Upcoming Legend Of Zelda Encyclopedia Comes In Gorgeous ‘Golden Cartridge’ Edition

Deluxe editions are often little more than fancier packaging, but the upcoming The Legend Of Zelda Encyclopedia’s deluxe edition is very fancy indeed.

Apart from the gold casing, it also has both the look and (as much as possible with cardboard) feel of a NES cartridge. There’s also a protective sleeve similar to a box file and even a mock instruction booklet.

The book itself appears to otherwise be the same as the standard edition, so at $80 for the deluxe edition compared with a $40 list price (and as low as $23.99 with some sellers) for the standard edition, you’re paying a lot for a collectible.

Indeed, if you are a collector, it’s something of a quandary as the standard edition forms the third in a trilogy of books, all of which have a similar design. While you might think an encyclopedia would be a starting point, a comprehensive guide, or both, the new book follows up on the well-received Hyrule Historia (which reads as a history of the fictional kingdom) and Arts and Artifacts, which is largely an illustrations book covering both game artwork and production images.

As the name suggests, the encyclopedia is designed more as a compendium of  everything from game maps and characters to in-game items and even languages. It will be released on April 24 next year.

[The Legend Of Zelda Encyclopedia’s deluxe edition]