HilliTech's Newsletter: Ocarina of Time
November 5th couldn't arrive fast enough. The remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is here, and it's more than anyone could have asked for or expected given the current state of the gaming industry in 2026.
A Link to the Past
I remember the first time I ever had a chance to play Ocarina of Time (OOT). I was 7 years old when the original came out for Nintendo 64, and we didn't actually get the console until that holiday, bundled with Mario 64.
It was very much my older brother's gaming console, so I only was able to visit it in passing. My memory of that time is a bit fuzzy, but I don't believe we ever even purchased a Zelda game at that time.
Things changed when I was about 10 and I had my very own Nintendo 64. I got my hands on a few games, not knowing anything about any of them, and just jumped into each one, wondering what they'd offer. When I booted up OOT for the first time, I was a bit lost.
Having friends around and some trial and error finally showed me the right way to play the game, though I'm not sure if I ever properly beat the game on my own until I was older. That said, it's a game I hold near and dear to my experience as a young gamer.
Since I grew up in a very poor household, games were few and far between. We'd try to trade at Gamestop or the local flea market from time to time, but to varying success. I learned to live with the games I had and replayed them often.
I have distinct memories of having these little 12-inch CRT televisions, two of them, in the corner of my bedroom. They were remnants of when family members spent time in jail, and you could provide a TV as long as it was transparent. One was hooked up to the Nintendo 64 and the other had an antenna for watching Green Acres and Andy Griffith after school, and if I was lucky, Pokemon and Power Rangers on weekends.
What was nice about this is I could have the TV on an over-the-air channel on one side and play Nintendo on the other. This very cheap setup felt like I had struck gold.
OOT became a game I would just live in for a while. I'd spend a lot of time in the Kokori Forest at the start of the game just pretending to live there. Eventually I'd get bored and finally beat that first level and go out into the world.
I had a very active imagination as a child, so I spent a lot of time in video games inventing my own games within them. OOT offered a lot of imaginative locations to just observe and explore. It was formative in my ability to get lost in an idea and imagination even as I spent hours outside of gaming reading every book I could find.
Needless to say, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is a core moment in my gaming history. I've played it again and again over the years. First, I revisited it as a Nintendo 3DS remake then played it again through emulators, Nintendo's Online service, and even on an old N64 I now own.
Having the ability to play it again today with these beautifully rendered cutscenes, detailed graphics, and slightly changed environments is like living through a dream. It's like seeing the game with all-new eyes for the first time with the graphics my imagination always filled in around the edges made real.
I'm excited to play through this world again, even if I have to remember to press the jump button.
One week till HomeView
It's been a busy season for Apple and those that cover them professionally. John Ternus even seems keen on ramping up releases rather than slowing down, so I'm not sure how often we'll even get a chance to breathe going forward.
I'm still thinking about the iPhone Duo, its camera system, the Apple Pencil, etc, yet I need to be shifting my thoughts to the new Apple Home initiatives very soon. Apple HomeView will be occupying two locations in my home, and both will need some work to incorporate them.
The HomeView on a speaker stand doesn't have a power source unless it is plugged in, and so far, third parties haven't introduced a bespoke battery pack for the unit, so I may need to think of a power solution imminently. I don't mind literally drilling into my kitchen island to run a cable if needed, but a portable battery would eliminate that need.
My office HomeView will need similar work. I'm going to have to drill a hole in the wall and run a cable over to the outlet to prevent having cables hanging around everywhere. A simple job, but one that needs completed for the installation. (please hire a professional if you need one, I was an electrician in the Navy, so I'll be handling these things myself)
Now that I've had an iPhone Duo in the home, the iPad mini 7 has fallen to the background entirely. I expect I'll be retiring the device from my workflows soon, though I'm not sure what form that takes just yet. Perhaps a family member could use it, or I could sell it for some small sum.
In any case, the iPhone Duo is the perfect phone in my pocket and tablet in my hand. There's no need for the small iPad in my life anymore. As I type this on iPad Pro with a Magic Keyboard at the bar, I wonder if iPhone Duo could ultimately replace this experience too. Not today, though.
The HomeView further eliminates the need for the tiny secondary display. The kitchen and office were my primary use points for such a product, and that's where the HomeView is being installed initially. After Friday, the iPad mini will be doubly redundant in my household.
While the HomeView will absolutely be useful, I wonder exactly how it will fit into my workflow and life in general. I also wonder exactly how my wife Natalie might incorporate it into her life. It'll be in the kitchen, so there's no doubt she'll use it for music, but recipes and more? Who knows.
I'm excited for this new evolution in Apple's product strategy. These devices along with new Apple Home initiatives will prove to be interesting to observe. I'm definitely looking at Apple Home Collection as a potential spur for third-party vendors to get on board with offering devices that only need Apple's Home app to function.
For now, I'll take the opportunity to rethink some of my home setup. Also, my home theater in the den will be really interesting as well, given I'll have a four-HomePod setup there starting on Friday.
