Posted Jun 22nd 2007 4:10PM by Eric Caoili Filed under: News
If you're lucky enough to have a Hastings store nearby, the entertainment retailer is offering to exchange your moth-eaten copies of Super Paper Mario or The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for a waggle-fied edition of Resident Evil 4. They'll also accept Rainbow Six Vegas (360) and God of War II (PS2), but not without scowling at you first.
According to the rest of Hastings's weekly ad, there's a buy-1-get-2nd-for-free sale on body jewelry, so be on the look out for that deal too! Put away the other two RE4 games you've already bought for previous platforms, throw on a shirt that shows off your belly-button-ringed midriff, and check past the post break for the full flyer.
We've been asking these sillyquestions over on DS Fanboy, and there's no reason you folks can't get in on the action. Two video game characters enter, one character leaves: Link or Samus? You choose. Judge by whatever criteria you prefer. There are no rules in the world of ridiculous questions.
We've gawked at speedruns before, but this one is unique in that it's a speedrun of a Wii game. Daniel Hart recorded himself completing The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess in an incredible 5 hours and 39 minutes. That beats our best time by roughly infinity.
We didn't watch the whole thing, because five and a half hours, while short for a Zelda playthrough, is long for a video. Honestly, the speed-goatherding in the first segment is entertainment enough for us. But if you're stuck in Zelda, or need some strategies, this would be a great resource since the dude knows how to play.
Have you ever woken up and wished that you were in Poland, clutching sheafs of złoty that you were free to spend on anything you wanted? No? Well, we bet you'll think that tomorrow after you see what's available on this Polish auction site. One fan put a lot of effort into this Twilight Princess woodcarving, and it could be yours, for a mere $50 US, plus a whole lot of shipping. If, that is, you can even convince them to ship to you.
Or you can just stare at it and drool a little, which is what we did. Is it ever too late to learn how to do this stuff?
We talked about some of the best and the worst games according to the reviews, but we want to know what your favorite game has been so far on the Wii. Did the latest Link steal your heart? Are you a Wii Sports devotee? Or are you passionate about something else entirely? Tell us what you've loved the most, and tell us why.
Red Steel and Twilight Princess are reminiscent of terrorist videos ... at least to one individual in the UK. Apparently, this ad was a bit too "violent, offensive, and disturbing" for seventeen (yes, seventeen) television viewers in Britain, and they made their displeasure known. After a review by Britain's Advertising Standards Authority, however, the ads were deemed okay to go. "We also considered that viewers were unlikely to link the ad to recent events in Iraq. We concluded that the ad was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence," the Authority said. Translation? Damn, y'all are sensitive.
Obviously, we've now won the console war. Sony and Microsoft can just go home. Good game, guys. Good game.
During an interview with Shigeru Miyamoto, MTV's Stephen Totilo threw out a speculative question: Had Nintendo experimented with using Miis in Zelda: Twilight Princess? Miyamoto answered that, in fact, the developers at EAD had in fact been playing with that feature! After completing the game, the team started experimenting with putting Miis into the Twilight Princess engine, just for fun.
So, working at Nintendo is so awesome that programmers continue working on their games after they've shipped for recreational purposes. That is a shining endorsement if ever there was one.
The MTV Multiplayer site is set up so that it's impossible to link directly to the story; you'll have to scroll down or search for "Nintendo's Miyamoto On One-Handed 'Mario,' Miis In 'Zelda".
We've had enough time now with the Wii to discover some real gems (how many hours have you put into just Wii Sports so far?) ... but like any system, there are also a few duds, particularly within the launch window. If you're looking to expand your collection, or if you're one of the Wii-less trying to figure out how to budget when your day comes, we're here to help you find the best and the worst of the Wii so far.
The awards continue to pile up for Nintendo. Both Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Wii Sports have taken awards at the GDC Choice Awards. Twilight Princess nabbed an award for Best Writing, beating out top contenders like Sam & Max, Oblivion, Dreamfall and Bully.
Wii Sports picked up the award for Best Game Design, beating other hopefuls, such as Okami and Viva Pinata. The Best Game award, however, went to Microsoft Game Studios' Gears of War, proving that sometimes, graphics do make a game better.
Even after the day, the spirit of President's Day (sure, why not) continues in Videoland. Zelda Dimension posted this picture of a painting found on a wall in Zelda: Twilight Princess, and it looks an awful lot like Thomas Jefferson ... or maybe George Washington? Or maybe dust? Apparently, one of the NPCs is a student of American history.
We love finding secrets in Zelda, but we don't like being confronted with a blurry texture in a Wii game. Maybe the Zelda Dimension blogger was using composite cables, and that's why the picture is blurry? Yeah, that's the ticket!
We look forward to seeing the Zelda timeline theorists chew on this one.
Many of you are just getting your hands on a Wii (at last!) and others are just settling in for more in depth play on your games, so we figured it was a good time to ask: what have you played? What have you skipped? Which games have you liked most so far?
This particular blogger has only been a little disappointed with Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz, due to the controls. Everything else has been pretty engaging. Twilight Princess, Wii Sports, and Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam (skateboarding games are a longtime habit a girl just can't shake) have gotten the most play on this Wii, though we're always happy to throw down on a variety of other games. More recently, it's been extensive sessions of Wario Ware: Smooth Moves. But hey, we figure everyone's got different tastes ... so how about you? Don't be shy -- tell us what you've liked so far!
GameFaqs user Mgoblue201 is a more hardcore Zelda fan than you. There's just no way around it. Oh, you want to argue? Well, did you transcribe the entire script for The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and reveal it for the world? No? Guess that's settled, then. Get back to us when you undertake your own labor of love.
The link takes you directly to the Twilight Princess page, but you'll have to scroll for the script. Check for it under "In-Depth FAQs." We're not sure what questions are being answered here, but it's certainly in depth. Though after reading through some of it, we're inclined to think that we're maybe talking about the depth of the thesaurus here ....
In his courage Link finds the strength to topple Snowpeak, even as the thunderous wind threatens to tear him from the cliff and throw him down the mountain path and the packed snow clutches at his fur and solders his skin like a hot iron ....
Take a breath, man. Love of Link is no excuse for asphyxiation.
We expect The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess to get nominated for awards. It's a beautiful entry in a long-running series known for racking up the awards. What is surprising today is that while Twilight Princess received its due attention, it wasn't Nintendo's star when the Game Developers Choice Award nominees were announced -- Wii Sports was.
Just a few months ago, people were calling it a "trumped-up demo" and decrying the fact that this "minigame" was going to be marketed as a full game. Then, as a pack-in, some wanted to take a pass on it in favor of a cheaper price. Who'd have thought that months later, Wii Sports would emerge as a powerhouse and continue to dominate the spotlight? Now that everyone's had some time to be sporty in the living room -- and realize the depth of Wii Sports -- we wonder if that attitude's changed. Certainly someone thinks it's worthy of attention. Twilight Princess is nominated in the Best Game and Writing categories; Wii Sports is up for three awards: Best Game, Technology, and Game Design.
Since the release of the Wii in Japan, sales have been high on several games, such as Wario Ware: Smooth Moves, Wii Play, and Wii Sports. But Twilight Princess has been less popular than many would have guessed. While it's not exactly tanked (Link's bringing home the yen, as ever), it has consistently lingered nearer the bottom of the top 20 charts. What's really surprising is that, when it comes to the Zelda franchise, it looks like this trend has been developing for years. Sales of Zelda titles continue to go down.
Many factors could be at work here, and we're hesitant to say that it's the decline of the franchise. When The Legend of Zelda first hit, it was an unparalleled phenomenon, so much better than most other games of any type that it's no surprise that gamers gobbled it up. But in the twenty years that have passed, both games and gamers have diversified, and lower sales numbers could be a result of that rather than a lack of love for the Link.
Regardless of the reason, the sales charts do make for interesting reading. Let the speculation begin!
Sure, one could plow through Twiiight Princess in perhaps a mere 35 hours or so, eschewing all side-quests, collectables, and exploration. But we here at the Fanboy believe that those facets are crucial to the overall Zelda experience, just as important as those silly temples. But how about you? How many golden bugs did you collect; how many heart pieces have you yet to find?
The convenient "Complete Calculator" for Twilight Princess will track your vital stats, brave warriors, and return to you a percentage of how much of the game you've completed. Did any of you guys pick up a true 100%? Has your social life been destroyed as a consequence?
Many of you are just getting your hands on a Wii (at last!) and others are just settling in for more in depth play on your games, so we figured it was a good time to 
