August 22 to 28 Nintendo News Roundup

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Nintendo has shared another three clips from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild through its social media accounts. Check them out below:

Runes certainly can come in handy! #Zelda https://t.co/amGSOdbcnB

— Nintendo of Europe (@NintendoEurope) 22 de agosto de 2016

Check out a few of the weapons you’ll be able to use in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild!https://t.co/oI1IiBknuu

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) 24 de agosto de 2016

Oh the fun you can have with a bow and arrow. #Zelda https://t.co/yXI1RYwwdg

— Nintendo of Europe (@NintendoEurope) 26 de agosto de 2016

The Legend of Zelda Figures and Books

Several new figures and books dedicated to The Legend of Zelda are going to be released in the coming months.

First, Medicom is adding three new Zelda figures to its “Ultra Detail” line. These are based on Link’s incarnations from Twilight Princess, Majora’s Mask 3D, and A Link Between Worlds. They will release in Japan next May, with pricing set at 1,080 yen for each.

Next we have a figure by First 4 Figures which features Wind Waker Link on The King of Red Lions. The statue is 25 inches tall from the tip of the mast to the base, making it one of the largest pieces in the Zelda line from the company. It’ll come in deluxe full-color packaging, a hand numbered base, and an authenticity card that allows you to purchase the same product number for future pieces in the Wind Waker series.

There are two versions of the figure, a standard one and an exclusive one. In the exclusive version, bright LEDs pulse rhythmically, giving the impression of flowing water. The standard version costs $449.99, while the exclusive version goes for $479.99. Both ship in Q2 2017.

You can find some screenshots and videos of the figure below:

Moving on to books, VIZ Media has now announced two other volumes of their “Legendary Edition” of Zelda mangas. Majora’s Mask and A Link to the Past will comprise volume 3, with a release planned for March 2017, and The Minish Cap and Phantom Hourglass will then follow in May comprising volume 4.

Meanwhile, Nintendo is teaming up with Dark Horse Books for the release of The Legend of Zelda: Art and Artifacts, which is slated for February 21, 2017.

This is an english release of Japan’s “The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Graphics” and contains more than 400 pages of illustrations from the entire series, including Breath of the Wild.

According to the Amazon description:

Wild! Every masterwork is printed on high-quality paper in an oversized format so you can immerse yourself in the fine details of each piece. This book includes rare promotional pieces, game box art, instruction booklet illustrations, official character illustrations, sprite art, interviews with the artists, and much, much more! The Legend of Zelda: Art and Artifacts collects many of your favorite masterpieces from the storied franchise, as well as rare and never before seen content, presented in one handsome hardcover.

Select artwork from the entirety of the franchise!

A nostalgic look at the past!

An exciting look at the future!

Interviews with some of the artists behind The Legend of Zelda series!

North America and Europe will need to wait until next year for its localization.

In the Japanese release, specific wording has been found that hints at extra future releases. We may see a second book this winter followed by a third in 2017. Obviously there have not been any specific announcements yet. However, in the meantime, you can find some photos of the Japanese version of the book below, taken by Retorhic.

Pokémon Sun & Moon

V-Jump has released some new gameplay footage of Pokémon Sun & Moon, showcasing the male trainer undertaking a part-time job at a resort beach tossing some stranded Pyukumuku back into the ocean. This is because Pyukumuku won’t budge from a spot they’ve taken a liking to, not even to hunt for food, so to prevent them from starving or shooing tourists away, the people of Alola toss them back into the sea.

The gameplay footage shows exactly that, the trainer walking around the beach and interacting with all the stranded Pyukumuku, eventually clearing the beach of all of them. The trainer is then rewarded with a whopping 20,000 Pokedollars at the end, which is a pretty good sum. If the part-time job is a repeatable activity, it could turn out to be a pretty nice and simple way to farm some money.

You can find the video below:

Nintendo Minute – Pokémon World Championships

The latest episode of Nintendo Minute features Kit and Krysta sharing some footage from the Pokémon World Championships and sharing their experiences at the event.

Pokémon GO

A new Pokémon GO update is now available on all devices, bringing the game up to version 0.35.0 for Android and 1.5.0 for iOS.

This update adds the Pokémon Appraisal feature explained below:

“Trainers will now be able to learn about a Pokémon’s attack and defense capabilities from their Team Leader (Candela, Blanche or Spark) to determine which of their Pokémon have the most potential for battle.”

Niantic also says there are “Minor bot fixes” with this update, and that it’s “still working hard on several new and exciting features to come in the future”.

On the business side, Pokémon GO is now seen as the most successful mobile launch in history, according to SuperData Research. It has surpassed Monster Strike as the top mobile game, and managed to take first place in top-grossing and top-download rankings for every country it launched in.

Global digital game sales in July were up 10% year-over-year to $5.9 billion. Thanks to Pokémon GO, the mobile category grew 16% from a year ago.

Pokémon GO has also positively impacted Nintendo hardware and software sales. SuperData shared the following:

“Nintendo’s mobile strategy ended up paying off exactly as intended. 3DS unit sales rose by over 50 percent from a year ago, an astonishing feat for underpowered hardware nearing the end of its lifespan. Furthermore, sales of 3DS games boomed. Combined sales of Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire and Pokémon X and Y (2015 and 2013 releases) nearly doubled. Pokémon Go is the only factor that can explain jumps in sales of this magnitude. We are optimistic that mobile spin-offs for Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing will have a positive impact on Nintendo’s ecosystem.”

Meanwhile, Bloomberg and Axiom Capital Management have provided an extensive look at various Pokémon GO stats through the middle of the month. Based on data from Sensor Tower, SurveyMonkey, and Apptopia, the game’s daily active users, downloads, engagement, and time spent daily are all off their peaks and on a downward trend, as you can see in the charts below.

It should probably have been expected that it wouldn’t maintain its initial levels, especially now that the app has launched in many major countries. We’ll likely see it stabilize at a certain point and to continue to do well while it receives proper support.

Paper Mario: Color Splash

Nintendo just released another video in a multi-part series about a squad of toads helping Mario in Paper Mario: Color Splash. You can find it below:

Splatoon

Game producer Hisashi Nogami was in attendance at Gamescom’s ESL hosted Splatoon Showdown, an official eSports tournament, and took on a few interview questions during the event.

Nogami talked about the Splatoon competitive scene, how Nintendo approached development for Splatoon, and his favorite weapon. You can find the video about that below:

The full interview with @NintendoUK‘s Hisashi Nogami at the #Splatoon Showdown!
More on https://t.co/XyiifaGAq8! pic.twitter.com/cArfOm9EES

— ESL Splatoon (@ESLSplatoon) 17 de agosto de 2016

IGN also spoke with Splatoon producer Hisashi Nogami and Nintendo EPD general manager Katsuya Eguchi at Gamescom.

Here’s some of the more relevant things they had to share:

Nogami on Splatoon’s big success (sold over four million units)

“It felt like it has been a while since we created a brand new franchise. We’re really happy with the response to Splatoon and with the amount of fans who are supporting it.”

Nogami on the Squid Sisters’ popularity

“We didn’t realize how popular the squid sisters would be. It’s only after the release that we saw how much people like those characters. We hadn’t thought of doing a Callie and Marie Splatfest until we saw what a great reaction it had from the fans.”

On which Squid Sister Nogami and Eguchi prefer

“I just want to say, in response to this question, they both feel like daughters to me. This is a very difficult question to answer. It’s like being asked which of your own daughters do you prefer. But, to be honest, in the last Splatfest I played as Team Callie. And I was disappointed by the final results.”

“This is a really tough question. I really like both of them. But, if I’m going on my first impression based on when I saw the two characters for the first time, I slightly liked Callie a bit more as well. That was my first impression, but now I lean more towards the Marie side. Similar to my answer to the dog and cat question earlier and their personalities, … Callie is the more energetic one and her personality would be the equivalent of what a dog is like, in terms of being more fond and coming up to engage with you. Whereas Marie is more cat-like one that does her own thing and isn’t so bothered about stuff. I initially was fond of Callie and then over time I started to prefer Marie. As time passes, I will probably go back to liking Callie.” – Eguchi

Nogami and Eguchi also took sides on a few Splatfest topics which you can check out on IGN itself, over here.

Kirby: Planet Robobot

Kirby: Planet Robobot’s website has recently been updated with more concept art for the game, this time featuring the two mini modes, Team Kirby Clash and Kirby 3D Rumble. It shows off artwork and layouts for the stages, including two cut outfits for Team Kirby Clash, an archer and a pirate. You can check those out in the gallery below:

The second “Kirby: Planet Robobot Ask-a-thon” was also hosted on Miiverse recently, and just like last time, director Shinya Kumazaki replied to several fan questions.

This discussion has a lot of talk about Meta Knight and some story elements. There’s also a little bit on music, but that will be better covered in the next ask-a-thon.

Here’s the discussion in image format.

Speaking of Meta Knight, retailers are now starting to take pre-orders for the new Meta Knight Nendoroid.

You can easily reserve it on Play-Asia or GoodSmile, but on Play-Asia there’s a pre-order deadline of September 18, and you’ll need to reserve it by July 21 on Good Smile. The figure will be shipped in March.

Here’s an overview and some screenshots of the figure:

From the popular ‘Kirby’ game series comes a Nendoroid of Meta Knight! Just like the previously released Nendoroid Kirby, Meta Knight makes use of magnets for posing, making his movements smooth and easy to place in all sorts of different positions!

He also comes with a selection of optional parts including his sword together with large effect parts to display him slashing with the sword. You can also display him wearing his cape as well as transformed into his flying version with interchangeable wing parts! He even comes with parts that allow you to change the direction he is looking allowing for all sorts of awesome Meta Knight poses!

Star Fox Zero

Joe Zieja, the voice of Fox McCloud in Star Fox Zero – The Battle Begins, was recently interviewed by Nintendo Lide, and we learned a bit about what it’s like working with Nintendo as a voice actor.

You can check out the interview in question over here, if you are interested in it.

Miitomo

Miitomo has once again been updated with more content, including a new stage and some brand new items. Here’s a list of the new additions:

Feel the rhythm! Miitomo Rock Festival #1

– Festival fee + wristband
– Merch tower + VIP pass
– Comic-book shorts
– Woodland bucket hat

Miitomo Shop Items

– Denim cat
– Houndstooth tweed skirt
– University tee
– Leopard-print pumps
– Back-ribbon socks
– Cubic badge
– Puffy-sleeve ribbon shirt
– Tight denim skirt

Besides this, Nintendo has released another new video to promote Miitomo in Japan. You can watch it below:

Virtual Console Trailers

Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War had now been added to the Japanese New 3DS eShop as a downloadable SNES Virtual Console title. You can find the promotional trailer below:

3DS Summer Commercial

Nintendo has put together a new North American commercial to promote 3DS hardware and software for the summer. Check it out below:

Nintendo Selects

New Nintendo Selects titles have now debuted in North America. Wii U has added Zelda: Wind Waker HD, Nintendo Land, and LEGO City: Undercover to the list of Selects titles, while the 3DS line has included Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Tomodachi Life, nintendogs + cats: Golden Retriever & New Friends, and LEGO City: Undercover.