Warp Zoned Presents
Most Recent: Retro
Retro-styled Breath of the Wild fangame will remove Zelda characters after takedown notice from Nintendo
As expected, Nintendo has dropped the hammer on The Legend of Zelda: Breath of a NES, a retro-styled reimagining of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The takedown notice was issued to developer Winter Drake by Nintendo’s lawyers over the weekend, and it’s available for public viewing on Twitter.
Even though this is a huge setback for Winter Drake, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of a NES will continue in an altered form. The developer has vowed to remove every reference to Nintendo’s franchise, and replace them with original characters and designs. Winter Drake even posted this encouraging message on the game’s Itch.io this morning: “Nintendo has asked me to take stop hosting the game. The project will live on, just not with Zelda characters.”
And speaking to Kotaku, Winter Drake revealed that the new vision for Breath of the NES will include “32-bit sprites” and “a rich soundtrack”:
As for what Breath of the NES’s spiritual successor will look like, Winter is planning on 32-bit sprites working with musicians to put together a rich soundtrack. Substituting improved gameplay and originality for the 8-bit nostalgia powering the original project won’t be easy though, meaning we probably won’t see a new trailer or playable demo for some time. “Ideally I’d like to make the final game a big cross-platform release on Steam,” Winter said. “I may even start a Kickstarter once I can show off what the new game will have to offer.”
As before, Winter Drake will be providing additional updates on the progress of Breath of the NES’s successor on Twitter.
Posted in News, PC, Switch, Wii U
Tagged The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Shovel Knight: Official Design Works officially announced by Udon Entertainment
It looks like the rumors are true… Udon Entertainment will release a Shovel Knight artbook this August.
Shovel Knight: Official Design Works will include an in-depth look at the early concept art that allowed Shovel Knight to become a Kickstarter darling and indie sensation, as well an exclusive interview with the development team:
Udon has worked very closely with developer Yacht Club Games to ensure that Shovel Knight: Official Design Works is every bit the definitive Shovel Knight art book that fans deserve. Within its pages you’ll find character art, developer commentary, rough illustrations and concept art, background development images, comprehensive sprite sheets, full-page promotional illustrations, and more – including an exclusive interview with the game’s development team!
The 184-page book will also include content from the game’s first expansion, Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows.
If you can’t wait until August, you can view a selection of preview pages at the the publishing company’s official website right now.
Nintendo will release New 2DS XL handheld on July 28
It’s 11:00, do you know what Nintendo is doing? The answer, of course, is that NO ONE ever knows what Nintendo is doing.
In the middle of the night (though to be fair, it’s only 8:00 PM on the west coast), Nintendo has decided to announce a new addition to their handheld line… the New 2DS XL. The New 2DS XL includes all the improvements that Nintendo added to the XL line (the C-Stick, built-in Amiibo functionality, XL screens, more processing power, a slicker overall presentation), but removed the glasses-free 3D that originally gave the handheld its name. The new handheld is still a few months away, but all this will be available for just $149.99 on July 28.
Also on July 28, Nintendo has announced plans to launch two new 2DS/3DS games… Hey! Pikmin and Miitopia:
Hey! Pikmin – In this brand-new style of Pikmin game, players guide Captain Olimar through 2D side-scrolling levels and collect Sparklium to refuel his crashed ship, the S.S. Dolphin 2, so he can escape the planet. The touch-screen controls let players choose the right Pikmin to toss at enemies and objects, which is critical to defeating foes and solving the many puzzles Olimar encounters during his adventure.
Miitopia – Band together with your Mii and Mii friends to explore your own personalized world of Miitopia. Cast Mii characters into various roles and watch hilarious scenes unfold as they work together to defeat the Dark Lord who has stolen the faces of townspeople of Miitopia. Players can bring in their created Mii characters from the Miitomo or Tomodachi Life games, or create their own Mii team in the game. This game has a lighthearted tone with traditional and strategic RPG-like elements, including customization, relationship building and team management.
You can get a closer look at the New 2DS XL in the trailer embedded above.
Posted in 3DS, News
Tagged Miitopia, Pikmin For Nintendo 3DS
Nintendo Download: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Puyo Puyo Tetris, TumbleSeed, more
After being on store shelves for almost two month, Nintendo’s next wave of major new releases for the Switch are ready to launch this week on the Nintendo eShop.
Leading things off is Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the ultimate version of the kart racer that was originally released for the Wii U in 2014. Players will receive all the content included in the base game and both DLC Packs, as well as Switch-exclusive content including five new characters (Bowser Jr., Dry Bones, King Boo, and Boy and Girl Inklings), a brand new Battle Mode, new weapons, and the ability to carry two items at the same time. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe will be available to download tomorrow, April 28.
Also available to download for the Switch this week is Puyo Puyo Tetris, a crossover puzzle game that’s built for multiplayer play. But don’t worry, single-player Adventure and Challenge modes are also on the menu.
Finally, TumbleSeed will be available to download for the Switch early next week, on May 2. Designer Greg Wohlwend (who also contributed to Threes and Ridiculous Fishing) describes the game as “a deceptively deep roguelike about balancing a seed up a dangerous and ever-changing mountain.”
You can learn more about all of these games (and a few other new releases on the Switch and Wii U) after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Switch, Wii U
Tagged Mario Kart 8, Puyo Puyo Tetris
Nintendo’s 2016-2017 Annual Report: Big sales for Switch, Zelda BotW, Pokemon + Fall release dates for Xenoblade 2, Mario Odyssey, more
Nintendo published their annual financial report this morning, and the company gave us our best look yet at the Switch’s retail prospects, as well as reconfirmed several 2017 releases.
The big announcement today is that Nintendo has sold 2.74 million Switch consoles around the world as of March 31. Nintendo originally predicted that they’d sell two million around Switch consoles in March, so it’s safe to say they surpassed their goal. The consolemaker expects to sell ten million more Switch consoles before the start of their next fiscal year. If this prediction proves accurate, the Switch will have matched the total sales of the Wii U in a single year.
Moving on to games, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has proven to be fairly popular, with total sales of 3.84 million copies sold (2.76 on the Switch and 1.08 on the Wii U). And don’t count out the 3DS just yet. According to Nintendo, Pokemon Sun and Moon combined to sell 15.44 million copies since they were released in November.
Nintendo closed out their report with the promise of a bright future, reiterating that all of their upcoming Switch and 3DS game are still on track to be released in 2017. Super Mario Odyssey and Fire Emblem Warriors are both still set for the Fall, and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is still penciled in for a “TBA 2017” launch date.
Other titles scheduled to be released this Fall include Monster Hunter Stories, Yo-Kai Watch 2: Psychic Specters, Kirby‘s next 3DS game, and Miitopia. Ever Oasis (June 23), Hey Pikmin (July 28), Splatoon 2 (July 21), and Arms (June 16) are set for this Summer.
Nintendo will most likely reveal a lot more about all of these games at this year’s E3 Expo… unless they get delayed, of course.
Posted in 3DS, News, Switch, Wii U
Tagged Arms, Ever Oasis, Fire Emblem Warriors, Kirby: Battle Royale, Miitopia, Monster Hunter Stories, Pikmin For Nintendo 3DS, Pokemon Sun/Moon, Splatoon 2, Super Mario Odyssey, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Yo-Kai Watch 2: Bony Spirits/Fleshy Souls
What Remains of Edith Finch, Dragon Quest Heroes II, Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment, more added to PS Store
The PlayStation Store is bursting with new releases this week, so let’s not waste any time…
We start things off with What Remains of Edith Finch, a first-person narrative adventure for the PS4 from Giant Sparrow, the development team behind The Unfinished Swan. Giant Sparrow thinks of the game as a “collection of strange tales,” and players will need to explore a colossal mansion to learn the secrets of the Finch family.
If you’d rather whack things with a giant sword, PS4 owners will also get the chance to go medieval this week with the release of Square Enix/Koei Tecmo’s Dragon Quest Heroes II and Yacht Club’s Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment. More modern weaponry is available in Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3, a new combat simulation for the PS4 that offers an open world and gives players the ability to tackle missions in any way they choose.
A terrifying trio of new games will also be available to download for the PS4 this week. Deathstate is a “single-stick shooter” with retro-styled Lovecraftian monsters; Little Nightmares is a moody platformer from Bandai Namco; and Outlast II is a followup to Red Barrels’s first-person frightener. And speaking of horrors, The Walking Dead: A New Frontier – Episode 4: Thicker Than Water is also available to download for the PS4.
Finally this week, the Syberia series returns for the first time in more than a decade with a PS4 release for Syberia 3.
You can learn more about all of these games (and a few other new releases) after the break. (more…)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the NES fangame transforms Breath of the Wild into an 8-bit adventure
Nintendo famously created an 8-bit prototype of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild to help the development team get acclimated to working with its many interlocking systems. Fans have been clamoring for a chance to play this prototype since its reveal, but Nintendo doesn’t appear to be in any rush to make it available for public use.
Naturally, a dedicated Nintendo fan, Winter Drake, has decided to create a playable version of the prototype in his spare time.
The fangame is known as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the NES, and a demo is currently available as a free download through Itch.io. Nintendo is usually quick to ask their lawyers to issue a “Cease and Desist” order when their characters are used in a fan-created game, but the developer of Breath of the NES has vowed to finish at any costs. Specifically, they told Kotaku that he plans to swap out Link and his Hyrulian enemies with original characters when the time comes:
“When a lot of people hear about this project, they jump to worrying about a cease and desist from Nintendo,” Winter Drake told Kotaku. “While I’m going to stay hardworking on Breath of the NES for as long as I can, if Nintendo asks me to stop using their IP, I do plan to continue development with my own original characters. I’m having way too much fun creating this world to just give up.”
Winter Drake also said they’re not creating a direct conversion of Breath of the Wild, but want to “capture the spirit” of the game:
“This project is still in its early stages… I’ll be adding more areas with distinct elements and atmospheres, puzzle elements for dungeons, and lots of ways to creatively kill enemies,” Winter Drake, the developer behind Breath of the NES, told Kotaku.
“I have a lot of plans for original features in the game, and although I’d like to capture the spirit of BotW and NES Zelda, I’m not restricting myself to be perfectly faithful.”
Winter Drake will be providing additional updates on Breath of the NES’s development on Twitter.
Splatoon manga coming to North America in Fall 2017
CoroCoro Comics published a manga series based on Nintendo’s Splatoon in Japan after the game’s launch in 2015. Serialized in CoroCoro magazine, the series, which was written and illustrated by Sankichi Hinodeya, was eventually compiled in two volumes.
This weekend, Viz Media announced (via Twitter) that they’re translating it into English for a North American release this Fall.
We don’t currently have any more details than that, but fans will get the chance to dive back into the world of Splatoon this July when Splatoon 2 launches for the Nintendo Switch.