Monday's Zelda Watch: We Have a Winner!

We confirmed this morning that stores along the West Coast have received and are already selling The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. That means we have a winner in our Zelda Grab Bag contest. But that doesn't mean you have to stop sending in tips on where it's being sold.

Some of these areas are selling to pre-purchasers only, and by this time have probably run out of copies being sold to the general public. Tomorrow is the day it's expected at most Toys R Us locations as well as most Electronics Boutique and Babbage's/Software Etc. locations. Following that will be Target, Wal-Mart, and most other retailers.

We'll be updating this post until tomorrow with areas where we have confirmed the game is being sold. We aren't listing exact locations because we don't want the stores to get swamped with calls or customers, especially if they end up being sold out. That way, we're just giving general areas (or "hot spots") where the game could be available now. Some stores are getting extra copies of the gold cartridge, but are not making any guarantees that the general public will be able to buy them. Gray copies are being shipped out with the first shipment.

An interesting footnote: Internet Auction House E-Bay has several auctions for the Zelda 64 gold cartridge. As of press time, the minimum bid for one copy was as high as US$110.

If you've found a place that is selling it now, drop us a line with the name of the retailer, city, state, and phone number (if possible) to zeldatips@hotmail.com.

West Coast:Portland, ORLynwood, WASeattle, WASacramento, CAConcord, CABellingham, WA

West:Boulder, CO

East Coast: Cherry Hill, NJ (expected this evening, pre-purchases only)Staten Island, NY (expected this evening, pre-purchases only)South Burlington, VT