Camp Hyrule for itsSuper Mario Sunshine-themed year in 2002.Mario and other characters are parodyingMount Rushmore, while the beach and island display variousYoshis and the greenWiggler.

Camp Hyrule was an annual online virtual camp byNintendo of America. The camp began in 1995 and ran until its official closing in 2007. It was named afterHyrule, the main setting in the seriesThe Legend of Zelda. Registration would be open for one week at a time, usually in July, and the actual event would take place for four days in August. Players would be assigned a cabin to participate in, and the camp program would allow players to chat with one another, play online games, and participate in sweepstakes or win prizes. Each cabin would compete against one another with a winner being chosen on the last day. After the four days of the camp concluded, an event would occur, forcing the camp to shut down. All cabin winner members would receive some sort of prize.

Beginning in 2000, each year would have its own theme. Two of the years had aSuper Mario game as a theme:Super Mario Sunshine for 2002 andSuper Mario Galaxy for 2006.

Gameplay involving theSuper Mario franchise[edit]

The 1999 Camp Hyrule hadDonkey Konk Game^[sic], "The Rooftop,"Kremling Krunch Game, "The Vine," "The Gator Pit," and "The Tree House" asDonkey Kong–themed areas.^[1] Through Camp Hyrule, Nintendo of America hosted aMario Golf tournament online and in-game called theCamp Hyrule Cup. The North American release of the title had a special password coded into the game that players could type in and be entered into the "Camp Hyrule Cup" in-game. Upon completion of the cup, players would be given a password that would be typed in online. This secret password would be tied to their score achieved in-game, and would verify the legitimacy of their score as only Nintendo of America itself would be able to verify the score it matched up to.^[2] This was repeated in 2000, with a second Camp Hyrule Cup in the Nintendo 64Mario Golf, and would also be repeated in 2003 forMario Golf: Toadstool Tour. Ports ofMario Golf for theVirtual Console removed the Camp Hyrule Cup.

The 2000 iteration of Camp Hyrule was themed afterThe Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. However, the "Green" and "Tennis Court" sections were themed afterMario Golf andMario Tennis, respectively.^[3][4] The "Green" was the second wave of theMario Golf tournament from the second year.

The 2001 camp, showingMario Kart: Super Circuit–themed areas to the right and theLuigi's Mansion–themed area to the left

The 2001 iteration of Camp Hyrule was themed after theNintendo GameCube. On the last day of the camp,Bowser wrecked the campsite.^[5]A game based onLuigi's Mansion could be played in the "Luigi's Mansion Parlor" section of the camp, and in addition there wasa Bowser-themed game and aMario Kart: Super Circuit area.^[6]

In the 2002 iteration of Camp Hyrule, when players logged on for the first time, they discovered the camp was plagued with graffiti and litter. The graffiti was gradually cleaned up by the players as the week progressed, and the culprit was discovered to beShadow Mario.

The 2003 iteration of Camp Hyrule was themed after1080° Avalanche, and its destruction entailedKing K. Rool creating a massive earthquake that devastated the campsite with an avalanche.Super Mario–themed events included one themed afterMario Kart: Double Dash!! (bearing the same name as the game), one after theWarioWare, Inc. series, and "Mario Golf Clubhouse" and "Mario Golf Course."^[7] AMario Golf: Toadstool Tour tournament took place that year, following the 1999 and 2000 tournaments. The cabins were split between two teams: theMario Kart Team and theF-Zero Team.^[8] AKing K. Rool piñataMedia:Camp Hyrule 2003 K Rool pinata.jpg was given out as a grand prize to one camper.

The 2004 iteration of Camp Hyrule was themed after the Nintendo DS, though the "DK Jungle" was its own section of the camp, where players could play theDonkey Konga–themedAdobe Flash gameDonkey Konga Beat.^[9]

The 2005 iteration of Camp Hyrule was themed afterThe Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. However, it had aMario Superstar Baseball–themed game,Mario Sports Complex: Barrel Blast, as well as aDonkey Kong–themed area. In the Flash gameFeed Stumpy, theMario Cap is one of the randomly generated items that could be fed to the camp's mascot, Stumpy.^[10]

In the 2006 iteration of Camp Hyrule, the campsite was moved to outer space where it was hit by meteor showers,a space virus epidemic, asteroids, and a black hole. This year also had aMario Hoops 3-on-3–themed area (called "Mario Hoops Basketsphere") and aMario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis area (called "Super Mini Mario World"). The Super Mini Mario World area provided information about the upcomingMario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis game. On the last day, the camp slipped through a wormhole, and it was warped into the 1998 campground.

Throughout the course of Camp Hyrule, theSuper Mario–franchiseAdobe Flash andAdobe Shockwave games that could be played in Camp Hyrule includeDonkey Konk Game^[sic], released in1999;Kremling Krunch Game, released the same year;Donkey Konga Beat, released in 2004;Mario Sports Complex: Barrel Blast, released in 2005; andVirus Attack!, released in 2006.

Gallery[edit]

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  1999 camp, with theDonkey Kong–themed areas in the top right, and theMario Golf area on the left

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  2001 camp; Bowser can be faintly seen on the left after destroying the camp

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  The vandalized camp in 2002

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  The 2003 camp, after King K. Rool destroyed it with an earthquake; Mario'sRed Fire can be seen in the bottom

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  The 2004 camp, with "DK Jungle" in the upper left

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  The 2005 camp, with theDonkey Kong–themed area in the bottom left, and a Mario sports coliseum on the right

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  The 2006Super Mario Galaxy–themed camp

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  2006 camp, with Super Mini Mario World and variousviruses in the corner

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  2006 camp, with the Mario Hoops Basketsphere

See also[edit]

• Camp Miiverse, a yearly online event that emulated the activities of a summer camp

References[edit]

Wikipedia has an article onCamp Hyrule.

• Internet