Nintendo announced an Expansion Pass for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild last week. Those who buy it upon release on March 3 will have access to a few items, but the real content will be delivered in the summer and the holiday season with additions such as a new hard mode, new dungeon, and a new original story.

Some fans were taken aback by the DLC announcement. The reaction has been mixed, as is evident through the likes to dislikes ratio from the news shared on Nintendo’s YouTube page.

Nintendo’s Bill Trinen stopped by the latest episode of IGN’s Nintendo Voice Chat podcast this week to chat more about Switch. During the show, he was asked about his response to the Zelda DLC reaction. That prompted him to explain Nintendo’s approach, and Trinen shared an in-depth answer as to why Nintendo is deciding to create DLC for Breath of the Wild.

He said:

More: Bill Trinen, interview, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, top

Nintendo considered making Link 25-30 years old in Zelda: Twilight Princess, Wolf Link design talk

Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in GameCube, News, Wii, Wii U | 11 Comments

A few years ago, Nintendo and Dark Horse brought out The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia. The book showed a bunch of concept art from the series, including Twilight Princess. There were many interesting designs depicted for characters such as Link. In some of the drawings, Link looked quite a bit older than his final version in the game. Now we have an idea about the potential age Nintendo was thinking about.

Nintendo artists Yusuke Nakano and Satoru Takizawa spoke about designing Link for Twilight Princess in the new Zelda: Art & Artifacts book. Nakano touched on how Nintendo considered making the character “twenty-five… maybe even thirty.” The intent was “making him quite sturdy”

Also worth mentioning, when designing Wolf Link, Takizawa noted how Nintendo thought about giving him a wolf cut hairstyle, “which would have given him a more wolfish look.”

Here’s the full transcript about Link’s design in Twilight Princess:

More: interview, Satoru Takizawa, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD, top, Yusuke Nakano

[Interview] Tomorrow Corporation on initial Switch games, future projects

Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Interviews, Switch eShop | 6 Comments

We recently fired off some questions to Tomorrow Corporation’s Kyle Gabler in hopes of learning a bit more about World of Goo, Little Inferno, and Human Resource Machine on Switch. What we didn’t expect were incredibly entertaining replies, making for one of our zaniest interviews yet.

We did ask Tomorrow Corporation about its initial slate of Switch titles. Additionally, Gabler teased future projects. Two are on the way, one of which is the biggest game yet from Tomorrow Corporation.

You can read our full interview with Tomorrow Corporation below.

More: highlight, Human Resource Machine, interview, Little Inferno, Tomorrow Corporation, top, World of Goo

[Review] Tank Troopers

Posted on 7 years ago by Jakob Vujovic(@jakovujo) in 3DS eShop, Reviews | 15 Comments

System: 3DS (eShop)
Release date: February 16, 2017
Developer: Vitei / Nintendo
Publisher Nintendo

Tank Troopers is strong in many of the same ways Steel Diver was good, so it wasn’t surprising to see that Vitei (the developer that assisted development on that title) made this. Comparing a game’s strengths to the infamously barebones 3DS launch title isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement, and for as many strengths it shares, those weaknesses are also present – even if to a lesser extent. There’s just not a lot of stuff to do, even if it does have some of the dichotomy of cutesy war charm of the World War I dogfighting game Snoopy Flying Ace.

More: highlight, Tank Troopers, top, Vitei

[Let’s Talk] Will you still pick up Zelda: Breath of the Wild on Wii U?

Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Let's Talk, Wii U | 63 Comments

Like many of you, I have The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild pre-ordered on Switch. I fully intend to play the game on that new system. But the thing is, I also have a pre-order for the Wii U version, and I’m hesitant to cancel it.

I’m not entirely sure why. I don’t know when, if ever, I’d get around to playing Breath of the Wild on Wii U. The game is mostly the same on both platforms, but Switch is always where I’d play it. I only picked up the Wii version back when Twilight Princess came out. At that time, there was more of an incentive to buy it on GameCube as well due to the world being flipped. This time around, I almost feel like I’m inclined to hold onto Breath of the Wild on Wii U due to it being the last game for the system, and it may be tough to find later on. Maybe I’m being weirdly sentimental.

So here’s a question for you guys this week: will you buy Zelda: Breath of the Wild on Wii U? Will you still pick up that version even if you’ll be buying and playing the game on Switch? Maybe some of you don’t have plans to purchase a Switch in the near future, or just want to hold on to the game for other reasons like myself. Of course, I fully expect that many of you are just going for Switch, and that makes total sense. In any case, let us know about what you’re planning in the comments below.

Highlights from last week’s topic: What are you playing? – February 2017

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Nintendo says “small number” of Switch systems were stolen, confirms early unit was “illegally resold”

Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 76 Comments

Nintendo has provided a statement to IGN noting that “a small number” of Switch units were stolen “in an isolated incident by employees of a U.S. distributor”. The company adds that “units were stolen in an isolated incident by employees of a U.S. distributor, with one system being illegally resold.”

Fortunately, Nintendo has discovered the root of the problem. “The individuals involved have been identified, terminated from their place of employment and are under investigation by local law enforcement authorities on criminal charges,” the company says.

Here’s Nintendo’s full statement:

“Earlier this week, individuals claimed to prematurely purchase a small number of Nintendo Switch systems from an unspecified retailer. Nintendo has determined these units were stolen in an isolated incident by employees of a U.S. distributor, with one system being illegally resold. The individuals involved have been identified, terminated from their place of employment and are under investigation by local law enforcement authorities on criminal charges.
Nintendo Switch will launch worldwide on March 3, 2017, and we look forward to everyone being able to discover the wonders of the new system for themselves at that time.”

This is all related to the Switch leak from earlier in the week. hiphoptherobot, who obtained the system, indicated today that it was sold to him after it was obtained through illegal means. While Nintendo took back the system, he apparently won’t be getting into any trouble.

Source

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Suda51 talks a bit more about Switch, wants Travis Touchown in Smash Bros.

Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News, Switch | 59 Comments

Suda51 appeared on the latest episode of IGN’s Up At Noon show this past week. At one point, the No More Heroes creator tackled a few questions about Switch.

First, when asked about whether it’s easy developing for the platform and working with Nintendo, he responded by saying that it’s extremely easy. He also feels that the environments are in place to make things easy for developers.

Suda51 then said that he’s hoping to bring back many familiar characters for his new project on Switch – including Travis Touchdown obviously. He’s thinking about how to use the Joy-Con controllers for something like charging Travis’ Beam Katana. On Wii, the No More Heroes games had players recharging the weapon by by shaking the Wii Remote.

More: interview, Suda51, Super Smash Bros., top

Artists on why Nintendo didn’t move forward with realistic Zelda on GameCube after Spaceworld tech demo

Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in GameCube, General Nintendo, News | 47 Comments

One of the more memorable moments in Zelda history was when Nintendo showed a GameCube tech demo at Spaceworld 2000. A brief scene depicted Link and Ganondorf duking it out in a realistic style. But as we later learned, it was just that – a tech demo and nothing more. Nintendo ended up going in a completely opposite direction for the next Zelda game following Ocarina of Time. Around two to three years later, Nintendo released the cartoon-esque, cel-shaded Wind Waker.

So what’s the story behind that tech demo anyway? And why did Nintendo decide against moving forward with it? In the new Zelda: Art & Artifacts book, artists Yoshiki Haruhana and Satoru Takizawa commented on the situation:

More: interview, Satoru Takizawa, The Legend of Zelda, top, Yoshiki Haruhana

Switch dev talk – 50,000 yen for a kit, Capcom wants to make AAA games, much more

Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 55 Comments

Earlier today, the Game Creators Conference was held in Japan. At the event, Nintendo’s Masaru Mitsuyoshi held a joint session with Capcom’s Masaru Ijuin about Switch.

One big thing to get out of the way: Switch development kits. These are planned for a cost of roughly 50,000 yen. If you’re doing a direct conversion, that’d be about $450 / $500.

Originally, the Joy-Con controllers were still in the research phase and weren’t included in the explanation document. Ijuin from Capcom said that there was only a touch panel form factor and nothing like the Joy-Con. Because of that, he wasn’t sure in what way the device would be portable. Then after the Joy-Con appeared, he thought “I got it!”.