Most Recent: Retro
Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will receive an Expansion Pass on Switch and Wii U
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will offer the largest world in the franchise’s history for players to explore when it launches early next month. But Nintendo also wants players to reach beyond Hyrule’s borders with bonus content they’re creating for the game’s Expansion Pass.
Priced at $19.99, the Expansion Pass will include two DLC Packs and a trio of “Day One” bonus items:
Expansion Pass Bonus (March 3)
- 3 Treasure Chests
- Found in the Great Plateau
- Contains Switch Logo In-Game Clothing + 2 Other Useful Items
DLC Pack 1 (Summer 2017)
- Cave of Trials Challenge
- Hard Mode
- Additional Map Feature
DLC Pack 1 (Holiday 2017)
- New Original Story
- New Dungeon
- Additional Challenges
“The world of Hyrule, which we created for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, is so large and vibrant that we wanted to offer more for players to experience within it,” said Eiji Aonuma, the Franchise Producer in charge of The Legend of Zelda. “With this new Expansion Pass, we hope that fans will play, explore and enjoy the game even more.”
Nintendo’s announcement of an Expansion Pass for Breath of the Wild is a first for a “mainline” Zelda game, but should feel familiar to fans who purchased the Season Pass for Hyrule Warriors.
And if you aren’t ready to upgrade to the Switch just yet, don’t worry, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s Expansion Pass will be available for the Wii U as well.
Indie Megabooth will host 12 games in their GDC 2017 Showcase
The Indie Megabooth will once again offer a small chunk of real estate at the Game Developers Conference to up-and-coming developers this year. Their GDC 2017 Showcase will feature 12 games that are sometimes goofy (Keyboard Sports), sometimes terrifying (Perception), and sometimes without explanation.
The full lineup includes:
Indie Megabooth’s GDC 2017 Showcase
- _Transfer
- A Duel Hand Disaster: Trackher
- Cosmic Express
- I, Hope
- Keyboard Sports
- Lightfield
- Monster Prom
- Perception
- Post Human WAR
- Rogue Process
- Snake Pass
- Super Slime Arena
The Indie Megabooth will set up shop in San Francisco’s Moscone Convention Center on the third floor of West Hall, and more information about every game featured in the Showcase can be found on their official website.
The 2017 Game Developers Conference will begin on February 27.
The Video Game Canon: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island
Dig deeper into the Video Game Canon with a look at the unique advertising Nintendo employed for Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island. Here’s a teaser…
I’m just guessing here, but I’d imagine that many Mario fans have no idea a sequel to Super Mario World even exists. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island was released for the Super NES in 1995 and starred the titular dinosaur in his first solo adventure. Most fans refer to the game as just “Yoshi’s Island,” because it’s such a departure from the rest of the franchise to that point, and because the “Super Mario World 2” print on the game’s box is almost invisible.
Serving as a prequel to the entire Super Mario franchise, Yoshi’s Island introduced Baby Mario to the world and tasked Yoshi with protecting the infant from Baby Bowser. While it’s Fall 1995 release was overshadowed by the launch of the Sega Saturn and the Sony PlayStation, a dedicated cult following has built up around the game over the years.
Though they might not have known exactly which game it was promoting, I guarantee that everyone remembers the commercial Nintendo used to sell Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island in America.
Visit VideoGameCanon.com to continue reading this article and to explore the complete Top 1000.
No new Skylanders game in 2017, but multiple “Adventure Packs” coming
As part of their quarterly financial report yesterday, Activision executives confirmed that a new game in the Skylanders franchise won’t be released in 2017. However, fans should still expect plenty of new content to appear this year.
First and foremost, Skylanders Imaginators will make its Nintendo Switch debut on March 3. The “toys-to-life” franchise has been one of the few third party bright spots on the Wii U, so it’s good to see Activision continuing the tradition on the Switch. And with Imaginators in the spotlight for another year, COO Thomas Tippl confirmed that Activision plans to launch “multiple Adventure Packs, new characters, and new in-game content” for it throughout the year.
Tippl revealed that Netflix’s Skylanders Academy has also been well-received by fans. A second season will premiere on the streaming service sometime this year, and a third is already in the works.
Finally, Activision is working on a new mobile game set in the Skylanders universe, but that’s all we know at this point.
Nintendo Download: Mario Vs Donkey Kong, Azure Striker Gunvolt: The Anime, more
Even though the Switch will be available in slightly more than three weeks, Nintendo continues to fill out the Virtual Console offerings on the Wii U. This week, Wii U owners will be able to download Mario Vs Donkey Kong, which was originally released for the Game Boy Advance in 2004. Like their first meeting, Mario Vs Donkey Kong is a puzzle platformer that pits the two mascots against one another in a battle of wits, this time involving locked doors and runaway Mini-Mario toys.
Gamers who enjoy the Azure Striker Gunvolt series will find a very interesting new offering over on the handheld side of Nintendo’s digital storefront. Azure Striker Gunvolt: The Anime is a standalone OVA created by LandQ Studios and Touhoku Shinkai. The Anime promises a deeper look into the world of Azure Striker Gunvolt, and includes two audio options for viewers… the original Japanese voice cast or a brand new English dub.
Several other new games have also made their way to the Nintendo eShop today, and more information about all of them can be found after the break. (more…)
Nioh, How to Survive 2, 8Days, more added to PS Store
Today’s PlayStation Store update is small, but fans of brutally-hard action games should definitely check it out…
Team Ninja is giving Ryu Hayabusa a break to bring Nioh to the PS4 this week. Nioh is an action RPG that takes place in ancient Japan, and players will have to contend with the warring factions of a civil war while also doing battle with an army of rampaging monsters.
Also available to download for the PS4 this week is How to Survive 2, a survival game where players will have to overcome a worldwide zombie pandemic by building a camp, learning skills, and foraging for food and water. You can even be neighborly and meet with other locals, but as George Romero taught us, sometimes the living are more dangerous than the dead.
Finally this week, 8Days is a retro-inspired twin-stick shooter that takes place in a dystopian future where players might not be fighting for the forces of good.
More information on all of these games (and a few other new releases) can be found after the break. (more…)
Rockstar has shipped more than 75 million copies of GTA5 (and sold most of them)
Even though its been available for more than three years, Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V is still selling like… [insert your own joke about prostitutes here].
Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick delivered the good news during the company’s quarterly financial report yesterday, where he shared that the publisher has shipped more than 75 million copies of the game. It’s unknown exactly how many copies have been sold through to consumers, but it seems likely that fans have scooped up most of them, especially since The NPD Group certified that Grand Theft Auto V was the sixth-best-selling game of 2016.
In other Grand Theft Auto V news, Zelnick confirmed that Rockstar will continue to support the game’s “Grand Theft Auto Online” mode with additional content in 2017.
Tom Brady made Madden NFL 17’s Super Bowl LI prediction come true in spectacular fashion
After falling behind 21-3, things were looking grim for the New England Patriots last night in Super Bowl LI. However, you can’t count out quarterback Tom Brady, who rallied his team and tied the game 28-28 at the end of regulation. For the first time in history, the winner of the Super Bowl would be decided in sudden-death.
The annual Super Bowl prediction from EA Sports didn’t account for this unprecedented event, but when James White scored a touchdown for the Patriots early in overtime, the Madden NFL 17 simulation was proven correct once more. The final score wasn’t exactly the same (EA predicted a 27-24 win for New England) and Julian Edelman didn’t make a game-winning catch (though his receiving skills did help the Patriots send the game to overtime), but EA Sports correctly surmised that Brady would earn MVP honors for the fourth time.
With yet another correct prediction, Madden’s Super Bowl simulation has correctly picked the Super Bowl winner in ten out of the last 14 years.