Some Nintendo-related awards news out of the Games Developers Conference this week:

The 2008 Game Developers Conference has honored Nintendo with a Game Developers Choice Award.

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for Nintendo DS won for Best Handheld Game of the Year. The game continues to enjoy strong momentum in the U.S., with more than 1.1 million copies sold since its Oct. 1, 2007, release.

Nintendo received nominations in three categories: Best Game of the Year (Super Mario Galaxy), Best Handheld Game of the Year (The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass), and Best Game Design (Super Mario Galaxy). The awards were presented during an annual ceremony the night of Feb. 20, 2008, at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco. The awards are among the highest honors in game development, acknowledging excellence in game creation.

I got this for Christmas, played it for a few weeks, and then it got pushed to the side by Advance Wars, Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga and even a resurgence of Puzzle Quest, which I acquired in December for $15 and still can’t get enough of (random system-freezing bugs aside). Am I getting tired of Zelda? I dunno. Maybe I’m just not a fan of this version of Zelda on the handheld. Maybe there are just too many games to play right now.

The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences has honored Nintendo with two Interactive Achievement Awards, including Handheld Game of the Year for The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for Nintendo DS and Adventure Game of the Year for Super Mario Galaxy for Wii.

Both games have also enjoyed strong momentum, with more than 2.5 million copies of Super Mario Galaxy sold since its Nov. 12, 2007, debut and more than 1.1 million copies of The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass sold since its Oct. 1, 2007, release.

Nintendo received nine nominations in eight gaming categories. The awards were presented the night of Feb. 7, 2008, at the Academy’s annual Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain conference in Las Vegas. The awards are among the most respected in the interactive entertainment community.

Two weeks ago (January 11th) CameronBanga.com’s staff got together with one goal in mind…to play four 3D Zelda games including Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, Wind Waker, and Twilight Princess within 48 hours. Quite the challenge when you weigh the odds. The Four48 team set up a live streaming webcam in preparation for maybe a handful of people. Little did they know that over 80,000 people from over 100 countries would tune in to give their full support with fan art, emails, stories and more. Things really went wild when the team opened up a PayPal donation for Pizza. At first it was a few dollars…then 50, 100, 500, and pizza money just kept poring in to total over $1200 in donations. The Four48 team then made the decision to donate all proceeds to Penny-Arcade’s Child’s Play.

Though the team was unsuccessful at completing their challenge, (completed OoT, WW, part of TP, and almost all of MM) they did however discover what can happen when gamers come together to support a cause. I recently talked with lead coordinator, Cameron Banga about why he chose the Zelda franchise for a marathon and more…

(more…)

While David and Blake dissect the best and worst that Nintendo systems had to offer this year, I thought I’d do what I do best and contibute absolutely nothing to the conversation. Instead, look at these little plastic figures modeled after characters from the Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass!

At $3 a pop from Play-Asia, these little ditties are a steal for the import happy, and allow you to recreate your favorite scenes from this popular DS title from 2007. I just started playing this one, as I received it from my now DS-equipped parental units for Christmas, and can’t comment on any of those scenes yet.

Apprarently the DO celebrate Christmas in Hyrule.

Starting Nov. 23, Nintendo gives the holiday season a fresh blast of color with the launch of two special-edition Nintendo DS bundles. Each pairs a custom-color Nintendo DS system with one of the platform’s hottest titles. The new Gold edition comes with The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, while the Metallic Rose Nintendo DS comes with the “Best Friends” version of Nintendogs™.

The glimmering Gold edition of the Nintendo DS shows the world your passion for excellence and grandeur, since it comes bundled with The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass – the year’s biggest hand-held adventure game – and is emblazoned with the series’ signature Triforce logo.

For those looking for a different kind of dazzling color, the new pretty-in-pink Metallic Rose edition puts a futuristic sheen on your color scheme. It’s bundled with Nintendogs, the acclaimed puppy-interaction software. And the hardware comes accented with a distinctive pink puppy paw print.

Ah, Infendo, let’s embrace it — we loves us some Zelda.

And we’re far from alone in our affinity for sword-slashing and Hyrulian dungeon-crawling. The Legend of Zelda has been one of the most revered video game franchises of all time, selling nearly 50 million units of software and spanning more than 20-years-worth of games. And if the recent release of Phantom Hourglass for the DS is any indication, Zelda fans are as passionate as ever for their series; in the midst of Halo-mania, the touch-controlled handheld masterpiece sold more than 230,000 copies in North America during its launch week and quickly surpassed one million sales worldwide, according to the video game sales-tracking Web site VGChartz.com.

But during lapses between Triforce quests and Stalfos slaying, and increasingly since the release of Ocarina of Time in 1998, many dedicated Zelda players have begun to question the stories being told by Nintendo. Specifically, how do these games fit together? What is the chronological progression of the individual legends of Zelda? Though simple in purpose, the question hints at dramatically complex answers and has spawned elaborate and detailed analyses of the Zelda canon. Entire Web sites have been built, filled to the brim with points and counterpoints in regard to the Legend of Zelda, and communities of Zelda devout have grown, all in the name of exploring perhaps one of the nerdiest - but damn, if it isn’t interesting! - fields of pseudo-study known to man.

The multi-faceted, the multi-branched disciplines of “Zelda theory.”

(more…)

Looky what showed up in my mailbox today! It’s rather nice, almost too nice to use. Actually, you could open letters with the feather end of it. It’s sort of scary to hold it with that semi-sharp part in the meaty section of your hand. Anyone else order or get one of these beauties?

[Sorry the picture isn't a little higher quality; I used my camera phone for the shot.]

Pulsing green LEDs, custom paint job, glowing Hyrulian shield….sounds like a good place to put Phantom Hourglass. Get it here

Update: $$$ goes to charity. Everyone wins!

Thanks, Jeremy!

A lot has been said about video game reviews and how they should be scored. Scale of 100? Scale of 10? Four stars? Five stars? I’m not saying I don’t look at Metacritic’s aggregations, but scores are pretty arbitrary. Until you find a specific reviewer who can consistently replicate your tastes, it’s hard to trust random gaming journalists and the number they assign to a game.

Tycho over at Penny Arcade informally reviews the latest Zelda adventure for the DS, Phantom Hourglass: (more…)

(Press release) – Today’s launch of The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for Nintendo DS marks the arrival of perhaps the deepest, richest story ever to appear on a hand-held video game system. The game requires players to fill up the Phantom Hourglass with sand and give themselves enough time to delve deeper and deeper into the ultimate dungeon. It has received critical praise both in the United States and in Japan, where it launched in late June.

“The storyline for The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass represents a new pinnacle for hand-held video games,” says George Harrison, Nintendo of America’s senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. “The touch-screen controls make it easy for newcomers but fresh and engaging for Zelda fans.”

(more…)

As gamers get bombarded with Halo 3 coverage this week (deserving or not), MSNBC has compiled a list of what they believe to be the five most over-hyped video games: Halo 3, Madden, Daikatana, Enter the Matrix, and Pac-Man in that order.

The list got me thinking, “What are the most over-hyped Nintendo games?”

(more…)

From the article: “This is not your father’s Zelda. Nintendo’s given the decades-old game franchise a retooling in this new adventure for the DS. Everything you do in Phantom Hourglass is controlled through the unit’s touchscreen — none of that joystick business.

The new system is simple but brilliant: Green-capped hero Link will walk toward anywhere you tap the stylus. Poke a bad guy and Link will attack him. You can even make notes right on the game’s map, which helps a lot as you explore the spectacular cel-shaded world.”

See also: Infendo’s preview of Phantom Hourglass

Strangely enough, with all the hype of major Q4 titles, a long awaited Zelda title is kind of…well…a bit low profiled. I just remembered yesterday that Phantom Hourglass would be in my eager palms within a week! We’ve waited since GDC 2006 for this game, and we’re almost there. Here’s the details for those who have been living under a rock….

(more…)

Get yer geek on, Infendo, with these invaluable Zelda charms and necklaces! Word on the street is they’re officially licensed and will totally get you some action with Midna. I’ve bought ten already! She still hasn’t called though… there’s always Reggie, right?