QCF: The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD

This Review was Freelanced by Cody Winn; you can find his other work here.

he Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker caused quite a stir in the days of its original release on the GameCube. Fans had wanted and expected a dark, mature tale akin to Ocarina of Time or Majora's Mask, made all the more real by next-gen hardware. What they got instead was a painted cartoon world full of stubbly-legged characters and a vast, empty water world. Though received quite well by critics and eventually by fans as well, backlash from such a huge change hit it pretty hard. Despite all that, over the years Wind Waker has fought its way into history as a Damn Good Zelda Title deserving of every ounce of love it now receives.

10 years later, we've been given an HD remake for the Wii U, complete with prettier textures, Gamepad support, and access to Nintendo's social network-esque MiiVerse, where you can take Link selfies -- a great addition for the Instatweetbook generation -- and post them for all to see. I joke about it, but it's actually pretty entertaining.

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PAX PRIME 2013: The Nintendo Crescendo

egardless of how critical my position on Nintendo may be as of recent, my travels on the floor led me to the familiar brand. I tasked myself with getting the best out of what the Big N had to offer. So after a couple of games later, I can safely say that while my faith is still shaken, it is far from lost—Nintendo is dropping some real winners after all this Holiday.

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QCF: Evoland

amers are a fickle bunch, and while I understand that I’m posing an opinionated statement as fact, the evidence that supports the conclusion isn’t just some common consensus that you can argue, it’s reality. Keeping that in mind, when a game pays some sort of tribute or homage to some bit of allusion in video game culture that only a gamer would recognize then the odds have always shown the reference to be a surefire hit among players as a standout moment within the game. Whether it’s shameless and shallow or well thought out and brilliant, the love letter mechanic has always been met with open reception. Still, how well does the concept pan out when the game is entirely built around it?

Shiro Games aims for the stakes with Evoland, a literal portrayal of the growth in adventure video games from the late eighties to the present. While the gimmick is heartwarming and will appeal to an audience in some capacity, it barely stands to prop up a game that can’t competently stand on its own otherwise.

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PPR Games Club: The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past

What happens when you’re reintroduced to a classic and like a fine wine, it ages to perfection with every visit you pat it. We’ve all traveled to Hyrule several times, but this particular instance will leave you coming back for more and we talk about why in our latest Games Club; The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past. We dissect the game in every way and soon, we’ll be releasing some companion video for the very first time to this latest club so be sure to stay tuned for that.

Mail us at our new email Mailbag@presspauseradio.com, leave a voicemail at 469-PPR-TALK, and be sure to stop by at our Forums if you haven’t already registered and post your thoughts about the show. Finally, make sure to rate and subscribe to us on iTunes and YouTube, follow us on our Twitch page and Twitter, and finally take part in our Facebook and Steam group!

Also, see the sights and hear the sounds of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the past with commentary from the PPR Crew! More to come!

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Kenna Warsinske: The woman who modded The Legend of Zelda

hen hobbyist animator and feminist Kenna Warsinske made changes to The Legend of Zelda, she’s willing to admit it was because she simply wanted to. She wanted Princess Zelda to play with power, and she wanted others to experience the impact for themselves.

“There’s no one to stop me from eating candy before bed and there’s nothing standing in the way of me creating the games I want to play,” Kenna Warsinske noted on her blog days before her Zelda starring Zelda mod exploded around the internet.

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Life Through the Pixel Glass: Link's Awakening Minecraft

Welcome one and all to the newest feature hitting Press Pause Radio. It’s been a long time coming, but I, Catie, the squid-loving, Camaro-stalking, sailor-mouth squawking transformer of the internet present “Life through the Pixel Glass,” or LTPG for short. My goal with this feature is to shine some light on the finer displays of artworks or music influenced by the video game culture. Whether it's a re-imagined creation, or muse of entirely new material, you’ll find me posting about it right here. With that said…

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Looking Back: The Legend of Zelda Reflections

Reviewing a classic like The Legend of Zelda can be difficult, mostly because everyone and their mother already played it. It’s really no different than a seasoned movie critic reviewing Gone with the Wind or Citizen Kane in front of a group of enthusiasts, who memorized these movies and their offerings when they were still in diapers. But like any experience, there are still points and reflections that can be made about them -- even if they might seem redundant to some.

In an effort to point out more tedious and painful moments in a seemingly perfect game, here are some thoughts that crossed my mind as I was enjoying the original Zelda (for the umpteenth time) on the 3DS.

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