The Hylia - NP Volume 208

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The newest issue of Nintendo Power finally arrived to me today, although much of the information has already been made public. I did manage to find a very interesting piece of information from the Zelda article, which could lead to a big clue as to when Twilight Princess, as well as Nintendo Wii, will be launching in North America.

First, in the Pulse section, there is a letter with a picture of some kids from the Louisiana State University (LSU) who drew Link on the sidewalk. It's the classic 8-bit NES Link holding up a sword, although it looks like the sword could have used a bit more work. Still very cool.
A clue to Wii's and Twilight Princess' launch date?
Onto "The Stuff of Legends" feature, part one of a "series" leading up to the launch of Twilight Princess. There were three categories discussed, which listed the five "top" things for each, although in no specific order. The first category was the Top 5 Transformations, which included the Light turning into the Dark World from A Link to the Past, transforming into a Minish in The Minish Cap, becoming a Deku Scrub in Majora's Mask , Young Link becoming Adult Link in Ocarina of Time, and changing the seasons in Oracle of Seasons.

Next up was the Top 5 Supporting Characters. There was Epona from Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, King of Red Lions from The Wind Waker (and Navi Trackers), Tingle from a bungh of titles, Ezlo from The Minish Cap, and finally Kaepora Gaebora from Ocarina of Time and Four Swords Adventures. Now, time to GANNON-BAN Nintendo Power (this wouldn't happen if you guys would hire me) - they listed Kaepora Gaebora as the owl in Link's Awakening. This is not so. It's simply an owl with no name.

Finally, there were theTop 5 Enemies, which had Octoroks, Wallmasters, Moblins, ReDeads and Iron Knuckles. Now, for the tidbit I discovered. In the enemies section, it says "Note that only standard enemy lackeys were eligible for this list; we'll cover bosses in the coming months." Um, was that a slip up? You see, Volume 208 is the October issue, which came out in August/September. Next is the November issue, due out end of September/early October, which would be part two, or just one month. If it is indeed "months", as in plural, than it would make sense the December issue, which comes out around end of October/early November, would be in order, correct?

Basicaly, even if the next issue had the last installment of this Zelda feature, it would mean coverage of Twilight Princess wouldn't likely begin until the following issue, which would be around October/November release window for the issue. Just seems like the term "months" means that an October release doesn't seem plausible. Yet, then again, if you work in the industry, you know how early in advance content is written - the current issue content was probably done in July, finalized in early August for the ship date. So, again, this is just speculation, but it gave me the vibe that a November launch is what NP is planning for.

Lastly, there is a community segment which has Zelda Cosplayers, including Pikminlink and ThePrincessZelda at San Diego Comic-Con. Andy Meyers was there, and it was cool to meet him in person, and his feature turned out nicely. Well, there's no promise of new Zelda info in the November issue via the "Coming Next Issue" page, but this Friday, supposedly, the UK Official Nintendo Magazine will have a huge Twilight Princess feature, which has new info. Here's hoping they finally deliver.

Media

Probably the most unappreciated form of media from the Zelda series is the manga. Part one of our three part segment focuses on a potential Zelda film inspired by the manga.