The Missing Link: 100 Year Itch
Posted on June 22 2009 by Nathanial Rumphol-Janc
When I first reported on the revival of the Zelda Universe article team I was pretty excited. The article then brought back to us a writer who’s only other piece was our most popular guest article of all time. That being said, the new article team team at ZU, called The Missing Link, has inspired yet another former article writer to come back from the depths to provide a very interesting read. Pipking, a former writer for the now dead Behind the Rupees team at ZU, provided a guest piece that covers the advancement of technology throughout the Zelda series.
Now now, don’t get too excited by the image. Valley of the Flood was a completely fan created game concept that had a fake interview attached. What this image does though, is represent some of what Pipking seems to suggest: Zelda needs more Steampunk.
While Steampunk can refer to many specific genre things, the foremost is a technological progression where steam power drives all innovation and ingenuity. It’s often linked to the aesthetic of Victorian era England – all dark coats and sooty faces, dirigibles and Jules Vernes and Jack-the-Rippers in the shadows. But more than a specific look, the important thing about the Steampunk style is it allows fantasy and technology to coexist. In a way, I feel it is about the magic of the technological, that precious space where fancy and fact haven’t quite met; somewhere directly between worshipping the Moon as a goddess and landing on it in a rocket.
What we know of Spirit Tracks so far is that it has trains. Trains in a fantasy world do not a Steampunk make – but it certainly suggests some possibilities.
Zelda could use bit of Steampunk shine.
-Pipking: 100 year itch
You can check out the full article here.
