About 30 years ago, the world of video games was young. Shigeru Miyamoto had already redefined the way we imagine and play video games with Donkey Kong and Super Mario Bros. But while many of us were still slogging through arcades, wishing we could bring game cabinets home, Miyamoto created a game-changing world that was not only better than anything you could find in an arcade, but it was necessary to have in a home console exclusively. The Legend of Zelda was the first game that was so immersive that you couldn’t play it in one sitting or by entering a long passcode; you had to actually save your game to come back to later.
This change, the addition of a battery to save your game, not only streamlined the game play process, but it signified a new kind of game; a game with a world so fully realized that you would want to come back to it again and again. While 8-bit graphics could only carry a world so far, Miyamoto and his team of artists pushed those 8-bits to the very limits of imagination. Now, 30 years later, the world of Hyrule has grown to not only fit the times, but to define them, again and again. You can capture all the amazing artistic achievements in Dark Horse’s The Legend of Zelda: Art and Artifacts Hardcover Book.
416 breathtaking pages chronicle Link’s journey from his 8-bit days in the original title all the way through Breath of the Wild in the upcoming Nintendo NX system. This book includes rare promotional pieces that you can’t even find on the internet, game box art, instruction booklet illustrations, official character illustrations, sprite art, interviews with the artists, and much more.
This is the definitive guide to the intricate and engrossing artwork of The Legend of Zelda. It’s not the kind of book that you leave up on the bookshelf just to look pretty; you’ll find yourself leafing through again and again. For many of us, it’s nothing less than a walk down Memory Lane, tracing steps we first took in our youth and rediscovering lands that used to all but physically inhabit. The Legend of Zelda: Art and Artifacts isn’t out yet, but you can pre-order now on Entertainment Earth!
