Turns out, the rumor is truth. Everyone looking to dive into Link's adventures in Hyrule, this time in paper form, rejoice. Well, you can celebrate if you live in North America. Everyone else, this tidbit of info doesn't really apply to you.
But, we digress. Your hands will no longer need hold a controller or some kind of portable gaming device in order to experience Link and the happenings in his world. Word on the Hyrulian fields is that the manga will be available for your reading pleasure come this October.
Last week there were a bunch of Wii deals in the Sunday ads. This week, though, there are a handful of DS games with slashed prices instead, all from Circuit City:
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for $17.50 (Sunday and Monday only)
Cooking Mama for $9.99
Sonic Rush for $9.99
Namco Museum for $9.99
Pokemon Emerald (GBA) for $9.99
Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis (GBA) for $9.99
With the exception of Phantom Hourglass, you have the whole week to mull over these sales, which are available both online and in stores. Anyone plan on picking up one of these games?
We're convinced that nobody finishes absolutely every game they buy, so which titles in your collection have you not yet completed? Do you have plans to return to them, or is your gaming schedule (or, heavens forbid, life) just too crammed right now?
Personally speaking, this blogger must be a good 80% through The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, but I suspect it was another blasted visit to the Ocean King's Temple that finally put me off. I've had my copy for around a year, and now it simply sits on my shelf, sneering at me. For shame.
Poor Link, he just can't catch a break. Even when he's just taking a nice stroll in the suburbs, he gets accosted. And this isn't just any old bully, either. This is the kind of a bully with no regard for proper hat use (see: the worst kind).
Look at that floppy thing on his head. It's like some kind of disgusting hybrid made for all seasons, yet looks incredibly stupid. A man who has no idea how silly he looks in a ridiculous hat is the most dangerous man on Earth.
Because let's face it: you won't be rescuing that Triforce as a pile of ash. In fact, now that we think some more about this, these wouldn't be much good in the Water Temple either, or anywhere that is remotely windy (thus ruling out the Isle of Gust).
Heck, maybe these papercraft Links would just be safer making our desks look totally rad. Glad we agree.
If you still haven't picked up Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, then what's taken you so long? Actually, never mind that -- we've no time for excuses, and neither have you. RadioShack is selling Link's brilliant, award-winning adventure (and officially Famitsu's game of 2007) for just $19.97, but supplies are limited, and will be gone once the sand runs outsoon.
Bear in mind that this is an in-store offer only, so you'll have to troop over to your local RadioShack. It's totally worth it though, because aside from some (cough) slight repetition in the use of dungeons, Phantom Hourglass is a fine, fine way to spend 20-odd hours. And hey, if someone here does get a copy, yours truly might actually have an opponent for Game Night!
If there is one thing we can appreciate, it's talent. And these folk have it, as the students from Hermann Wesselink College manage to bust out into a pair of great Nintendo themes a capella style. They handle a choice selection from The Legend of Zelda, as well as Super Mario Bros. in the video above.
If our school had stuff like this back when we were in our developing stages, maybe we would've paid attention and not grown up to become blogging scum.
Update: Some readers point out that this isn't a capella. Sorry folks, we're not a music blog!
For this blogger, the only manga experience accrued has been in the form of reading the greatest thing ever made. Other than that, this blogger has no experience with the medium. So imagine how excited we were when we received Josh's tip about The Legend of Zelda manga possibly releasing to North America.
The rumor stems from a listing for the manga at Canadian retailer RightStuf. It says the 200 page book will be releasing on October 7th of this year and published by VIZ.
Considering the lack of concrete evidence supporting the claim, we're going to keep this one marked as a rumor for now.
Ah, IGN, you very nearly had us. Your trailer for a movie based on The Legend of Zelda almost -- almost -- pulled the wool over our young, naive eyes. In fact, this is probably the most impressive, sophisticated April Fools' prank we've witnessed for some time. What gave it away? Well, there's a sliiightly budget feel to some of this. Truth be told, we've seen more convincing Ganons at cosplay conventions, while some of the acting pretty much redefined "hammy."*
Goofy as it is, this is still darn excellent, and certainly more impressive than anything we could ever hope to cook up. So, let's see a show of hands: how many of you would queue around the block for tickets to this?
* Not that this prevented the Lord of the Rings trilogy from being taken seriously. Yes, yours truly is the only individual in the known universe not to enjoy that overwrought, nine-hour bore-fest.
Taking a break from porting visual novel demos like Fate/hollow ataraxia Prologue and Snatcher Pilot, developer Multiple: Option has posted its first original project, a neat homebrew application that teaches you how to play simple video game melodies with a virtual piano. If only there was a similar program for 90s gangsta rap songs -- we would love to learn 2Pac's "I Ain't Mad at Cha!"
Multiple: Option's software, Game Melody Oratorio, includes lessons for songs Super Mario Bros., Sonic the Hedgehog, Tetris, Bubble Bobble, and The Legend of Zelda. Each melody has two modes, one for practicing the tune with visual cues, the other for playing the melody without any help once you've mastered it. Don't see your favorite video game song on the list? There's also a "Free Play" mode that allows you to experiment and play whatever you want.
Starting today until March 16th, preowned media retailer SecondSpin is offering customers free shipping and 20% off its used items. Unlike GameStop and Electronics Boutique, SecondSpin sells every game with the manual and box, so you won't have to worry about receiving an incomplete package. All you need to do to take advantage of the deal is use this coupon code: TWENTY314.
SecondSpin has too many available Nintendo DS and GBA titles (450+) for us to list, but we've put together a short tally of games that you might want to pick up.
Nintendo DS:
Custom Robo Arena - $13.79 $11.03
Phoenix Wright, Ace Attorney: Justice for All - $12.99 $10.39
Scurge: Hive - $10.39 $8.39
Spectrobes - $14.99 $11.99
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass - $26.99 $21.59
True Swing Golf - $9.99 $7.99
GBA deals:
Final Fantasy IV Advance and V Advance - $14.99 $11.99
Gunstar Super Heroes - $7.99 $6.39
TMNT - $14.99 $11.99
If you don't see anything you're interested in, SecondSpin updates its inventory every day, so check back again tomorrow!
As far as Link cosplayers go, these two are easily the best we've come across. It's especially impressive when you consider that they're both wearing the Link'sFour Swords outfits and not his traditional green garb.
Why is it that women seem to find more success in mimicking the Hylian hero's image? Is it his boyish frame? His unwhiskered cheeks? His effeminate, pointy ears?
Whatever it is, this pair captured it with a bug-catching net, stuck it in a bottle, and put it to work with these photos. Hit the gallery below for more action shots of the girls posing with boomerangs, miniature bows, and, uh, cell phones.
No, not the princess's actual weapons, but the weapons from the Zelda games. For us, the most badass thing that ever was made has to be the Titan's Mitt. That thing could help Link pick up the most heaviest of heavy items. We'll also entertain notions that the Hook Shot, Pegasus Shoes and Magic Cape are up high on the list.
But, what about the items that aren't specific to any entry in the series, like the boomerang? Well, Lore from Wired attempts to rank these items, providing grade marks to all of Link's most-used weapons and otherwise general helper-outers. Is the man insane? Well, we'll leave that judgment up to you and get back to what we enjoy most: daydreaming that we have a Titan's Mitt of our own.
You, on the other hand, can rank your top 5 favorite Zelda items in the comments. No daydreaming for you all, there's work to be done!
If you're still searching for the perfect case for your DS Lite, you might want to check out these handmade options by eBay's munkybaby05. Made with yarn, felt, and plastic canvas, these cases are adorably geeky, and according to the seller, will fit snugly on any DS Lite.
There's two Metroid options, including the one pictured above and a Samus vs. metroid case. If you prefer the Legend of Zelda as your game of choice, though, she also has a case featuring Link and another with a sparkly Triforce.
The cutest of all, though, are the Mario-themed cart cases, which are shaped like little boxes and can hold about nine or ten games. The game holders are available in red mushroom, green mushroom, or question block designs.
Currently they're not too expensive for handmade items ($18 including shipping and handling for the DS Lite cases, $11 for the game cases), but of course, you never know with eBay.
Bringing in the Chinese New Year, import shop Play Asia has slashed the prices on over five thousand of its in-stock games and accessories. What's more, each order you put in between today and February 29th will count towards an entry for you to win a variety of Japanese consoles, games, and store credits. There's just too many items on sale to list, so we've picked out a few from the DS and GBA sections that might pique your interest.
DS game sales:
Ryuusei no RockMan: Dragon, Leo, and Pegasus - $48.90 $9.90
Nodame Cantabile - $48.90 $14.90
Operation: Vietnam (US) - $24.90 $16.90
Slide Adventure: Mag Kid - $58.90 $19.90
Oshare Majo Love and Berry (DS Collection) - $58.90 $19.90
Turns out, the rumor is truth. Everyone looking to dive into Link's adventures in Hyrule, this time in paper form, rejoice. Well, you can celebrate if you live in North America. Everyone else, this tidbit of info doesn't really apply to you.
Last week there were a bunch of Wii deals in the Sunday ads. This week, though, there are a handful of DS games with slashed prices instead, all from Circuit City:
We're convinced that nobody finishes absolutely every game they buy, so which titles in your collection have you not yet completed? Do you have plans to return to them, or is your gaming schedule (or, heavens forbid, life) just too crammed right now?
If you still haven't picked up 
For this blogger, the only manga experience accrued has been in the form of reading the greatest thing ever made. Other than that, this blogger has no experience with the medium. So imagine how excited we were when we received Josh's tip about The Legend of Zelda manga possibly releasing to North America.
Taking a break from porting visual novel demos like Fate/hollow ataraxia Prologue and 
