If there is one video game icon who got to celebrate his birthday this year, it’s Link. Legenda of Zelda turned 25 this year, and not only do we get a 3DS remake of one of his greatest adventures (Ocarina of Time), a new Wii game (Skyward Sword), but we get a free version of Link’s first multiplayer outing, Four Swords. Originally an add-on to the Game Boy Advance remake of A Link In To The Past, Four Swords became a surprise hit among fans and critics alike. It is only available until February 20 of next year, so if you have a DSI, DSIXL, or 3DS, hurry up and download it. [Read the rest of this entry…]
It’s going to be a Zelda-riffic year for the original Legend’s 25th anniversary!
(Not really Tokyo Game Show-related, since Nintendo doesn’t attend the show, but you know that they had their event in response to it.)
In the following Video, Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto demonstrates how to the Wii MotionPlus to control Link in the new, long anticipated Skyward Sword Wii game.
(Or, at least he does at about the 6:15 mark.)
I’m kind of glad that Nintendo has released a game to finally take advantage of the Wii MotionPlus — especially because that means everyone can get one at little extra cost with the game — just sad that it took SO LONG…
For more on 8-bit Zelda, listen to Sean, Vinnk, and Phil Bond discuss Zelda II in the Famicom Dojo Podcast
With a lot of developments from the video game world to cover, the Powetcast enlists returning champions Zac, aDam, and Captain Genius with the long awaited return of Sindra and guest starring Famicom Dojo’s Vinnk!
The show rolls on 55 minutes in and shifts gear to talk about X-Men: First Class with Zac, aDam, and Crazy Jaco!
What better way is there to launch a new Nintendo console than with a flagship series? If Mario isn’t available, then there is always Zelda. The Twilight Princess is the Zelda title fans have waited for ever since before the Windwaker on the Gamecube (remember that footage of Link battling a skeleton knight?), and it was also a good preview of what we could expect on the Wii. As Link, you set out to save the kingdom of Hyrule from a creeping darkness that is slowly taking over it. At times you travel to the world within this darkness, where you take the form of a wolf as you seek out a way to burn it away. After getting rid of the darkness, you can then explore the light version of the world. The game does a good job of utilizing the new motion controls without making anything feel forced. You shake the Wiimote to swing your sword, and you can even aim it to fire your bow. You can also use it in a fishing minigame. Although the animations are a bit canned (remember, this was intended to be a Gamecube game), the controls are intuitive and fun. This is classic Zelda action at its best. You explore dungeons and gain new items that help you make your way through them, and you encounter bosses which force you to think your strategy through. Keeping in Nintendo tradition, Link doesn’t talk, although the story is still moving as there are plenty of water cooler moments and twists to keep you progressing through the game to see what’s next. With a new Zelda game on the way, now is the perfect time to check out this modern-day classic.
The Nintendo 3DS will be available in Japan on February 26, 2011 for 25,000 yen ($300). That may seem like a lot of money, but look how much these colorfully dressed people like it! North America and Europe will see 3D in March, but no price announced.
Sadly, in the demonstration of Super Street Fighter IV, someone still picked Ken, showing the portable version of the game is not immune from the malady that affects its console brethren. I guess it doesn’t matter if you’re on XBox Live, or PSN, or on a fantasy colorless street in Japan, people still pick Ken all the time.
In the image at left, you can see the 3DS final design has the larger widescreen for the top, an SD card slot on the side, the addition of a “home” button below the touch screen between select and start. The SD card slot isn’t just for holding pictures, 3DS will have a fully functional Virtual Console that will be able to download classic Gameboy, Gameboy Color, and Gameboy Advance games.
You’ll also be able to make a Mii for your 3DS, but I didn’t see anywhere if you can import them from your Wii. You can automate the process by taking a photo of yourself and then letting the 3DS decide on a Mii that looks like you.
Did you like that terrible game referencing play on words? You’ll like this music video for “Circuit Breaker” from the forthcoming Mark Ronson album “Record Collection”
I have his last record “Version” and it’s pretty good without the game references. But adding a game reference means I can post his music here without it being out of place, so enjoy!
Since the alphabet is the building block of our language, the Powet Alphabet is the building block of what makes us geeks.
The sixteen bit era of video games is considered by many to be the bridge between the past and modern eras of video gaming, and there were two kings of the ring: Nintendo’s Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega’s Genesis. Though there were more powerful systems that sprang up around the time, it would be these two that would outlast and outperform all of them, thanks to their accessibility. This was due not only to the technologies that the two systems boasted under the hood, but also with the library of games that were released for the two. It also gave rise to some of those most heated fanboy wars of our hobby. If you think system wars are bad now, you should have seen how bad it was during the 16-bit days, especially when system manufacturers were openly taking pot shots at each other. However, it was pointless for fanboys of both systems to argue with each other, as both systems not only had an equally impressive library of games (even if many multiplatform releases on the Sega Genesis tended to have inferior audio and visual quality to their SNES counterparts), but they outlasted and outsold the more powerful systems that sprang up around the same period. Click below to take a look back at one of gaming’s most exciting eras. [Read the rest of this entry…]
The Legend of Halo: Quest For Recon is a short from the oddly entertaining Machinima blending the best game of all time with the second best game of all time. I’ll let you decide which I’m talking about. [Read the rest of this entry…]
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