All Articles: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Nintendo Download: Axiom Verge, Zelda Skyward Sword, Picross 3D Round 2, more

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After looking to NES classics like Metroid and Contra for inspiration, Thomas Happ is finally ready to bring his retro-flavored side-scroller, Axiom Verge, to the Wii U this week. As the first game in Nintendo’s “Nindies Summer Jam” promotion on the eShop, Axiom Verge’s Wii U debut will offer Off-TV Play, Leaderboards, and a Speedrun Mode.

Two other games unveiled by Nintendo during this morning’s Nintendo Direct presentation are also now available to download through the Nintendo eShop. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Link’s only full-length adventure developed exclusively for the Wii, is now available to download through the Wii U eShop. And over on the 3DS, players can chip away at a three-dimensional block puzzle in Picross 3D Round 2.

More information on all of these games (and a huge number of other new releases) can be found after the break. (more…)

Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U | Tagged ,

Insert Quarter: The Legend of Zelda’s Most Interesting One-Off Items

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Insert Quarter is our showcase for some of the best and most interesting writing about video games on the Internet.

With more than a dozen games under his tunic, Link has accumulated quite the arsenal of one-off items and weapons. Sure, everyone loves the Ladder and the Whistle, but those appeared all the way back in the original Legend of Zelda. What have you done for me lately, Link?

Thankfully, the writers at The AV Club have put their “Inventory” skills to good use and cataloged all these weird and wacky inventions for future generations as part of “Zelda Week.” That’s such a great idea that I’ll even give them a pass after whiffing on the Ball And Chain (it appeared in Twilight Princess and Hyrule Warriors):

So much of The Legend Of Zelda’s identity hangs on that “legend” conceit. It’s a tale that’s always being retold, often with the same characters, locations, and plot points. That’s also why Link’s ever-growing collection of weapons and gadgetry tends to stay so similar from game to game. But when you look past the utilitarian adventuring necessities—your bombs and bows and boomerangs—the series is full of tools that have only ever made their way into a single Zelda game. Some are powerful items with deep ties to the stories in which they appear, and others are idiosyncratic novelties that have no place outside the ruined temples in which they’ve been hidden away. Whatever their role, some of these one-legend wonders are among the most memorable tools Link has ever used.

The full article is available for your perusal at The AV Club.

Posted in 3DS, News, Retro, Wii, Wii U | Tagged , , , , ,

Batman: Arkham City, L.A. Noire lead 2012 BAFTAs with 8 noms each

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts have announced the nominees for the 2012 BAFTA Video Game Awards. In all, 48 games were nominated in 18 categories including four new awards for this year: “Debut Game,” “Online – Browser,” “Online – Multiplayer,” and “Performer.”

Batman: Arkham City and L.A. Noire garnered the most nominations from the BAFTA board with eight apiece. Several other games have a chance to win big when the awards are handed out on March 16 including Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (six nominations), LittleBigPlanet 2 (also six), Portal 2 (five), The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (five), and Deus Ex: Human Revolution (four).

Arkham City, Skyrim, L.A. Noire, and Portal 2 will be competing for the prestigious “Best Game” award along with FIFA Soccer 12 amd The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.

Finally, voting for the BAFTA’s yearly audience participation award, The GAME Award, is now online at BAFTAGAMEAward.com.

Hit the jump for a complete list of all the nominees. (more…)

Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360 | Tagged , , , , , , , ,

7 Ways The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Made Me Crazy

Having played every console entry in the Legend of Zelda series, I was as giddy as a school girl meeting Justin Bieber when I unwrapped The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword on Christmas Day. While at first it proved to be the standard Zelda fare, including swordplay, shields, dungeons, and the lovely Zelda herself (sporting some sexy new bangs), I had a growing sense of frustration at some of the new features, degrading my love of all things Zelda. These grew and grew until I was hurling my Wiimote at the TV, wondering why Nintendo would implement these annoying features in their flagship RPG. (more…)

Posted in Opinions, Top Story, Wii | Tagged

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Review: Motion-Controlling Hyrule’s Destiny

2011 was definitely the Year of Zelda. The franchise celebrated its 25th anniversary with symphonies, re-releases of previous Zelda games on handhelds, a swanky display in the Nintendo World Store in New York City, and the release of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. It is the first true console Zelda game since The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and was promised to take full advantage of the Wii’s capabilities. With the addition of the Wii MotionPlus support, does Skyward Sword live up to all of the hype? Or will we wish to play the Song of Time and be whisked away to an era of better Zelda games? (more…)

Posted in Reviews, Top Story, Wii | Tagged

3DS sells 4 million in 2011; New Mario Party, Pokemon announced

It’s no secret that the 3DS is not selling as well as Nintendo would like…

Sorry, wrong article. That was actually the opening sentence to our news report on the 3DS’s August price drop. Needless to say, it doesn’t quite apply on the third day of 2012, as Nintendo has announced that they sold four million 3DS handhelds in the US in 2011.

Besides the sales turnaround of their newest portable system, Nintendo had a very good year last year. Mario Kart 7 and Super Mario 3D Land became the first games to sell a million copies on the 3DS while The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword also pushed a million on the Wii.

To ensure that the 3DS continues printing money, Nintendo wasted no time in announcing that two of their biggest franchises, Mario Party and Pokemon, will make the jump to the handheld in the near future.

The word “duh” comes to mind. As does the word “cha-ching.”

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

The Golden Pixel Awards 2011: Gaming’s Best, Worst, and Everything Else

Welcome to Warp Zoned’s first ever Golden Pixel Awards. Sit back and relax as we reward the best (and worst) games of 2011 with accolades based on their rather unique accomplishments.

The Apocalypse List

The bombs have fallen, the zombies have horded, food is scarce, and you’ve boarded yourself up in a bunker that’ll stand for a hundred years. What better way to spend your time in “The Vault” than by playing Warp Zoned’s favorite games from 2011? It doesn’t matter if you call it a “Top Ten List” or “Our Favorites From 2011,” but these are the games we plan to keep playing even if there was no game industry to keep making games. (more…)

Posted in 3DS, Etcetera, Features, PC, PS3, Top Story, Wii, Xbox 360 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Minecraft tops Time Magazine’s top 10 video games of 2011

Time Magazine has announced their “Top 10 Everything of 2011” lists, which of course contains a list of video games. Did your favorite games of this year make the list? Number 10…

10. Battlefield 3
9. Sword & Sworcery
8. Dark Souls
7. The Elder Scroll V: Skyrim
6. Bastion
5. Batman: Arkham City
4. Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception
3. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
2. Portal 2
1. Minecraft

My favorite game of 2011, Dead Space 2, did not make that list – nor have I seen it on any other lists. That’s what happens when games get released at the beginning of the year, I suppose. Ah well. For full commentary, check out the Time Magazine article.

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