Zelda Playthrough diary entry #1

Okay, I finally got my hands on The Legend of Zelda for the NES, my long planed playthrough of all the games on their original consoles can begin!

I'm going to write here, every day I play, kind of like a diary, share my thoughts, what still holds up, what doesn't hold up? How has the series progressed until now, how has it evolved. I will therefore play as much as I can of the game, trying to get all the things you can get, for the ultimate Zelda-experience.

I don't currently own all game though. I am missing a Link to the Past, Link's Awakening, The Oracle of Seasons and the Minish Cap. I do have The Wind Waker, but only the HD version on the Wii U, so I will have to get that one as well. 

On top of all this, I am only doing the main Nintendo-games, meaning no CD-i, no Crossbow-training and I will not do the four swords adventure. 

In any case, I started playing The Legend of Zelda today, and had an approach to it much like Skyrim, a childish-"you can't tell me what to do" kind of thing. So after the introductory level 1, I started exploring, and realized how much I remember from playing this game over and over as a kid. Where to blow a hole, where to burn a bush. So by the time I got ro level 3 (which I did before level 2, because I couldn't find it.)

I had acquired some sweet new gear in from of a sword and a ring that somehow changes my clothes, reducing my damage. Still, the game is a but challenging at times but gets easier a my gear becomes more awesome. Not sure if that's bad yet...

I don't really mind the controller, at times I get a sore thumb from the steering cross, but it's fun to play the old NES again. 

What strikes me the most though is how fast you're able to advance. I got through the first four castles plus some exploring in about 2 hours, That's almost half the game. It strikes me as a completely different experience that the games of today, giving more of a replay value because it's just that fun. And it gives you more time for exploring.

It's no wonder that the first game became the ultra-hit it was, I get it. It holds up, it's different than the games of today, but I might get in to that more later, for now, this is me giving my two cents on this day of playing. Stay tuned, as this long series of posts (and hopefully a revival of the blog) is far from over.

Why all this negatiWiity

It seems that anywhere I read, the Wii gets bashed and disliked for various reasons. I just don't get it. I'm going to argue my point at the most common complains for the Wii.

There aren't any good games for the Wii!
Ehm, Super Mario Galaxy one and two, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Metroid Prime 3, Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Awesome partygame!), Punch-out!!, Rayman Raving Rabbits (Yeah, it exist on the other consoles too, but seriously, it's soo much funnier in the Wii), Super Paper Mario, Zack and Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure, Mario Kart Wii, The Bit.trip-series, The Legend of Zelda: Twillight Princess, just to name a few, and not to name the games released non-exusivly to the Wii.

I mean no good adult games. These are all kids games!
Well, you have No More Heroes one and two, Red Steel 2 (not the first one, that sucked), Mad World, Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition and as mentioned above, Mertoid Prime 3 and THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: TWILLIGHT PRINCESS!!! And just because Nintendo have decided to go with a more kids friendly look to most of it's games doesn't mean that you can't play them. If you think like that you might miss out on some of the best games on the console, and on the market for that mater.

What about the console then? The Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3 are so much more technologically advanced! The Wii doesn't even have a hard drive!
That depends on what you defines as technology. Sure, the fact that you need a SD-card to save your games is extremely annoying, and I don't like that I can't play my games in HD, but what about the motion controller? Isn't that much further in development than the others? It took Sony 4 years to do the same thing. Not to speak of all the other things that the Wii have made to enhance the gaming experience. And since when have the best console been the fastest and the one with the best performance to generate the best graphics? When did graphics get prioritised over gameplay? The Wii sold more that the others without having awesome graphics for the most part.

But the only ones that buy the Wii are families and the ones who were swept away by the initial wow-factor!
The thing that the Wii did that is amazing is that it made gaming into something that wasn't just for the "Nerd" but a socially accepted hobby. Just like Nintendo always have done, I mean, how many of you didn't have a Nintendo Entertainment System when you were kids? With Wii, and at some fault of the guys at Harmonix, gaming is a bigger phenomenon than ever before, so big that neither of the consoles has sold even near bad. And the so-called initial wow-factor was 5 almost years ago, and last year, the Wii still sold more that the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3.

What I want to see from the Wii, is an updated console, with support for HD and with a HDD, still at the same price. I love the Wii. I love the fact that you can play with one hand, resting your head on, while holding the nunchuck, and be just as relaxed with the other. So don't judge the Wii, because it might not appeal to you, the hardcore-gamer. Sad but true, we're not the main focus of the industry anymore, an industry right now ruled by Nintendo.