Nintendo UK uploaded some behind-the-scenes materials for The Legend of Zelda to its site today, including some design documents and a video examining a rough draft of the game's world. There are also several sketches of the dungeons in the game.
You can watch the video in full here:
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NieR: Automata, the sequel to the cult darling NieR, now has a demo available on PS4. You can access the demo by searching for it on the PlayStation Store.
You can read our review of the original game here as well as a piece by fellow editor Andrew Reiner defending its interesting qualities.
Nier: Automata is out on March 7 for PS4 and PC.
Last week, Niantic assured Pokemon Go users that the app would be coming to Apple Watch soon enough. Turns out they were serious: Pokemon Go can now be played on the watch.
Niantic made the announcement via its official blog and touted how the Go is particularly suited for the Watch:
Apple Watch is particularly well suited to Pokémon GO as it seamlessly combines gameplay and imagination with getting exercise and exploring the real world. You can easily interact with Pokémon GO on Apple Watch, using quick taps to discover nearby Pokémon and collect items from PokéStops.
Remember T-Bone? Kind of a hick without being a hick. Real good at making things that go boom? Shows up in both the first and second Watch Dogs?
Well, Watch Dogs 2 is about to drop some DLC that lets you play around with some of the tinker's toys. You can watch the trailer right here:
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RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic, a game that takes parts of the first two RollerCoaster Tycoon games and combines them, hit mobile platforms today.
The game costs $6 and you can download it on either iOS and Android. There are micro-transactions but they don't appear to be predatory or overbearing.
If building rollercoasters in a virtual space is your jam, be sure to check out our review of Planet Coaster.
Today, Crytek announced that Robinson: The Journey, previously a PS VR exclusive, will be hitting the Rift next month. Robinson: The Journey is a sci-fi adventure that casts you as an explorer on a strange planet.
While the premise sounds like a fun time, Editor Joe Juba didn't find much of a thrill in the experience, as noted by his review:
Many virtual-reality titles feel more like technical demos than fully formed experiences, and Robinson: The Journey belongs on that list – though it tries to fool you into thinking it doesn’t. A few elements add the illusion of depth, but they feel like shallow afterthoughts. This journey is just a linear tour of the world with no meaningful deviations and barely functional controls, all for the dubious benefit of seeing some cool VR dinosaurs.
2016 was a great year for new games, but what backlog game did you tackle this year that grabbed your attention?
I didn't finish it (I'm still working on it), but I downloaded Alundra for my Vita after reading about it and hearing frequent comparisons to Zelda. I have always been aware of it, but for some reason thought it was a turn-based RPG. When I learned it was more of an action, isometric platformer, however, I decided to give it a look and have so far enjoyed my time.
What about you? What game that did not release in 2016 was your favorite of 2016? In other words, what was your 2016 Game of a Year? Let us know in the comments below.
Overwatch had a good 2016, but Blizzard is too busy looking toward 2017 to reflect on it too much.
In the video below, director Jeff Kaplan briefly talks about how 2016 went and offered lots of teases for next year. Immediate plans includes ongoing balance patches, including some for Sombra, though Kaplan cautions that they are waiting for players to get the hang of her before they make too many tweaks. He also says that customizations for the communication wheel are on the way, including the option to take up to four voice lines, four emotes, and four sprays into battle with you.
The map Oasis is expected to be available early 2017, and Kaplan assures the team is working on multiple new maps and characters. He didn't offer any details, but said that one character is more or less locked in and is already going through the art development process.
Regardless of how you feel about Prompto in Final Fantasy XV, I think most would agree that his photography skills are entertaining. Above, you can see one of my personal favorite photos that Prompto took of my adventure.
Square Enix recognizes this was a highlight of the Final Fantasy XV experience, and as a result, the mechanic is getting its own GDC panel at the show in 2017. You can read about the panel here, which will give attendees a better understanding of how the photography mechanic works and how it created an A.I. character who could take (sometimes) decent photos.
[Source: GDC]
Super Mario Run has been downloaded 40 million times in four days, which Nintendo claims is the fastest something has been downloaded in App Store history.
The game broke other records as well, like topping the App Store charts in more than 140 countries and regions, and rising to the top-10 highest-grossing charts in more than 100 countries. Nintendo did not reveal how many players paid for the game after downloading it for free, but its spot on the highest-grossing charts implies that it has been selling very well.
For our review of Super Mario Run, head here.