Heat
Throughout The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Realm, players amass vast fortunes from Rupees — the gem-based currency used in Nintendo’s Zelda franchise—and here’s what, based on our calculations, they’re worth in real-world dollars, and what the actual cost is for, say, fangs, armor, or Bokoblin guts.
Link, the main protagonist of the Zelda franchise, collects many colored rupees on his adventures.
Key facts
Forbes estimates 1 of Zelda’s rupee is worth about $0.62, comparing federal data for commodities such as eggs, tomatoes, butter, milk, bananas and rice to their in-game equivalents value in rupees.
This exchange rate allows an approximate dollar value to be assigned to the many rupee-colored gems that Link acquires when smashing pots, exploring dungeons, opening chests, and killing monsters, with green rupees worth approximately $0.62, blue rupees worth 3, 10 dollars, red rupees worth $12.40 and purple rupees $31.
Guts and body parts picked up after battles are also worth something, ranging from less than $2 for scarce bokoblin horns or fangs (the rarer blue or black varieties from stronger bokoblins can fetch you significantly more, around $3 and $5.50 respectively) to a mid $12.50 and $18.60 for bokoblin guts and dragon spike shards, while dragon scale can fetch an impressive $93.
Link’s outfit can be surprisingly expensive when converting currencies, with the Hylian armor set from the early game costing equivalent to around $200 in game stores, while sets like sailboat and alpinist the armor, which must be found but can be valued when sold in stores, sells for about $1,150 and $325.
Archery, if shopping arrows instead of catching them will also prove to be an expensive way to fight, with each arrow dropped costing just under $4.
It’s possible redeem broken, lost or mistakenly sold items such as Hylian shield or armor like mining, ardent, or mystic sets, but that will cost around $2500.
A surprising fact
It seems to be getting harder and harder to make money in Hyrule, a fictional kingdom that serves as a place for most Zelda games. In particular, Hyrule’s gem market collapsed in the six years between releases Breath of the Wild and Tears of the kingdom, although mining materials is still a great way to Link to farm rupees. Glowing stones are sold for only 20 rupees Tears of the kingdomabout $12, less than a third of the 70 rupees they sold for Breath of the wild. Opal (Rs. 30), Amber (Rs. 10), Topaz (Rs. 80), Ruby (Rs. 110) and Sapphire (Rs. 150) prices have also fallen, from Rs. . Diamonds are an exception to this depreciation rule and are worth 500 rupees in both games. However, compared to the real world, precious gems seem to be an absolute steal in Hyrule. The diamonds are worth about $310 tears of the kingdom, sapphires $160, rubies $70, topaz $50 and opal $20.
News Peg
As a direct sequel to what is widely regarded as one of the best games ever made, the bar for Nintendo’s next installment in its beloved Zelda franchise was extremely high. from the gate, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Realm managed to meet and exceed expectations, delighting fans and garnering raves reviews of critics. In the weeks since its launch in mid-May, the game has already proven to be a solid commercial hit and, much like its predecessor Breath of the wild in 2017, is as expected win many of the most coveted accolades in the gaming industry this awards season, most notably Game of the Year.
Big number
10 million. That’s how many units Tears of the kingdom sold worldwide in three days after the game’s launch on May 12, according to for Nintendo, making it the fastest selling game in the world almost 40 years of history of the Zelda franchise. Putting this staggering figure into context, in just three days Tears of the kingdom sold a third of the copies of its predecessor Breath of the wild has since launch in 2017 and about a tenth of the total number Zelda games that have ever sold before that, and Nintendo says there were more than 130 million copies at the end of March. This has succeeded as an exclusive title for what is now a relatively dated console, the Nintendo Switch, and as a game that places an increasingly rare focus on single-player gameplay.
What to watch out for
Considering the sales in the first three days, Tears of the kingdom is almost certain to make its way onto Nintendo’s top ten best-selling Switch games list. Nintendo’s Super Mario and Pokémon franchises dominate this list, taking seven out of ten spots. in three days, Tears of the kingdom sold about a fifth of the number of copies as the main title, Mario Kart 8 Deluxewhich has moved nearly 54 million copies since its release in 2017 and its predecessor Breath of the wild is in fourth place.
Tangent
Tears of the kingdom is also first the time when Nintendo listed a Switch game with a $70 price tag, a significant jump from the previous standard of $60. Nintendo has emphatically this does not mark the emergence of a new pricing standard for Switch games and will only be proposed for certain titles. Rising prices, especially above the $70 mark, even for a select few titles comes amid a wider transition to more expensive games in recent years. Many high-end titles for Sony PlayStation and Microsoft’s Xbox are now selling for this price or more, sometimes even if they are versions for the previous generation of consoles.
What we don’t know
Given the many differences between the real world and Zelda’s world, precise comparisons are tricky. Key information such as the weight of the commodity is unknown, and the exchange rate varies depending on which product is examined, with some, such as butter or fresh milk, being less favorable than commodities such as bananas or eggs. The rough exchange rate of $0.62 per rupee is calculated using an average of broadly comparable products.
Further reading
The Legend of Zelda Timeline Explained (Polygon)
Forbes – Business