Tag: Switch

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Nintendo delays The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 to 2023

Confirming what many have assumed for months, the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has been delayed.

Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma says the still-untitled Breath of the Wild sequel won’t release until spring 2023. The game was previously scheduled to release in 2022, but wasn’t given a specific date.

Nintendo first announced Breath of the Wild 2 in June 2019 with a brief trailer. The Japanese gaming giant also released a new trailer for the title at E3 2021, but beyond that, has been relatively quiet about the next entry in the Zelda series.

“For those of you who have been looking forward to a release this year, we apologize,” said Aonuma. “As previously announced, the adventure in this sequel will take place not just on the ground as in the previous game, but also in the skies above. However, the expanded world goes beyond that, and there will be an even wider variety of features you can enjoy, including new encounters and gameplay elements. In order to make this game’s experience something special, the entire development team is continuing to work diligently on this game, so please wait a while longer.”

Alongside the delay announcement, a brief new clip of the anticipated game was also shown, revealing Link unsheathing a very different-looking Master Sword.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild released back in 2017 for the Switch and the Wii U. Though the game didn’t necessarily reinvent the open-world genre, it marked a significant change in direction for the typically streamlined Zelda series and remains one of my favourite games ever.

Image credit: Nintendo 

Source: Nintendo (YouTube)

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Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is getting 48 new courses by the end of 2023

In a surprise move, Nintendo didn’t reveal Mario Kart 9 during its latest Direct stream — instead, the Japanese gaming giant confirmed that 48 new courses are coming to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

The first wave of courses is set to arrive on March 18th and all 48 tracks will drop by the end of 2023 in six waves. I also use the word “new” lightly given that it seems all of these tracks are pulled from past Mario Kart titles.

The first wave of tracks includes courses like Coconut Mall from Mario Kart for the Wii, Choco Mountain from Mario Kart 64, and Tokyo Blur from Mario Kart Tour. All DLC tracks will be playable locally and online.

The ‘Booster Course Pass’ costs $25 on its own and is also included with Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pass at no additional cost. Nintendo’s Switch Online Expansion pass tier costs  $63.99 for a 12-month individual membership (one account) or $99.99 for a 12-month Family Membership (up to eight accounts).

Mario Kart 8 released roughly seven and a half years ago for the Wii U, followed by the Deluxe version dropping on the Switch in 2017.

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Nintendo resurrects motion controls with Switch Sports

In what seems like an effort to recapture the magic of mid-2000s pop culture phenomenon, Wii Sports, Nintendo has revealed a Switch version of the title called — you guessed it — Switch Sports.

Sports set to be part of the title include the following: Tennis, Bowling, Chambara (it looks like a Sword fighting game), Badminton, Volleyball and Soccer.

During its Direct presentation, Nintendo outlined that the game features both local and online play. Further, later this summer an update will add leg strap accessory support to soccer, followed by a golf update in the fall.

Nintendo says that it plans to launch an Online Playtest of the title that runs from February 18th to the 20th.

Switch Sports will release on April 29th.

Image credit: Nintendo

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Nintendo resurrects motion controls with Switch Sports

In what seems like an effort to recapture the magic of mid-2000s pop culture phenomenon, Wii Sports, Nintendo has revealed a Switch version of the title called — you guessed it — Switch Sports.

Sports set to be part of the title include the following: Tennis, Bowling, Chambara (it looks like a Sword fighting game), Badminton, Volleyball and Soccer.

During its Direct presentation, Nintendo outlined that the game features both local and online play. Further, later this summer an update will add leg strap accessory support to soccer, followed by a golf update in the fall.

Nintendo says that it plans to launch an Online Playtest of the title that runs from February 18th to the 20th.

Switch Sports will release on April 29th.

Image credit: Nintendo

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Nintendo says it isn’t interested in acquiring other game studios

During a recent investor’s call, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa stated that the Japanese gaming giant has no interest in buying other game studios.

“Our brand was built upon products crafted with dedication by our employees, and having a large number of people who don’t possess Nintendo DNA in our group would not be a plus to the company,” said Furukawa, according to Bloomberg.

This isn’t the first time Furukawa has alluded to this strategy. Back in November, Nintendo’s president said that it plans to spend 100 billion yen (about 1.1 billion CAD) on its own developers rather than investing in new studios.

That said, Nintendo does have some history with studio acquisitions. For example, last year the company acquired Vancouver-based Next Level Games, a developer that has worked on Nintendo titles for more than a decade, including, most recently, Luigi’s Mansion 3.

The video game industry has experienced a bit of an arms race lately when it comes to acquisitions. For example, Microsoft recently announced plans to acquire Activision blizzard in a deal valued at $68.7 billion USD (roughly 85.96 billion CAD), and just this week, Sony revealed that it’s purchased Bungie for $3.6 billion USD (roughly $4.6 billion CAD).

Given that Nintendo’s platforms have always been best known for the company’s own iconic franchises, including the Mario and Zelda series, it makes sense that the Japanese gaming plans to continue to stay the course in the increasingly consolidated gaming industry.

Source: Bloomberg 

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Nintendo Switch Online update improves Zelda: Ocarina of Time performance

Along with adding N64 classic Banjo-Kazooie to the Switch Online’ Expansion Pack’ subscription tier, Nintendo has also improved The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time’s rampant lag and graphical issues.

This means Ocarina of Time’s ‘Water Temple’ and its abundance of water looks a little closer to the original N64 release. More importantly, as first spotted by YouTuber Modern Vintage Gamer (MVG), NSO Version 1.2 also improves the controller input lag issue the classic game suffered from in the emulator, reducing it to 1-2 frames from 5-6.

MVG outlines the positive graphical changes to Ocarina of Time in the lengthy video, mentioning that the title’s fog and lighting still feature issues.

I’ve spent the last few evenings playing Banjo-Kazooie, one of my favourite games from my childhood, and the Expansion Pack’s emulation is pretty spot-on. I’ve encountered a few instances of slow-down, but beyond the occasional hiccup, the game runs near perfectly on the Switch.

While the Expansion Pack’s price still doesn’t line up with the number of titles it offers, this is good news for the subscription tier. Hopefully, Majora’s Mask runs just as smoothly when it launches next month.

Nintendo’s ‘Expansion Pack’ online tier costs $63.99 for a 12-month individual membership (one account) or $99.99 for a 12-month Family Membership. The subscription includes Switch Online, SNES, NES, N64 and Sega Genesis games, and Animal Crossing New Horizon’s first paid DLC, Happy Home Paradise.

Source: Modern Vintage Gamer

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Gifting a Switch for Christmas? Nintendo suggests setting it up early

Buying someone a Nintendo Switch for Christmas? You may want to set up an account for them before they open the console on Christmas morning.

The Japan-based gaming company warned there could be delays or other issues over the holiday weekend with its servers, especially with account creation. IGN spotted the warning in a tweet from Nintendo’s Japanese customer service account, which reads as follows (thanks to Google Translate):

“This weekend, access will be concentrated on the server of #Nintendo Account, and it is expected that Nintendo Account will not be created immediately. If you are planning to use the Nintendo Switch family for the first time, we recommend that you create it in advance.”

Part of the issue is that the Switch requires a Nintendo account and the first time you set up the console, you need to create an account or sign in with an existing one. Since there will likely be an influx of new consoles on Christmas, there’s also a good chance a bunch of people will try to create new accounts at the same time, which could cause problems.

For example, IGN noted that the Nintendo eShop went down on Christmas Day in 2020. It’s possible all the new Switch owners trying to create new accounts overloaded the system.

Along with creating an account ahead of time, if you’re relying on the eShop to get digital games rather than physical copies, it may be worth taking the time to download those games to the Switch too. Like with accounts, having tons of people trying to download games all at once on Christmas morning could also overload the system. It might even be worth checking physical copies of games — many physical games require patches before you can launch them for the first time. Downloading those patches now so the game’s ready to go could be a great idea.

It may be some extra work, but if there are any issues with Nintendo’s servers on Christmas morning, it should make everything go much smoother.

Source: IGN

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Banjo-Kazooie is coming to Nintendo Switch Online in January

Nintendo already confirmed that N64 classic Banjo-Kazooie is making its way to the ‘Expansion Pack’ tier of its Switch Online service, but the game now has a January release window.

Rare studio head Craig Duncan retweeted Nintendo’s announcement regarding the news, stating that it’s “always a pleasure to work with our good friends at Nintendo.”

Once one of Nintendo’s most celebrated 2nd-party developers, Rare was purchased by Microsoft back in 2002. This also isn’t the first Nintendo and Rare have collaborated on a project. For example, Banjo and Kazooie were added as an additional fighter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate back in 2019.

Nintendo recently added Paper Mario 64 to Switch Online’s Expansion Pack tier. The Expansion Pack has been heavily criticized for featuring shoddy emulation across both its Nintendo 64 and Sega Genesis titles. Players have cited issues like delayed on-screen responses to button presses and weird graphical glitches. Nintendo has yet to address these issues.

An individual Switch Online Expansion Pack subscription costs $63.99 for 12 months, while a Family Membership costs $99.99 for 12 months.

Image credit: Nintendo 

Source: @NintendoUK

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Gary Bowser to pay $10 million in restitution to Nintendo

Canadian Nintendo-modder, hacking tool creator and the reported leader of ‘Team Xecuter,’ Gary Bowser, has agreed to pay $10 million UDS (roughly $12.6 million CAD) to Nintendo to settle a recent lawsuit related to piracy charges, as first reported by EuroGamer.

Bowser and other members of Xecuter were arrested and charged with 11 felony counts in October 2020. Nintendo called the operation an “international pirate ring” and the lawsuit alleges that Bowser infringed on the company’s copyright by making and selling the console hacks.

The most well-known product of Team Xecuter is the SX Pro, a USB device that allows users to bypass Nintendo Switch security measures and run pirated games. The lawsuit also says Bowser has been creating and selling hacking tools for Nintendo devices since 2013, when he created a device to hack the Nintendo 3DS.

It’s worth noting that Bowser’s Xecuter was a for-profit company. This made it unpopular in the modding and emulation communities, which typically prioritize open-source efforts and avoid selling products.

Nintendo has a history of actively hunting down illegal usage of its intellectual property, and it has targeted ROM sites that provide game downloads regularly. For example, Nintendo was recently awarded $2.1 million USD (roughly $2.5 million CAD) in damages after winning a lawsuit against RomUniverse, a pirated game and hack seller.

Via: EuroGamer

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Here’s our best look at Razer’s Qualcomm-powered Switch-like handheld yet

Qualcomm is working with gaming accessory maker Razer on a Nintendo Switch-like handheld video game console built on its Snapdragon G3X chip.

Leaked slides presumably set to be shown off during Qualcomm’s annual Tech Summit in Hawaii that VideoCardz obtained, show off a device called the ‘Snapdragon G3X Handheld Developer Kit.’ With the portable’s name in mind, Qualcomm and Razer could be trying to more directly target developers with this device.

Other notable features related to the handheld include a USB-C Port, DisplayPort support over USB-C, a 6,000mAh battery and a 1080p webcam. The portable’s screen is reportedly an HDR OLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate. The device also supports Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2 and 5G mmWave.

While Razer’s handheld console bears a striking resemblance to the Switch, it also looks a lot like Valve’s upcoming Linux-based Steam Deck. The Steam Deck’s release was recently pushed back to 2022 due to supply-chain issues.

It’s unclear if this will end up being a consumer product or is a proof-of-concept offering an example of how hardware makers could take advantage of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon G3X chip for portable gaming devices. For example, the chip maker adopted a similar approach a few years ago with a concept virtual reality headset.

VideoCardz also says that Qualcomm’s next flagship smartphone processor will be called the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1.

With the Snapdragon Tech Summit currently underway, we likely won’t have to wait long for more details regarding Razer and Qualcomm’s handheld gaming project.

Image credit: VideoCardz

Souce: VideoCardz Via: The Verge