him? Yes he does. Do you think he is ignorant to your insinuations that he’s as gay as a pile of wood? No, he’s not. He knows that you guys don’t want him in Twilight Princess and he can’t fathom why. Tingle doesn’t spread hate… he only wants to bring joy - and hey, if charging you a little extra in pursuit of his own dreams hurts… maybe you should look at your own life. What’s your dream? Be a astronaut, lawyer, or president?
Tingle has a bigger dream. A great dream. One that goes beyond just the Legend of Zelda. One that surpasses Ganon’s dreams to rule all of Hyrule. A dream that - yes - surpasses that century long one Mad Batter has been having about Batgirl. Tingle wants to be a fairy. You say, “Oh yeah. That’s totally not questionable.”
Maybe people should think about that. What does it mean to be a fairy? It means FREEDOM. Any person can look at Tingle and realize this guy ain’t got much going for him. He’s in his thirties and is a map salesmen. Does he have a chance with the ladies? Not likely. Everything is against him - but here is a man who perseveres and dreams of something bigger. And rather than go out and rant about it on his online journal, he goes out to DO something about it. Link may save all of Hyrule, but Tingle reaches out to real people. Us. Those that aren’t perfect, good looking, or look good in tights. He’s right there, with us, struggling to exist in a world completely against him.
So yes, Tingle knows what you say about him. But in the end Tingle continues on his dream. A dream bigger than all of us. And I think he deserves our full support. So go up, give Tingle a hug, and don’t steal his magic words, or so help me.
But you know what? Tingle knows. He hears what people say to him. Do you think he cares that you say horrible things about him? Yes he does. Do you think he is ignorant to your insinuations that he’s as gay as a pile of wood? No, he’s not. He knows that you guys don’t want him in Twilight Princess and he can’t fathom why. Tingle doesn’t spread hate… he only wants to bring joy - and hey, if charging you a little extra in pursuit of his own dreams hurts… maybe you should look at your own life. What’s your dream? Be a astronaut, lawyer, or president?
Tingle has a bigger dream. A great dream. One that goes beyond just the Legend of Zelda. One that surpasses Ganon’s dreams to rule all of Hyrule. A dream that - yes - surpasses that century long one Mad Batter has been having about Batgirl. Tingle wants to be a fairy. You say, “Oh yeah. That’s totally not questionable.”
Maybe people should think about that. What does it mean to be a fairy? It means FREEDOM. Any person can look at Tingle and realize this guy ain’t got much going for him. He’s in his thirties and is a map salesmen. Does he have a chance with the ladies? Not likely. Everything is against him - but here is a man who perseveres and dreams of something bigger. And rather than go out and rant about it on his online journal, he goes out to DO something about it. Link may save all of Hyrule, but Tingle reaches out to real people. Us. Those that aren’t perfect, good looking, or look good in tights. He’s right there, with us, struggling to exist in a world completely against him.
So yes, Tingle knows what you say about him. But in the end Tingle continues on his dream. A dream bigger than all of us. And I think he deserves our full support. So go up, give Tingle a hug, and don’t steal his magic words, or so help me.
Tingle Tower
It seems that the Tingle news this month just won’t stop! First of all we have the Tingle survey for Nintendo.com, then we’ve got release dates, box arts and previous magazine scans. We also had Masamune’s update just a few days in defence of Tingle. Well, that’s not it. The magazine, Coro Coro has had two of it’s pages scanned, and thrown into the Zelda world. It’s very loud, and it’s very bright. Who knows what to make of it.
As you can see, it’s loud, and it’s proud. Ironically enough, it’s gay pride in Brighton this weekend. Does anyone see a correlation? Nah, seriously though, I’d like to see what the Japanese means in English, but that’s about all I can write on this really.
Who knows how the Japanese read their magazines if they’re all like this, I’d end up with a headache or some sort of seizure.
Update:
Upon threats to my life by Masamune, I’m also informing you all that the Tingle RPG official Japanese website has opened up, instead of the silly game found at /tincle. It’s pretty good for a official site. Shame English ones are never that good…
As you can see, it’s loud, and it’s proud. Ironically enough, it’s gay pride in Brighton this weekend. Does anyone see a correlation? Nah, seriously though, I’d like to see what the Japanese means in English, but that’s about all I can write on this really.
Who knows how the Japanese read their magazines if they’re all like this, I’d end up with a headache or some sort of seizure.
Update:
Upon threats to my life by Masamune, I’m also informing you all that the Tingle RPG official Japanese website has opened up, instead of the silly game found at /tincle. It’s pretty good for a official site. Shame English ones are never that good…
Nintendo Tour Hints at Wii Release Date?
Nintendo of America has just launched their website for the fourth annual Nintendo Fusion Tour. For those of you who have never attended these events (myself included), apparently they’re venues to bring new age music and gaming (particularly of the Nintendo variety) together for reasonably big shindigs across the United States. The musical aspects of the tour are being provided by bands that I have never even heard of before. (At my “venerable” age of 25, I am no longer remotely “hip” or “with it”.) The gaming aspect will be provided by Nintendo, of course.
However, even if you’re not a fan of whatever “noise” or “racket” the bands will be playing, there is something you may want to note in Nintendo’s official press release.
The tour, headlined by emo-rock band Hawthorne Heights and produced by Live Nation, will visit some 40 cities nationwide between Sept. 27 and Nov. 11. In addition to live music, each venue will showcase the hot-selling Nintendo DS Lite and provide a sneak peek of Nintendo’s upcoming console, Wii.
Yes, you heard it: Wii. With the exception of fighting amongst tens or hundreds of fans at the local game store to get your hands on a test version of the Wii, this will be your best chance to play (after you fight hundreds or thousands of people at the concert for the opportunity, of course). Imagine being able to test drive what will likely be the final versions of Super Mario Galaxies, Twilight Princess, Red Steel, among many others. (You know you want to.) You may not have been the first one ever to play it, but you’ll still be ahead of the launch date…
…Or will you? Notice when the tour ends: November 11. Somehow, my spider-senses are tingling here about this. It’s hard for the Wii to launch prior to November 11… yet still have this be a sneak peak. At the same time, according to Sony Corp., the PS3 will be launching precisely on November 11, and I cannot believe Nintendo would be foolhardy enough to come out after Sony releases their next-gen system. Of course, Nintendo is Nintendo, and they very easily could just say that, “Eh, we got most of the cities before the launch date; that’s good enough for us,” but that would force the last cities on the tour to draw the proverbial short straw. (Sorry Illinois… Iowa… Wisconsin… nearly all the Midwest…)
At any rate, I’ve drawn a handy-dandy map for you to show you where the tour will be stopping, along with roughly when you’ll be seeing Ninty’s tour buses in your area. (All I can say is that, for the first time in my life, it’s good to be living in Ohio.)
However, even if you’re not a fan of whatever “noise” or “racket” the bands will be playing, there is something you may want to note in Nintendo’s official press release.
The tour, headlined by emo-rock band Hawthorne Heights and produced by Live Nation, will visit some 40 cities nationwide between Sept. 27 and Nov. 11. In addition to live music, each venue will showcase the hot-selling Nintendo DS Lite and provide a sneak peek of Nintendo’s upcoming console, Wii.
Yes, you heard it: Wii. With the exception of fighting amongst tens or hundreds of fans at the local game store to get your hands on a test version of the Wii, this will be your best chance to play (after you fight hundreds or thousands of people at the concert for the opportunity, of course). Imagine being able to test drive what will likely be the final versions of Super Mario Galaxies, Twilight Princess, Red Steel, among many others. (You know you want to.) You may not have been the first one ever to play it, but you’ll still be ahead of the launch date…
…Or will you? Notice when the tour ends: November 11. Somehow, my spider-senses are tingling here about this. It’s hard for the Wii to launch prior to November 11… yet still have this be a sneak peak. At the same time, according to Sony Corp., the PS3 will be launching precisely on November 11, and I cannot believe Nintendo would be foolhardy enough to come out after Sony releases their next-gen system. Of course, Nintendo is Nintendo, and they very easily could just say that, “Eh, we got most of the cities before the launch date; that’s good enough for us,” but that would force the last cities on the tour to draw the proverbial short straw. (Sorry Illinois… Iowa… Wisconsin… nearly all the Midwest…)
At any rate, I’ve drawn a handy-dandy map for you to show you where the tour will be stopping, along with roughly when you’ll be seeing Ninty’s tour buses in your area. (All I can say is that, for the first time in my life, it’s good to be living in Ohio.)
The Annual Zelda Family Reunion
I threatened with a post about this in the comments section of a previous post. Today, I follow through with my threat.
I’m sure you’ve all been to a family reunion at one point in your life. (I actually missed mine this year thanks to a certain business trip, and I’m not sure if I got the better end of the deal in the end.) Every year, my family gathers together about an hour from my place of residence to once again share news from the farthest reaches of the family tree; remember how everyone looks; or–in my case–hopelessly fail to remember who these people are, what their names are, and just how in the world they’re related to me. (I’ve failed the pop quiz of this five years running, and I’ll be going for the world record next year!)
When I play the more recent Zelda titles, I cannot help but think about our annual family reunions down in the Middle of Nowhere, Ohio. Back in the older days of Zelda, characters were just random pixels that had been spntaneously grouped together to form a sprite that somewhat resembled a human being. Rarely were they given names, and never were they pulled from a previous game into the next game in the series. The likes of Error, Sahasrahla, Marin, Joe NPC, and the ubiquitous Old Man were never to see the likes of Zelda again outside of their original context, and the Goddesses Three declared it good.
But ever since Ocarina, characters have shown this amazing resilienace to death by mass forgetfulness. I need only mention a few of them before you’ll quickly see where I’m going with this:
* The Oracles: Starred in Oracle of Ages and Seasons; had a cameo in Minish Cap.
* Dark Link: Debuted in Adventure of Link, brought back in Ocarina, totally abused in Four Swords Adventures
* The Gerudo: Invented in Ocarina, recast as pirates in Majora’s Mask, then converted back to Gerudohood in Four Swords Adventures
* Anju: Formerly the Cucco Lady in Ocarina, officially named in Majora, then pulled straight into Minish
* Dampé: Tending graves in Ocarina, Majora, Minish, and beyond (where no gravekeeper has gone before!)
* Tingle: Introducing weirdness in Majora, cameoed in Ages, allowed to commit highway robbery in Waker and blatant theft in Adventures, then brought back to the side of sidequest in Minish Cap… and is only bested by
* Malon: Starred in Ocarina, had TWO roles in Majora, cameoed in Seasons, pulled into Adventures, and then put as an obstacle in the main quest of Minish
This, of course, is just a very small list of the repeated characters; if you want more, just play Minish Cap; I think they’ve thrown every character that ever existed save for Saria into that game. Seriously, what gives?
Other than throwing timeline enthusiasts into absolute conniptions, I’ve always found the reappearance of a memorable character in a completely unrelated game… well… not all that exciting. Take Malon, for instance. Sageshipper though I am, I liked and respected Malon for her role in Ocarina of Time. Now while her appearance in Majora’s Mask (as Cremia and Romani) was there largely for convenience in getting the game out quickly, her roles in Seasons, Adventures, and Minish were not. She was merely thrown into the game in order for us to resurrect some sentimentality for her based upon our opinion of her from her original appearances in the series. Yet in each of these last three games, each time she serves merely as a placeholder NPC; all she’s worth is either one step along a trading quest or as a piece in some puzzle for our hero Link to solve. It could have been anybody in that position, but someone on the development team decided upon Malon.
Here we see Malon, a fully developed character from one of the greatest acclaimed Zelda titles of all time, converted to slaving away as just another random NPC, saying perhaps three or four lines each time, and then doing nothing else. (This should cause ranchshippers–you Link/Malon fans out there–some serious ire.) All of this is done simply for the hope that we, the gamers, will draw upon our love of the character from the previous game, associate it with this game, and thus consequentially completely and utterly cherish the new title.
Maybe it’s just me, but this seems a bit artifical. What’s really going on here is the subtle art of distraction. It’s the classic game of Hey-Look-over-There, whereupon we, being naïve cast a passing glance over at something pretty tossed into the game… only to look back and completely miss the glaring weaknesses of the game because it escaped out the back door when we weren’t looking. For the Oracle games, that was the lack of a deep plot; for Four Swords Adventures, to make the stages of the game less boring; for Waker, the Triforce Hunt quest; for Minish Cap, the poorly designed overworld/plot device. Granted, these weaknesses in the titles are by no means enough to say that the game isn’t worth the silicon it’s printed on. They are decent Zelda titles in their own right; at the same time, though, it is an attempt to fool us into thinking the game is better than it is.
At a deeper level, however, the constant reuse of characters in subsequent games prevents new characters from suddenly appearing within the series. Now while I do believe that this will not be a problem in Twilight Princess and, likely, console Zeldas in the future, I don’t believe we’ll ever find a portable Zelda title as rich as Link’s Awakening… at least until this trend reverses itself. Portable Zeldas will seem to be a derivative work off of some previous Zelda title, and while we’ll still like it, they’ll never rise to being our favourite Zelda games of all time, if only because of lack of originality… and creativity, two things which I feel made Zelda the big success it is today.
Maybe I’ve been spoiled by the older Zelda titles; maybe I’m just longing for the way Zelda used to be. But when it comes down to it, I just cannot see all the hubbub over Tingle this or Malon that. I believe it’s time to stop obsessing over characters that once were and put some new blood into our characters.
Agree or disagree?
I’m sure you’ve all been to a family reunion at one point in your life. (I actually missed mine this year thanks to a certain business trip, and I’m not sure if I got the better end of the deal in the end.) Every year, my family gathers together about an hour from my place of residence to once again share news from the farthest reaches of the family tree; remember how everyone looks; or–in my case–hopelessly fail to remember who these people are, what their names are, and just how in the world they’re related to me. (I’ve failed the pop quiz of this five years running, and I’ll be going for the world record next year!)
When I play the more recent Zelda titles, I cannot help but think about our annual family reunions down in the Middle of Nowhere, Ohio. Back in the older days of Zelda, characters were just random pixels that had been spntaneously grouped together to form a sprite that somewhat resembled a human being. Rarely were they given names, and never were they pulled from a previous game into the next game in the series. The likes of Error, Sahasrahla, Marin, Joe NPC, and the ubiquitous Old Man were never to see the likes of Zelda again outside of their original context, and the Goddesses Three declared it good.
But ever since Ocarina, characters have shown this amazing resilienace to death by mass forgetfulness. I need only mention a few of them before you’ll quickly see where I’m going with this:
* The Oracles: Starred in Oracle of Ages and Seasons; had a cameo in Minish Cap.
* Dark Link: Debuted in Adventure of Link, brought back in Ocarina, totally abused in Four Swords Adventures
* The Gerudo: Invented in Ocarina, recast as pirates in Majora’s Mask, then converted back to Gerudohood in Four Swords Adventures
* Anju: Formerly the Cucco Lady in Ocarina, officially named in Majora, then pulled straight into Minish
* Dampé: Tending graves in Ocarina, Majora, Minish, and beyond (where no gravekeeper has gone before!)
* Tingle: Introducing weirdness in Majora, cameoed in Ages, allowed to commit highway robbery in Waker and blatant theft in Adventures, then brought back to the side of sidequest in Minish Cap… and is only bested by
* Malon: Starred in Ocarina, had TWO roles in Majora, cameoed in Seasons, pulled into Adventures, and then put as an obstacle in the main quest of Minish
This, of course, is just a very small list of the repeated characters; if you want more, just play Minish Cap; I think they’ve thrown every character that ever existed save for Saria into that game. Seriously, what gives?
Other than throwing timeline enthusiasts into absolute conniptions, I’ve always found the reappearance of a memorable character in a completely unrelated game… well… not all that exciting. Take Malon, for instance. Sageshipper though I am, I liked and respected Malon for her role in Ocarina of Time. Now while her appearance in Majora’s Mask (as Cremia and Romani) was there largely for convenience in getting the game out quickly, her roles in Seasons, Adventures, and Minish were not. She was merely thrown into the game in order for us to resurrect some sentimentality for her based upon our opinion of her from her original appearances in the series. Yet in each of these last three games, each time she serves merely as a placeholder NPC; all she’s worth is either one step along a trading quest or as a piece in some puzzle for our hero Link to solve. It could have been anybody in that position, but someone on the development team decided upon Malon.
Here we see Malon, a fully developed character from one of the greatest acclaimed Zelda titles of all time, converted to slaving away as just another random NPC, saying perhaps three or four lines each time, and then doing nothing else. (This should cause ranchshippers–you Link/Malon fans out there–some serious ire.) All of this is done simply for the hope that we, the gamers, will draw upon our love of the character from the previous game, associate it with this game, and thus consequentially completely and utterly cherish the new title.
Maybe it’s just me, but this seems a bit artifical. What’s really going on here is the subtle art of distraction. It’s the classic game of Hey-Look-over-There, whereupon we, being naïve cast a passing glance over at something pretty tossed into the game… only to look back and completely miss the glaring weaknesses of the game because it escaped out the back door when we weren’t looking. For the Oracle games, that was the lack of a deep plot; for Four Swords Adventures, to make the stages of the game less boring; for Waker, the Triforce Hunt quest; for Minish Cap, the poorly designed overworld/plot device. Granted, these weaknesses in the titles are by no means enough to say that the game isn’t worth the silicon it’s printed on. They are decent Zelda titles in their own right; at the same time, though, it is an attempt to fool us into thinking the game is better than it is.
At a deeper level, however, the constant reuse of characters in subsequent games prevents new characters from suddenly appearing within the series. Now while I do believe that this will not be a problem in Twilight Princess and, likely, console Zeldas in the future, I don’t believe we’ll ever find a portable Zelda title as rich as Link’s Awakening… at least until this trend reverses itself. Portable Zeldas will seem to be a derivative work off of some previous Zelda title, and while we’ll still like it, they’ll never rise to being our favourite Zelda games of all time, if only because of lack of originality… and creativity, two things which I feel made Zelda the big success it is today.
Maybe I’ve been spoiled by the older Zelda titles; maybe I’m just longing for the way Zelda used to be. But when it comes down to it, I just cannot see all the hubbub over Tingle this or Malon that. I believe it’s time to stop obsessing over characters that once were and put some new blood into our characters.
Agree or disagree?
A Cornucopia of Zelda Stuff
I’ve found two itsy bitsy things that I felt worth mentioning, but, instead of making two separate posts talking about them, it makes much more sense just to cram them all into one post.
First, I found it first over on The Hylia that First 4 Figures has revealed the first of the collectors’ statues based upon the Legend of Zelda games. Their first statue is none other than Oni Link himself; yes, the Fierce Deity has been painted in glorious splendor, and Link looks absolutely wonderful with his double helix sword. But don’t take my word for it; look for yourself:
First, I found it first over on The Hylia that First 4 Figures has revealed the first of the collectors’ statues based upon the Legend of Zelda games. Their first statue is none other than Oni Link himself; yes, the Fierce Deity has been painted in glorious splendor, and Link looks absolutely wonderful with his double helix sword. But don’t take my word for it; look for yourself:
Zelda on TI
It would appear that we have some incredibly creative and intellegent Zelda fans in our community. Well, that statement isn’t exactly a new, or unfamilar thing to us. After all, I’m here typing this to you! But seriously, we do have some amazing people in our own community, such as those who create Zelda fangames. Each of those games have something that’s incredibly unique and brilliant, even those who are making their first gaming projects.
However, when we come across people who can manage to recreate one of the best handheld Zelda games, on a calculator, it makes me take notice.
However, when we come across people who can manage to recreate one of the best handheld Zelda games, on a calculator, it makes me take notice.
Wii love Zelda
I’ve been meaning to get an editorial up the past few days, but insanity has been ruling my life, and I haven’t had a chance to finish it. As much as I know many of you dislike getting two posts in a night, I want to finish it so it’s not hanging over my head. So expect another post tonight. But I digress; on with the news…
Joystiq is issuing news straight from Camp Hyrule that the Wii version of Twilight Princess will only support the Wii remote. Apparently, with the knowledge that Super Smash Brothers: Brawl allows you to use a GameCube controller on a Wii title, many people had hoped that the new Zelda game would allow you to have your choice of input devices, either the Wii-mote or the GCN controller. Apparently… no such luck. Once you buy into Wii Zelda, you’re stuck with Wii Zelda.
Joystiq is issuing news straight from Camp Hyrule that the Wii version of Twilight Princess will only support the Wii remote. Apparently, with the knowledge that Super Smash Brothers: Brawl allows you to use a GameCube controller on a Wii title, many people had hoped that the new Zelda game would allow you to have your choice of input devices, either the Wii-mote or the GCN controller. Apparently… no such luck. Once you buy into Wii Zelda, you’re stuck with Wii Zelda.
Zelda Club
It is quite apparent why you come here to my little corner of the web to read this blog; you’re all avid fans of the Legend of Zelda. (Now how I keep fooling you into coming back day after day is still a mystery to me though!) You and I have all found some deep passion within the pixels and lines of code that has made one of the greatest videogame series of all time. The games and us share some unexplicable symbiotic relationship; we thrive when we play them, it seems.
The Darker Side of Tingle
If you’re paying attention, you’ll notice we have a lovely little countdown timer on the main page for Mogitate Tingle no Barairo Rupee Land, otherwise known as Tingle RPG. Let it be known that this is merely the Japanese release date; it’s not coming to America or Europe or anywhere else… yet.
Since there’s only 15 days to the new game, the Nintendo overseas PR machine is now picking up steam and has brought us a commercial for the new game. (YouTube video is after the cut.)
Since there’s only 15 days to the new game, the Nintendo overseas PR machine is now picking up steam and has brought us a commercial for the new game. (YouTube video is after the cut.)
Monday, August 21, 2006
Some Twilight Princess News
After being kept in the dark for months now Nintendo has leaped into the light with a barrage of information concerning…changes to the Twilight Princess controls.
The changes have to do with the Wii version shown at E3. According to IGN, instead of pressing B to swing the sword, movement is now regulated to actually swinging the controller around. Nintendo believes that this change will not tire the player and make the game much more interesting.
In addition, the bow has now been moved to the B button instead of the awkward position of the d-pad. From this we can infer two things. One is that it will be much easier to call up the bow and shoot an eagle or something. And two, the bow is such a very important item to be placed in such a prominent spot.
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