Most Recent: Wii U

Nintendo adds a dozen titles to budget-priced Nintendo Selects line including Super Mario 3D World, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D

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Nintendo only rarely adds new titles to their budget-priced Nintendo Selects line, so it’s always big news when they do. Today, the consolemaker confirmed that eight games on the Wii U and 3DS will receive price drops in the near future, including fan favorites like Super Mario 3D World and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D.

Wii U Games

  • Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
  • NES Remix Pack
  • Pikmin 3
  • Super Mario 3D World

3DS Games

  • Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D
  • The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D
  • Mario Party: Island Tour
  • Yoshi’s New Island

Nintendo also announced plans to reissue Super Mario All-Stars (a compilation includes Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario Bros. 3, and Super Mario World) for the Wii, as well as dropping the price on an additional trio of Wii classics:

Wii Games

  • Animal Crossing: City Folk
  • Donkey Kong Country Returns
  • Super Mario All-Stars
  • Super Mario Galaxy 2

All of these new additions to the Nintendo Selects line will be available from retail locations beginning March 11 for $19.99.

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New Releases: Zelda: Twilight Princess HD, Mortal Kombat XL, Far Cry Primal (PC), More

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It’s a big week for re-releases as Nintendo, NetherRealm, Ubisoft, and NIS America are all giving some of their biggest games a second shot at the spotlight.

Nintendo is likely on the verge of another console transition, but the jump from the GameCube to the Wii felt unique in that players were given two chances to experience latest Legend of Zelda game. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princes was available for both platforms back in 2006, but now it’s back for its tenth anniversary as The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD on the Wii U. In addition to the enhanced graphics implied by the “HD” branding, Twilight Princess HD will include a new Challenge Mode, a harder Hero Mode, and a beautiful Wolf Link Amiibo figure.

Another game getting an expanded re-release this week, though less than a year after its original launch, is Mortal Kombat X. Available this week for the PS4 and Xbox One, Mortal Kombat XL will add in all of the previously released downloadable content as well as the four new fighters from “Kombat Pack 2” (Alien‘s Xenomorph, Leatherface, Bo Rai Cho, and Tri-Borg).

NIS America will also jump onto the re-release train with The Witch and the Hundred Knight: Revival Edition, a PS4 remake of an action RPG originally released for the PS3.

And finally, after making its PS4 and Xbox One debut last week, Ubisoft’s Stone Age adventure, Far Cry: Primal, will be released for the PC this week.

The rest of this week’s new releases can be found after the break. (more…)

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Nintendo Download: Pokemon Blue/Red/Yellow, Mega Man Legacy Collection, Return to PoPoLoCrois, more

It’s time to catch ’em all… again…

The Pokemon franchise is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year and Nintendo will add the original trio of Game Boy games (Pokemon Blue, Pokemon Red, and Pokemon Yellow: Special Pikachu Edition) to the 3DS eShop on Saturday, February 27. Players will even be able to battle their friends using the handheld’s wireless connection. And fans looking for another dose of Poke-mania should tune in to tomorrow’s Nintendo Direct presentation at 10:00 AM (Eastern Time) to learn more about the future of the franchise.

Another blast from the past is new to the 3DS eShop today as Capcom has added the Mega Man Legacy Collection to the download service. Players will be able to explore the first six Mega Man games, which were originally released on the NES from 1987 through 1994, as well as a brand new Challenge Mode. But if you’re looking for something new on your 3DS, Marvelous and XSEED have teamed up to bring together the RPG stylings of the PoPoLoCrois franchise with the farming simulation of the Story of Seasons franchise in Return to PoPoLoCrois: A Story of Seasons Fairytale, which will be available on March 1.

Finally, over on the Wii U eShop, 6180: The Moon is now available to download for Nintendo’s home console. The platformer previously appeared on the PC and Xbox One, but its minimalist aesthetic will surely find a lot of fans on the Wii U.

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

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Here’s a GameCube vs Wii U comparison video for Zelda: Twilight Princess HD from Nintendo

Nintendo will launch The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD in just eleven days, but Nintendo UK wants everyone to get excited a tad early with this brand new trailer comparing the graphics of the Wii U update with the GameCube original. It’s a short trailer, but it’s obvious that the visual contrast between the two is striking.

In addition to improved graphics, Nintendo has added a bevy of And don’t forget all the other other features to the HD re-release including the Cave of Shadows Challenge Mode, Off-TV Play, and Hero Mode. And don’t forget about the awesome Wolf Link Amiibo figure that’s included with every copy of the game.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD will be released on March 4.

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Fallout 4 wins “Game of the Year” at 2016 DICE Awards

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The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences held their annual DICE Awards ceremony last night, and Bethesda’s Fallout 4 emerged from The Vault to take home “Game of the Year” honors. The expansive open world RPG also won in two other categories, “Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year” and “Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction.” However, it wasn’t a sweep for the post-apocalyptic adventure.

A trio of other games took home three awards last night including Moon Studios’s Ori and the Blind Forest (“Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition,” “Outstanding Achievement in Animation,” and “Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction”), Psyonix’s Rocket League (“Sports Game of the Year,” “Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay,” and the “DICE Spirit Award”), and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (“Outstanding Achievement in Game Design,” “Outstanding Achievement in Story,” and “Outstanding Technical Achievement”).

While the ceremony featured plenty of revelry and merriment, last night’s DICE Awards were also a bittersweet affair as Satoru Iwata was posthumously awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for his distinguished business leadership of Nintendo. And Hideo Kojima, who recently parted ways with Konami after more than three decades with the company, was named to the AIAS’s Hall of Fame.

A complete list of this year’s winners (which also includes Super Mario Maker, Mortal Kombat X, Star Wars: Battlefront, and many more) can be found after the break. (more…)

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Nintendo Download: Fire Emblem Fates, Project X Zone 2, Ninja Gaiden II, Ninja Gaiden III, more

It’s been a long time coming, but Nintendo’s epic strategy game, Fire Emblem Fates, will be available to download through the 3DS eShop beginning tomorrow. Fire Emblem Fates is all about choice and players will actually have to choose between two halves of the game… they can side with their family in Birthright or fight with their friends in Conquest. Regardless of which choice you make, players will have the chance to download the other scenario through the eShop, and a third scenario will even be available in March.

If you’re looking for a different kind of epic strategy game, Bandai Namco plans to release Project X Zone 2 through the 3DS eShop this week as well. Characters from games published by Bandai Namco, Capcom, Sega, and Nintendo will battle it out in a dimension-hopping game where the fate of the entire multiverse is at stake. No pressure.

Speaking of “no pressure,” three of the hardest games ever to grace the NES are now available to download through the Wii U eShop. In Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos and Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom, Ryu Hayabusa completes his journey on the NES by challenging the Emperor of Darkness and a cybernetic army bent on taking over the world. Also available this week is Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones, the final NES adventure starring the Jimmy and Billy Lee.

More information on all of these games (as well as a few other new releases) can be found after the break. (more…)

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Hyper Light Drifter release date will be revealed next month; Wii U launch might not happen

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The latest Kickstarter update for Hyper Light Drifter has delivered some good news and some bad news.

The good news is that a release date for Hyper Light Drifter will be announced next month. The developer, Heart Machine, previously said the overhead action RPG would be available for the PC in Spring 2016, with a console release to follow sometime after that. Unfortunately, that leads us directly into the bad news…

Hyper Light Drifter is still on track for a PS4, Vita, and Xbox One launch sometime this year, but the Wii U port is in “limbo” as of today. Heart Machine’s game is built using the GameMaker engine, which was expected to be compatible with the Wii U when development on Hyper Light Drifter began, but a contractual dispute between Nintendo and the people behind GameMaker have put that assumption in jeopardy. An agreement between the two sides is still a possibility, so the Wii U launch might happen without a hitch.

Heart Machine is also looking at other options to bring the game to Wii U owners if the situation can’t be resolved. So literally anything could happen with the port and “limbo” is probably the best way to describe it.

If a Wii U release for Hyper Light Drifter isn’t possible this year, Heart Machine will offer Kickstarter backers the opportunity to receive the game on a different platform.

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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.

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