The seminal videogame was given the manga treatment in 1999, a lot has changed since then, yet it tells an ancient form of myth that permeates all cultures and spurs on our talk today.
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123: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Story and Art by Akira Himekawa
Based upon the work of Yoshiaki Koizuma, Tôru Ôsawa, Kensuke Tanabe, Yusuke Nakano and Shigeru Miyamoto
Translation by John Werry, Honkyaku Center inc.
and Steven "Stan!" Brown
Lettering by John Hunt
A young boy by the name of Link lives in the elusive kokiri forest, he feels himself to be not like the other elf like inhabitants of his home. At a certain age the Kokiri receive a guardian fairy yet link is often bullied for not having one. It is only when the tribe leader and elder of the forest falls ill that he sends the fairy Navi to Link. Link heeds the call of Navi so to help the leader of his tribe, the great Deku tree.
Although Link defeats the monster residing within the Deku tree, he is unable to save the tree's life. Before it withers, Link is given one of three sacred stones, the stone of
He is also told that the nightmares that plague him are visions of an impending doom and that an evil force has made its move by successfully attacking the Deku tree. Link is also told that he is born of Hylian parents, that he must go to his people and warn the princess of Hyrule, Princess Zelda. And so, Link is given a sword from his former bully, and carves a wooden shield from the remains of the Deku Tree before he sets out on his journey.
Zelda tends to enjoy the company of her subjects by disguising herself as a commoner. She finds Link and sees he is not accustomed to the hustle and bustle of a town square, but they depart when shady types seek out and try to harm the girl, in her haste she drops an ocarina. Eventually Link trespasses on royal grounds and discovers that the girl whom befriended him earlier is in fact Zelda. Link returns the Ocarina that Zelda left behind and she explains to Link how the ocarina is a valuable heirloom.
She tells Link of the nefarious Ganandorf, leader of the Gerudo, who she suspects of conspiracy against her father, the king. She sends Link on a journey to find other sacred stones. If Link succeeds then he will fulfil the prophecy of unlocking the temple of time, and with Zelda's help he will become the hero of time. She also explains the Triforce to Link, three magical relics that allows who ever touches them to recreate the world so that it reflects their heart, or their hatred. She believes this is what Ganondorf is seeking.
Link succeeds in acquiring the stones but on his return to Hyrule, his nightmares have come true. The Kingdom is being attacked on a stormy night. Zelda flees with her bodyguard on horseback. She throws the Ocarina at Link as she is being chased by Ganondorf, whom treats Link with disregard, not knowing the power Zelda has bestowed upon the young boy.
Context:
· According to official sources (Hyrule Historia), 'Ocarina of Time' is a prequel to 'A Link to the Past' and all previous games in the franchise before 1998. 'Skyward Sword' which was released in 2011 would replace Ocarina of Time as the new starting point in the franchise. Some games feature the same Link where as others are more so re-incarnations of Link as he appears in 'Ocarina of Time' an example of this is 'Wind Waker' where boys wear green when they come of age and the events of Ocarina of Time are mere legend.
· The videogame crash of the 80's is often described by the legendary anecdote that Atari buried thousands of unsold E.T. cartridges out in a New Mexico desert. On another note, the videogame cartridge was invented by Jerry Lawson for the channel F game console, before Atari's console.
· Nintendo's revival of the videogame industry from 1983 to 1988 saw them dominate 80% of the market. Whilst in the UK videogames were more of a cottage industry, with Sinclair's ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and the Amiga from Amstrad being successful. BBC Micro from Acorn was an educational device made to teach computer literacy to children, albeit it had games, it was never made to compete with Nintendo.
1990: NINTENDO and the JAPANESE SOFTWARE boom | The Money Programme | Retro Computing | BBC Archive - YouTube
· Nintendo 64, stepping up to the Playstation (released 93/94) in 1996, shown 3D videogaming done right and with intellectual properties/brands that people notice and care about. Although in Japan Sony was neck and neck competing with Sega. Nintendo's innovation came from its analogue controller and high spec hardware that had a slot for upgrading RAM. However, the weakness of the Nintendo 64 was down to the manufacturing cost of software. With the cartridge format being outdated for the time.
Topics:
· What Zelda meant to children in the 90's and our history with the game.
· In the game Link is an avatar for us as players, but does the novel take the opportunity to flesh out the character and make him his own person?
· Link's popularity with girl characters seems like a heavy male power fantasy then something that has anything worthwhile to say but there is a symbolic take to this too; before Link is ready to be perceived as a capable man, he serves these girls and their affection illustrates him being tested on his growth towards manhood. In other words, a chivalrous man is a heroic one is the perceived message. Link needs to be brave to be loved, and he needs to be loved to succeed.
