Japan: Switch sells over 300,000 units in first week
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 100 Comments
Update (3/7): Famitsu now has an article up on its actual website. Between March 3 and March 5, Zelda: Breath of the Wild sold 193,060 units at retail with a 58 percent attach rate. Also, Famitsu’s website reports a figure of 330,637, so we’ll be using that one instead of the previously-reported 313,700.
Original (3/6): Data from Famitsu reveals that first week sales of Switch came in at 313,700 units in Japan. To compare, other notable console launches include the Wii at 371,900 units, Wii U at 308,600 units, and PlayStation 4 at 322,100 units.
By first week, that should mean Switch’s first three days on the market. Famitsu’s next reporting period is between February 27 and March 5, and Switch came out on March 3 – so that would account for sales from Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Earlier today, it was reported that Switch doubled up on Wii U in the UK by selling 80,000 units in its opening weekend. No numbers are out for North America, but the system had a record-breaking launch for Nintendo.
More Super Bomberman R footage
Posted on 8 years ago by Zack in Switch, Videos | 3 Comments
Some new Super Bomberman R footage is on YouTube now, showing off a bit of 4 player multiplayer. You can check it out below.
More: Konami, Super Bomberman R
Switch in America: best 2-day sales in Nintendo history, Zelda best-selling standalone launch game
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 82 Comments
The New York Times recently had the opportunity to interview Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime. We’ll be seeing the publication’s full discussion soon, but reporter Nick Wingfield shared some information about Switch’s sales early.
Switch’s first 2-day sales in the Americas – meaning Friday and Saturday – were the best for any system in Nintendo history. The next closest was Wii, which launched during the holiday period.
We’re also hearing that Zelda: Breath of the Wild is now the best-selling standalone launch title (meaning not a bundled game) in Nintendo history. The game managed to beat out Super Mario for N64.
Zelda: Breath of the Wild director on how the game initially came together, Miyamoto climbing trees in the prototype
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch, Wii U | 6 Comments
The concept for Zelda: Breath of the Wild began with Shigeru Miyamoto and series producer Eiji Aonuma asking what would players would be able to do in the new game. Hidemaro Fujibayashi, who became the project’s director, responded by saying you could do everything.
Fujibayashi told Kotaku:
“But I had to sell it to them. How we’re going to make this happen. And I felt like the best way to convey this idea to them was to show them that you could climb walls.”
Work on Breath of the Wild began with a prototype. The team created a starting area with a small field and trees, along with rupees hidden throughout. Fujibayashi describes how Miyamoto played the demo:
Switch is compatible with USB keyboards
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 10 Comments
Here’s a random, but interesting little tidbit about the Switch. As it turns out, it’s fully compatible with USB keyboards. So long as Switch is docked, you should be able to use one. It even works in games as well for text prompts.
Thanks to Exy for the tip.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms 13 with Power-up Kit probably getting localized
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 5 Comments
Koei Tecmo may have plans to localize Romance of the Three Kingdoms 13 with Power-up Kit. The Switch game launches later this month in Japan, and a rating with a similar name has popped up in Australia. Its classification is listed as “Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIII: Fame and Strategy Expansion Pack Bundle”.
We could have a situation on our hands similar to RPG Maker Fes. A rating for that title appeared just prior to NIS America announcing the title for North America and Europe.
Switch uses NetFront Browser NX
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 8 Comments
Last week, Access announced that NetFront Browser NX is being used with Switch. The system doesn’t have a true internet browser, but limited functionality is offered for functionality such as logging in to Wi-Fi hotspots.
Access has worked with Nintendo several times in the past to bring browsers to Nintendo devices. All of the 3DS models and Wii U incorporated the NetFront Browser NX.
Another look into the left Joy-Con connectivity issues, could be hardware-related
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 39 Comments
Much has been made of syncing issues with Switch’s Joy-Con controllers, particularly with the left one. Spawn Wave looked into the situation with a pair of new videos.
Opening the left Joy-Con circuitry shows that the antennae used for Bluetooth is actually built into the board. Meanwhile, the right controller has an external wired antennae. Interference could be involved with the left Joy-Con resulting in connectivity problems.
Spawn Wave explains the situation towards the end of the first video below. In the second one, a wire is added inside to boost the Bluetooth signal, and the results are very successful.
More: top
Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s map is based on Kyoto
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch, Wii U | 0 comments
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s huge map is based on Kyoto, Japan. That’s according to director Hidemaro Fujibayashi, who revealed the information while speaking with The Verge.
Fujibayashi told the site:
“When I first started looking at this game, I had Link in an empty game field and I would just walk around and try to map out and get a feel for the distance and where landmarks should be. What helped me with this was my hometown, Kyoto. I took a map of Kyoto and overlaid it on the game world, and I tried to imagine going to places that I know in Kyoto. I’d think ‘It takes this much time to get from point A to point B, so how does that translate to the game?’ And that’s how we started mapping out the world in Breath of the Wild.”
Fujibayashi added that using Kyoto as a base was helpful during development since developers were familiar with the region:
