There are less than 12 hours left now until the 72-hour long Zeldathon concludes. The guys have been playing various Zelda games for nearly three days straight, while raising money for the American Cancer Society. On top of that, there have been plenty of entertaining moments along the way. If you haven't checked it out, make sure you do so before it's too late, and make a donation because every little bit counts (and there are prizes!). I'll try and pop into the chat again later myself, it's been great to see a few people from this site there, so hope to talk to more of you soon!

You can watch all the action right here on this site or at the official Zeldathon homepage.
 

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Later today, a new Zelda marathon will begin. At 4pm EST, a team will embark on a 72-hour Zeldathon in which they will play Zelda games non-stop in order to raise money for the American Cancer Society.

Here at The Sacred Realm we strongly support playing Zelda for a good cause, and so I've hooked up a link to the event right here for you to watch and join in:

Throughout the event you'll be able to chat with other Zelda fans, and for those who donate you also have the opportunity to win some pretty cool prizes. The top donor will win an awesome package that includes The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword when it is released!

So to help pass some time while you're eagerly awaiting the release of Skyward Sword why not re-live some of the other titles in the series through this Zeldathon, and help to support a good cause at the same time.

For more information on the event, head over to the Zeldathon website.
 

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For over 20 years, one of the things that set Link apart from other video game heroes was his left-handedness. Many Zelda fans were disappointed that there wasn't a left-handed option in the Wii version of Twilight Princess, and when the newly announced The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword showed a right-handed Link, many fans began to ask if this game would cater for left-handed gamers too. After all, left-handers make up approximately 10% of the population, and I've heard plenty of right-handed gamers say that they'd like to have the option to keep Link left-handed too.

According to Nintendo's Eiji Aonuma, the game won't cater for left-handers, and he just hopes that everyone will want to play it right-handed.

It's interesting because people say "all you have to do is switch it." But in reality, it's really hard. You have to change all the models -- you have to make two of everything. So really you're making two complete games, one left-handed version and one right-handed version. We just can't do that. For Twilight Princess, what we did was just create a mirror -- we flipped everything. And if that worked I guess we could do it that way, but again having to create two games is not something we want to do. We just hope that people will play it right-handed.

As a left-hander myself, I have to admit I'm a bit disappointed! Read the full interview over at IGN, where Aonuma also talks about the art style, Toon Link and the game's development.
 

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I've created a page for the newly-unveiled The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. I've posted some information about the game, as well as a bunch of screenshots and official artwork. Keep checking this page for more information, as I'll keep it updated whenever news about the game is announced!
 

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The next Zelda game to be released, formerly known as "Zelda Wii", will be called The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword!

Skyward Sword makes full use of motion control using the Wii MotionPlus accessory. The sword is controlled by the Wii-mote, and the shield with the nunchuck. Players' movements will be copied by Link with full precision. The MotionPlus will also be used for Link's other items, such as the bow, bombs and whip. Players will need to think more about strategy while they play, as enemies will also try to defend themselves more actively.

Graphically, the game is cel-shaded similarly to The Wind Waker, but style-wise the visuals appear more as a painting than a cartoon. Link appears as an adult, similar to his look in Twilight Princess.

Skyward Sword will be released next year.

Ocarina of Time for Nintendo 3DS

One of the big surprises from E3 is the announcement of an Ocarina of Time re-make for Nintendo 3DS. Ever since the original Nintendo DS was released with Super Mario 64, there have been rumours of, or fans asking for, Ocarina of Time to be released onto the console. Since the DS has been around for many years now, it seemed like this would never happen. Therefore this announcement is quite a surprise! The game appears to have had a makeover with smoother visuals.

Keep checking back for more!

I have loads of Zelda goodies to post from E3, especially concerning Skyward Sword. Unfortunately work beckons before I've had time to finish all of the pages, so keep checking back for all the latest news and media!

For now, head over to the discussion board to talk all about this brand new Zelda game!
 

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It's only a matter of hours now until Nintendo give their keynote presentation at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo, which is better known as E3!

Nintendo will be streaming their presentation live, ensuring that those of us unable to attend the conference don't miss out on all the action! One of the most eagerly anticipated parts of the conference will be the unveiling of the next Zelda title for the Wii.

I've hooked up a stream right here at The Sacred Realm, so you can watch the conference live. It begins at 9am US Pacific Time.

Keep checking back here, as I'll keep you updated on all the latest Zelda news from E3!
 

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Happy Easter, Zelda fans! Unfortunately I can't give you any chocolate through the Internet, but I can give you Zelda goodness!

We all know the main Zelda titles, but were you aware that in the 90's, Nintendo produced a satellite modem add-on for the Super Famicom, the Japanese Super Nintendo? The system allowed games, among other things, to be broadcast via satellite, and three Zelda titles were released for the Satellaview: BS The Legend of Zelda, BS The Legend of Zelda: Ancient Stone Tablets, and BS The Legend of Zelda: Triforce of the Gods. The BS prefix in the titles stands for "Broadcast Satellite". These games were released only in Japan, and could be played only while the games were being broadcast. Each game was released in four parts over four weeks, and players only had an hour to complete each part. Once the games were no longer broadcast, they could never be played again.

But due to the wonders of technology and the Internet, the games are being collected, patched and translated into English. I've created the BS Zelda page, which has information about these three titles, including screenshots and even a walkthrough for BS The Legend of Zelda.

A very big thank you to Neo for helping me compose this content, including providing the screenshots and writing the walkthrough. Neo is a friend I met through Zelda Wiki, and also works for my affiliate site The Hidden Triforce.
 

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For all you users of Facebook and Twitter, you can now follow The Sacred Realm! Our Facebook page can be found at http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Sacred-Realm/104262562940024, and the Twitter page can be found at http://twitter.com/thesacredrealm.

I'll use these pages to post not only site updates but Zelda news and other random Zelda thoughts. In some cases, such as breaking news, I not always able to update the site right away, so these pages will allow me to share it much faster, as it's faster and easier to make a status update than to update the main site, and I can do it from almost anywhere. Then I'd update the main site as soon as I had the chance. They may also come in handy when the site is down, for example if I'm doing maintenance, I'll post status updates. Most of all, I hope these pages, especially the Facebook one, will help bring the community closer together!
 

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You may have noticed that updates here at The Sacred Realm have slowed down over the last couple of months. I apologise that it's been so quiet here lately, it was not my intention, in fact I have a number of things I'm in the middle of working on for the site. However, in early January I took up a work assignment in Japan. I live in an apartment in Tokyo, I get to eat tons of amazing food, I commute every day on the Shinkansen (bullet train) and get to experience the craziness of Japanese culture in general. But before you start getting jealous, I'm also working 16-hour days. And weekends. The work culture in Japan is crazy, and this is the reason why I haven't been able to update the site very often. As my project team hunkers down working such crazy hours trying to meet various requirements such as deadlines and quality, it makes me wonder what it would be like to work on the team at Nintendo of Japan currently developing the next Zelda game.

Despite my time in Japan making it hard for me to work on this site, it has given me a couple of things I can use here! On one of my first weekends here, before work got really crazy, I had time to go out exploring, and I'd like to share with my fellow Zelda and gaming fans a shop that is quite possibly one of the most awesome shops I have ever been into. Imagine walking past a store, and hearing Zelda music being piped over the sound system?

In Tokyo, there is an area called Akihabara which is famous as a shopping precinct for electronics, including computers and video games. One shop there is called Super Potato, a funny name that doesn't really hint at what the store is about - it's a retro gaming paradise. (Okay, I guess the "super" comes from Super Mario, but potato?!?!). The store itself is a little hard to find, you might walk right past it if you didn't know it was there, unless you were close enough to hear the retro video game music it pipes out, and if you're lucky with your timing, that music might just be Zelda music!

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