Most Recent: Wii U
New footage from Nintendo’s Zelda: Breath of the Wild and 2K’s Prey will debut during the 2016 Game Awards
The 2016 Game Awards are just a few days away, and in addition to crowning this year’s “Game of the Year,” host Geoff Keighley will also introduce a handful of World Premiere trailers featuring some of 2017’s biggest games.
Yesterday, we learned the names of two more games that’ll get a few minutes in the spotlight courtesy of the awards show… Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and 2K’s Prey:
Catch @thegameawards on 12/1 for an exclusive look at The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. pic.twitter.com/JkJjeoeUlO
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) November 28, 2016
Don’t miss the worldwide debut of new #Prey gameplay @thegameawards Tune-in Thursday night at https://t.co/u70K4l9Oyx and Alter Your Reality pic.twitter.com/d0tjKqxZfM
— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) November 28, 2016
The 2016 Game Awards will kick off at 8:30 PM (Eastern Time) on Thursday, December 1. Keighley has promised the night will be full of surprises and the host previously confirmed that BioWare will also take the stage this year to debut the first gameplay footage from Mass Effect: Andromeda.
Black Friday Game Deals 2016: Amazon
Black Friday has arrived, so I hope your wallet is ready for the deal-splosion happening at Amazon today.
As is Amazon’s MO, not all of the deals that are currently available on the site will be available all day. But we’ll do our best to keep you updated on the best discounts, as well as a revolving series of Lightning Deals. In the meantime, you can find a massive list of Black Friday Deals after the break for games such as Forza Horizon 3, Gears of War 4, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, and Dishonored 2, as well as console bundles and gaming accessories like mice, keyboards, controllers, and headsets.
And don’t forget about the rest of this year’s Black Friday Game Deals. (more…)
Nintendo Download: Zelda Majora’s Mask, Dragon Ball Fusions, Breath of Fire II, more
It’s Thursday, so Happy Thanksgiving! And since Thursday is also the day Nintendo adds new games to the Nintendo eShop, let’s have a look…
This week, the consolemaker will add The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask to the Wii U eShop. Originally released for the Nintendo 64 back in 2000, Majora’s Mask is probably the most divisive game in the franchise’s history. But lots of people loved its unique structure and overall weird vibe, so it might be worth another look.
On the other side of the Nintendo eShop, a pair of RPGs are also available to download this week on the 3DS. Dragon Ball Fusions is the latest game based on the popular anime, and it combines “fighting, customization, and collection elements” to “see who the best fighters are.” Meanwhile, Capcom’s Breath of Fire II was originally released for the Super NES, and players can join the fight “to rid the world of a growing evil” today.
More information on all of these games (and a few other new releases) can be found after the break. (more…)
Black Friday Game Deals 2016: Nintendo eShop (11/23 – 12/5)
This might be the Wii U’s last Christmas, but Nintendo wants owners of the oft-neglected console have a chance to stock up on some great games this Black Friday. The Black Friday Sale on the Nintendo eShop will include nearly two dozen Wii U titles including Star Fox Zero ($34.99), The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD ($34.99), Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($23.99), and more.
Deep discounts are also in store for several 3DS games this Black Friday including Hyrule Warriors Legends ($27.99), Mega Man Legacy Collection ($7.49), Monster Hunter Generations ($23.99), and others.
Nintendo’s Black Friday Sale on the Nintendo eShop begins today, and all sale prices will be active until Monday, December 5, at noon (Eastern Time). A full list of sale titles can be found after the break. (more…)
Nintendo Download: Pokemon Sun/Moon, Excitebike 64, Wario Land Shake It, more
It’s time to catch ’em all once again… and that’s because Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon will be available to download through the 3DS eShop beginning tomorrow. The latest pair of games in the long-running series will let players travel to the never-before-seen Alola Region. There, they’ll discover new Pokemon and unleash intense Z-Moves in battle.
Over on the Wii U eShop, two new Virtual Console titles have made Nintendo’s home console a bit more retro-tastic today. First up is Excitebike 64, which was originally released for the Nintendo 64 in 2000. The well-received motocross racer brought the franchise back from a lengthy pit stop, and Nintendo even managed to resurrect the famed Track Editor.
Also available to download for the Wii U today is Wario Land: Shake It, which first launched for the Wii in 2008. Wario’s last side-scroller platformer used hand-drawn artwork to tell its story, but players were still encouraged to be as bad as they could be by shaking to Wii Remote to “shake down your enemies, free coins from treasure bags, and even cause in-game earthquakes.”
More information on all of these games (and a few other new releases) can be found after the break. (more…)
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End leads the way at 2016 Game Awards with eight nominations
We’re rapidly approaching the end of the year, and that means the 2016 Game Awards are right around the corner. The Game Awards will once again be produced and hosted by Geoff Keighley, who will honor this year’s best games and look to the future with a number of huge World Premieres, including the first gameplay footage from BioWare’s Mass Effect: Andromeda.
Before we blast off to a far away galaxy, let’s stop and recognize Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, which received eight nominations this year from the Game Awards Advisory Board. In addition to “Game of the Year,” Nathan Drake’s final adventure is also up for “Best Game Direction,” “Best Art Direction,” “Best Narrative,” and “Best Action/Adventure Game,” along with a “Best Performance” nomination for all three of the game’s main performers.
Uncharted 4 will compete with some of 2016’s biggest titles for “Game of the Year” at the 2016 Game Awards including Doom, Inside, Overwatch, and Titanfall 2.
“The Game Awards is all about celebrating the state of video game art,” said Keighley. “In just a few short weeks we will recognize the most outstanding games of 2016 in unexpected ways, and preview the most anticipated games of 2017 and beyond with the longest, most in-depth world premieres we’ve ever attempted… including surprises and new game announcements.”
The Game Awards will be held on December 1 at 9:00 PM (Eastern Time), and fans can watch the show through their favorite video streaming service or at TheGameAwards.com. The full list of nominees can be found after the break. (more…)
Nintendo is taking a Legend of Zelda Escape Room on tour in 2017
It looks like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild won’t be the only new Hyrulian adventure that Nintendo has planned for 2017. The consolemaker has teamed up with Scrap, the winner of USA Today’s “Best Escape Room of 2016” award, to create a Zelda-themed live puzzle experience known as Defenders of the Triforce:
While the words “escape room” might come to mind when describing this new experience, Defenders of the Triforce is so much more than that. Instead of escaping from a locked room, participants work in teams of six to solve a mystery in a huge area, all within a set time limit. The experience will let guests interact with classic items and characters seen in The Legend of Zelda series like the Goron, Zora, and Kokiri tribes. Discovered items can be used to solve puzzles and move forward into other areas, just like in The Legend of Zelda games.
The Defenders of the Triforce Puzzle Tour is currently scheduled to hit eight cities next year, and tickets can be purchased at ScrapZelda.com:
Defenders of the Triforce Puzzle Tour
- San Francisco: January 31 – February 5
- Los Angeles: February 10-12
- San Diego: February 24-25
- Seattle: TBA
- Phoenix: TBA
- Houston: TBA
- Chicago: TBA
- New York: TBA
Hopefully, more dates will be added to the Defenders of the Triforce Puzzle Tour soon.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild might not be a launch title for Nintendo Switch
Officially, Nintendo will launch The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild sometime in 2017, though many fans are hoping it’ll be released in March as part of the Switch’s launch lineup. Unfortunately, if you believe a new rumor from “Emily Rogers,” it’s much more likely the game will available in Summer 2017.
Breath of the Wild is shaping up to be a big game, and according to Rogers’s sources, it’s taking Nintendo much longer to localize it than they originally planned. Because of this scheduling snafu, the sources say Nintendo will need an addition four-to-six months to test Breath of the Wild for bugs, which would push its launch to next Summer:
That brings us to the month of November. More sources have now come forward and corroborated my information. They’ve told me that localization for Breath of the Wild might not be finished until the end of December. After localization is completed, this game will require between (at least) four-to-six months of testing. As I mentioned earlier, this is one of Nintendo’s largest and most ambitious games ever. The amount of testing required for a huge open-world game like this is enormous. Nintendo’s intention is to have the game as bug free as possible.
Eurogamer corroborated this proposed production schedule with their own internal sources, so it’s looking more and more likely that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild won’t be ready in time for the Switch’s launch window.