The soundtrack of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time will be featured in a vinyl record that will be released next year.
The $40 record will be launched by indie publishing label iam8bit, with preorders for the two-LP set opening very soon.
The Hero of Time Album by iam8bit
The vinyl record, titled Hero of Time, will feature the music from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, but it will not sound like what gamers listened to while playing the classic game on the Nintendo 64.
The 64-piece Slovak National Symphony Orchestra will be playing dozens of classic tracks from the game, and that is the version of the soundtrack that Zelda fans will be able to enjoy on the vinyl record. The group will be playing the music live in Bratislava, Slovakia next month for the recording of the soundtrack.
The recording will be pressed into 180-gram heavyweight colored vinyls in green and purple with Rupee designs. The collection will be inserted into a gold foil-stamped sleeve that will have a die-cut cover in the shape of an ocarina and a Triforce design in the rear.
The music is composed and arranged by Eric Buchholz, while the artwork for the vinyl record's inner gatefold image, showing Hyrule Field in the day and at dusk, is created by Ryan Brinkerhoff. While iam8bit will handle the distribution of the music on vinyl records, Materia Collective will handle the digital distribution of the tracks.
Preorders For Hero of Time Soon To Open
For $40, interested gamers can preorder the Hero of Time album through the vinyl record's page on iam8bit's official website starting Dec. 9, 10:00 a.m. PST. The target date for release is in the second quarter of next year.
The album's page also features an eight-minute preview of some of the music that will be included in Hero of Time, though iam8bit is quick to note that the previews are synthesized mockups and are nowhere near as good as the final tracks that will be included in the vinyl record.
Other The Legend of Zelda News
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is widely regarded as one of the peak points in the Zelda franchise. Released in 1998, the game became one of the best-selling titles for the Nintendo 64.
The latest installment in the franchise, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, is set to soon arrive for the Nintendo Wii U and the upcoming Nintendo Switch. The Tonight Show's Jimmy Fallon was able to play the game on the hybrid console, but rumors claim that the title will not be ready by the March 2017 launch of the Nintendo Switch.
