Nintendo fans out there will probably be disappointed that Camp Hyrule has been cancelled this summer. In lieu of this, they have decided to hold a sweepstakes where the winner walks off with a life-sized statue of none other than Link himself.

Camp Hyrule started back in 1995, and is essentially an online camp normally held in August. In the event, players could chat, play online games, and win prizes under the supervision of Nintendo employees and Nintendo Power columnists.

This online simulation has everything you'd expect from a summer camp: campfires, water sports, and archery. Participants are assigned to cabins, where they work with other participants to earn points through various games, a Photoshop contest, and other events.

So is this the end of Camp Hyrule? Well, there was no specific mention about it closing for good, so there's still hope for next year. If you're interested in joining the sweepstakes, head on over to the Camp Hyrule site through our read link to get some details.

Camp Hyrule, an online virtual camp held by Nintendo every year, is under full swing. Every year, Nintendo invites people to take questions from the campers. We had featured here at QJ transcripts of the chat with the Nintendo Senior Online Producer, Senior Vice President of Operations for Digipen, George Harrison, the NOA Localization Staff, and staff of Nintendo Power. Now, we move to the final interview. A live chat with the voice of Mario - Charles Martinet!

Charles Martinet has been the voice actor for Mario for 15 years now! He does a variety of other Nintendo characters as well. Something I found out during the chat is that he has a pretty good sense of humour. Although if you see the video above this, it becomes apparent pretty fast!

Click "Full Story" for the transcript. Please excuse any grammatical errors and typos. It's a live chat.

Camp Hyrule, an online virtual camp held by Nintendo every year, is under full swing. Every year, Nintendo invites people to take questions from the campers. We had featured here at QJ transcripts of the chat with the Nintendo Senior Online Producer, Senior Vice President of Operations for Digipen, George Harrison, and the NOA Localization Staff. Now, we continue our Camp Hyrule updates with an interview with the NP Krew aka the talented (but not as talented as moi) writers of Nintendo Power Magazine.

For those overseas, Nintendo Power is the official magazine of Nintendo. Although there are a lot of responders again, it's a bit more organized than the Treehouse interview. They were a bit slower so not as much got asked, unlike that crazy George Harrison review in which Harrison used his Jedi PR abilities...

Click "Full Story" for the transcript. Please excuse gramattical errors as well as typos. It is a live chat.

Camp Hyrule, an online virtual camp held by Nintendo every year, is under full swing. Every year, Nintendo invites people to take questions from the campers. We had featured here at QJ transcripts of the chat with the Nintendo Senior Online Producer, Senior Vice President of Operations for Digipen , and George Harrison. Now, we continue our Camp Hyrule updates by bringing to you a transcript of our chat with Nintendo of America's Localization Team - Treehouse!

Treehouse is responsible for a LOT of the games that we see brought over from Japan and published by Nintendo. Zelda, Mario, Tales, Animal Crossing... the list is endless! Currently they're working on localizing loads of games for the DS and Wii!

The complete transcript awaits after the jump. It's a live chat so please excuse grammatical errors and typos.

Camp Hyrule, an online virtual camp held by Nintendo every year, is under full swing. Every year, Nintendo invites people to take questions from the campers. Even Reggie Fils-Aime, who is now the president of Nintendo of America, has been a featured presenter! We had a transcript of the chat with the Nintendo Senior Online Producer earlier (check it out if you're thinking of going into web design), Senior Vice President of Operations for Digipen (check it out if you're thinking of going into game development). Now, we've got the transcript with one of the big guys at Nintendo: George Harrison, Vice President of Communications and Corporate Affairs at Nintendo of America.

This guy is one of the big three at Nintendo of America alongside Reggie Fils-Aime and Perrin Kaplan. As a PR guy, he knows how to get around questions with ease. He does so again in this chat, which is a bit disappointing, but you can still try and get something out of it. At least he didn't beat around the bush in telling us that Zelda: Twilight Princess on the Wii would not use the GCN controller. We're a li'l disappointed, but we guess that just underscores that nothing's perfect. He was much faster at answering questions than previous chatters so more questions were answered, check them out.

Click "Full Story" for the transcript. Please excuse any grammar errors and typos as it is a transcript of a live chat.

A juicy plot summary for The Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass washed up on the Camp Hyrule website earlier today. The news reveals some interesting points, including how the game will feature some characters seen in Wind Waker. Here is the summary as it appeared on the site:

Many months have passed since the events of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, and Link, Tetra and Tetra’s band of pirates have set sail in search of new lands. They come across a patch of ocean covered in dense fog, in which they discover an abandoned ship. Tetra falls into danger when she explores the ship alone, and Link falls into the ocean when he attempts to rescue her. When he washes up unconscious on the shores of a mysterious island, he is awakened by the sound of a fairy’s voice. With the aid of this fair, he sets off to find Tetra - and his way back to the seas he once knew.

The game clearly features the same Link as seen in Wind Waker, so there are no confusing generation gaps like in other games of the series. It must also be noted that the beginning of the story follows the same pattern as Link's Awakening for the GameBoy: Link falls into the ocean and washes up on a mysterious shore. The awakening by a fairy is taken straight from Ocarina of Time.

It sounds like Phantom Hourglass has a solid story, an important aspect in any game. The summary left me to wonder how hourglasses are involved. Does this game harness the aspect of time like in Majora's Mask? Sadly, these mysteries won't be solved for a while. Nintendo is once again reminding us that good things come to those who wait.

Camp Hyrule, an online virtual camp held by Nintendo every year, is under full swing. Every year, Nintendo invites people to take questions from the campers. Even Reggie Fils-Aime, who is now the president of Nintendo of America, has been a featured presenter! We had a transcript of the chat with the Nintendo Senior Online Producer earlier (check it out if you're thinking of going into web design) and now we have the transcript of the chat with Raymond Yang, Senior Vice President of Operations for Digipen Institute of Technology.

DigiPen was one of the very first schools that centred on game development. Founded by Nintendo near Vancouver BC, Canada, it has now moved to Redmond WA, USA. The questions asked all revolved around education for game design, so if you're thinking of getting into the game industry, this is definitely something you'll want to check out!

Click "Full Story" for the transcript! Remember, it extends beyond just Nintendo. DigiPen students are the one who thought up the idea for Portal. They are now working at Valve to create the game. Please excuse the grammar and any typos - it is a transcript of a live chat room held at Camp Hyrule.

Camp Hyrule, an online virtual camp held by Nintendo every year, is under full swing. Every year, Nintendo invites employees to take questions from the campers. Even Reggie Fils-Aime, who is now the president of Nintendo of America, has been a featured presenter! This year, the first chat has finished up and we have a full transcript for you.

Kent Miller is the Senior Online Producer for Nintendo of America. As someone who works on many of Nintendo's websites, he is currently working on the sites for Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis, Elite Beat Agents, Yoshi's Island 2 and Children of Mana. As expected, he talked about every one of those games. I'd say the most intriguing tidbit was when he revealed that a demo of Elite Beat Agents would be hitting DS Download Stations! As a camper, I was able to get a complete transcript of what was said in the chat. I'll try and get the upcoming chat transcripts as well.

Remember that these are all questions asked by the campers at Camp Hyrule. Some may be pointless, but others reveal more about some interesting games. Also, since it's a live chat, some typos have been made by the chatters!

Click "Full Story" for the complete transcript.

Whenever we talk about Wii's price, there's this lingering quote by one of our staff. It goes "between 7-11's brainfreeze food promo and Nintendo's own camp promo, we think we'll side with the makers of Wii." In case you aren't in the know about that, Camp Hyrule is a week long online summer camp where gamers get the chance to be immersed in the world of Nintendo. It was also the source of the rumor that Ninty's next-gen console will go below its expected price of $250.

We may have reasons to believe that rumor.

According to Nintendo Inside of Japan, a cheaper Wii may be possible with the Nintendo stocks hitting a new high on The Nikkei due to a cheaper procurement of CPU's because of larger orders. The reported price tag? 19,800 Japanese Yen (roughly $171) from the 25,000 Japanese Yen price.

If there's one thing you don't joke about in Japan, it's the Nikkei and Prime Minster Koizumi's love for Elvis.

So if we have to choose between the 7-11's promo between the Camp Hyrule and Nikkei developments, then we think it's wiser to bet your money on the Hyrule and Nikkei speculations. But then again, you may think otherwise. Still, feel free to share your thoughts and opinions through your comments.

It started with a Slurpee promo where Wii is one of the instant prizes up for grabs. According to the promo's rules, Wii had an approximate value of $299.99. That was enough to spark an outrage or, at the very least, some very unhappy buzz. But it looks like the price issue will end thanks to another promo sponsored by Nintendo itself.

Camp Hyrule is a week long online summer camp where gamers get the chance to be immersed in the world of Nintendo. Virtual campers get virtual cabins where they get to meet other players as well as the company's game experts. This year, Camp Hyrule is also offering a free Wii to one lucky camper and the fine print reads:

"For Camp Hyrule, one winner will be randomly selected to win a free Wii. In the description (aka small print) it said: 1) Wii video game system. Approximate retail value of the Wii video game system has not yet been determined, but will not exceed $250.00."

Between 7-11's brainfreeze food promo and Nintendo's own camp promo, we think we'll side with the makers of Wii. And for the record, registration to Camp Hyrule 2006 is already closed.