Monthly Archives: February 2019
Nintendo Has a Strong 2019 Lineup, But Doesn’t Want to Show It All Just Yet
Nintendo’s first Direct of 2019 opened and closed with two previously unannounced first party games — Super Mario Maker 2 and a remake of The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. Both are Switch exclusives set for a 2019 launch, and yet, as terrible as it is to be ungrateful for what we did get, it’s easy to slip into the “why didn’t they show X?” state of mind.
And while many of the already announced 2019 exclusives didn’t receive a spotlight at this Direct, it’s not really a cause for concern. In fact, Nintendo holding back some of its heavy hitters shows the company has learned from its mistakes, and taken as a whole, has responded to the criticisms of Switch experiencing a lighter second year than its launch year.
All of the News, Trailers, and Gameplay From Today’s Nintendo Direct
Nintendo’s first Direct of 2019 was jam packed — 31 games in about 35 minutes.
That is a lot to cover, so let’s dive into everything discussed in today’s Direct.
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening Remake Is Happening This Year
While Nintendo’s Direct didn’t cover many of the biggest 2019 games we already know about — Animal Crossing, Pokemon, and Luigi’s Mansion 3 — it did debut a surprising new addition to 2019’s lineup.
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening remake ended the Direct with a bang of lightning, showcasing the new art style, Nintendo’s efforts to recapture the gameplay of the original, and enough teases to make IGN’s Brian Altano very, very happy.
Why Frozen 2’s New Character Isn’t Who People Think
Frozen 2’s new trailer is here, and everyone is asking: Who’s that girl?
There’s not one but two new characters introduced in the two-minute teaser. And while the Internet seems to hope that mysterious lady is Elsa’s girlfriend, we have a different theory. Make sure to read the full article for our breakdown of why we think this character is actually Elsa's mother.
Ever since Frozen was released, fans have been asking for Elsa to have a female love interest, the most prominent being the #MakeElsaGay movement spurred on by the coming out themes in Elsa's story throughout the first movie.
Star Trek Animated Series Reportedly Coming to Nickelodeon
The popular Nickelodeon network is reportedly near a deal for an animated Star Trek series from Star Trek Executive Producer, Alex Kurtzman, according to THR.
The animated show is meant to be kid-friendly and will target younger viewers. It will be written by Emmy-winning writers Kevin Hageman and Dan Hageman, known for Trollhunters, The LEGO movie, and Ninjago.
The series will mark the first ever Star Trek series to be at a network outside of NBC, besides Star Trek: Discovery and the announcement last year of the new animated comedy series, Star Trek: Lower Decks, being picked up by CBS All Access and premiering on their streaming platform.
Falcon Age Is Much More Than Just a Bird Fistbump Sim
You’ve probably seen the Falcon Age tweets. It looks like a PSVR game, there’s a baby bird, and it’s doing a fist bump. Or putting on a little hat. Sometimes it’s an adult bird, which would look a lot less cute, except for the fact that it’s putting on a little hat too.
Having played around an hour of the game at DICE this week, I can attest that all of this is in the game, and all of it is as excellent as those gifs promised. There’s just a lot more to Falcon Age than that.
Here’s When You Can Binge Hanna on Amazon Prime Video
You can read our spoiler-free review of the Hanna series premiere right here.
On Super Bowl Sunday, Amazon Prime Video dropped the first episode of Hanna for a 24-hour sneak peek... and then it was gone! Now, the streaming provider has finally revealed when you can binge the remaining episodes.
All eight episodes are set to drop on Amazon Prime Video on Friday, March 29. "Raised in total seclusion in the remote woods of Eastern Europe, 15-year-old Hanna (Esmé Creed-Miles) has spent her entire young life training to fight those who hunt her and her mercenary father, Erik Heller (Joel Kinnaman). Her survivalist skills are finally tested when she and Erik are separated upon their discovery by a rogue CIA operative, Marissa Wiegler (Mireille Enos) and her team of agents," according to a synopsis from Amazon.
Five Games, Demos Available on Nintendo Switch Today
The February 13 Nintendo Direct featured plenty of announcements, including the reveal of five games and demos that will be available for download on the Nintendo Switch today.
Read on to find out what you can download today, as well as additional details from our other Direct coverage.
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker Co-Op Update
A free update for Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker will be available today that gives the game full co-op functionality - two players can control Toad and Toadette and explore every existing level in the game together.
This is a change from the co-op Treasure Tracker already features, which allows one player to control Toad and another to control a disembodied hand to spin levels and prod enemies.
NASA Declares Mars Rover Opportunity Dead, Mission Complete After 15 Years
After more than eight months without any communication, NASA officially declared the Mars Opportunity Rover's mission completed on Wednesday, Feb. 13.
The Opportunity Rover was on the planet of Mars for a record-breaking 15 years, since 2004.
"I declare the Opportunity mission as complete, and with it the Mars Exploration Rover mission complete," Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, said Wednesday, reported by Space.com.
NASA's official Twitter account also shared confirmation of the mission ending and information about what the Opportunity Rover has brought in terms of data and knowledge to their team.
How Can Sony Control the Conversation Without E3?
Beyond!
On this week's episode of IGN's weekly PlayStation show, host Jonathon Dornbush along with Brian Altano and Max Scoville, discuss Sony's place in the gaming conversations of 2019. PlayStation's Shawn Layden has given a host of interviews about why Sony isn't going to E3, acknowledging Nintendo and Microsoft, and more.
So the crew discusses what they think that means for Sony's 2019, how the company could learn from Nintendo Directs and Inside Xbox, and more. Plus, the crew discusses the surprise success of Apex Legends, this week's crazy slate of releases, some January PSN sales data, and have a Kingdom Hearts 3 Trophy Test. Mostly because Jonathon loves to torture Brian and Max.
New Switch-Exclusive Platinum Game Announced
A brand new game from Bayonetta developer PlatinumGames was revealed during today’s Nintendo Direct, Astral Chain. It will be launching exclusively on Switch on August 30, 2019.
Astral Chain is an action game with a sci-fi setting where you appear to be fighting giant demonic monsters, seemingly with glowing glowing blue chains that you use to tie them to the ground. Although gameplay was shown, not much of it was explained.
Part of that is, by Nintendo’s own admission, there appear to be two characters fighting at once – one a more regular looking person and the other a sort of mech/robot type thing that they are connected to. Nintendo teased at this fact but didn’t explain how those two characters would actually control in practice.