Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Where's This Been All My Life?: Confessions Of A New Zelda Fan Who Should've Been One From The Start!


I have a confession to make: sometimes I can be a little slow when it comes to catching on to really awesome stories/franchises.

When it comes to gaming, this is even more so.

Having older siblings fight over an Atari so badly (and breaking it) caused such a stir in my family that by the time I came along, we had a rule that we wouldn't have a gaming console in the house. This may have been a good thing, but still, you have to admit that it's rough to be a kid wanting the latest system your friends have and nothing comes of it.

I was able to explore the arena of PC games instead and found some cool stories, but the first Xbox was my first console, purchased just before I left for college.

You don't want to play Halo with me. Trust me on this one.

This meant I never had a chance to really get most Playstation or Nintendo games, including The Legend of Zelda franchise. I never knew what the hype was about. I knew of the games, and I knew the character names, but I never saw a reason to look into it.

I was four when this thing started. I could've been a life-long fan! 

I'm making up for lost time by playing my first Zelda experience with Twilight Princess (review to follow after I finish it - long game and I've been busy).

There's so much to love about this franchise: it has the epicness of Lord of the Rings but it's family friendly enough that my kids can enjoy it and not have nightmares. And when I go raid the pantry, they go and smite foes for me - now that's initiative!

What I can't believe is that there hasn't been a movie made of this franchise yet, and why not?

High Fantasy is hotter now that it ever has been. Countless fan films have been made, including this super-awesome April Fools trailer:


A CGI movie pitch for an animated adaptation of the Hyrule world was also released recently, which Nintendo shut down a while ago:


I can't put my finger on it, but what is it about this franchise that's stopping it from hitting the big screen? Could it be that Link's hat is a little off-putting? There's no storyline strong enough for it to exist outside a game? Who knows, and maybe there will be a time when we'll see a for-real trailer for this fantasy epic. I was slow to come around to its awesomeness, after all. Maybe I'm not the only one?

In other words, hurry up, Hollywood, and let them make an awesome movie, Nintendo. There's a lot of people waiting to say this to you: 


Have you ever become a late fan of something that's been around for a while? Would you check out a Zelda movie? Play the games?

I'm David, and Ganon is a big green, monkey man, dude thing ...

22 comments:

  1. Played my fair share of Zelda games back in the day. Not sure why there hasn't been a move. After Super Mario Bros., maybe that's a good thing.
    I'm just glad they haven't made a movie of my first video game - Pong!

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  2. This happened to me last month with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I wasn't into the idea of it when it first came out, but when I watched my first episode maybe two months ago... boom, instant love. I watched the whole series in 5 weeks.

    I'd watch a Zelda movie. I wasn't hugely into the games, but that was more because I'm a video game spaz who couldn't walk in a straight line on the N64. I still like Ocarina of Time though.

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  3. Love Twilight princess, but honestly you haven't lived until you've played Ocarina of time. If only I still had a super Nintendo I would be all over that. I wonder why it hasn't hit the big-screen either. There's so many amazing elements to the Zelda story. I freaking LOVE it!

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  4. Love Twilight Princess but I'm stuck at the yeti's mansion....

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  5. Hubby is a huge Zelda fan! I dabbled a little (Ocarina of time) but honestly I'm just not logical enough to solve the problems. Drives hubby nuts.

    My parents wouldn't get us a gaming system either. They were dead set against it until my uncle and aunt, thinking it was un-american, slipped us one for Christmas.

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  6. Since most video game movies are terrible, I suppose it's not a big loss.

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  7. I think Nintendo is afraid of repeating their mistake with Super Mario Bros. The movie was terrible (I loved it anyway). But seriously? You haven't played Zelda until now?! Best games ever. I've always loved them--and I have fond memories of reading OoT's dialogue to my little brother, who played and understood it before he could read. My favorite by far is Majora's Mask, though. The dark tone and multiple themed storylines intertwining get me every time!

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  8. I've never tuned into Veronica Mars, but friends have told me I'd like it.

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  9. The music is epic, too. I love Lindsey Stirling's version. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=b3KUyPKbR7Q

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  10. I was actually late to the Harry Potter thing, the plus side was I only had to wait on the last two books.

    I actually remember playing the first Zelda game. I moved on to Sega then Playstation so I lost touch with the franchise, but I will have to check it out.

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  11. I'm sure I have, but wouldn't be a video game. Sometimes there's a series on tv that everyone raves about but I don't get hooked into until it comes out on Netflix.

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  12. No gaming console in the house? Isn't that a form of child abuse?

    I'm not sure Zelda would translate well onto the big screen. The games are so varied and the chronology so unusual that they might not be able to condense it down into one movie, or even a series. I'd certainly rather keep them as games than see a Dungeons & Dragons-esque film.

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  13. I bought my first Zelda game for the GBA ans loved it. Hey I didn't even cable until my teens and was practically an adult when PS2 came into our household (before there was two Nintendo handheld game consoles) so I get it when parents aren't flowing with the trends. I'm a huge fan of Nintendo and Zelda is one of their best franchises. Why there's no movie? Because Hollywood can be super stupid sometimes. Still waiting on the Static Shock movie, I man their was even an indie version that actually got love, I mean come on. Plus this is the same set who are now going to have a Justice League movie made (it only took then 200 Batman movies to figure that 'tough' puzzle out). So in short my rant is pretty much while I'm annoyed I'm not surprised.

    Nice to see you back up and running David. Zelda would make a wonderful movie. No excuse Nintendo you're still making Pokemon (don't worry my sweet fandom, I still remember the good times and have all my cards) animated movies so chop chop.

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  14. I watched my brother beat the entire Ocarina of Time back when he was a kid. He is 25 now and the last time he came to visit we bought it for our Wii and he beat it again with me reading him a walkthrough. Did it in thee days. It is still our favorite!

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  15. Video games don't translate well to the big screen because the people who make them never played them.

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  16. Ahhh video games...I'm always behind because I never owned stuff to play games on. I do jump on some bandwagons late like Doctor Who...why because I'd never heard about it until I started making friends with writers. Am I glad I spent an entire month watching Doctor Who over editing....I wouldn't have missed it for the world :O)

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  17. I too grew up without viedo games...but later ended up working for a game company:) Go figure! I haven't read Zelda and I know I'm way behind. Best add it to my list:)

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  18. The Legend of Zelda has to be one of my favorites since childhood. I guess I'm going to have to buy a Wii U when the next installments come out.

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  19. No kidding. Let's kickstart that shiznit. TAKE MY MONEY AND MAKE THIS HAPPEN

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  20. OK, if we're dating ourselves... one of my first jobs was working *for* Atari :)

    Nothing special - I was the "console demonstrator" but it was a *sweet* gig for a 15-year-old.

    Strangely, I've never played another video game since then - ever. (That's weird... Atari traumatized me, perhaps :)

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  21. I'm not a gamer, but Legend of Zelda is a big enough name with good enough ideas that you'd think someone would have tried to adapt it by now.

    Adaptations, fantasy and epic action films are all popular, so it is a bit surprising no-one's tried it yet..

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  22. This is one of my all times faves! I'd love to see it hit Hollywood! Thanks for sharing the trailer. I hadn't seen that one.

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