This has been a good weekend for gaming! I spent a decent amount of time yesterday starting my adventures in Link to the Past, and (time permitting), I'll be posting those adventures this evening. Yet again, real life gets in the way, as I have a family function throughout the day today. Also to note, I'm traveling for work this week (flying to Atlanta Tuesday-Thursday), so updates may be a bit erratic, but I'll try to make some progress in the hotel room in the evenings.
I do have a couple of question that I'd like to pose to you, because I'm sure there are more computer- and blogging-savvy people than I who read this...
1. There was the question about how to subscribe to the RSS feed of this blog in the comments. Is there anything I can do, within Blogger, to make this easier for everyone (i.e. put a link on the side)? I'd like to make this as easy as possible for folks, but I'm new at this whole thing, so any input is greatly welcomed.
2. Also, is there the ability, also within Blogger or in conjunction with YouTube, to imbed video into the blog posts? I see that done very often on other blog sites (admittedly I haven't done a lot of looking into this as of yet, so if it's really simple, don't make fun of me too much), and would love the ability to put videos of interest in this blog. Specifically, I noticed that the SNES emulator I'm using has video capture ability, and it's tempting to put up a couple of gameplay videos (although then, you'd all be able to see how bad a gameplayer I really am...hmmm, maybe not such a good idea). Again, your input and suggestions are appreciated.
Aside from that, I wanted to give you some links for Zelda-related information, just to whet your appetite for the journey ahead.
- The Zelda Wikipedia entry
- Thanks to a combination of hec1979 and toad64, the six part Zelda Retrospective
Zelda Retrospective, Part 1
Zelda Retrospective, Part 2
Zelda Retrospective, Part 3
Zelda Retrospective, Part 4
Zelda Retrospective, Part 5
Zelda Retrospective, Part 6
Also, contained in the same comment, toad64 made the following mention: "I'm an assistant manager at a local Gamestop, and was feeling inspired by your blog the other day, so I popped in the Zelda Collector's disc in the Gamecube kiosk, so customers could play the first Legend of Zelda!" Way to go, spreading the retro Zelda love around! :)
Alexmoreno left some great information about the Oracles games, great stuff that I had no idea existed: "About the connectivity of the Oracle games. I have played both by myself (you're gonna love them) and you can do just fine with passwords. Each Oracle game takes place in a different country (for lack of a better word), and the first one you play (whichever you choose) will have no apparent connection with the other one. Once you finish it, you'll be given a password that will let you "continue" your quest on the other game. In the second Oracle game you'll find lots of characters that tell you to visit some character in the other country and tell them a password for a prize. Those prizes are technically not needed to complete the game, but as usual, some of them are helpful. Another thing: I can't explain it better, but one of the Oracle games is battle-oriented and the other is puzzle-oriented. They're both lots of fun, though." Great info, and when I get to the Oracles games, I'll be sure to keep those points in mind when choosing which game to play first, and whether or not to use passwords.
Korey echoed some information about Zelda II that had been touched on by a previous commenter: "Hi. I live in Japan and just started Zelda II on the Wii Virtual Console. One annoying difference I've found from the American version involves experience and levels. In the American version (from what I've read, since I never played it), if you die and save or continue your game, you keep all your levels but lose any experience towards the next level. However, in the Japanese version, if you lose all your lives, and save or continue, your levels all revert to the lowest one. For example, I beat the first temple, and had 3 attack, 2 magic, and 3 life. However, I then accidentally lost my last life. When I saved and restarted, I had 2 attack, 2 magic, and 2 life. I lost both of those levels, and the temple stayed completed, so I couldn't even gain that experience again!!! Super annoying. I can't even imagine what kind of person could come up with such a terrible idea. It definitely does not contribute to the fun factor of the game." It makes me glad that I was playing the US version, but in all seriousness, I wonder what kind of logic went into making the decision to include a mechanic like that into any game, let alone this one?
These are just a few of the great comments that you've all left here. It would be nearly impossible to credit everyone with all of the info, suggestions, ideas and kind words, so if you don't see your name or comment, please know that I've read them all and am doing my best to respond to each one personally. It may not be much, but I really do value the fact that you're actually reading this (and maybe even enjoying it), because the response I've received is far beyond anything I could have ever imagined or expected.
Also (this really is becoming a catch-all post, isn't it?), I wanted to convey some of the thoughts I've had regarding how to handle the series of games, what I'm planning on doing, etc. Based on several comments regarding the CD-i, the expense of the system and especially the Zelda games, I'm going to forego playing them for the time being. However, I'm not ruling out playing them once I'm through the 'real' games in the series, if I can find a system inexpensively on eBay or a reliable emulator. I'm going to play that by ear.
Next, on how I intend to 'complete' the games in the series. William asked in a comment if I were going for 100% completion of every game (i.e. find every hidden item, get all of the masks, collect all of the gold skulltulas, etc.), and to be truthful, I'm probably not going to do that. Not because I don't want to, but I'm going for an 'organic' gaming experience, and to really go through and find every single tiny little item feels less organic and more 'completist'. However, I am open to debate on this, and maybe it could be turned into a community experience, soliciting help from you to find the things that I miss. What are your thoughts? Do you have a preference on how this goes?
Anyway, I've blathered on enough. Thanks again for reading and contributing your comments, they're all appreciated. As I mentioned earlier, I'll be back this evening with the first installment of Link to the Past!
I do have a couple of question that I'd like to pose to you, because I'm sure there are more computer- and blogging-savvy people than I who read this...
1. There was the question about how to subscribe to the RSS feed of this blog in the comments. Is there anything I can do, within Blogger, to make this easier for everyone (i.e. put a link on the side)? I'd like to make this as easy as possible for folks, but I'm new at this whole thing, so any input is greatly welcomed.
2. Also, is there the ability, also within Blogger or in conjunction with YouTube, to imbed video into the blog posts? I see that done very often on other blog sites (admittedly I haven't done a lot of looking into this as of yet, so if it's really simple, don't make fun of me too much), and would love the ability to put videos of interest in this blog. Specifically, I noticed that the SNES emulator I'm using has video capture ability, and it's tempting to put up a couple of gameplay videos (although then, you'd all be able to see how bad a gameplayer I really am...hmmm, maybe not such a good idea). Again, your input and suggestions are appreciated.
Aside from that, I wanted to give you some links for Zelda-related information, just to whet your appetite for the journey ahead.
- The Zelda Wikipedia entry
- Thanks to a combination of hec1979 and toad64, the six part Zelda Retrospective
Zelda Retrospective, Part 1
Zelda Retrospective, Part 2
Zelda Retrospective, Part 3
Zelda Retrospective, Part 4
Zelda Retrospective, Part 5
Zelda Retrospective, Part 6
Also, contained in the same comment, toad64 made the following mention: "I'm an assistant manager at a local Gamestop, and was feeling inspired by your blog the other day, so I popped in the Zelda Collector's disc in the Gamecube kiosk, so customers could play the first Legend of Zelda!" Way to go, spreading the retro Zelda love around! :)
Alexmoreno left some great information about the Oracles games, great stuff that I had no idea existed: "About the connectivity of the Oracle games. I have played both by myself (you're gonna love them) and you can do just fine with passwords. Each Oracle game takes place in a different country (for lack of a better word), and the first one you play (whichever you choose) will have no apparent connection with the other one. Once you finish it, you'll be given a password that will let you "continue" your quest on the other game. In the second Oracle game you'll find lots of characters that tell you to visit some character in the other country and tell them a password for a prize. Those prizes are technically not needed to complete the game, but as usual, some of them are helpful. Another thing: I can't explain it better, but one of the Oracle games is battle-oriented and the other is puzzle-oriented. They're both lots of fun, though." Great info, and when I get to the Oracles games, I'll be sure to keep those points in mind when choosing which game to play first, and whether or not to use passwords.
Korey echoed some information about Zelda II that had been touched on by a previous commenter: "Hi. I live in Japan and just started Zelda II on the Wii Virtual Console. One annoying difference I've found from the American version involves experience and levels. In the American version (from what I've read, since I never played it), if you die and save or continue your game, you keep all your levels but lose any experience towards the next level. However, in the Japanese version, if you lose all your lives, and save or continue, your levels all revert to the lowest one. For example, I beat the first temple, and had 3 attack, 2 magic, and 3 life. However, I then accidentally lost my last life. When I saved and restarted, I had 2 attack, 2 magic, and 2 life. I lost both of those levels, and the temple stayed completed, so I couldn't even gain that experience again!!! Super annoying. I can't even imagine what kind of person could come up with such a terrible idea. It definitely does not contribute to the fun factor of the game." It makes me glad that I was playing the US version, but in all seriousness, I wonder what kind of logic went into making the decision to include a mechanic like that into any game, let alone this one?
These are just a few of the great comments that you've all left here. It would be nearly impossible to credit everyone with all of the info, suggestions, ideas and kind words, so if you don't see your name or comment, please know that I've read them all and am doing my best to respond to each one personally. It may not be much, but I really do value the fact that you're actually reading this (and maybe even enjoying it), because the response I've received is far beyond anything I could have ever imagined or expected.
Also (this really is becoming a catch-all post, isn't it?), I wanted to convey some of the thoughts I've had regarding how to handle the series of games, what I'm planning on doing, etc. Based on several comments regarding the CD-i, the expense of the system and especially the Zelda games, I'm going to forego playing them for the time being. However, I'm not ruling out playing them once I'm through the 'real' games in the series, if I can find a system inexpensively on eBay or a reliable emulator. I'm going to play that by ear.
Next, on how I intend to 'complete' the games in the series. William asked in a comment if I were going for 100% completion of every game (i.e. find every hidden item, get all of the masks, collect all of the gold skulltulas, etc.), and to be truthful, I'm probably not going to do that. Not because I don't want to, but I'm going for an 'organic' gaming experience, and to really go through and find every single tiny little item feels less organic and more 'completist'. However, I am open to debate on this, and maybe it could be turned into a community experience, soliciting help from you to find the things that I miss. What are your thoughts? Do you have a preference on how this goes?
Anyway, I've blathered on enough. Thanks again for reading and contributing your comments, they're all appreciated. As I mentioned earlier, I'll be back this evening with the first installment of Link to the Past!
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