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Outfit your Hyrule Warriors with costume DLC, now available
If you missed out on pre-ordering Hyrule Warriors to snag retailer-exclusive costumes inspired by Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword and Ocarina of Time (or wanted more than one set of said costumes), there's good news waiting for you in the eShop, as four costume packs are now available for $0.99 each. Note: While the full game can be purchased via Nintendo's website, the DLC waits in the wings of the Wii U eShop. The Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword and Ocarina of Time costume packs each provide Link and Zelda with costumes inspired by the respective game. A fourth pack, called the Demon King Costume Set, provides two new costumes for Ganondorf - one inspired by his appearance in Ocarina of Time and one inspired by Twilight Princess. All of the costume packs now for sale are the same as those given to customers who pre-ordered (or in the case of the Ganondorf costumes, those in Club Nintendo) so be careful not to make a double purchase. [Image: Nintendo]
Best Buy, Amazon offer Hyrule Warriors pre-order costumes
GameStop won't be the only retailer with special costumes for Link and friends when Hyrule Warriors battles for control of your Wii U on September 26. Best Buy and Amazon have also opened some special chests and ... Dun-dun-dun-DUN! ... have pulled out some exclusive costumes as well. Fans of the latest Legend of Zelda game should head over to Best Buy, where you'll get Skyward Sword-themed costumes for Link and Zelda when you pre-order the game. Those who prefer their Hero of Time to be a bit darker should opt for Amazon, which has Twilight Princess-themed costumes for the tunic-wearing swordsman and Hyrule's most-kidnappable princess. And don't forget, no matter where you pick up the game, if you're a Club Nintendo member who registers your copy before October 23, you'll receive two costumes for Zelda baddie, Ganondorf. [Image: Nintendo/Tecmo Koei]
Fi cuts through hundreds in latest Hyrule Warriors trailer
First introduced in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Fi is the latest character torn from Nintendo's verdant fields to appear in Koei Tecmo's musou beat' em up, Hyrule Warriors. Though Fi is technically not a person - Fi is actually the living embodiment of the Goddess Sword - she has no trouble dispatching enemies en masse. Most of the time, Fi floats through battle, using attacks that are largely magical, though the trailer also includes moments where the character drops the bipedal act in favor of being the aforementioned sword and cutting a Rupee-spattered swath through her foes. Far from the only Legend of Zelda character in Hyrule Warriors, Fi joins perennial protagonist Link, Midna, Impa, Agitha and Lana, among others. Hyrule Warriors is currently scheduled to make its North American Wii U debut on September 26. [Image: Koei Tecmo]
Zelda's Hyrule Historia gets limited edition and a trailer
The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia is still a couple of months away in North America, and now a collector's edition of the book has been spotted on Amazon. The limited collector's edition features a fancy faux-leather cover, which sports a debossed symbol of the Gate of Time, and shiny gilded pages. The list price is $70, though Amazon is currently offering pre-orders at $45.73.In related news, publisher Dark Horse has released a trailer for the book, which you'll find conveniently embedded above.
Father flips Link's gender to make his daughter the heroine
Maya has really been enjoying The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. Her father, developer Mike Hoye, says she likes "sailing, scary birds and remembering to be brave," much like Link, the game's protagonist. But girls can go on adventures and rescue their little brothers, too!To emphasize that, Hoyes altered the game's disk image with a hex editor, changing all of the dialogue references about Link's gender to be feminine. Since all the alternatives had to be exactly the same byte-for-byte length, he used "swordmain" for "swordsman," and "milady" in place of "my lad" and "master." He's provided a patch for the disk image, which you can then load up in a GameCube emulator to play.The end result of all this hacking is that a little girl gets to see herself as the hero, and find the courage to defeat Ganon in her own little heart. And that makes us feel, just, you know, so ... What? No, we're not crying! Call of Duty, bro! Go have a look at the Wii U pictures again.
Hyrule Historia coming to North America in January
A list of "January 2013 New Releases" on Diamond Book Distributors shows an English version of The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia, the compendium originally released in Japan in December. According to the info provided in the sales kit, the English version is being published by Dark Horse Books, and will retail for $34.99 on January 29, 2013.The Historia is famous for including a timeline of the series' storyline, but it's also full of concept art and other material, all edited and collected by producer Eiji Aonuma.
Mega64 brings Skyward Sword to Earth
Behind every legendary warrior is some guy with a Wiimote, desperately trying to perform a shield bash. Unless, of course, live-action video game pantomime is "not [your] lifestyle."
Link and Samus lend their clothes to Dynasty Warriors VS.
This happened over the last week, but we can't let it pass by because hahahahahaha. Dynasty Warriors VS., an upcoming 3DS game in the confusingly prolific series, will have optional Zero Suit Samus and Skyward Sword Link costumes you can put on your custom character.Nintendo and Tecmo Koei have become surprisingly friendly in the last couple of years. Team Ninja developed Metroid Other M for Nintendo; Nintendo is co-developing and publishing Fatal Frame games; and Nintendo allowed the use of a Metroid-themed level in Dead or Alive Dimensions and a classic Nintendo-inspired mode in Samurai Warriors 3.
Zelda: The Lost Oracle fan film captures imagination
It's no secret Nintendo could really use a Zelda sequel that recaptures the passions of fallen fans young and old. This fan made trailer for the nonexistent Zelda: The Lost Oracle takes Toon Link and inflames the hopes of what's possible for the franchise in HD on Wii U.
Super Mario 3D Land breaks 5 million sold, Skyward Sword at 3.4 million
Nintendo elaborated on the "strong sales" for The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and Super Mario 3D Land today, in its list of million-selling titles for the last nine months. The Wii adventure sold 3.42 million units worldwide, of which 3.04 million took place outside of Japan.That makes it the best selling Wii game for the period, right? Nope! That's Mario Kart Wii, which sold 4.91 million copies between April and December, for a life-to-date total of 31.91 million copies. New releases Kirby's Return to Dreamland and Wii Play Motion squeaked into the million-seller club with 1.21 million and 1.12 million respectively.On 3DS, Super Mario 3D Land sold 5.03 million in total -- 3.68 million "overseas" and 1.36 million in Japan. Mario Kart 7 sold almost as many, at 4.54 million. Even the good old DS managed to have some million-selling new releases: Professor Layton and the Last Specter (1.19 million, all outside of Japan) and Kirby Mass Attack (1.01 million).
Homemade golden Nunchuk is a real treasure
Keen with desire to own a golden Nunchuk to match the golden Wii Remote released for The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword? Well, you can't get an official golden Nunchuk outside of Japan's Club Nintendo, but that can't stop you from making your own. Enter Reddit user alycenwonderland, who crafted a very slick custom Nunchuk that, dare we say it, looks even better than the official peripheral. Of course, should you decide to make one yourself, it will likely take hours of monotonous work before you can reap the sweet payoff -- not unlike the latest Zelda.
Not even Link is immune to the recession
When we need money, we do what any upstanding member of society does: we cut lawns and sell lemonade. If you're a game protagonist, you hock your most treasured possessions -- at least, that's what Link does.
Zelda 25th anniversary symphony coming to Denver, Vancouver, Atlanta and more
The Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary concert series is continuing its journey around the United States, and the show is so popular that it's added four new dates to the proceedings. In addition to all of the dates already listed, the show is coming to Denver on April 7, Vancouver, Canada on March 14, Phoenix, AZ on April 20, and finally Atlanta, GA on May 12. The concert features a full-length four-part symphony of Legend of Zelda music performed by a full-sized orchestra. Reviews on Ticketmaster's site are great so far, so if you're interested in seeing the show you'd better send that boomerang out to grab them quickly.
Put these cute Zelda figures from Japan in your pocket
The cheap-toy twist-knob machines lining grocery stores and movie theaters across the western world don't contain Zelda figures, which makes them more proof that Japan is way cooler than everyone else, ever. Takara Tomy Arts is offering six gashapon figurines direct from Japan, including characters from The Wind Waker, Ocarina of Time and Skyward Sword. Import specialist NCS is taking pre-orders for the collection, dubbed the Zelda Figure Collection, for shipment in April. For $30 you can get two tiny Links, a Tetra, Zelda, child Link and child Zelda. Even with import costs, it's much cheaper than a plane trip to Japan and the 100-yen coins you'd have to spend on cool toy capsules.
Best of the Rest: Griffin's picks of 2011
LittleBigPlanet 2 How fitting that for my last contribution to Joystiq's Game of the Year list, I should learn the bitter sting of having my number one choice not breach the Top 10. LittleBigPlanet 2 improved upon the original -- already one of my favorite games of all time -- in every conceivable way, offering one of the most user-friendly, charming UGC systems in gaming history. There is nothing I've thought of that LBP2 wasn't able to create, and that includes a level about interstellar poultry abduction.
Skyward Sword's language deciphered, turned into font
Did you ever wonder what all the writing found throughout The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword translated to? Neither have we, but fan "Sarinilli" did, and discovered that it's just our alphabet represented by new characters. A few of the Hylian characters represent multiple letters, but it's a simple substitution regardless. With this knowledge, Sarinilli then created a font out of the Hylian characters, which you can download here. Now you can write secret messages meant only for Link! We think he'd be very surprised to find out how concerned people are about the Zelda timeline.
Zelda Flipnote animations, made by the Nintendo of America staff
What better way for the Nintendo of America staff to show its love for Zelda's 25th anniversary than to make art on the DS itself? Here's a quick roundup of some cute NoA creations for Flipnote Studio, posted to YouTube by a fan from the Nintendo Channel.
Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary shirt is a real treasure, for a limited time
You enter the quiet, overgrown cavern by pushing open the heavy stone door with all your might. Inside, sunlight streams through the broken ceiling, and dust that hasn't been disturbed in hundreds of years lazily floats through the air, shaken up by your entrance. The sunbeams land on the summit of a small set of stairs, where an ornate, red and gold chest sits, teasing and waiting for you to open it. You do. As you crack open the ancient treasury, a small fanfare plays, starting quietly and then opening up into a triumphant series of simple notes, telling you that you have finally done it. The item you pull out of the centuries-old coffer is fine treasure indeed. It's a shirt, adorned with some kind of legendary logo, a heart container tag, and the number "25" on the back. It's available in five sizes, for a special one-time only printing. Order now, before February 20, 2012, to get it sometime this May. You fold the shirt into your leather pack, and move on through the dungeon -- who knows what fearsome beast you might have to use this on, three different times, to defeat it?
The official Legend of Zelda timeline isn't entirely official yet
But it's getting close -- game translator GlitterBerri used the above video of the Hyrule Historia, a history book edited by Zelda developer Eiji Aonuma, to create the below timeline of events throughout Zelda's history. This is the closest we've seen to an official timeline, but it may yet be tweaked. Enjoy your speculation:
Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword save files repaired by Wii channel
What's that, Link? You say your progress in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword has been halted by a game-breaking sequence of events? And that I must deliver expository text because you're unable to speak? Alright then. Nintendo's corrective strategy for Skyward Sword, which will strike you as unorthodox and elaborate compared to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 patching procedures, is to release a full Wii Channel. It will repair (or effectively patch) save files created after the glitch has occurred. According to an announcement from Japan, the "Zelda Data Restoration Channel" will be available through the Wii Shopping Channel, from the Wii Channel section. Nintendo of America has not yet updated its support page to highlight the new channel. At the moment, it's letting customers send in their save files for repair.
