Video Game Legends - The History of Zelda's Link

The "Legend of Zelda" is one of the all time bestsellers in the video game genre. A major feather in the cap for game and console giant Nintendo, the game and its subsequent sequels are thought to have sold between 47 and 52 million copies the world over, and the numbers are still steadily climbing.

The storyline is a variation on a common theme: Link, the hero, must save Princess Zelda from the villain, Ganondorf Dragmire. Ganon is on the hunt for a relic known as the Triforce. Each game is an intricate and enjoyable mix of standard platform play, combines racing with puzzle elements, and also features role playing, which made it an instant hit with Dungeon & Dragon (D&D) aficionados.

A Brief History in Zelda's Time

1986 is the year that the original "Legend of Zelda" is released. A single player adventure game rated "E" by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), it was specifically designed for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), although at this point it has been reformatted to also play on other platforms. Young Link must rescue Zelda from Ganon, all the while finding a number of pieces that make up the Triforce of Wisdom. It plays a lot like a D&D game and was an instant hit.

1987 saw the release of "Zelda II: The Adventure of Link," an amazingly swift sequel to the initial Zelda release. Another offering for the NES system, this sequel is a role playing game (RPG) and surprisingly one of the least popular of the series. Granted, the fact that it is a distinct departure from the tried and true arcade and at-home console games may have had something to do with the chilly reception.

1992 is the year that Nintendo had dealt a mortal blow to Sega in the North American console wars, and "The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past" saw the light of day as a Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) game. With much improved graphics, it is a return to the action of the original game but also introduces the concept of the parallel universe, allowing Link to travel in both worlds.

1993 was the year that Nintendo released "The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening" for the handheld Game Boy platform. It features Link who is seeking to escape an island by awaking the guardian of the locale. Zelda or the Triforce do not feature in this game.

1998 the game returned with "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time." Made for Nintendo 64 and expanded to include the 1999 DD and 2001 GameCube platforms, it tells the tale of the story before "Zelda I," making it a classic prequel. Link plays as a boy as well as an adult with the help of time travel.

2000 was another good year for the Nintendo 64 when "The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask" was released. The storyline is highly complex, leading to extensive praise by critics and players alike. The one fly in the ointment was the need for the RAM add-on Nintendo 64 Expansion Pak, but loyal Zelda fans did not waver in their affection and purchased it. Link is able to transform into difference characters with different abilities, depending on the mask he wears. The mask also changes game play, making this one of the most intricate games to date.

2001 saw another development for Game Boy Color with the release of "The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons" and "Oracle of Ages." Together they form an original game and a sequel in which Link continues on the mission and saves Zelda. With breathtaking colors, the one complaint from actual players was the less than stellar audio quality of the Game Boy Color, which forced audiences who became accustomed to a certain level of auditory ingenuity to endure the age old "beep" of video games.

2003 saw the first game specifically designed for the GameCube. Entitled "The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker," showcases stunning graphics and rather prolonged loading times. To gloss over this design flaw, Nintendo had Link approach various locales through slow and prolonged sailing, allowing the loading process to continue without game play interruption.

2004 is the year of "The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures" for GameCube. Link battles his evil counterpart - rather reminiscent of Mario battling his evil twin in 2002's "Super Mario Sunshine" - following the usual story line.

2005 brought a release for the Game Boy Advance known as "The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap." It reintroduces the four swords of prior games, and invites Link to fight familiar foes.

2006 is a first for Nintendo's Zelda. It is the first time that a game is released concurrently for two platforms - Wii and the GameCube - and that the game went from the friendly ESRB "E" to a rather more ominous "T" for teen rating. Called "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess," it is the more realistic depiction of violence and also blood that sent raters to eye the game with a bit of wariness. Truth be told, this is the grown up Zelda game that no longer features the little boy Link but instead showcases the more mature warrior.

2007 is the year of the last installment entitled "The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass," which was aimed at the Nintendo DS platform and is the long awaited sequel to "The Wind Waker." Link is once again the little boy and critics welcomed the game with open arms.

Getting To Know Link

Link is the undisputed protagonist of the Zelda series, even as the game is named for the maiden he forever seeks to rescue. Although his age varies between preteen and more mature teen, he is a character specifically designed to appeal to the majority of players. To this end, game developers endowed him with quintessential hero qualities that players could identify with or at least aspire to: valor, bravery, loyalty, humility, and smarts.

Players are quick to acknowledge that perhaps the most endearing quality of Link's character is his ability to grow and learn from experiences as the game progresses. Although relationship forging in video games is not unheard of, at the time the original Zelda games were released, this was a major improvement. Link was no longer a linear character that would be constantly the same, but he became a person with likes and dislikes, friends and acquaintances.

It is a curious inconsistency that Link initially presents himself as a left handed warrior, but in between games changes to right handed action.

Link's Friends and Foes

Each game features an extensive cast and crew, but the most commonly returning characters are of course Link, Zelda, Ganon, and occasionally Tingle.

Constantly requiring Link's assistance is Princess Zelda. A quintessential teen incarnation of a princess, she has blond hair, blue eyes, and performs a variety of tasks in response to Link's solving of a puzzle or collecting a number of needed items. She does magic and serves as the bridge between sequences. One cannot help but notice that Link and Zelda hint at possible romantic involvement in future teen oriented games.

Ganon, also known as Ganondorf, is the main enemy of Link and Zelda. It is noteworthy that unlike so many video game villains, he actually manages to undergo an evolution and turns from the basic smash and hack antagonist into a Machiavellian prince.

Tingle was an occasional character in the Zelda series that is useful for reading maps. Perhaps he was floated as a trial balloon, or maybe he was supposed to take on a more serious role as time progressed, yet after a few games it became obvious that he was so odd and unable to remain germane to the game that he was dropped.

What Does the Future Hold for Link and Crew?

Fan communities are already second-guessing the next installment in the incomparable Zelda series. Votes are split between a sequel for "Wind Waker" and one for the teen rated "Twilight Princess" edition. As of yet, these conjectures are only buzz, and Nintendo has remained mum.

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Professional Gamers Get Rich And Famous Playing Video Games

If you think your kids are spending too much time playing video games on their Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, PC or PSP (Playstation Portable) consoles then you may have a reason to be concerned, but not worried. Before you tell your child to put down the game remote and pick up a text book you should consider this fact; there is a professional video game circuit out there with professional gamers who earn thousands, even millions of dollars.

South Korea has a genuine passion for playing video games. This is a video game obsessed nation. The electronic gaming events in this country can draw up to 100,000 spectators at a single event. Their cyber-athletes make hundreds of thousands of dollars playing in tournaments that are televised nationwide. Some of them are so popular they cannot go out in public without body guards to shield them from adoring fans. They even date movie stars and get their faces on the covers of newspapers and magazines.

Recently there was an electronic gaming tournament held in Seoul, South Korea at Jamsil Indoor Stadium. This event was the equivalent of our Superbowl. The game of choice for this event was StarCraft, which is a web game that is played on PCs. This event was nationally televised and broadcast on the Internet. The audience of 1.78 million who viewed it on television and online were glued to their seats as they watched the daylong event unfold. They came to watch the most popular gamer in their country strut his stuff.

His name is Lim Yo-hwan, he is 27 years old and he is the Mick Jagger of e-sports in South Korea. This young man has made quite a name for himself playing StarCraft, the only game that matters on the video game circuit in this country. His fans wanted to see him put on a show, and he did, winning the event easily with a take home prize of $20,000. Lim Yo-hwan has won many of these events in recent years and this has put his income in the six figure category. Not bad for playing video games.

The United States has some Superstar cyber-athletes too who make a very good living on the electronic gaming circuit. The brightest star in this country is a 26 year old man named Johnathan Wendel, otherwise known to his fans as Fatal1ty (his screen name). He lives in Kansas City, Missouri but his reputation lives all over the world.

Johnathan became a professional gamer at the age of 19, and in the past seven years he has won 41 major e-sports video game tournaments. He has won more electronic gaming competitions than anyone else in America. Johnathan has also done very well financially, winning over $450,000 in prize money.

Johnathan Wendel has traveled all over the world playing in video game tournaments. To date he has played on every continent except Antarctica. These tournaments have been held at some very interesting, unique and famous places including the Great Wall Of China and Moscows Red Square, so the idea of holding one in Antarctica some day may be not be so far-fetched.

Everywhere Johnathan goes he is swarmed by fans who just love the way he plays video games. All of his expenses are paid when he travels and he lives like a rock star. With world championships in five different video games, Johnathan is considered by most in his sport to be the best in the world. No other gamer has even come close to matching his accomplishments.

In November of 2006 Johnathan Wendel defeated his biggest nemesis and won the world championship for his fifth video game (PainKiller), and in doing so he took home a prize check for $150,000. He defeated the reigning world champion for that game, a 20 year old man from Holland that goes by the screen name Vo0.

Johnathan is becoming more and more popular every day as he continues to shine as a Superstar in the world of professional gamers. He is a force to be reckoned with in the Cyberathlete Professional League. He has recently launched a line of Fatal1ty products that include such things as mouse pads, headsets and keyboards that are made specifically for playing video games. He has a marketing Guru named Mark Walden working with him and both expect to make millions of dollars selling these products to gamers worldwide.

The video gaming industry is expected to make $30 billion dollars this year selling video games and consoles for products like Nintendo Wii, Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and PSP. This is an enormous amount of money that is more than twice the yearly grosses of the NBA, NFL and Major League Baseball combined. With this kind of money involved and hundreds of millions of people playing video games all over the world the sport of professional video gaming is starting to attract major advertising sponsors and merchandising companies.

Professional video gamers are no longer just kids who are wasting their time spending endless hours playing video games. Many of them have managed to transform a hobby into a lucrative career. There are hundred of thousands, and even millions of dollars being made these days by gamers who travel the world (all expenses paid) and live like rock stars.

So the next time you think your child is spending too much time playing Nintendo Wii, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, PC or PSP games you should not worry too much. If they show more than the average amount of interest in the sport of electronic gaming, try not to discourage them from playing video games. It is important for you to realize that they may not just be playing games when they sit down in front of their television or computer, they could also be training to be a world famous cyber-athlete millionaire.

Michael P. Connelly is an Author, Artist and award-winning Filmmaker who writes on a variety of topics that effect people in their every day lives.

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AP - Animals and plants in danger of becoming extinct could lose the protection of government experts who make sure that dams, highways and other projects don't pose a threat, under regulations the Bush administration is set to put in place before President-elect Obama can reverse them.

Download Games for Nintendo Wii

If you sum up all the money you have spent to buy the games for your Wii, you could be shocked after looking at the Dollars you have spent. Today Wii fanatics are more than happy to know that they can actually download games for Nintendo Wii at almost zero cost. Why don't they download the games for free like they used to do? Because they do not want to put their computer and Wii at risk. What is the worst thing that could possibly happen?

The most immense danger is the virus and spyware threats.
You might think it won't be a problem because you have anti-virus and anti-spyware program installed on your computer. But are you aware of some of these dangerous objects might enter your computer undetected because they are a lot more powerful than your programs are.
If you never see any warnings given by your programs, you will definitely think that the files you download are safe. Well, that is not necessarily the case. Imagine you play that game on your Nintendo Wii. You, then, would have to spend more money instead of saving money.

Beside spyware and viruses, you could possibly download the corrupt files. I am sure some of Wii fanatics have experienced that before. Of course we did not spend any single dime even if they the files were actually corrupt files. But consider the time we spent to search for the game and download the game, let alone the corrupt files that are infected by spyware and viruses.

Should I not download games for Nintendo Wii?

No, you should download games for Nintendo Wii because that is the only way to save your money, but you have to at least choose the right website and download the games safely and legally, how?

Today there are Wii download websites available online. Unfortunately you have to pay for that kind of service, although you can consider this as a good news if your think for long term because you only need to pay once for lifetime access.

The price is affordable, the download speed is extremely fast, and the websites guarantee you to have a safe and legal download. Most of the websites have a huge inventory of games, movies, music, and all contents that you Wii could ever need.

But I am not saying that you have to go and find those sites right away. You have to note that not all those websites deliver what they promises.

In order to save your time doing research I have tested and collected feedbacks from Wii fanatics about all Wii download websites.
Visit Download Games for Nintendo Wii to read more information about the most popular and top three Wii download Sites.

Jacob is a Nintendo Game Console Fanatics, which means he is as well a huge fan of Nintendo Wii. View his recommendation at the best Wii Download Websites for all the information of the most popular Wii download Website.

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Which NexGen Console Is Right For You - PS3, XBOX 360, Or The Nintendo Wii

If you are looking for a NextGen Console, then the three main choices are the PS3, the XBOX 360, and the Nintendo Wii. Each have their own characteristics, advantages, game catalog and selection, so it pays to review the best of each before you make your decision, if it is time for an upgrade or new purchase. The Playstation 3 or PS3 is from Sony. This game box is set up for online multiplayer gaming with three Ethernet networking ports for broadband internet connections or linking up with your computer. The PS3 has next-gen storage capabilities, at 80, 60, 40 or 20 GB. The system also has wifi and usb ports. Some of these systems also accept flash cards and have Blue-Ray capabilities, as well as DVD. You should be able to keep your old Playstation games with an upgrade.

The XBOX 360 is a mash up from Microsoft, IBM, ATI, and other companies. It is said to be part of Microsoft's strategy to compete actively in the gaming market. This set up comes with a nice, custom gaming console that is sure to make playing all the games easy and fun. It also has a remote control and head set. There is a lot of hard disc space and a Microsoft operating system, so that and the many, many excellent games for the XBOX systems make it the top choice.

Compared to this is the Nintendo Wii, the new release following the Game Cube series from Nintendo. The operating system is also quite good on this system, with lots of memory and storage space. This comes with a remote control and a nunchuck, but it is no comparison to the XBOX set up. The real hope is the Wii may generate some new concepts in gaming and gaming possibilities. There is still the excellent round up of games for the system. In summary, the recommendation is to go with the XBOX 360 for its great all around package of console, operating system, ports, and game catalog. The Nintendo Wii will come on strong if game developers expand some of the new possibilities inherent in the system. Otherwise, we'll be waiting for Wiii.

Tony James writes about console games. Read more about console trends on his blog and you can download some fun games from his games website

AP - The top Senate Democrat sought Wednesday to lower expectations for legislation this week to help endangered domestic carmakers, saying it would be the Bush administration's job to save the industry if Congress doesn't.