My brother-in-law and I are both long-time gamers, having each put in our time on the hobby, playing many of the classics and quite a few, not so classic titles, as well. We have very different gaming backgrounds, however. Although we’re about the same age, I started a bit earlier than he did, with a…
When I was in the seventh grade, my family moved. It wasn’t terribly far, as far as these things go; we were close enough to our old stomping grounds to drive back for the holidays and the like, but it did mean I had to make new friends in a new school in a new…
I’ve noticed, over the years, I have a thing for symmetry. It actively bothers me when I come across something — a building, a design, anything really — that isn’t essentially symmetrical, that actively goes out of its way to build up one side of itself differently than the other side. It’s a silly quirk…
When I started college, I had thought to leave video games behind (though I hedged my bets by bringing my Super Nintendo with me for some retro fun every now and then). Instead, with the GameCube out, I found myself sucked back in thanks to living in a dorm room hall filled with fellow Nintendo…
Many of us remember days in the schoolyard, discussing our latest video game discoveries and, furthermore, dreaming of what we might do with a favorite franchise if we were ever given the reins. Many a boy or girl imagined what their ideal version of what Mario, Sonic, or Zelda might look like if they had…
Growing up, playing a Zelda game was a communal affair. We only had two televisions, after all. One was tucked away in my parents’ room, so my video game consoles usually were attached to the living room television, which meant I not only had to navigate TV schedules to find time to play, but I…
I was not interested in the next Zelda. That, alone, was a shocking thing to feel, but everything I’d seen of the then-upcoming The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker left me cold. It wasn’t sour grapes over not getting the “realistic” Zelda of the SpaceWorld demo so many expected, just a weird feeling that the…
I’ve been playing Zelda games since I was 11 years old and first acquired A Link to the Past under my Christmas tree alongside my brand new Super Nintendo Entertainment System. That was my introduction to Link, Zelda, Ganon, the Triforce, and so much more about Hyrule and its ever-growing, ever-complicated history. I kept up…
When I was 12, I had to make what could have been one of the most important decisions in my life to that point. A decision that would not only shape my near future but would irrevocably shape me as a person for many long years to come. A decision of massive importance that only…
There are a handful of ways to describe the adventures of Link and Princess Zelda over the course of their myriad adventures in Hyrule and lands further abroad over the course of The Legend of Zelda series. High fantasy. Sword and sorcery. Epic quest. Swashbuckling adventure. Time-bending caper. And, perhaps my niece’s favorite way to…
I miss instruction booklets. Once, long ago, when video games were still trying to establish themselves as a separate art form, every game seemed to come with a fat pamphlet filled not only with the basic control scheme and tips to play a game — vital information at a time when customizable controls and hours-long…
If I have any flaws — a debatable position, I assure you — it might be a distinct lack of patience. It’s true, I just don’t like to wait. When presented with two options, one immediate, one delayed, I’ll often choose the former even if the latter option might be better in the long run.…
I was a freshman in college when The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker came out. I hadn’t been excited for it — despite my love of the Zelda franchise, having conquered games like A Link to the Past, Link’s Awakening, and Ocarina of Time in my youth, I had been unimpressed with the pictures…
Like many fans of The Legend of Zelda, I have an assortment of various figures, models, and other tchotchkes declaring my undying love for Link, Zelda, and their various friends in Hyrule. I have nearly a dozen amiibo representing the Zelda games, a few other figurines, a Nendoroid or two, a poster, some puzzles, plushies…
In recent years, fans of The Legend of Zelda can find numerous ways to explore the stories of their favorite titles beyond merely playing the games. Books like the Hyrule Historia and Zelda Encyclopedia have cataloged and codified the history of Zelda‘s ever-expanding lore, while more than half of the games in the series have…
