Welcome to The Sacred Realm, a site dedicated to Nintendo's Legend of Zelda series for fans and gamers alike.
Previously, this site was known as Legends and Adventure, but now in its 8th year online, it's been given a complete
overhaul, including a brand new look and name. Please note the new URL, http://www.thesacredrealm.net and update your bookmarks.
You can navigate the site by using the drop-down menu above, and below you'll find the latest updates, including Zelda news and updates made to the site.
News and Updates
The latest Zelda news, and updates made to the site.
Zelda Fan Fiction Contest
July 1, 2009
Calling all aspiring authors! Starting today, and running over the next two months, is The Sacred Realm's second annual Zelda fan fiction contest.
Write a short story of up to 2500 words about Zelda, and send it in to contest@thesacredrealm.net before August 31 to have the chance to win a share of US$100 worth of prizes.
For all of the details, head over to the contest page.
Last year's contest was a huge success, with just over 50 entries received, and some truly amazing stories. I hope that this year's will be even better. Entries in this year's contest will once again be judged by the awesome team of EA, Huanir and The Missing Link, and a big thank you to them for agreeing to do this all over again!
Good luck to everyone who enters!
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Site NewsPosted by Lysia
Hero of Time Premiere
June 30, 2009
Three weeks ago, The Hero of Time had its world premiere in Atlanta. There were two screenings, with a great turn-out
at both. The response from the audience was very positive, and a great time was had by those who attended. For those who couldn't make it, here is the video
from the evening:
I've also had many emails from people who couldn't attend the premiere asking if the movie will be released on DVD or online. The answer is that yes, it will
be, but first more screenings are being planned. You'll have to stay tuned for announcements on further screenings, but these will likely be held
in the US. But if you won't be able to make it to a screening, don't worry! As I said, it will be released to the world eventually. I'm in the same boat as
you are, and I'm really looking forward to finally getting to see the film.
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Movie NewsPosted by Lysia
Site News
June 29, 2009
I've been unable to make any updates for the last few weeks, and apologise for the fact that I've been a bit quiet lately. I'm currently travelling for work,
and sometimes had no internet access. At one point, a modem I was using was broken for a week. That was frustrating, but not as much as when my hard drive died
last Monday. At least when the internet was dead I could still mess around on my computer and do things offline, but without a computer at all I'm a bit lost!
But today this update is coming from a nice new computer, and in a few days I'm going back home where I have stable internet. I have a few things that I need to
catch up on, so I'll be posting those over the next couple of days. Originally I had those updates already written up, but unfortunately those were lost with
my hard-drive. (Fortunately, my hard drive was nice enough to hint that it wasn't very well, so I backed up everything beforehand and only lost a few days' worth of
files, which was virtually nothing).
Today, I want to do a bit of a roundup of the online Zelda community, starting with four new affiliates:
Zelda Capital celebrated its third birthday recently, and also launched an impressive new layout. They
have lots of great Zelda information and media, and something I really enjoy about this site is the in-depth articles they post.
Legend of Zelda.com is among the oldest Zelda sites on the internet, which you might be able to
guess from their domain name (which Nintendo once took them to court over - and lost). They have also just launched a new layout, and after a bit of a quiet period,
they're only growing bigger.
Zelda Eternity is a fairly young site, but has made an impressive start with what it has so far,
and it has loads of potential.
Hyrule.net is another site with a long history, first started over 10 years ago. Their staff keeps up with
all the latest Zelda news, on top of all of the content already on the site.
So please make sure you help support these sites by checking them out if you've never visited them before.
I'd also like to congratulate WZMR on reaching their first birthday. Also,
Exploding Deku Nut is hosting a Hyrule Trivia contest. For details,
check here.
Now, before you decide to check out all of these other exciting Zelda sites and forget about The Sacred Realm here, make sure you check back on Wednesday,
July 1, as I'll be launching something very exciting that will be happening right here!
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Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of the Zelda series, sat down with IGN and gave an
interview, in which he reveals a few more details about the new Zelda being developed for Wii, and also speaks about Spirit
Tracks.
I've posted the Zelda-related parts of the interview below.
IGN: At your developer roundtable this week, you showed off a single piece of artwork from the next Wii Zelda game. This piece of art has not yet been released publicly, but we noticed that Link appears to have grown to full adulthood. He looks older than he did in Twilight Princess. Is that a correct assumption?
Shigeru Miyamoto: Well, the story setting for this Zelda is, of course, in a completely different era and Link is older than he was previously. More approaching adulthood. There is one hint. Maybe from the art work you can see that he's not holding a sword.
IGN: Has he lost his Master Sword?
Shigeru Miyamoto: [Laughing] I just wanted to make sure that you understand we are making it. That's all I'm going to say on that subject.
IGN: Does the game follow the story progression of Twilight Princess or is it something completely different?
Shigeru Miyamoto: I can't go into details except to say that it's something completely different.
IGN: You just mentioned that the game audience is shrinking and that Nintendo is always looking for ways to entice new players. Is this something that you're thinking about for the new Zelda, too, or is there a separation where that's off limits because the franchise is traditionally hardcore?
Shigeru Miyamoto: I think we do this with Mario and Zelda as well. When we are working on the plans for them, we are trying to come up with ways where we can satisfy our longtime fans and bring new players into the franchises as well. That's something we're always looking at. However, when I get involved in a title, I focus a lot on more experience and the more advanced gameplay elements. If I get into it, there's a tendency for difficulty levels to ramp up so that's something I really have to watch for myself to make sure that I don't do that.
IGN: Twilight Princess obviously started on GameCube and then came to Wii. We remember you saying that the team wanted to do more visually with the game for Wii, but ran out of time. So can we assume the visuals for this new game will set a new bar for Wii graphics?
Shigeru Miyamoto: Well, yeah, again I can't say anything in detail about the graphics in-game or anything like that. But I can tell you, as you just pointed out, that Twilight Princess was developed and ran on both hardwares while this new game will be only on Wii, so I think there are some expectations as to what it will be since we are focused on this console.
IGN: Tell us about the four-player mode in Legend of Zelda: The Spirit Tracks.
Shigeru Miyamoto: Yeah, if you remember in Phantom Hourglass we had that two-player tag. This time we're bringing four people local wireless and there will be some similar sort of tag-like gameplay. I don't want to give too much away about what the gameplay will be, but I think it will be really exciting. And there are some cooperative elements. Remember back to what, maybe, Four Swords' gameplay was like. But you won't be using any swords.
Read the full interview at IGN.
Personally, I wouldn't mind if the difficulty level of the next Zelda game does "ramp up" a bit. The last few Zelda games, including Twilight Princess
have been too easy in my opinion, and I know I'm not the only Zelda fan who feels that way. I agree that it's nice to bring new fans in to the series, as
well as continue to cater to existing fans, but just because someone hasn't played a Zelda game before doesn't necessarily mean that they won't be able to
beat it if it's not easy. I enjoy the style of the older games, where the game becomes more difficult as it progresses; each dungeon is harder than the
last, and the further out into the land I venture, the tougher the enemies become. I find it more satisfying when I defeat a boss that's defeated me a couple
of times than when I beat it quickly and easily. So I hope that at the very least, if Nintendo insist on making the game easy to cater for new or casual
gamers, they will include some sort of difficulty setting option.
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Zelda NewsPosted by Lysia
Zelda Wii Concept Art
June 5, 2009
Nintendo have released the image that they revealed in their roundtable discussion, in which they briefly discussed the Zelda game in development for Wii.
This is most likely a piece of concept art from the game, although it's more detailed than simple sketches, which suggests that the game is well into
development.
Click the image to view it in full-size (3531 x 5000 pixels, 5.31 MB)
When Miyamoto displayed the image, he mentioned that viewers should note that Link is not holding a sword. This has sparked speculation that the female
character depicted is some sort of manifestation of the sword. It's highly possible that she will be Link's new companion.
One other thing I found interesting is that Link is holding his shield on his left arm, which has traditionally been his sword arm. As Link doesn't have a
sword, he may prefer to hold the shield with his left arm, but if you look closely, his sword-belt is slung over his right shoulder. Twilight
Princess, which was developed for Nintendo Gamecube, was mirrored when it was ported to the Wii to accomodate right-handed gamers swinging their Wii-mote
'sword' in their right hand. This meant that in
the Wii version, Link used the sword in his right hand. The official artwork for the game still depicted Link as left-handed, but as this game has been
entirely designed for Wii, it's possible that this will be the first officially right-handed Link.
Personally, I'm hoping that gamers will have the choice whether to play left- or right-handed, after all, 10-12% of the population is left-handed. I was
also interested to read comments from right-handed gamers about Twilight Princess who would have liked the option as well, so that they could have played
with traditional left-handed Link.
Anyway, it's an interesting piece of artwork, and while we're probably not going to hear much more about the game until next year, it gives us something
to speculate about.
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Zelda WiiPosted by Lysia
A Glimpse of Zelda Wii
June 4, 2009
A couple of days ago I mentioned that Nintendo discussed a Zelda title for the Wii console that is currently
in development, but won't be seen until at least 2010. At the roundtable where it was discussed, Shigeru Miyamoto showed concept art from this new game, but the artwork wasn't allowed
to be photographed. Someone sneaky did take a picture, and I stumbled upon it at NintendoWorldReport.com.
While it's very low resolution and tiny, it's still a glimpse into what may be...
In my post below, about Nintendo's keynote presentation, I said that no Zelda title for the Wii was announced. It wasn't announced during the keynote
presentation, but later on Nintendo held a special, invite-only roundtable, and it was here that the game was discussed by Shigeru Miyamoto himself. So the
good news is that yes, Zelda for Wii is on the way, however it won't be seen until 2010 at the earliest. Miyamoto said that he hopes to announce it
next year, but it may take a little longer. As this wasn't an official unveiling of the game, not much was said, however Miyamoto did show a piece of artwork
that unfortunately was not allowed to be photographed. Those who have seen it say that the artwork depicts adult Link, looking more grown up than ever before, as
well as a female character. The only other things said is that the game may possibly be a Wii Motion Plus exclusive game, as well as, "There are people who
think of Zelda more as an RPG with simpler controls, so trying to figure out how to make everybody happy is something that's going to concern me,"
from Miyamoto.
So while it hasn't been officially announced yet, Zelda for Wii is coming, so those who were disappointed that it wasn't mentioned during the
keynote conference can rest easy. I'll be eagerly awaiting more news on this game, but in the meantime I'm also looking forward to Spirit
Tracks!
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Zelda NewsPosted by Lysia
More on Spirit Tracks at E3
June 3, 2009
Nintendo have given their keynote presentation at E3, and some exciting new games have been revealed, including New Super Mario Bros. for the Wii, a new Metroid title,
Golden Sun DS, and Mario Galaxy 2. There's also Wii Fit Plus, and Wii Sports Resort on the way. The Wii Motion Plus accessory was demonstrated as well.
On the Zelda front, we have a new Spirit Tracks trailer and screenshots, and the game was playable at the show.
Nothing about a Zelda title for the Wii was announced, however that doesn't mean that it's not on the way. E3 isn't the only place where Nintendo announce
new games, and new Zelda may have overshadowed a lot of the other titles that were showcased, including Spirit Tracks. And after the delays with
Twilight Princess, Nintendo probably don't want to unveil new Zelda titles until they're close to release, which is
exactly what they did with Spirit Tracks. The game is expected to be released towards the end of the year.
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