So Long to Legend

Read first: I am now writing a weekly "column" for the LITHcast website entitled The Dissenter. They are a Nintendo based site and are the online headquarters for a couple of Nintendo based podcasts. So, if you enjoy Nintendo products, you may want to check them out. Here is my first entry:

The Dissenter:
So Long to Legend

When I was a child, I never really enjoyed video games. Maybe I'd play a few rounds of Mortal Kombat with my father or inattentively watch my cousin beat Star Fox for the 16th time. Yet, it wasn't until Christmas '98 that gaming became my true love. I had just received an N64 with a copy of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. My skills were certainly not developed yet (it took me a week to defeat Queen Ghoma), however, the magic was still present and I kept playing. To this day, no other game can capture my attention and grip my soul like Ocarina. Both Majora's Mask and Wind Waker came dangerously close, but no cigar; there's nothing like the original. It appears that the only game left that will ever have the potential is Twilight Princess.

In recent interviews, Eiji Anouma has excitedly proclaimed his support for both the Wii-mote and the unique uses of the DS' touch screen. So much so, in fact, that he has declared Twilight Princess as the final Zelda game to feature traditional play. Everything else will now abide to Nintendo's future innovations. This is what upsets me; an epic game such as TP was never designed to conform to the limits of this type of controller. When I play Zelda, I want to play it comfortably, with gamepad in hand while slouching in a big comfy chair; exploring dungeons and slaying beasts never feels so right. I don't want to play Zelda as I perform realtime sword actions, shaking the nunchaku to initiate simple spin attacks, or physically aiming my bow to take out a goblin, all while being distracted by the large blue fairy that moves according to my gestures. I'm purchasing TP for nostalgia purposes, remembering the good ol' days where gaming infiltrated some of the most memorable moments of my life.

When I go to pick up my (GC) copy of Twilight Princess at the local video game store, it will be the final meeting between me and an old friend. Hopefully, I'll remember him like I did in 1998.