Deconstructing the legendary dungeons of ‘Ocarina of Time’

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is one of those games that practically everyone has played and regards fondly. The landmark 1998 game was incredibly influential, and when folks put together lists of “best games of all time,” it’s usually within the top ten. Ocarina also marked the long-running franchise’s move from a top-down view to full 3D thanks to the leap in power that the Nintendo 64 provided. But how do its dungeons stack up to previous games in the series? Specifically, A Link to the Past and Link’s Awakening? YouTuber Mark Brown answers just that with a smart and thoughtful examination of the game.

In the video above, he breaks down how Ocarina’s nine temples are structured in terms of flow and design, noting just how linear they are compared to A Link to the Past (another fan favorite in the series) and whether or not that actually works to the game’s advantage. And yep, a healthy portion of the video is dedicated to Ocarina’s devious water temple. The video is part of a larger series examining the franchise on a game-by-game basis, so, if you like what you see, maybe throw a subscription Brown’s way.

Source: Game Maker’s Toolkit (YouTube)

‘Pokemon Go’ launches in Japan under golden arches

Despite being the true home of Pocket Monsters, until today, Japanese fans weren’t able to download the smartphone phenomenon that is Pokemon Go. As rumored, Niantic Labs’ game launches in Pikachu’s homeland with a promotional tie-in with McDonald’s (it’s already offering Pokemon toys with its kids’ meals in anticipation) and the app maker says more sponsored locales and events are on their way.

Ingress, the location-based game that preceded Pokemon Go, ran multiple promotions with companies including McDonald’s and SoftBank in Japan — as well as Jamba Juice in the US. Expect see plenty more sponsored locations in Pokemon Go (well, gotta make some money when the app is free to download), but what exactly do the sponsored locations entail? The good news is that the tie-in doesn’t seem to change much at all — and could even be good news for some players.

It is, however, a substantial sponsorship. Typically, Pokestops (where you pick up items) and Gyms (where you battle other trainers) are centered around cultural points of interest — or just interesting things. The deal struck with McDonalds adds stops and gyms to the locations of almost all of its 3,600 restaurants. My local burger hole is a mere Pokestop, although according to Twitter, there are plenty of gyms to be found in the chain, too.

In a leaked email which resulted in a further delayed launch almost a month after Europe and the US, the company pointed out concerns over poor connectivity in McDonald’s restaurants, as well as people lingering without making any purchases. However, the ubiquitous chain claims that there will be places for users to develop and catch more Pokemon. Not everyone lives in a major city filled with landmarks and cultural curiosities, but there’s pretty much a McDonalds in every town in Japan.

Like Nintendo, McDonald’s has already seen its stock price buoyed following rumors of the collaboration, but whether people will actually choose to enter, pay for something, then capture or battle Pokemon remains to be seen. I stood outside to grab my Pokemon items — after all, there’s no faster way to undo all those calories burnt walking around on the hunt for a Psyduck than paying a visit to a fast-food establishment.

Nintendo’s new NES commercial will toy with your nostalgia

Between the incredible popularity of Pokémon Go, game-themed sneakers and the NES Classic Mini console, Nintendo’s nostalgia bombs show no signs of stopping. The gaming juggernaut is fueling that fire with a decidedly retro-style trailer for the new-old system, replete with the familiar “now you’re playing with power” tagline from the ’80s. It’s a fun look at the analog past in our digital future. But upon closer inspection a few things pop out. For starters, folks who’ve played anything reissued via Virtual Console on Wii U or otherwise can attest that the games look dingy and dull.

That doesn’t appear to be the case here, as Ars Technica points out. The effect is similar to the pre-roll clip on Paramount’s Blu-rays where the dim, old logo gives way to the brighter and pin-sharp HD one. These quick glances of Metroid, Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda and others look great and almost as if they’re running on a PC emulator.

However, until we actually get a look at the 30 classics running to a HDTV with our own eyes though, it’s anyone’s guess how they’ll actually perform. It’s still a shame that we’re stuck with the games in the box come November 11th, though.

Via: Ars Technica

Source: Nintendo (YouTube)

Nintendo tries to salvage ‘Star Fox: Zero’ with a late demo

Despite being one of Nintendo’s most highly anticipated Wii U games, Star Fox: Zero landed with less than stellar reviews. It wasn’t that the game was bad, just sort of hard to play. Critics and fans alike lambasted the title for having an obtuse, disconnected control scheme that moved half of the action to the Wii U gamepad — forcing players to divide their attention between two screens. Now, Nintendo is letting players judge for themselves: three months after hitting store shelves, Star Fox: Zero finally has a free, downloadable demo.

The demo itself is little more than the full game’s tutorial mode with Nintendo’s Star Fox Zero: The Battle Begins animated short tacked on for good measure, but it’s enough to give players an idea how the game controls. If it’s enough to boost the game’s sales is anybody’s guess, but at least Nintendo seems to have learned its lesson about demos: a free version of Metroid Prime: Blast Ball launched today too — over a month before Federation Force, its retail counterpart, hits store shelves. Both demos can be found on their respective Wii U and 3DS eShops.

Via: Destructoid

The live-action ‘Pokémon’ movie starts production next year

Last week the rumblings of a live-action Pokémon movie were just that. But now Legendary Pictures has confirmed that it has secured the rights for a Detective Pikachu flick, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The game it’s based on isn’t available stateside just yet, but perhaps it will be by the time production starts on the movie next year. We now know that Universal is doing the distribution work outside of Japan. However, any other details are light.

THR writes that this is being fast tracked, likely due to the franchise’s 20th anniversary, the overwhelming popularity of Pokémon Go and the mobile game’s impact on Nintendo’s stock price at the moment. Maybe this big-screen version will finally entice Danny DeVito to lend a foul-mouthed voice to the adorable electric-type pocket monster. In reality though, that seems about as shaky as the stability of Pokémon Go’s servers at this point.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Amiibo support is coming to ‘Animal Crossing: New Leaf’

Animal Crossing and Amiibo seem like a match made in heaven: cute characters, and collectable toys. Sadly, the duo’s first pairing turned out to be a shallow, dull board game without much replay value. Fans longed for a full Animal Crossing toys-to-life experience — and this year, they’re going to get it. Sort of. This fall, Nintendo will be updating the 3DS’ 4-year-old Animal Crossing: New Leaf with Amiibo support.

Starting this fall, players with a New Nintendo 3DS or a 3DS NFC Amiibo reader will be able to use the figure and cards created for Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival in 2012’s New Leaf. Using an animal card will let you invite a character to live in your town, while Amiibo figures from other Nintendo series, like Splatoon, appear to unlock special in-game items. It’s the kind of natural integration we’d expect from a newly released title — so it’s doubly impressive this functionality is being baked into a such an old game. The update is free, and should be available to 3DS owners later this year.

Source: Nintendo