Owner Nintendo of America Launched 1995-08-15 | Commercial Yes | |
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Type of site Virtual Camp / Internet Forum Created by Nintendo and Lithium Technologies Website CampHyrule.com (archived) | ||
Camp Hyrule was an annual online virtual camp that was sponsored and moderated by Nintendo of America. It first opened in the summer of 1995, and emerged as Nintendo’s biggest online event. Camp Hyrule, which was usually held in August, allowed Nintendo fanatics to chat, play online games, and win prizes under the supervision of Nintendo employees and Nintendo Power columnists. The camp's name is eponymous to the fictional land of Hyrule, a prominent and recurring setting in The Legend of Zelda series. The last camp was in 2007, with no plans to host another Camp Hyrule.
Contents
Background
Essentially an online simulation of a summer camp, Camp Hyrule had refined many traditional outdoor themes, such as campfires, water sports, and archery into many Java-based games. Participants were assigned to cabins, where they worked with other teammates to earn points by participating in games, Photoshop contests, and other activities. After the camp session ended, the cabin with the most points won a special prize, while runner-up cabins received other consolation prizes.
The camp was also used to promote various Nintendo-related products. In past years, some of the camp's games have revolved around 1080° Avalanche, the Game Boy Advance SP, and Donkey Konga. Additionally, the camp had a theme, related to an upcoming video game, that often prompted mini-story line. For example, in 2005, the camp's design and layout reflected the upcoming Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Nintendo went to further detail to add a story line to that camp session, in which games and layouts were mysteriously vanishing at the hands of an evil force. Nevertheless, all the issues were always resolved at the camp's closing ceremony, where awards and grand prize winners were announced.
Camp Hyrule was moderated and maintained by Nintendo of America's online staff. Staff members, called counselors, were responsible for moderating their assigned cabin’s message board and chat rooms, while also advocating participants to earn points. The camp’s staff also sent participants daily emails pertaining to earning points or the camp’s plot developments. In recent years, Nintendo had turned to the NSider Forums, their official online community, in order to provide additional moderators. Camp Hyrule also had a mascot, named Stumpy, who was often seen wandering the campgrounds.
The community elements were removed from Camp Hyrule in 2007, coinciding with the closing of the NSider forums and the impending switch from in-house publication of Nintendo Power to publication by Future US, which occurred in November 2007.
Registration
Unless announced otherwise, Nintendo usually opened registration for Camp Hyrule in late July or early August. Although there was no limit as to how many users could sign up, registration was only open for one week. To register, one first needed to acquire a "My Nintendo" account (which Nintendo has since phased out to bring Club Nintendo to the US), and then visit the official Camp Hyrule website for further instructions.
The 2007 year camp was open from August 13 to August 23, to all My Nintendo members, registration was not required.
Notable landmarks
Camp Hyrule features several landmarks which have appeared year after year on the campgrounds: