Jeff Gerstmann is known to us in News as Iron Man Jeff - as much myth as he is man. But we really started to worry when we hadn't heard from the playmaster for hours. He was sent home with the instructions to "play Zelda till your fingers bleed."

　　We were sent the following report from Jeff - with the following disclaimer.

　　"Must... sleep... but... can't sleep. Must play... more. Must... finish....

　　I'm so @&%$# tired I could eat a train. I... don't...know...what...that...means."

　　The First 12 Hours - Wednesday15:30Busted out extreme green controller, put drinks in fridge, changed into comfortable clothing, started playing.

　　16:00Beat first dungeon.

　　18:30Grabbed a soda. About halfway through Dodongo's Cavern, the second dungeon. Still haven't come close to dying yet.

　　18:57Shield got destroyed by a flaming bat, carelessly got crushed by statues. Yep... it's my first death. Knew I shouldn't have jinxed it in the previous entry....

　　19:15Beat second dungeon.

　　19:30A couple friends came by in an attempt to get me to eat something. Told them to "get out of my house before I beat you to death."

　　22:20There's a gate up, preventing me from getting into the lake area. The gate wasn't there in the beta version I played a couple months ago. I'm stuck. No one is saying anything of value. Seems like a good time to grab another soda and perhaps partake in some Rice Krispies.

　　22:24Got a ham and swiss sandwich instead - it's easier to eat than a bowl of cereal, while playing. I'm convinced that if I knew the Lost Woods better, I would never have to bother running around the overworld.

　　22:47Discovered warp to lake from Zora's Domain, recovered the letter from the bottom of the lake. Now starting the third dungeon.

　　23:30I'm currently at the exact same spot I got to on the beta version before being forced to turn the game off by Nintendo reps. It took me 13 hours to get to this point before, as opposed to the eight I'm currently sitting at.

　　23:57Wow, the third dungeon boss was really easy to beat. Received the Ocarina of Time. Now it's time for Adult Link. Still feeling pretty awake. I'm hoping to get at least four more hours of play in before sleeping. Better go grab another drink. Still only one death... game seems a bit easy, but then, I've played up until this point before. So I'm flying blind from here on in.

　　Thursday01:50Picked up the Hookshot and made my way to the first temple. Getting through the Lost Woods is a real pain this time around. Use bombs on the crazy guy with the club that blocks your path. I'm now playing while lying in bed, trading a little bit of my response time for comfort. I never thought I'd say this, but the controller extension cord is a brilliant idea.

　　02:51Got the bow. There are these crazy ghost paintings in the forest temple. The picture moves to a different one the minute you look at it. I managed to hit one with an arrow, and it burst into flames, but hitting the others is tough. I'm not sure if this is just the way it is, or if the fact that I can barely keep my eyes open is somehow hampering my aim. Perhaps it's a bit of both.

　　02:58Whoever decided to write the crazy warnings that say "take a ten minute break for every hour of play" ain't nothing but a sissy.

　　03:49OK. So there's a room in the forest temple that forces you to make like David Bowie in Labyrinth. So you're never quite sure which way is up or which way the room needs to rotate in order for you to proceed. I think I rotated the crazy room the wrong way, because I can't find a way to get through. It's probably something stupidly easy that I'll find first thing in the morning. I have saved the game and powered down. Even if one or two parts are kind of annoying, they really feel rewarding to solve.