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[radioheadrule83]

*prologue*

Spoiler

This is basically an essay that fits a brief I was given a couple of weeks back. I've ommited the appendices that I've submitted (basically an abridged history of videogame inception and the evolution of storytelling in videogames) -- below is the main part of the essay - a look at a contemporary videogame that demonstrates an adaptation of the 'fantasy quest' genre. The game I chose? Wind Waker. I was initially going to choose Knights of The Old Republic, or Fable. Instead I went with what I was most familiar with... the result is what happens when you start off trying to blag an essay, then get carried away. Submission is today by the way.

If you spot any mistakes, do feel free to let me know



FANTASY QUEST & NARRATIVE WITHIN THE CONTEMPORARY VIDEO GAME

This essay deals with the idea and problems raised therein of studying narrative in video games. In particular I will look at a specific videogame ‘text’, and examine the ways it imports traditional ‘fantasy quest’ story-telling convention, make comparisons across other medium, and consider the implications (or lack thereof) of interactivity on a prescribed videogame narrative.

Before doing so, I believe it would be prudent and lend to our understanding of videogames if we were to consider their historical context. It is a context that has shaped the very form(s) game software takes. It has determined where videogames are to be found, consumed and played – and this among many other aspects can help to explain how videogames have gone from being viewed as low-culture toys, to a popular culture phenomenon with a potential to be much more. It might also help us plot the evolution of genre and convention in interactive-entertainment, in addition to explaining all-at-once how contemporary videogames came to share so much with other forms of media, yet invariably differ in the execution of story-telling. Please feel free to refer to the attached appendices for reference to such ideas if and when I appear to draw upon them.

The problematic notion of an interactive narrative

Videogame theory from a humanities and social science perspective is a young and burgeoning field of study, but one sure to attract attention as the interactive entertainment industry swells year on year. The study of contemporary videogames appears to incite two core approaches – narratology and ludology. Narratology, and narratological study are umbrella terms for analytical discipline and discourse that traditionally concerns the nature of narrative (sequences) as mediated to us through media texts. Narratological analyses of videogames tend to concern themselves with finding, evaluating and theorising narrative, and the impact of interaction on narratives. Ludology is a term coined by Gonzalo Frasca, derived from ludus, the latin word for “game”. In his paper "Ludology meets Narratology: Similitude and differences between (video)games and narrative", Frasca defines ludology as an umbrella term for analytical discipline and discourse that concerns itself with the nature of games. The focus therein lies with the very words play and game. As some languages have one word for both, Frasca assigns new terms to each, and then in addition, gives them more specific definitions. Play becomes Paidea – and refers to:

“Prodigality of physical or mental activity which has no immediate useful objective, nor defined objective, and whose only reason to be is based in the pleasure experimented by the player”

Conversely, the word game is replaced its latin equivalent – ludus:

“activity organized under a system of rules that defines a victory or a defeat, a gain or a loss."

Narratologists supportive of Janet Murray’s ideas may consider contemporary videogames to be “cyberdrama” (Murray 1998, Hamlet on the Holodeck). This would entail considering the fictive context that many games choose to create for the player as being of paramount importance, leaving us as participants (or role players) in narrative. Lev Manovich, who works in the broader field of new-media, and concerns himself with a wider variety of new-media-culture and software, also has some ideas that can be considered relevant to the narratological approach too. Like Murray, he considers some interactivity to be by-and-large, a limited set of manipulative options, prescribed by creators and artists – essentially, narrative with variation (1996, On Totalitarian Interactivity). Ludology does not discount the usefulness of traditional literary or narratological approaches to analysing videogames, but merely proposes a separate and distinct methodology that might be used to compliment such study or stand alone in its focus.


I would argue that the reason this clash of narrative and interactivity has caused such differing avenues of academic approach is purely rooted in semantic confusion. “Game” for example can be used to refer to real life football, a card-game like solitaire, or a physical artefact that you load into your PlayStation. The average consumer is unlikely to have made the distinction between paidea and ludus that Frasca has. Likewise, “Narrative” is a term open to interpretation; it can be a story or sequence of events, comprised of elements like setting, character, theme etc. But as Frasca points out – “authors claim that even a cooking recipe is a narrative”.

So: are rigidly scripted, yet seemingly interactive story books like Choose your own Adventure novels, The X Files PC ‘game’, or Silent Hill for Gameboy Advance really games? Does Tetris have a narrative? These are questions that immediately arise. Such considerations, concerns and questions regarding videogames have become increasingly complicated over time as the interactive entertainment industry has grown (see Appendix A / B). The reality of things is that a game may require 60+ hours of a player’s time to “complete” from beginning to end; conversely, it may only take 5 minutes to conclude some play sessions or accrue a ‘high score’. A videogame may be thick-full of story; it may be pure play-mechanic with no story at all. It could be a game like Eyetoy, Samba de Amigo, Donkey Konga, Guitar Hero, Mario Paint or Nintendogs. All of these games use inputs other than the traditional videogame controller, changing the means of interaction and necessity for it entirely. Clearly, the experience of a videogame can be a sum of parts, the nature of which are variable, but of a creative cause and effect that will stand ludological and/or narratological scrutiny. The definition of a videogame is perhaps a concept more abstract, malleable and open to expansion than critics suggest.



THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: THE WIND WAKER

“Legend has it that whenever evil has appeared, a hero named Link has arisen to defeat it. That legend continues on the surface of a great and mysterious sea as Link sets off on his most epic and awe inspiring adventure yet. Aided by a magical conductor’s baton called the Wind Waker, he will face unimaginable monsters, explore puzzling dungeons, and meet a cast of unforgettable characters as he searches for his kidnapped sister.”

Starting a ‘new game’ of the Wind Waker initiates a lavish montage of image and text, illustrating tapestry-like parchment which tells a sort of abridged back-story to The Legend of Zelda series – more specifically, that of its previous incarnation, The Ocarina of Time. Backed by the theme tune played out on synthesised lutes, harpsichord and violin, the text tells the reader of a “Legend”, wherein a great evil rose to enslave and rule the people of Hyrule (the game’s fictional world). It continues by saying that a young boy, garbed in green, arose to the challenge and strived throughout the very fabric of time to vanquish and seal away the evil creature once and for all. It concludes in saying that hundreds of years have passed since the aforementioned event, that the land where it occurred has since disappeared without explanation and both the legend and the land have all but fallen out of memory; yet even now, on a remote island, villagers still find it customary to clothe young boys in green when they come of age. The game then whisks us off to Outset Island where the main character Link awakens. The game then relinquishes control of events to the player for the first time.

The Zelda series of games is a huge franchise for Nintendo Co. that has generated hit products for them since the 1980s. The Wind Waker is simply the latest iteration, as released in 2003 for the Nintendo Gamecube. Thematically it is simplistic yet interesting, as well as consistent with previous entries in the series. In some ways, and certainly in terms of visual aesthetic and marketing, it represents a real departure for the series too. It utilises toon-shading (or cel-shading) to give the game a more cartoon look. The process involves an emphasis of rendering and shading bright colours moreso than on the traditionally textured artwork of 3d topology. The Wind Waker scenario is also one set mostly at sea, where previous entries were set entirely on-land.

Devised as a game for the Nintendo Entertainment System (and released in 1987), the Legend of Zelda was the videogame equivalent of a fairy tale; or at least a notable precursor to the idea. In this early iteration of the game, Link was a simple set of sprite animations that wandered around screens defeating enemies with his sword and occasionally solving puzzles. Non Player controlled Characters (NPCs) had little to no characterisation, and there was little scope for the capabilities of the NES to deliver a fully competent and enjoyable story through using text alone without interrupting or slowing down the unique game-play it offered. This game was to be an adventure game, and not an RPG, which as evidenced by games like Adventure for Atari, would have paid a particular attention to that aspect of things. Instead, the conceit that leant a fictive context and purpose to playing the game (the idea that the players’ actions were necessary to recover a mystic artefact, vanquish an evil villain and save a princess) was all but consigned to the pages of the game’s instruction manual. Later iterations of the series allowed for greater storytelling control, and by the release of 1991’s A Link to the Past, NPCs were looking much more like fully fleshed-out characters. They progressed along their own prescribed narrative as the player progressed through the game. The Ocarina of Time brought the series into 3D visualisation for the first time, and as a result, offered “cinematic” cut-scenes between moments of game-play. That particular iteration sold over 3 times the amount of units that previous instalments had amounted. Although sequels Majora’s Mask & The Wind Waker did not perform as well, the Zelda series is to this day, one of the most powerful franchises in the interactive entertainment industry. And as far-along as its modes of storytelling have become, the narratives themselves are still fairly simplistic and arguably linear when compared to many other games. Could the series’ popularity be inextricably linked to the fact that it is at heart a fairy tale?

“It may be because fairy tales are so intimately connected to our psychic processes and dreams and so universal that explains why they are so important to people. They may be the first significant narratives we encounter”

First and foremost, how do we know that it is a fairy tale? To simply survey the product, know it in light of its various marketing campaigns and be aware of its material content, makes the idea that it is a fairy tale painfully self evident. It is how the game appeals to the inexperienced, and conveys the nature of what it actually is, that warrants any scrutiny, however redundant. The entire series of videogame utilises a series of generic tropes, morphological trait, and other threads of familiarity. The first and most obvious thing to consider is the title of the series: the Legend of Zelda. By the very definition of the word, this refers to “an unverified story handed down from earlier times” or “a romanticised or popularised myth of modern times” (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language). Furthermore, all Zelda games, however different, approach the story-telling element of their own construction with a near identical or formulaic approach in every iteration. Vladimir Propp’s 31 functions of characters (Morphology of the Folktale, 1968) are easily applicable to most Zelda games.
Such key functions as present in The Wind Waker are as follows:

• family and hero are introduced,
• the villain causes harm to a member of the family,
• this misfortune is made known,
• the hero is dispatched,
• the hero leaves home
• the hero is tested and receives a magical agent or donor,
• the hero is led to object of search,
• the hero and villain join in direct combat
• and the hero eventually returns home triumphantly.

In terms more specific to the actual story of Wind Waker? Link is introduced to the player on Outset Island, and is given the clothing we know to associate with a “hero of Legend”. Link is given his first magical agent or artefact in the form of a telescope. On first using it, the player sees a large bird in the sky clutching a girl in its talons. It is pursued by a large Galleon boat, which fires rocks at it from a catapult. When one of the rocks hits the bird, the bird drops the girl in a nearby forest, and Link leaves his sister’s side to investigate. On finding that the girl has in fact made a safe landing, he begins the return to his sister, but upon seeing her again, watches the huge bird return and mistake her for its original victim. The bird snatches Link’s sister and flies out to sea. Link leaves home to pursue the bird and rescue his sister, soon finding that the bird is actually an agent of the true villain in the plot, and the true villain of most Zelda games – Ganondorf. He discovers that his sister’s kidnapping was no isolated event, and that Ganondorf has in fact dispatched the bird to kidnap young maidens from all over the world, as though searching for something. This first confrontation with Ganondorf is fleeting and vague, but basically the events are out of the player’s control at this point, and Link is defeated, left to die at sea. Link reawakens to find that he has been rescued by a talking boat. The boat guides him on a journey through several ‘dungeons’ in an effort to receive magical pearls which are to be placed at three distinct spots throughout the world. Once Link achieves this, a symbol of the Triforce (Zelda’s equivalent of the Holy Grail) appears on the waves, and from the centre of it a large tower emerges. If we were unfamiliar with the series before this point, we soon learn that the Triforce is a mystical object comprised of three golden triangles. It is conveyed to Link that whoever touches the Triforce will have their wish granted. After meeting the challenge within the tower, Link learns that the boat he has been sailing the Great Sea with is actually imbued with the spirit of an old King. That King once ruled a society that has now been lost beneath the waves (recalling shades of Atlantis), a land called Hyrule! The player is actually able to visit the land of Hyrule as they have in most other Zelda games, and it is here that we read a similar story to Noah’s Ark. It is explained to us that the Gods had chosen to drown the society of Hyrule, while allowing select people and races to survive on the mountain-tops, which would remain as islands on the world above. Ganondorf was an evil relic of that past, and one that should have been drowned along with Hyrule. Somehow, Ganondorf had found a way to escape to the world above. Only with the game’s penultimate artefact – The Master Sword (Zelda’s equivalent of Excalibur) can Link vanquish him for good. At these climactic points in the story, the game’s namesake character – Princess Zelda – is revealed to the player. She has been Ganondorf’s motivation all along; she is the reason he has been kidnapping young maidens. It becomes apparent to the player that Ganondorf can only make the Triforce appear before him by collecting those people defined by destiny to symbolise Power, Courage and Wisdom. Ganondorf, representing Power, can now finally kidnap Princess Zelda, who represents Wisdom. Link then endeavours to reach Ganondorf at a final arena of battle, where the Triforce consequently appears and the world hangs in the balance. Of course, should the player defeat Ganondorf, the player will be promised that a new Hyrule will emerge for the children of the Ocean.


Even with the more nautical mode of transport and cartoon graphics, the attention to detail, quality of animation, seemingly massive world and sheer long-windedness of the story help create an experience as ‘epic’ as other games of its kind. These things help lend the game realism; that is, something which is perhaps more commonly known as continuity (or ‘polish’ in the world of videogame-review). It is not to suggest that Link or his environment look ‘real’, but rather that the ‘world’ generated by the software is “internally consistent”, and realistic according to its own conventions. Barry Atkins makes a comparison and opposition of videogame readers indulging in such worlds, to readers of “magical realist” fiction in the second chapter of his book, “more than a game”:

"[...] the putative critic of game-fiction must surely be as entitled to the sub genre of fantastic realism as the literary critic is to his or her magical realsim"

Aside from the consistency of the software, and the narratological convention displayed in Wind Waker’s story, there is perhaps a few threads of intertextuality to be considered that further help identify the game as a shining example of the Fantasy Quest as adapted to videogame. That is to say, there are conventions inherent of modes of story-telling like fairy tale, modern fantasy and legendary fantasy present in Zelda that can also be found in other media texts. The society of Hyrule is culturally primitive but pleasant. It is a vast green land (which may alone evoke images of Tolkien’s shire), inhabiting villagers are always something quite separate from royalty or nobility, and the villages they live in tend to comprise merely of houses or merchants. The transportation options in Hyrule are limited. Link can either traverse the land by foot or on horseback (as stated earlier, in Wind Waker he travels the seas by boat). Generally speaking, Link is also a character of unassuming social status. Though the character has the same name, he is regarded to be a unique and separate entity in nearly every game. It is not always made clear where he comes from, but he is typically a ‘normal’ youth uprooted from his life by transpiring events to join the fight against evil, overthrow despotic regimes and to save or restore the rightful monarch. That such an endeavour is complicated by sacred and powerful relics as the Triforce, and the prospect of it falling into the wrong hands, only deepens the importance of the ‘quest’ in the context of the narrative. Zelda games typically employ a great deal of exposition to explain concepts like the Triforce, and one such explanation discusses the creation of the Hyrule world itself, not unlike the way in which Tolkien tackles the ages of Middle Earth in the Silmarillion. The Hyllian race (the human-like inhabitants of Hyrule) have long pointed ears, not unlike those of elven races in other fantasies. There are parallels with the legendary fantasy of King Arthur too. The eventuality of ‘a hero’ inevitably rising to unite the power of good, and defy the forces of evil is a consistent theme, repeatedly referred to as Link’s destiny. Just as Lancelot bravely faces King Arthur’s enemy, Mordred, and Guinevere becomes an object of possession, so too does Link face the King of Hyrule’s enemies, facing Ganondorf, who in-turn is consistently pre-occupied with the fate of Princess Zelda. Always key to achieving the end-goal in Zelda are a series of items that players must collect and have accrued by certain points in the narrative:

“Propp noticed that heroes have helpers of one sort or another – people, animals, magic weapons (sometimes all three) – and these helpers support the hero in his fight with the villain and enable the hero to triumph”

Zelda does indeed have all three, but arguably the most iconic of these is the Master Sword. As stated earlier, this is an artefact in the game that shares more than a few resemblances to Excalibur of Arthurian Legend. The sword must be drawn from a stone or pedestal, and can only be drawn by a ‘true’ hero. The sword is the only thing that can break certain material defences or vanquish the true enemy.


Legend

Moving further with this, it might be fair to say that the intertextual elements present in The Legend of Zelda are perhaps not linked merely to famous books, and generic archetype. Unsubstantiated online-reports attribute ‘quotes’ to the game’s creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, stating that the entire concept for the game was based on Ridley Scott’s Legend starring Tom Cruise. The veracity of such claims is questionable to be sure, especially as both products launched in the same year, but it is easy to see why people consider the possibility with any degree of seriousness. Link can be cured from ill health (or low ‘life’) in all Zelda games by guardian fairies. In Ocarina of Time, he is permanently accompanied by a companion Fairy known as “Navi”. Ridley Scott’s Legend sees Tom Cruise’s character Jack accompanied by a fairy named “Oona” as well as an elven-like youth, Honeythorn Gump. Jack is also on a mission to rescue a Princess (Lily) and also faces evil in the form of The Lord of Darkness, who of course, threatens to engulf his world in darkness. Just as the blurb on the Wind Waker packaging explains the central tenet to the Zelda universe: “whenever evil has appeared, a hero named Link has arisen to defeat it.” – Ridley Scott’s Legend opens with the preamble: “there can be no good without evil ... No love without hate ... No heaven without hell ... No light without darkness”. Such a sentiment is true of the good versus evil dichotomy in both texts. In both texts, neither villain is necessarily evil, as much as they are hopelessly misguided and pre-destined to suffer. The Lord of Darkness in Legend is a demon-like creature, with a lust to spill the innocent blood of a unicorn, yet he yearns to do so only because it will allow for the sun to set eternally, ending his solitude and loneliness. Ganondorf’s deeds are equally humanised, and suggested as having revenge and/or greed motivation. At the very end of the game, he explains his actions and desire to control (or destroy) the land of Hyrule:

“My country lay within a vast desert. When the sun rose into the sky, a burning wind punished my lands, searing the world. And when the moon climbed into the dark of night, a frigid gale pierced our homes. No matter when it came, the wind carried the same thing... Death. But the winds that blew across the green fields of Hyrule brought something other than suffering and ruin. I coveted that wind, I suppose. It can only be called fate... That here. I would again gather the three with the crests... That I should lay my hand on that which grants the wishes of the beholder... That when power, wisdom, and courage come together, the gods would have no choice but to come down... The power of the gods... The Triforce! He who touches it will have whatever he desires granted!”

Just as Link must face Ganondorf in nearly every single iteration of the Zelda game, The Lord of Darkness in Legend, played by Tim Curry, explains a similar unfortunate reality to Jack:

“What is light without dark? I am a part of you all! You cannot destroy me. We are brothers eternal”

That Wind Waker compares so well to Legend is tantamount to the game following genre convention so closely and to positive effect. To close in response to that I can only say – if Zelda’s success is indeed the combinatory effect of generic trope, language, graphical charm, a universal appeal of an imaginary fairy tale universe, and the utility of a compelling game-mechanic – then it is thriving, narratologically at least, on a form of storytelling that shows no signs of relenting. Surely, there will be ever more popular versions of the Hyrule Legend to come.

 

[Juice]

In before someone comes in and says nothing but "penis."

 

[BlueTsunami]

In before someone comes in and says nothing but "penis."

fuck

 

[Mike]

This is incredibly pretentious.

I'm sorry to be rude, but... I really think it is.

 

[Monk]

The essay could be writton about TWW in 3 letters. POS.

 

[radioheadrule83]

This is incredibly pretentious.

I'm sorry to be rude, but... I really think it is.

If its any consolation, I don't go round talking like this.
I've basically regurgitated Frasca, Berger, Propp etc and strained to make tenuous links or conclusions relating to Zelda, cos, well I had to.

 

[Stinkles]

If its any consolation, I don't go round talking like this.
I've basically regurgitated Frasca, Berger, Propp etc and strained to make tenuous links or conclusions relating to Zelda, cos, well I had to.

For your Christmas, I am getting you some paragraphs, line breaks. And a copy of "Hero with a Thousand Faces."

 

[Timbuktu]

Have people seen Zoonami's article on Zelda OoT? It's similar in that is a study of a Zelda game, but it is less about narrative than the mechanics and level designs, doesn't quote academics for authority and is concise, focused and well sturctured:

Link: Zoonami's OoT article

 

[Oblivion]

Have people seen Zoonami's article on Zelda OoT? It's similar in that is a study of a Zelda game, but it is less about narrative than the mechanics and level designs, doesn't quote academics for authority and is concise, focused and well sturctured:

Link: Zoonami's OoT article

Why does Zoonami have an article on Ocarina of Time?


Oh, and essay is pretty good. Nice work, chief.

 

[DeadTrees]

(Pungent (in the baked-beans sense) commentary in italics.)

Originally Posted by radioheadrule83:

This essay deals with the study of narrative in video games and the problems raised therein.

In particular I will look at a specific videogame ‘text’, and examine the ways it imports traditional ‘fantasy quest’ story-telling convention, make comparisons across other media, and consider the implications (or lack thereof) of interactivity on a prescribed videogame narrative.

Before doing so, (get rid of "I believe") it would be prudent and lend to our understanding of videogames if we were to consider their historical context. It is a context that has shaped the very form videogames take. ("Form(s)"? What is this, a pamphlet on herpes?) It has determined where videogames are to be found, consumed and played – and this among many other aspects can help to explain how videogames have gone from being viewed as low-culture toys, to a popular culture phenomenon with a potential to be much more. It might also help us plot the evolution of genre and convention in interactive entertainment, in addition to explaining (all-at-once is redundant) how contemporary videogames came to share so much with other forms of media, yet invariably differ in the execution of story-telling. Please feel free to refer to the attached appendices for reference to such ideas when I draw upon them. (Footnotes?)

Videogame theory from a humanities and social science perspective is a young and burgeoning field of study, but one sure to attract attention as the interactive entertainment industry swells year on year. The study of contemporary videogames appears to incite two core approaches – narratology and ludology. Narratology, and narratological study, are umbrella terms for analytical discipline and discourse that traditionally concerns (ambiguous...does this refer to "terms" or "discipline and discourse"?) the nature of narrative as mediated to us through media texts. Narratological analyses of videogames tend to concern themselves with finding, evaluating, and theorising narrative, and the impact of interaction on narratives.

[...]

Lev Manovich, who works in the broader field of new-media, and concerns himself with a wider variety of new-media culture and software, also has some ideas that can be considered relevant to the narratological approach too. Like Murray, he considers some interactivity to be a limited set of manipulative options, prescribed by creators and artists – essentially, narrative with variation (1996, On Totalitarian Interactivity). Ludology does not discount the usefulness of traditional literary or narratological approaches to analysing videogames, but merely proposes a separate and distinct methodology that might be used to compliment such study or stand alone in its focus.

[...]

So: are rigidly scripted, yet seemingly interactive story books like Choose your own Adventure novels, The X Files PC ‘game’, or Silent Hill for Gameboy Advance really games? Does Tetris have a narrative? These are questions that immediately arise. (Sez you, byatch.) Such considerations, concerns, and questions regarding videogames have become increasingly complicated over time as the interactive entertainment industry has grown (see Appendix A / B). The reality of things is that a game may require 60+ hours of a player’s time to “complete” from beginning to end; conversely, it may only take 5 minutes to conclude some play sessions or accrue a ‘high score’. A videogame may be thick-full of story; it may be pure play-mechanic with no story at all. It could be a game like Eyetoy, Samba de Amigo, Donkey Konga, Guitar Hero, Mario Paint or Nintendogs. All of these games use inputs other than the traditional videogame controller, changing the means of interaction and necessity for it entirely. Clearly, the experience of a videogame can be a sum of parts, the nature of which are variable, but of a creative cause and effect that will withstand ludological and narratological scrutiny. The definition of a videogame is perhaps a concept more abstract, malleable, and open to expansion than critics suggest.

[...]

Starting a ‘new game’ of the The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker initiates a lavish montage of image and text, illustrating tapestry-like parchment which tells a sort of abridged back-story to The Legend of Zelda series – more specifically, that of its previous incarnation (prequel, what?), The Ocarina of Time. Backed by the theme tune played out on synthesised lutes, harpsichord and violin, the text tells the reader of a “Legend”, wherein a great evil rose to enslave and rule the people of Hyrule (the game’s fictional world). A young boy, garbed in green, (this is a quote from the game, right?) arose to the challenge and strived throughout the very fabric of time (nuh-uh, reword) to vanquish and seal away (well, which one?) the evil creature once and for all. ( :lol ) It concludes in saying that hundreds of years have passed since the aforementioned event, that the land where it occurred has since disappeared without explanation and that both the legend and the land have all but fallen out of memory; yet even now, on a remote island, villagers still find it customary to clothe young boys in green when they come of age. The game then whisks us off to Outset Island where the main character Link awakens. The game then relinquishes control of events to the player for the first time.

The Zelda series of games is a huge franchise for Nintendo Co. that has generated hit products for them since the 1980s. (Anthromorphic, might want to reword) The Wind Waker is the latest iteration, released in 2003 for the Nintendo Gamecube. Thematically it is simplistic yet interesting, as well as consistent with previous entries in the series. In some ways, and certainly in terms of visual aesthetic and marketing, it represents a real departure for the series too. It utilises toon-shading (or cel-shading) to give the game a more cartoon look. The process involves an emphasis of rendering and shading bright colours moreso than on the traditionally textured artwork of 3d topology. (Should be shorter and clearer. Not everybody knows that previous Zelda games weren't cel-shaded.) The Wind Waker scenario is also one set mostly at sea, where previous entries were set entirely on-land.

Devised as a game for the Nintendo Entertainment System (and released in 1987), the Legend of Zelda was the videogame equivalent of a fairy tale; or at least a notable precursor to the idea. (Should I stay or should I go now, la la la la la la) In this early iteration of the game, Link was a simple set of sprite animations that wandered around screens defeating enemies with his sword and occasionally solving puzzles.

[...]

Aside from the consistency of the software, and the narratological convention displayed in Wind Waker’s story, there are a few threads of intertextuality to be considered that further help identify the game as a shining example of the Fantasy Quest as adapted to videogame.

[...]

Legend

Moving further with this, it might be fair to say that the intertextual elements present in The Legend of Zelda are perhaps not linked merely to famous books, and generic archetype. Unsubstantiated online reports attribute ‘quotes’ to the game’s creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, stating that the entire concept for the game was based on Ridley Scott’s Legend. (Nobody will be impressed Tom Cruise's involvement, unless this is being graded by Katie Holmes.).

[...]

(Wait a minute, all this for "unsubstansiated internet reports"? Which reports? What source? Why should we listen?)

[...]

The End.