Yes, given the evidence, there was probably no doubt in your mind that the Zelda manga would be translated, but it lacked one very important thing: official confirmation. Until now.

Viz Media announced at BookExpo America, in Los Angeles, that they would be releasing the ”The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time” manga series in English. We finally know that the manga series, of the many Zelda manga adaptations by Akira Himekawa, will be the one based on Ocarina of Time, as expected. Viz Media have previously stated that they will release further Zelda manga adaptations if sales figures are good.

Also on the manga front, Akira Himekawa (actually a pen name for two people) announced on their blog that their next project will be an adaptation of Phantom Hourglass. Which seems a bit odd, considering they never adapted The Wind Waker, of which PH is a direct sequel. But it will be a long time before we see that one in English, so let’s save the confusion for then!

An inside source (a.k.a. my little brother) has informed us here at ZE that in the UK, and possibly elsewhere, Phantom Hourglass is now featuring in one of Nintendo’s “Great Games for Girls” TV spots - one of a series of promotional schemes aiming to get “non-gamers” to give Nintendo bucketloads of money. Similar schemes includes their ”Great Games for Young, Attractive, City-living Females” and ”Great Games for Old Farts Who Seriously Think That Doing Laugably Simple Arithmetic Each Day Has Some Kind Of Health Benefit” series (names may not be entirely correct), featuring the wonderful talents of Nicole Kidman and Patrick Stewart respectively.

Now, before anyone tries to flame me, I have absolutely nothing against girls playing Zelda, or any other games. But these specific adverts feature early-teenage girls in frilly dresses sitting gaily on a swing with their DS - not exactly the kind of person you can imagine getting caught up in heated debates about just where Oracle of Ages fits in the Zelda timeline in their later years. Sure, they may have bugged their daddy for a DS and a copy of Nintendogs, but can you really target Zelda to this kind of person? Won’t this give the wrong impression of the series to someone who could potentially love it? Not neccesarily my opinions, just questions. What do you think?

 Wow, I managed to get through that whole thing without a “Phantom Hourglass is easy” joke.

PH - Boss Guide
PH - Collections
PH - Items

Hello again.  I’ve actually had these done for awhile, but my site access mysteriously vanished.  And then Nexus was apparently locked out of his email.  So, all in all, not a good series of events for the updates.  But, at least we have some now.  Sure, we’re not the first like we were with WW or TP…but we create our updates with love, dagnabbit (and with just a dash of paprika for flavor, and some cinnamon for texture, and some Sigur Ros for ambiance).

More is on the way.  I’m still involved in many a project, but when am I not?  On the other hand, I don’t have to write any more music for another month or two…and even at that I won’t be worrying about the visual package.  So, hopefully, I’ll be able to get  back to this slowly but surely.  Meanwhile, enjoy the updates!

Hello again. Espy here. Just a quick update to apologise for the lack of news updates on the site recently - this is partly due to the lack of there being any news and partly due to us all still feeling sick from Christmas dinner.

While we’re on the subject, are you looking for a place to spend your Christmas money? We may have just the thing.

Yujin have recently released a set of Phantom Hourglass capsule toys, or gashapon, in Japan. There are five in total, and they look quite cool. Espy-approved Play-Asia are selling the figures randomly for $3. If you want a complete set, you may want to buy a ton of them, or look to certain auction sites.

That’s all for this update. I hope you all had a good Christmas, and that you enjoy the remainder of your break!

The golden Zelda-themed DS package for the US market, which we reported on a few weeks ago, was officially announced by Nintendo today. The package will include the DS and a copy of Phantom Hourglass, perfect for those holding out on buying a DS until they can play Zelda on it. It will be released on Black Friday, which I am assured means much more to you Americans than it does to a Scot such as myself.

The picture above seems to show the DS with a much more subtle shade of gold than the original, poor quality picture does. It seems much nicer, and less tacky, in my opinion. I would buy it, had I not learned my lesson about buying an extra, special edition handheld when my friend sat on my Zelda GBA. Excuse me while I mourn.

Phantom Hourglass - Characters

I’ve uploaded our PH Character guide, with profiles and art of the six main characters in the game. Also, you’ll now find random quotes in the sidebar of any PH page. There were far more to choose from than in the average Zelda game, partly a testament to the title’s humour (surprising considering it’s one of the loosest translations in years), but also to the ingenuity of Linebeck, a phenomenal character who is credited with at least two thirds of the quotes selected.

This marks the end of content updates from me for at least two weeks as I’m moving to London and won’t have access to my computer for a while. There may be a PH review in the interim, but that depends if I get bored enough to type one out with a Wii remote.

Guide to Hyrule - Races

Phantom Hourglass has introduced two new races to the Zelda universe, the Anouki and Cobble, so I’ve added entries on both to the Guide.

You might have noticed (yet another) login box on this page. I decided to use a banner position to save on screen estate as the old one was far too big. Now when you login, in addition to having your inbox status, you’ll have links straight to new Forum and Role Play posts and your current life bar. Soon, the site will require a ZEI account to post comments on news stories in an effort to remove comment spam, so there’s never been a better time to sign up for an account!

Phantom Hourglass - Artwork

We’ve just found a bunch of high-res Phantom Hourglass artwork in the most unlikely of places, so we’ve uploaded it all.

Phantom Hourglass - Merchandise

The Phantom Hourglass merchandising steamroller is at top speed, so we’ve decided to compile all the stuff we know about (except for the blurry US DS pictured below) onto this handy page. I think I’ve been a bit snarkier than usual when commenting on absolute tat, so enjoy!

Retail sources are saying that in the US, there will be a Zelda-style DS, packaged with Phantom Hourglass, released towards the end of the year, in time for Christmas. It is golden in colour,and include a small Triforce logo on the corner. Very similar to the old SP model released in Europe a few years back! In my opinion, the design seems uninspired. There’s a lot of better things you could do with a Zelda DS than just take an old design and slap it on a DS.
The price is rumoured to be set between $130 and $150, but we’ll let you know when there is an official announcement with a solid price and release date.
(Note: The other DS in the image is a Pink Nintendogs themed model, which comes packaged with, you guessed it, Nintendogs. It will most likely be released at the same time as the Zelda model.)