Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch) - March 3rd 2017

[Diesel]

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Nintendo Switch Presentation 2017 Trailer - YouTube

[Diesel]

New blog post from Emily Rogers who has gotten a good bit about Switch correct thus far:

Rumor: Breath of the Wild will not be released in March.

Disclaimer: Everything in this blog post is rumor until proven otherwise. Please take everything with a grain of salt.

Breath of the Wild is one of the largest games — if not the largest game — that Nintendo has ever developed. It’s probably larger than Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword, and Wind Waker combined.

In early September, I heard rumblings that the localization for the game was becoming more work than anyone had anticipated. They have to localize all of the game’s text, NPCs, quests, etc. Then, around October, I received another update that Zelda’s localization was still not going as smoothly as planned. “A very ambitious game, maybe even too much” claimed one particular source.

That brings us to the month of November. More sources have now come forward and corroborated my information. They’ve told me that localization for Breath of the Wild might not be finished until the end of December. After localization is completed, this game will require between (at least) four-to-six months of testing. As I mentioned earlier, this is one of Nintendo’s largest and most ambitious games ever. The amount of testing required for a huge open-world game like this is enormous. Nintendo’s intention is to have the game as bug free as possible.

Based on what I’ve heard, I have no reason to believe that Breath of the Wild will be a March title. There’s a much higher chance of Breath of the Wild being a summer 2017 game.

On an unrelated note, I’ve also heard whispers of the Switch version of BoTW running more smoothly than the Wii U version. Furthermore, I hear the final version of the game is a bit harder than what the press and media played at E3. Actually, I hear they toned down the E3 demo’s difficulty a tiny bit because they wanted journalists and press members at E3 to have fun exploring.

That’s all for now, but keep your eyes peeled for my next blog post. I’ll be discussing other Switch games later this week.

One or two other sites are also reporting they have heard rumblings about this themselves but did not run with the story first.

[DarthZod]

Yikes. Want this so bad.

[dyne]

I'm fine with this. This game has to be perfect. As long as they have Mario at launch they'll be fine. If they have neither, then they'll have an issue.

[Steelmaker]

Originally Posted by dyne

I'm fine with this. This game has to be perfect. As long as they have Mario at launch they'll be fine. If they have neither, then they'll have an issue.

I'll gladly take the new Mario, Pikmin 4 (rumored to be done already), and a couple of Wii U ports like Smash Bros and Mario Kart. Zelda can be the big 2017 holiday game.

[dyne]

Originally Posted by Steelmaker

I'll gladly take the new Mario, Pikmin 4 (rumored to be done already), and a couple of Wii U ports like Smash Bros and Mario Kart. Zelda can be the big 2017 holiday game.

I was really hoping all this time that the Wii U version would launch before the Switch version. As it stands right now there's really no reason to get the Wii U version unless you want to go for collecting purposes.

[eightslicesofpie]

It'd be a real shame if this wasn't a launch title, but if it's not ready, it's not ready, so of course I'd rather wait. I just hope the launch titles they've got are solid!

[Firefoxie]

Its disappointing that it won't be at launch, but I'm super excited for Breath of The Wild. I've always wanted to play a open world version of Zelda. This will definitely be a day one purchase for me.

[Steelmaker]

Originally Posted by Firefoxie

Its disappointing that it won't be at launch, but I'm super excited for Breath of The Wild. I've always wanted to play a open world version of Zelda. This will definitely be a day one purchase for me.

As long as it's taking for the game to come out, it has gone from a day one purchase for everyone to a "one day" purchase.

[Firefoxie]

Originally Posted by Steelmaker

As long as it's taking for the game to come out, it has gone from a day one purchase for everyone to a "one day" purchase.

I can understand why some gamers feel that way. It has became a tend for developers/publishers to announce or show a game than never release it or it takes years until it's released. A good example of that is FFXV. Ten years? Really? I don't really feel like the wait hasn't been that long in comparison.

[Talal86]

Can't be real

[CuriousGamer]

That brings us to the month of November. More sources have now come forward and corroborated my information. They’ve told me that localization for Breath of the Wild might not be finished until the end of December. After localization is completed, this game will require between (at least) four-to-six months of testing. As I mentioned earlier, this is one of Nintendo’s largest and most ambitious games ever. The amount of testing required for a huge open-world game like this is enormous. Nintendo’s intention is to have the game as bug free as possible.

This is where I tuned out. There is no reason to test after localisation is done, unless they made changes to game itself. Testing would have been done whilst the game was nearing the end of main development until close to launch.
As far as testing the localisation you should just be replacing one set of text for another and shouldn't be that difficult to keep it in the right place.

If the Wii U version is still coming out in March and there isn't anything different also there shouldn't be much need to delay it outside of platform specific bugs.

[Steelmaker]

Originally Posted by CuriousGamer

This is where I tuned out. There is no reason to test after localisation is done, unless they made changes to game itself. Testing would have been done whilst the game was nearing the end of main development until close to launch.
As far as testing the localisation you should just be replacing one set of text for another and shouldn't be that difficult to keep it in the right place.

If the Wii U version is still coming out in March and there isn't anything different also there shouldn't be much need to delay it outside of platform specific bugs.

Well, to Nintendo's credit they are THE best in the business as far as releasing their games virtually bug-free and unbroken. I imagine that they go above and beyond whatever the industry standard is as far as hours spent on this. As gamers I supposed we can't complain too much. I'd rather Nintendo take their time and get it right than release a game that will require a bunch of post-release patches. Considering the size and scope of this game, we all should've expected it to take a while. Like I said before, I'll be happy if the Switch launches with a new Mario game and then let Zelda be the big Holiday title.

[Diesel]

Looks like the game has officially been rated in Australia....any chance that translates to possibly dropping before the June rumored date?

[R3P0]

Originally Posted by Diesel

Looks like the game has officially been rated in Australia....any chance that translates to possibly dropping before the June rumored date?

There's always a chance Localization has completed already and they are in the testing phases and can toss extra employees on testing. I imagine the game can be tested by Feb for a March release still.

[Scarface32]

Zelda footage from The Game Awards pre-show.

YouTube

[Scarface32]

It took 32 minutes after it streamed live for the isolated video to be uploaded. Here it is.
This is from The Game Awards 2016

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Gameplay World Premiere! - YouTube

[Diesel]

Reggie is an institution. Still sad that he isn't a legit playable character in Smash


I didn't watch any of the gameplay because I don't want to know. I know so very little about this game's story/mechanics/etc. as I have actually not watched the large majority of the footage that has been shown or read much of the info released. I just want to play it. Now.

[Scarface32]

Originally Posted by Diesel

Reggie is an institution.

I spoke to him once in the early 2000's, he's a bit of a dick off camera.

[Scarface32]

The new 30th Anniversary-themed Legend of Zelda amiibo launched December 2nd and with them comes confirmation via Nintendo’s Tumblr of what they can do for Breath of the Wild players when that adventure launches next year.

Unfortunately it’s some pretty basic functionality, unlike Wolf Link. Each amiibo gives you a bunch of a certain item and, if you’re lucky, a treasure chest containing something rarer. The specifics are as follows:

• 8-bit Link will reward you with a random number of barrels. These may have rupees inside.
• Ocarina of Time Link will reward you with a random amount of meat.
• Toon Link will reward you with a random amount of fish.
• Wind Waker Zelda will reward you with a random selection of plants.