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All Articles: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Horizon: Zero Dawn lead all nominees at 2018 GDC Awards
The organizers of the Game Developers Conference have announced the nominees for this year’s Game Developers Choice Awards.
Nintendo and Sony have a lot to celebrate this year as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Horizon: Zero Dawn tied for the most nominations, with six apiece. Both games are in the running for “Game of the Year,” and both were also nominated in the “Best Audio,” “Best Design,” “Best Technology,” and “Best Visual Art” categories. Breath of the Wild tacked on one more nominations for the “Innovation Award,” while Horizon nabbed a nomination for “Best Narrative.”
Both games should probably be considered the frontrunners for the “Game of the Year” award, but they’ll also have to compete with PUBG Corporation’s PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Platinum Games’s Nier: Automata, and Nintendo’s Super Mario Odyssey for the coveted honor.
Outside of the “Game of the Year” competition, Studio MDHR’s Cuphead captured three nominations for “Best Audio,” “Best Debut,” and “Best Visual Art.”
The 2018 GDC Awards ceremony will take place on on Wednesday, March 21, at 6:30 PM (Pacific Time). The full list of nominees, and all the Honorable Mentions, can be found after the break. (more…)
Nintendo sold 4.8 million Switch consoles in US in 2017… a record-setting start for a console
The Nintendo Switch continued its record-breaking streak today.
Nintendo has announced that 4.8 million Switch consoles were sold in the United States in 2017, making it the fastest-selling console of all time. The previous record holder, the Wii, sold four million consoles in the US during its first ten month on sale in 2006-2007.
“Fans across the country have experienced the joy of playing their favorite games at home or on the go,” said Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America’s President and COO. “Now that many more people have received Nintendo Switch systems for the holidays, we look forward to bringing them fun new surprises in 2018 and beyond.”
As part of the announcement, the consolemaker also revealed a few impressive sales figures for a handful of first-party games. Super Mario Odyssey was the Switch’s best-selling game during its first calendar year, and more than 60% of Switch owners in the US purchased the game (which translates to about 2.9 million copies). It was followed closely by The Legend of Zelda: Breath of Wild, which is owned by 55% of Switch owners (totaling 2.6 million copies). In third place, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was purchased by 50% of Switch owners (for sales of 2.4 million copies) and Splatoon 2 inked an ownership agreement with 20% of Switch owners (totaling almost a million copies in sales).
Finally, Nintendo confirmed that Switch owners can look forward to new games from EA, Activision, Ubisoft, Capcom, Sega, Take Two, and Bethesda in 2018. This is interesting as EA, Activision, and Take Two have yet to announce any further games for the Switch. So I guess we can look forward to announcements from all three companies in the very near future.
Posted in News, Switch
Tagged Mario Kart 8, Splatoon 2, Super Mario Odyssey, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Nintendo Power is back… as a podcast
It’s been five years since Nintendo pulled the plug on their official magazine, Nintendo Power, but bright days are ahead for the beloved brand. And that’s because Nintendo launched the very first episode of the Nintendo Power Podcast today.
Hosted by Chris Slate, the first episode delves into Nintendo’s big 2017 with Kit Ellis, the co-host of Nintendo Minute, and Damon Baker, the consolemaker’s Head of Publisher & Developer Relations. It also includes an extensive interview with Producer Eiji Aonuma and Director Hidemaro Fujibayashi, the minds behind The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
It’s unknown how often Nintendo will produce new episodes of the Nintendo Power Podcast, but I’m eagerly awaiting the next one. Each episode will be available through SoundCloud, iTunes, and the Google Play Store.
Posted in 3DS, News, Switch, Wii U
Tagged The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Call of Duty: WWII leads a huge month for game sales as best-selling game of Nov. 2017
Fans have been asking to send the Call of Duty franchise back to the European Theater for years, and now that Activision has finally delivered, those same fans have gleefully opened their wallets. According to The NPD Group, Call of Duty: WWII was the best-selling game in November, as well as the best-selling game in all of 2017 (so far).
Call of Duty: WWII’s launch helped push November 2017’s total game, hardware, and accessory sales to $2.7 billion, an increase of 30% over last year. Other big performers that fuled the last four weeks of sales included Star Wars: Battlefront II (#2), Assassin’s Creed Origins (#3), Super Mario Odyssey (#6), and a big debut for Need For Speed: Payback (#8).
The complete Top 20 from last month can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Switch, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Assassin's Creed Origins, Call of Duty: WWII, Destiny 2, FIFA 18, Grand Theft Auto V, Just Dance 2018, Madden NFL 18, Mario Kart 8, Middle-Earth: Shadow of War, NBA 2K18, Need For Speed Payback, NPD, Pokemon Sun/Moon, South Park: The Fractured But Whole, Star Wars: Battlefront II, Super Mario Odyssey, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, The Sims 4, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, WWE 2K18
Link rides a motorcycle in Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s Champions Ballad DLC… which is now available to download
The Champions Ballad, the second expansion from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild‘s Expansion Pass, is now available to download from the Nintendo eShop on the Switch and Wii U. Nintendo surprise-launched the DLC during last night’s Game Awards, while also introducing Link’s motorcycle in a new trailer:
In this second of two DLC packs that are part of the game’s Expansion Pass, players are granted access to a large new adventure featuring a never-before-seen dungeon, new insights into the background of the game’s four Champions, as well as a new high-mobility means of transportation. Once players complete the adventure, they will have the opportunity to traverse the enormous world of Hyrule on top of a motorcycle called Master Cycle Zero. The DLC will also grant access to nine new armor items for players to find, as well as the Ancient Saddle and Bridle items.
The Expansion Pass, which includes The Champion Ballad, as well as The Trial of the Sword, is now available to purchase for $19.99.
Posted in News, Switch, Wii U
Tagged Game Awards 2017, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild wins “Game of the Year” at the 2017 Game Awards
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Cuphead, and Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice dominated this year’s Game Awards, which were hosted by Geoff Keighley last night in Los Angeles.
Breath of the Wild kickstarted the launch of the Nintendo Switch in a big way this past March, so it’s not surprising that it also won “Game of the Year” at the Game Awards. Link’s latest adventure also claimed victory in two additional categories last night, “Best Game Direction” and “Best Action/Adventure Game.”
Studio MDHR’s Cuphead was released to quite a bit of fanfare earlier this Fall, and the side-scrolling shooter delivered at the Game Awards with wins for “Best Art Direction” (thanks to its beautiful 1930s-inspired animation) “Best Independent Game,” and the fan-voted “Best Debut Indie Game.”
Finally, Ninja Theory has been touting Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice as their “AAA Indie,” and the game lived up to that billing with victories for “Best Audio Design,” “Games For Impact” (for a storyline that dealt with mental illness), and “Best Performance” for Melina Juergens’s voicework as Senua.
Congratulations to the development teams responsible for all this year’s nominees, and you can find a full list of the winners after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS4, Wii U, Xbox One
Tagged Game Awards 2017, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Middle-Earth: Shadow of War, Assassin’s Creed Origins, and Super Mario Odyssey are October 2017’s best-selling games
A northeastern cold snap proves that Fall is all… as does the massive number of new releases that cracked The NPD Group’s list of best-selling games from October 2017. WB Games’s Middle-Earth: Shadow of War lead the way at #1, but it was closely followed by Assassin’s Creed Origins at #2, Super Mario Odyssey at #3, and South Park: The Fractured But Whole at #4.
Nintendo actually had a huge month, placing four titles in the Top 20 (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (#15), Mario Kart 8 (#16), and Fire Emblem Warriors (#17) were the others), as well as owning the top two hardware platforms. However, GamesIndustry.biz is reporting that overall industry sales still dropped 11% versus October 2016 to $825 million:
With interest in the Switch and the Super NES Classic still sky-high, Nintendo hardware managed to account for two-thirds of the hardware sales generated. That being said, NPD noted that Sony’s PlayStation 4 is still the best-selling hardware platform year-to-date. Furthermore, in the accessories category, the black DualShock 4 wireless controller was both the best-selling accessory of October, and the best-selling accessory year-to-date.
The complete Top 20 from October 2017 can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS3, PS4, Switch, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Assassin's Creed Origins, Destiny 2, FIFA 18, Fire Emblem Warriors, Forza Motorsport 7, Gran Turismo Sport, Grand Theft Auto V, Madden NFL 18, Mario Kart 8, Middle-Earth: Shadow of War, NBA 2K18, NHL 18, NPD, South Park: The Fractured But Whole, Super Mario Odyssey, The Evil Within 2, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, WWE 2K18
Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, PUBG, Persona, Horizon: Zero Dawn nominated for “Game of The Year” at 2017 Game Awards
The unprecedented success of the Nintendo Switch has been THE story of 2017, and not surprisingly, Nintendo’s latest console is well represented among the nominations for the 2017 Game Awards.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey received six nominations apiece, and both will be competing for “Game of the Year.” PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Atlus’s Persona 5, and Guerrilla’s Horizon: Zero Dawn (which also received six total nominations) were also nominated for the prestigious award.
A grand total of 102 games and individuals were nominated for at least one award as part of this year’s ceremony, and several games are looking to take home a lot of hardware including Destiny 2 (six nominations), Studio MDHR’s Cuphead (five nominations), and Bethesda’s Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (four nominations).
The Game Awards will be held on December 7 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…)