All Articles: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Nintendo will add VR support to Mario Odyssey and Zelda: Breath of the Wild on April 26

Posted on April 5, 2019 by John Scalzo

Switch owners should be excited, as the Nintendo Labo: VR Kit will finally bring a limited version of virtual reality to the console when it launches next week.

But Nintndo also has plans to quickly expand VR support on the Switch thanks to a pair of free updates coming April 26 to Super Mario Odyssey and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. A recent post on Nintendo.com highlights how the consolemaker plans to integrate the VR Kit’s included VR Goggles with these two games:

Super Mario Odyssey
Experience small areas of the Cap, Seaside, and Luncheon Kingdoms in a whole new way with the Toy-Con VR Goggles. Players must collect music notes and Coins to complete objectives in three new mini-missions.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Enjoy this epic adventure like never before—change modes at any time while adventuring to explore your favorite places with VR!

The Nintendo Labo: VR Kit will be available in stores on April 12, and a new trailer showcasing the upcoming VR features for Super Mario Odyssey and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has been embedded above.

Posted in News, Switch | Tagged , ,

Kingdom Hearts III, Resident Evil 2, New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe unsurprisingly lead NPD’s list of best-selling games from January 2019

Posted on February 21, 2019 by John Scalzo

Kingdom Hearts fans were kept waiting more than a decade for the third game in the franchise, but Square Enix finally rewarded their patience with the launch of Kingdom Hearts III last month. As you might have guessed, fans purchased the game in droves, pushing it all the way to the top of The NPD Group’s list of best-selling games from January 2019.

Two highly-anticipated re-releases, Resident Evil 2 (#2) and New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe (#3) were close behind, and Bandai Namco’s Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown (#7) and Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition (#12) also cracked the top 20.

However, while several games had strong starts on the sales chart, the industry overall suffered a decline last month versus January 2018. All together, GamesIndustry.biz is reporting that total sales (hardware, software, and accessories) were down 19% to $893 million.

You can find a full list of best-selling games from January 2019 after the break. (more…)

Posted in News, PC, PS3, PS4, Switch, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

13 Nintendo-published games for the Switch have sold more than 1 million copies

Posted on February 1, 2019 by John Scalzo

Nintendo-branded products have always taken up a hefty portion of Santa’s sack, and 2018 was no different as Switch sales were huge during the holiday season.

Nintendo sold 15.05 million Switch consoles during the last quarter of 2018, bringing the platform’s total install base to 32.27 million. Consumers also spent the last three months stocking up on software, purchasing 63.51 million games from October through December.

Two games stood out last quarter on the sales charts, as Super Smash Bros. Ultimate sold 12.08 million copies and the combined might of Pokemon: Let’s Go Eevee! and Pokemon: Let’s Go Pikachu! sold 10 million copies. All told, 13 Nintendo-published Switch games have joined the vaunted “Million-Seller” club during this fiscal year (April 2018 – December 2018):

Title Apr 18 – Dec 18 Sales Total Sales
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 12.08 Million 12.08 Million
Pokemon: Let’s Go Eevee!
Pokemon: Let’s Go Pikachu!		 10 Million 10 Million
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe 5.8 Million 15.02 Million
Super Mario Party 5.3 Million 5.3 Million
Super Mario Odyssey 3.35 Million 13.76 Million
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 3.21 Million 11.68 Million
Mario Tennis Aces 2.53 Million 2.53 Million
Splatoon 2 2.25 Million 8.27 Million
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze 2.08 Million 2.08 Million
Kirby Star Allies 1.16 Million 2.42 Million
Octopath Traveler
(US + Europe Only)		 1.08 Million 1.08 Million
Nintendo Labo: Variety Kit 1.06 Million 1.06 Million
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker 1.05 Million 1.05 Million

Even Nintendo’s dedicated handheld was still kicking along in 2018 (albeit slower than before). 3DS owners scooped up 1.07 million copies of Mario Kart 7 during the April through December period, bringing its total to 18.11 million copies sold.

Nintendo’s current fiscal year will end on March 31, and the consolemaker will announce their full-year sales figures sometime in April or May.

Posted in 3DS, News, Switch | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

This “Fan Animation” of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is amazing

Posted on December 31, 2018 by John Scalzo

It’s been several decades since Nintendo tried their hand at an animated series based on The Legend of Zelda, but several fans recently made a very compelling case for why they should try again.

The “Fan Animation” embedded above was recently uploaded by Qianya Yin and Youyang Kong. Based on a short scene from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the dialogue-free film features Link doing battle with a pair of Guardians and rescuing an adorable Korok. It’s impressive, very slick, and the perfect way to spend two minutes on a lazy holiday afternoon.

Those rumors of a live-action series from Netflix may have turned out to be a bust, but I would very happily sit down to watch an entire series of animated episodes created by this duo.

Posted in Etcetera, News, Switch, Wii U | Tagged

Switch surpasses GameCube in total sales as Zelda: Breath of the Wild pushes past 10 million copies sold

Posted on October 30, 2018 by John Scalzo

After just ten months on the market, the Nintendo Switch obliterated the lifetime sales of the Wii U. Today, the consolemaker confirmed that the Switch has left another Nintendo platform in the dust.

Nintendo sold 21.74 million GameCube consoles between 2001 and 2007, but it’s been surpassed by the Switch, which can now lay claim to a worldwide tally of 22.86 million consoles sold. Next on the hit list is the Nintendo 64, which sold 32.93 million consoles between 1996 and 2002.

The Switch’s userbase will surely grow larger as new games become available (including the highly-anticipated launch of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on December 7), but Nintendo is also celebrating the continued success of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild today. After a strong sales surge during the last quarter, the critically-acclaimed Action RPG has now sold more than 10.28 million copies.

That means The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is the third game to join the “Ten Million Club” on the Switch, though it currently sits behind Super Mario Odyssey (12.17 million copies sold) and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (11.71 million copies sold).

Posted in News, Switch | Tagged

Spider-Man swings into view as the best-selling game from September 2018 (and the biggest PlayStation-exclusive launch ever)

Posted on October 24, 2018 by John Scalzo

Spider-Man, Spider-Man, sells much better than 2K can… Look out! Here comes the Spider-Man!

Insomniac’s Spider-Man was already swinging pretty high prior to its September 7th launch, but according to The NPD Group (via GamesIndustry.biz) the superhero game is also the best-selling game of last month and the biggest PlayStation-exclusive launch ever. Oh, and it also performed 37% better than “the combined launch month sales for all other Spider-Man games released since 1995.”

Wow.

Spider-Man trounced the competition in September, beating out a ton of new releases in the top ten including NBA 2K19 (#2), Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey (#3), FIFA 19 (#4), Shadow of the Tomb Raider (#5), Forza Horizon 4 (#7), Super Mario Party (#9), and NHL 19 (#10).

Below the top ten, several popular titles continued to prove their resiliency. Grand Theft Auto V (#13), Mario Kart 8 (#14), and Minecraft (#20) have all been hanging around the top of the charts for the last four years, and their new-generation re-releases have likely cemented their spot among the best-sellers for another four.

But you can find the full list of last month’s best-selling games after the break. (more…)

Posted in News, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

New Retail Releases: FIFA 19, Valkyria Chronicles 4, This Is the Police II, More

Posted on September 24, 2018 by John Scalzo

It’s Monday, and that means another big batch of new games will be available at your favorite retail establishment this week…

Leading the way is the latest iteration in EA Sports’s annual series of soccer simulations, FIFA 19. The game will launch its way towards the goal on the PS4, Switch, and Xbox One in a Standard Editions and a Champions Edition. FIFA 19 will also be available to download for the PC through EA’s Origin service.

Sega is bringing back a beloved franchise this week as Valkyria Chronicles 4 will also make its way to the PS4, Switch, and Xbox One. Featuring hand-drawn visuals and gameplay that melds together a turn-based strategy RPG and a third-person shooter, fans will also be able to download Valkyria Chronicles 4 for the PC.

Strategy RPG fans might also be interested in This Is the Police II for the PS4, Switch, and Xbox One. Players will manage a Sheriff’s Department in the “cold border town” of Sharpwood in a “harsh story where no one is completely innocent.”

Elsewhere on the shelves, Bandai Namco will re-release Dragon Ball FighterZ and Namco Museum Arcade Pac (which comes bundled with Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 Plus) for the Switch. And Nintendo themselves will launch new Starter Editions of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Splatoon 2, Super Mario Odyssey.

Finally this week, Gun Media will resurrect the Friday the 13th: Ultimate Slasher Edition for the PS4 and Xbox One, which includes the original game and all previously-released downloadable content.

A complete list of this week’s new releases can be found after the break. (more…)

Posted in 3DS, News, PS4, Switch, Xbox One | Tagged , , , , , ,

Madden NFL 19 beat out Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 to become the best-selling game of August 2018

Posted on September 19, 2018 by John Scalzo

As new entries in the series always do, EA Sports’s Madden NFL 19 broke away from the pack and sprinted for the end zone as the best-selling game of August 2018. But it’s one of the games it beat out that might be the most interesting story from The NPD Group’s latest report.

According to the market research company (via GamesIndustry.biz), the #8 spot in last month’s list of best-selling games was occupied by Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, a title that was originally launched in 2009. So why the sudden sales surge? The most likely explanation is because Microsoft recently added the Xbox 360 edition of the game to the Xbox One’s Backwards Compatibility Library.

Adding new sales to perennially best-selling games was absolutely a trend in August, as 2015’s Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege (#3), 2013’s Grand Theft Auto V (#4), and 2014’s Mario Kart 8 (#5) all cracked the top five. But if you’re looking for newer titles, Capcom’s Monster Hunter: World continued its improbable run at the top of the charts by landing at the #2 spot thanks to the PC edition’s August launch.

Overall, the game industry grew 26% year-over-year with total sales of $796 million, including $214 million in hardware (a 28% increase), $330 million for software (a 16% increase), and $251 million for accessories (a whopping 39% increase).

A list of last month’s best-selling games can be found after the break. (more…)

Posted in News, PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,