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6/4/2006; 10:36AM; InformeroftheSages
I'm off on vacation for a month. See you all when I get back. And work on the site will get done after I come back. Enjoy your summer everyone!
--- 6/4/2006; 10:36AM; InformeroftheSages
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[May 9th, 2006 E3 update]
Alright. The first day of E3 2006 is over. And with it we have a whole new slew of information. I'm not going to cover more from the two videos, I'll let you view those on your own. Most people don't mind it, but I find the fact that there will be two versions of Twilight Princess rather alarming. First off, when discussing the game, people are going to have different responses, because if the versions they're playing are different, then their experiences are going to be different. Players who also want to own the entire Zelda series will have to buy both versions. Talking about Wii's functions in a Zelda related way, it was shown today that the Wii exclusive features so far for Twilight Princess are the Hookshot, Fishing, the Bow, and of course, sword fighting. Most of these were to be expected anyway :P For those of you who don't know, both Wii controllers have their own independent motion sensing, which really will enhance gameplay. Another good thing is that we can say goodbye to inverted shooting, now it's simply "point and shoot". A bit was mentioned regarding Phantom Hourglass(heh, I haven't mentioned this yet either. It's the new DS Zelda game). Only that it picks up where Windwaker left off. Go crazy all you timeline people. I know this update seems kind of disjointed---but that's the way all the E3 updates are going to be. At the end, I'll provide an analysis of everything I can think of :P I'll keep updating this same post as the week continues(latest updates at the top) so that everything can be easily read together at once. [/May 9th, 2006 E3 update] --- 5/9/2006; 4:39PM; InformeroftheSages There has been a slight disturbance in our community lately - rumours abound of Nintendo's latest scheme to make us Zelda fans "suffer". I have noticed a great deal of my affiliates lamenting this so called November delay; but truthfully, I couldn't be any happier.I have read a lot of things this past month or so-many articles stating that Twilight Princess had simply been delayed again, this time to November; others saying that it would be a Revolution title; and most saying both. Now I did not expect to see the anger and frustration I am seeing in our community. Honestly, if Twilight Princess were to be delayed to 2007, I would be even happier. The longer the delay, the better.
Now if you're one of those rabid, morbid inflicted fans, or even if you felt just a slight twinge of anger regarding my last few statements, then I implore you to stop reading and to go see a doctor. You're obviously mentally unstable. First and foremost, it's a videogame. Nothing more, nothing less. There is no need for people to get so emotional over a fractional delay. Honestly, what is a couple of months in your life? And if Nintendo has simply delayed TP to make the game better, what the hell are you all complaining about? If it's going to be a Revolution title, then obviously it's all for the best. Now I've heard a lot of people saying that "Nintendo tricked us", and that "they should have just told us this in the first place", and "I ph5k1|\|6 1-1473rz N1|\|73n|>0!!!!"-and seriously, if they did, so what? And if you agree with that last statement, then you really need to get a life and do something other than sit around all day complaining about Nintendo's brilliant marketing strategies. Which is precisely what this delay (if it truly is a delay) is. By releasing TP around the same time as the Revolution, Nintendo will not only gain profits on its newest console, but on the old GCN as well. If you all are sick and tired of waiting for this new Zelda game, then you're all a lot weaker than I thought. If you can't endure a couple months more, than you really are pathetic. If I sound harsh its because I am. I am disgusted with all the whining and complaining that I've been reading everywhere. The world will not come to an end if TP doesn't come out this April. And regarding those idiots who seriously think that TP might not come out at all, I have nothing to say to you except that your a moron. Nintendo has come this far with TP: released screenshots, released trailers, released playable demos. Do you honestly think that they would suddenly abandon their greatest franchise? Do you? This is nothing more than a marketing gig intended to build up even more hype than there already is. And the later TP is released, that much sweeter the experience will be. I'm not going to apologize if you've been offended during this rant-its people like you who I'm talking about. You're seriously degrading our community with your ridiculous attitudes and behaviors. I'm sure you can find some other video game to play in the meantime, and if you can't, replay some of the old classics. The point is, the more you starve, the hungrier you are, the tastier the pizza is when you finally eat it. Or whatever the hell arouses your taste buds. I am disgusted right now, and I sure hope you all won't be acting like this during these next few months. And to those of you sane people who aren't complaining-you have my thanks, and gratitude as well. You can whine all you want, but the fact is: TP isn't coming out today, or tomorrow, or next week. So shutup and you'll enjoy TP a lot more when it comes out. I'm not not angry, I'm simply irritated. I expected a lot more out of you fans. Once again, thank you, those of you who haven't lost yourselves in this mundane moment. --- 2/15/2006; 4:22PM; InformeroftheSages I'd like to take the time right now to acknowledge the moment. As a long time Zelda fan, I have faced this period of inactivity that we are currently experiencing many times. I am of course, talking about the long gaps between game releases. The gaps where the fervor and passion begin to calm down, the gaps where the water begins to chill.
We are currently tottering on the edge of that realm. With E3 coming up in May, and the release of Twilight Princess only a couple months away, the fire in our community will once again rekindle. The water will boil once again. Yet, perhaps we ought not to lose ourselves completely within the passion of the experience that is Zelda-because who knows when next this drought will reappear? I'm looking back at why Nintendo's Legend of Zelda series has been so successful. Rather than focusing on the gameplay, graphics, or soundtrack, even less, the experience, I've discovered an interesting strategy of Nintendo's. Let's look at Zelda release dates. Zelda games have been released almost every other year since the beginning of the franchise. Yet in tangent with these releases, have been periods of severe fan depression where fans, just like now, are beginning to lose interest in the series. Yet unlike other franchises, like Mother/Earthbound (Witnessing Mother 3 on April 20th!), the Zelda series have never been sexier. That is, they've always been hot. And it's all because Nintendo's got the water on the heater. And their marketing strategies all begin and end with these games:
...notice anything similar between these games? No? Okay, let's start with a wider spectrum. Today, in the year 2006, as far as media and entertainment go, classics are classics. You can't beat the original, but you can try. And most efforts are highly rewarding. See the similarities? No? Okay, let's briefly take a look at something different. Movies
Video Games
Now do you see? No? Okay, either I'm not being clear enough, or you're just plain stupid. Probably the latter. What I was alluding to above is that all of these movies and videogames have been re-released. Spiderman, The Hulk, and Batman are essentially just remixed theatre formatted spin-offs of the original Marvel comic classics. And just how many King Kong's have there been? Well what about the Zelda games I listed earlier? They've all been re-released as well-and if we look carefully enough, at the right times. With the incredible gap between Majora's Mask and The Windwaker, discussion was surprisingly quiet. The Zelda community was almost dead. There were many heated debated over whether or not Windwaker's new cel-shading style was appealing or not. In the end, we killed the topic, and for many of us, our love for the series as well. Along comes Nintendo, eager to please its fans. And what do they do to compensate for the overwhelmingly amount of negative appeal towards Windwaker? They say, "Hey guys! Forget that game! Remember Ocarina of Time? There's more to it!" And with that, *poof*, we have the release of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: Master Quest disk for Gamecube. Not only can fans now play Ocarina of Time with improved graphics and sound, but they can use the Gamecube's more appealing controller. And to kick up the mix, they finally let us have a go at the salsa version of Ocarina of Time, something that Japan got way before us. Instantly, forums are flooded once again, everyone's shouting"We love Nintendo!" and, "Long live OOT!" But before long, that inevitable period of emptiness sinks in. So what does Nintendo do? They say, "Hey guys!Forget how crappy Windwaker was! Remember THESE games?" And with that, they not only give us a Gamecube re-re-release of Ocarina of Time, but Majora's Mask, The Legend of Zelda, and the Adventure of Link as well. And to conceal there motives behind these re-releases, they throw the last two games on the Gameboy Advance and toss a sexy $20 price tag on them. Instantly, forums are flooded, everyone is all over these new games. And while everyone has forgotten how depressed they were, Nintendo releases some screen shots of Twilight Princess. How's that for some slick management? What I'm trying to say is, although right now, intelligent discussion is scarce on forums and in the community, Nintendo has been fairly kind to us by confusing us with the old games that we loved, and stealing from our wallets at the same time. But we have had it much better off then a lot of other franchise fans. There hasn't been a Final Fantasy for a Nintendo system in just about forever(again, "Hey, remember these???"), and there hasn't been a new Ness game for a while. All in all, Nintendo has done a great job of helping us through our numerous depressions. Yet there is a flipside to this inverted madness. :P While re-introducing the old games, the instant appeal factor only lasts so long. Most people picked up the Gamecube version of Ocarina of Time and then stopped 1/3 of the way through, already bored with it because they remembered what happened next. And because of this, fan inactivity has stooped to an even lower level, and we are that the bottom of the pit right now. So what's my fire for this water of ours? Sadly, I have none. We've endured torture for many months now-I say we starve ourselves a bit more until E3, and then show the world just how crazy we are. :D --- 1/30/2006; 7:17PM; InformeroftheSages Just a quick update: First off, Happpy New Year!; New content is currently in the works, although it is going slow. Expect a rant in the future, although I can't guarantee when. One thing is for sure-when Twilight Princess is released, we really will have something new to talk about. That's all for now, keep checking back every now and then! ^_^
--- 1/15/2006; 8:42AM; InformeroftheSages Well everyone, welcome back. We’ve been revived. After anextremely long period of renovation, I am proud to present you with The Hyrulian Network, version 3.8. Just some quick information about this layout, it was created and coded by me (finally!) and hopefully will be our layout for a while. Next on today’s agenda are our affiliates. Affiliation with a lot of our old sites have been terminated. Affiliation is currently closed, and will be reopened in the future. Since I’m starting afresh, I’ve decided to keep those affiliates who really kept in touch and interacted with me-in other words, affiliates who truly are, affiliates. Now, our concept here at The Hyrulian Network is a bit different. While our last version focused on everything: Walkthroughs, images, news, media, etc. nothing really got done. So I guess you could say that The Hyrulian Network will now be a more fan exclusive site. Created by the fans, for the fans. Of course, the backbone of things will always be the same, and some other areas may resurface in the future. Now, a major reversion I would like to talk about are my rants. After looking at the archives from when this site was first released, I realized how mundane and insipid my rants have become. They’re more technical and really lack the zest and fervor that The Hyrulian Network once had. I’d like to change that. I will continue to update on the latest Zelda news, but I’ll leave the technical formalities to “big” sites out there like Zelda Universe and Zelda Dungeon. I guess my disgust for “big” Zelda sites is finally showing. Not only are the webmasters unfriendly, but the sites themselves are no longer fun places to be. Being “big” sites, they look down upon the smaller Zelda sites in the community. I honestly believe however, that it is our smaller sites, the sites who are devoted to bringing the fans exclusive content, that really shape our community. Anyone can spit out news; however, it takes real people and real sites out there to do it in a unique and interesting way. My hope is that The Hyrulian Network will become like that. On that note, I’d like to commend some of the bigger sites out there that I’ve noticed-consistently retaining humanity and sanity while trying to please the fans. Please check out Exploding Deku Nut and Zelda: The Grand Adventures, sites that continue to radiate pure excellence and quality, despite their colossal popularity. Great job guys.So, a new start, almost another new year. Our downtime was so bad, that we missed our second birthday (October 22, 2005). Happy Birthday THN! ^_^
Now that that’s out of the way, I’d like to get started on a rant I’ve been thinking about for a while. Thanks goes to Linker from DNL who actually initiated my thought process. You know, I really think that our video gaming world is in serious declination. If you take a look at all these new games coming out now days, they seriously lack certain elements that define what a good videogame really should be. These games not only lack plot, but they are missing that certain game play and experience that really makes you go, “wow, that was a great game!” Once again, I’ll reiterate that a game should not be all about the graphics, but about the experience when playing the game. From time and time again, and still to today, I think that the finest example of this is Ocarina of Time. That game just made me go, woah. Never invested a better 30 dollars in my life. But today’s games? They are simply graphically centered, lacking plot, lacking in-depth characters, lacking everything essential that makes that game play experience. And worst of all, not only are they so simple that a two year old could beat them, but they take out a heavy chunk of your paycheck and leave your wallet considerably lighter. More often than not my friends will spend 50 dollars on a new game, only to beat it within a week or two. The video game industry has really fallen to a new low, and it is up to us fans, now, more than ever, to keep the true spirit alive. And so far, I’ve found only one sure fire solution. One that not only helps you enjoy your games more, to experiencethem, but one that also is much easier on that wallet. It’s easy enough to understand. Play old videogames. Seriously. Just listen to me for a moment: not only do these old games shout gameplay experience in your face, but they are extremely easy to find and cheap to buy. A good N64 costs maybe 20 dollars now days. That’s less than all of these new crap games coming out. Games for the N64 are like 5-10 dollars. And we haven’t even gotten to the days of the SNES or NES yet. Point is, this is where experience lies. In the long forgotten systems of the past. Remember what it was like to play those games all day long? To be so into them, into the experience? The days where, instead of yelling, “I just pwned that n00b” you would yell, “Go Pikachu!”. Remember? Remember? If you don’t, then you seriously need some rejuvenation. It’s the holiday season and things couldn’t be more affordable. Go get yourself a classic system if you don’t have one already, and sit down and play some games. Some real games. Relive the classic moments and I’m sure you’ll find, just as I have, that the old games are much much MUCH better than these new games. If we can get not just the Zelda community, but the video gameing community in general to realize this, we can truly help define the quality and standards of video games today. Remember, each and everyone person counts. Do yourself a favor this holiday season and go relive the experience. This is just a list of some of my personal favorites, but there are of course, a myriad of awesome games out there.
And last but not least, an affiliate update, The Random Planehas released a new game called “HyperPumpkin”. Check it out to satisfy your late Halloween cravings. Just some closing comments, I know this has been a very long rant, I apologize, but I thought kicking our fresh start off with some energy would be beneficial. Until then, enjoy your holidays, and remember to go play some Zelda in the meantime! --- 12/17/2005; 11:44AM; InformeroftheSages As you all know, we are currently in the E3 period. Just today, massive amounts of information were released. I'll get the important stuff over with first. The title for the new Zelda game is indeed Twighlight Princess. There is a new trailer up, which does feature Link turning into a wolf. The trailer can be found here.
I must admit, I did not expect to be so shocked by this year's E3. The Revolution screenshots and information are out, as well as the PS3 information. And what totally rocks about the Revolution is that it can download popular NES, SNES, and N64 games! There's just too much information out there right now...I'm getting a headache o_0. Nintendo is also releasing a sleekier Gameboy "Micro". And the Zelda DS game is in development. Stay tuned for more updates regarding E3. --- 5/17/2005; 6:40PM; InformeroftheSages There has been another round of stealing in the Zelda community. This time, 2-unit, a "webmaster", if we can call him that, has stolen web graphics from Twisted Futurity. I encourage you all, just like before, to e-mail 2-Unit's site,(click here) and voice your concern. Go ahead and tell him how you disapprove of plagiarizing and stealing. Perhaps we can get him to listen-but even that, won't be enough punishment to set straight what he has done. One little note though, 2-Unit is quite aggressive as his emotional system is unstable. Those of you who are adverse to bad language and pointless arguments with idiots might want to opt out of this one. I also give my most heartfelt condolences to my affiliate, Exploding Deku Nut, who had the misfortune of having the sorry sap as a Staff Member. Hopefully we as the Zelda Community can pull together to restore things to their previous peace and splendor.
That's all for now. Thanks. --- 4/19/2005; 5:50PM; InformeroftheSages New Affiliate! Zelda Flaw! Check out this awesome site under the affiliate menu to your right!
Get ready for another archiving, it will be here the next update. I'm working on some new features for the site like the random quote generator and the polls. The Oracle of Seasons content page is now also up! --- InformeroftheSages W00t! The layout renovation is complete! I am so glad that I won't have to update every single page for every new link or Affiliate! That's why Affiliation is open again! Yesss!!! That means that I can focus on content again!
Just to let you know in advance, the next content page will be Oracle of Seasons. I've decided to hold back on the media until all the reviews and walkthroughs are completed. No particular reason really, I just think it would be better to get more content pages up with the main information on them. That's all for now. --- InformeroftheSages |