Welcome to Zelda Central, fellow Hero of Time! Like many of you, our journey began with a single game that changed everything. For our founder and webmaster, Victor, that game was The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Back in 1998, countless hours were spent exploring Hyrule Field, conquering dungeons, and ultimately facing down Ganon. When the adventure ended, the desire to share that incredible experience and connect with other fans sparked an idea.
Our Mission
Zelda Central was born from that passion in 1999. We are a fan site dedicated to celebrating the enduring excellence of The Legend of Zelda series. Our goal has always been to provide the Zelda community with high-quality information, the latest news, and a welcoming space for fans to connect, discuss, and share their love for these timeless adventures.
The History of Zelda Central
Like Link’s own quests, our path hasn’t always been straightforward. We’ve navigated the evolving landscape of the internet since the early days:
- 1999: The Beginning: Inspired by Ocarina of Time, Victor launched the first version of the site on the Expage platform – a simple page with cheats, guides, and a chatroom.
- 2000-2001: Expansion: With the release of Majora’s Mask and the Oracle series, the site grew. We moved through early web hosts like Tripod and Homestead, operating under names like “Barry’s Zelda: Majora’s Mask Site” and “Zelda Oracles Central.”
- 2002: Zelda Central Emerges: The various site efforts were consolidated under the single banner of “Zelda Central,” finding a home on Angelfire before moving through various hosting partnerships within the fan site community. Learning early web tech like HTML tables and SSI (Server Side Includes) helped shape the site structure.
- 2003: Community Focus: We launched “The Forest Haven,” the official Zelda Central forums, using Invision Power Board. This marked a major step in building our community. Late in the year, after our host Zelda Xtreme closed, we acquired the ZeldaXtreme.com and ZeldaCentral.net domains and moved to a new host.
- 2004-2006: A Golden Era: Zelda Central experienced significant growth! Our community blossomed, with forum membership reaching upwards of 20,000 registered users and the site welcoming thousands of visitors daily. However, challenges like maintaining a large, active site over a dial-up connection began to mount.
- 2007: The Calamity: Disaster struck. Our hosting provider fell through unexpectedly. Without recent backups (the forum database had become too large to easily back up over dial-up), years of work, community posts, and site content were lost. Feeling defeated, Victor made the difficult decision to close Zelda Central.
- 2010: A Glimmer of Hope: The passion for Zelda never truly faded. Victor noticed the ZeldaCentral.com domain was available and registered it, keeping the dream alive.
- 2018: The Return of Zelda Central: After years away, Zelda Central was officially reopened! We began rebuilding, dedicated to the same mission that started it all back in 1999.
Zelda Central Today
We’ve certainly had our share of ups and downs, navigating everything from the limitations of early web platforms to devastating data loss. But like Link, we’ve persevered. Today, Zelda Central continues its mission: to be a definitive resource and vibrant community for Legend of Zelda fans everywhere. Thank you for being part of our ongoing adventure!
Previous Versions of Zelda Central
