The Home Stretch

By Ice

At the time this editorial is being written, it's exactly one month from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time's North American release. This is the most exciting month, where most people scramble everywhere to find as much info on Zelda 64 as they possibly can. And, sad to say, a majority of the people in this catagory actually succeed and know EVERYTHING about Zelda even before it comes out. During the Link to the Past and Link's Awakening days, I too was one of these people. But not this time. I myself am among the very few who want to stay away from everything and actually have a fresh experience when I go through the latest and perhaps greatest addition to the Zelda series. And just so everyone knows, that's why Ice's Zelda Central all of a sudden stopped covering Zelda 64. I want my readers to have that exact same experience. It's my understanding that on October 24th (which is five minutes away from when I'm typing this), Zelda 64 will be in playable form at many huge retailers. I, unlike most of my staff and friends, am not going. I don't even want to see the game in action before I actually buy it and can play it all I want. True, I know the second that I pass by it that I'll crack like an egg, but I'm going to do everything in my power to stay away from it. And I encourage you all to do the same thing.

So here we are, in the home stretch. I just looked at my watch, and it's October 24th. Less than a month is left. I'm sure all of you can remember way back, when Z64 was slated for Summer, 1997. HA! Now that we're in the final dash towards home plate, look back on the past two to three years. They've been filled with anxiety, hope, and utter disappointment. We've made it this far, my friends. We're almost there.

So much media and information is being released about the new Zelda, it's just unimaginable. Even right now, I could just hop on the internet, and after just a few measly hours of searching, I could know enough about Zelda 64 as I would had I actually played it. I encourage everyone just to hold out a little longer. We're almost there. Use IZC's Zelda 64 countdown as a consolation. For many of you, it has become a good friend, yet an enemy, at the same time.

At least we know that Nintendo is going to complete Zelda 64 and have enough produced in time for THIS release date. And the best part about this is, Z64 will be released at just about the same time worldwide. That means that the usual old tricks won't be pulled on PAL users, who always get all the details, surprises, and secrets on just about every game MONTHS before they get it. And North American users won't have the same thing happen to them, due to Japan's release date. Strap yourself down, viewers. These next few weeks are going to be a bumpy ride.