THE CLOSET OF ZELDA 64
What Nindendo Doesn't want you to Know!

Sure enough, just as I expected Nintendo never called me back for the interview with a press representative that I was promised. I waited at 6:30 just like they said they would call me, then I assumed that it was 6:30 Pacific time since it was Redmond, Washington, and no one called me at 9:30. Perhaps they were afraid that I would ask those tough questions. Perhaps they feared the wrath of an educated gamer. Oh, well, I was able to pry a few things from the guy I did talk with on the phone that originally promised the interview. I figure that it goes without saying that I will report my findings here and now. The product support rep did let loose some things that were confirmation of a whole lot of rumors and I really put the guy on the spot when it came to knowledge of the Zelda series and Zelda 64. He did confirm that there are indeed intentially different versions of Zelda, and that those who have the Gold cart and some greys are blessed with things that were removed in later production runs of the game. For instance, it was speculated that the Fire Temple music was changed. Indeed it was. Some were a little perplexed by the fact that there was different colored blood in the final fight with Ganon. Some saw Red, while other's saw Green Slime. Why, is the question, and now you will know.

Sure enough according to the Product Support rep Nintendo altered later copies of Zelda 64. He confirmed the big fixes of Version 1.1, and 1.2 that we are all aware of, but he also went on to explain that Parents wrote in to Nintendo to complain about the Fire Temple music. It was also felt that the blood at the end of the game should be taken out to keep the game with an "E" rating so it was taken out. So actually gamers who bought Zelda more recently have the watered down version, that Miyamoto didn't intend. I just couldn't understand why they would there would be a complaint about the Fire Temple music until I gave it some thought. From what I gather, the Fire Temple Music seems to be very Islamic in nature and it is possible that some Christians and or Muslims were offended by it and demanded it be removed. This is only a hypothesis on my part, but a likely one. I said to the rep, "So you mean, people with Gold Cartridges actually have something better or worth more as a rarity than other Zelda 64 games, and Nintendo lied when it it said there is absolutely no difference between the Gold and Grey cartridges except for the paint. He paused for a moment and said, "...Well, it does say "Collector's Edition" on the box." Indeed it does. I like the Gold cart for all of it's Swordless Link, Bloody Ganon, and Islamic Fire Temple music. Now you know. The rumors have been confirmed. Remember you heard it here first at the Odyssey of Hyrule. No other website knows this. There may be other alterations between the two versions, so it remains to be seen what other covert operations Nintendo's Black Ops are planning for upcoming games. Perhaps there will be multiple versions of games after some crabby anal parent calls up and says that they don't like the guns, language, or music of a game and the big N will do a sneaky switch of the carts thinking no one will know the difference. Maybe all those delays on games are to prevent us from seeing the truth. Only the gamers will know for sure.

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