Following last week’s roundup of Zelda Universe memories from the site staff, read on for part two for stories of snow days spent playing Zelda, first-time forum findings, and snoozing all the way through a huge game announcement!
Olivia Gentry
My favorite memory since joining the ZU news team was the day that Age of Calamity was announced. I was sleeping in late because I didn’t have work or school that day. I forgot to turn my phone on silent, so I woke up to a lot of notification sounds going off from the News chat.
I was so tired and groggy, so I turned my phone on silent and went back to sleep. When I finally woke back up, I checked the chat with squinted, tired eyes. As I read what was going on, I instantly snapped out of my tired state. Out of nowhere, Nintendo had announced a new Zelda game that was coming out in just a few months! And while I was sleeping away, the rest of the News team were at work pumping out articles like crazy! I was so impressed at how fast everyone jumped into action writing, editing, and publishing the articles. It was super cool to see, especially as this was the first time such a big announcement happened since I joined the news team. I still can’t believe I slept right through it all!
Olivia is a news reporter and a loyal Zelda fan who has committed her entire life to converting everyone she meets to Zelda fandom. She is also an avid follower of The One! The Only! The Strong! The Burly! MASTER KOHGA!
Amanda Ryczek
I honestly have too many Zelda Universe memories to count. I guess the most memorable one, however, would be when I first discovered ZU. Basically, ZU was my first realization of there even being a Zelda community; I had no idea in my 15-year-old mind that such a community even existed. I joined the forums in 2008 and got thoroughly involved. It was so weird to me that there was this whole community of individuals who also really enjoyed gaming, and it was this mutual interest that led to so many of us becoming friends.
I’m going to date myself big time but another of my best memories is coming home from school/work to get on ZU’s IRC chat (yes, I’m that old) to talk to friends and see everything I’d missed throughout the day. I can honestly say that one of the best things that came out of it was the people I met. I have genuinely met some amazing people within this community that I am very grateful for knowing.
Amanda is a news reporter at Zelda Universe and a regular forumgoer under the username Mandi. She has been an avid Zelda fan for as long as she can remember and a Zelda Universe member since 2008. Her favorite thing to do is make coffee.
Briley Hearrin
I have a lot of memories of having snow days in elementary and middle school, and getting up and spending all day playing whatever Zelda game I had managed to get my hands on. I would have to pull up the guide on Zelda Universe on my mom’s laptop to get anything done, as that was the only way I would manage to solve any of the puzzles. I played The Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, Phantom Hourglass, and most of the Wii Virtual Console games this way!
Briley is a newly recruited news reporter for Zelda Universe, and you can follow her on Twitter.
David Johnson
I remember when Elias cosplayed as true-form Midna for ZUThon. That was the best ZU memory.
David is Zelda Universe’s Publications Director and the true king of Hyrule. If you don’t hear from him in a month, send Link!
Zelda Universe is now celebrating its 20th birthday! Be sure to check out more of our memories from the site’s two-decade history.
