One of the big new stories last week was the fact that The Legend of Zelda series is getting downloadable content for the first time ever on the Nintendo Switch and Wii U. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild expansion pass will retail for $19.99 and will be available on March 3rd. Nintendo of America’s very own Bill Trinen appeared on IGN Voice Chat to explain why the company decided to release DLC for the prestigious game.
“It was tough, because we actually had a lot of debate in terms of do we announce it, how do we announce it. I think one of the things that’s unique about the way Nintendo develops games is when we’re working on a game, and certainly just knowing the history of Nintendo games, you guys know that it’s essentially we use every last minute to make the game as good as we possibly can, and really what that means is that the dev team was working on the main game, finished the main game, and as they’re starting to get to the very end and wrap it up, really they said, ‘You know we’ve made this massive world of Hyrule, we’ve spent a long time building it. It would be a waste to just make one game and have that be it.’ We want people to be able to enjoy exploring this world, and so they started thinking about, ‘Well, if we were going to do DLC, what would we do, how would we do it?’ And you can see that in the fact that it’s not… the DLC is not launching the day after the game or the week after. It’s coming out several months later in the form of the first pack and then several months after that in the form of the second pack. And that’s because the content is in development.
And so I think from my perspective, obviously if we were able to share more details, that would have been easier, but I think if you look to the example of something like a Mario Kart-type of a DLC approach, really what the goal is is let’s give people the option to purchase it when they’re at the store buying the game and give them something to look forward to, and kind of let them know there’s more to come in this world. And if you’re a Zelda fan buying Nintendo Switch at launch and really you’re buying it for Zelda, I mean how happy are you to know that hey, I’m going to be able to play more Zelda in this world again later this year.”
I thought Trinnen explained this pretty well, and confirmed what most people seemed to figure:
– The game is huge, and people ahead of the DLC were clamoring for more than even what we had. To make an opportunity out of this wide word.
– As usual, Nintendo focuses “every minute” into the main game. And now, to work on more content that adds value.
I like how he confirmed that even people within Nintendo were debating on when to announce, etc.
I just hope its worth 20$. If it is then im all in
Indeed. While I think Nintendo usually does DLC right, I’m also a pretty cheap dude. But if I’m getting quite a few hours, and interesting story, then I’m down to clown.
I think I’m most excited that this means that, after I’ve finished the game (if I finish by then) I’ll have more incentive to return and play around.
The MK8 DLC was like a whole other game. While I don’t think we’ll get that ratio, crossing my fingers it’ll be worth it.
“We know how die-hard Zelda fans are so this is a great opportunity to milk them for more $$$ and we regret announcing it so early. We are also not making any new games because we are in the year long process of creating Zelda DLC.
Way to put words into someone’s mouth. Yep a great opportunity to make money. But there are much easier ways to make money than to develop this kind of DLC.
No new games? Did you’re uncle tell you that? I guess you should not get a Switch then!
Lol his whole comment made me think he didn’t read the interview / see the vid, etc.
No new games?! Someone missed the Switch conference. And.. everything on the Internet.
Pumped for this.
I saw the conference. We are getting a shit tonne of old and overpriced ports. We are getting Mario Kart 8 AGAIN and also Splatoon 2 which uses could just be an expansion pack for Splatoon. We are getting Mario Odyssey for Xmas and that’s about it as far as what they’ve announced (besides the waggle around Arms and 1-2 Switch that should have been included with the console). Monolith Soft is releasing Xenoblade 2, which will be awesome but not a system seller. This is a launch year instead of a launch month. 2018 will be better. *hoping*
Dude, every comment you make makes it OBVIOUS you do little research. You saw the conference? Great. You clearly didn’t look up any released info afterwards as more games have been announced since just the conference one. The games are not “overpriced.” If anything, they’re at most the same price as the other ports, if not cheaper. This DLC is optional, not required, and insanely cheap for three packs.
I think I speak for everyone on the site when I say “look up” or “shut up.”
I second Brandon’s statement.
– You’re listing a couple of highly-sought games for the Wii U going to the Switch, which is expected to have a higher install base. Sorry that Nintendo is choosing not to just say “SOL” to the folks who maybe didn’t get the Wii U but are excited to play its greatest hits on the Switch, without charging extra for the DLC from MK8. And Splatoon isn’t a port – it’s a sequel.
– Waggle? Not sure at all where you’re getting waggle controls, but every interview and especially every reviewer I’ve seen has made clear this isn’t played like a Wii boxing, etc.
But I agree – here’s to hoping that this brand spaking new system has even more games coming into 2018. But as it’s brand new, and they’re already developing ~100 games, I’m good with the amount of content we’re getting. Especially on a game by game basis. Only milking I’m feeling is the 1-2 switch cow milking game. :P
And he did say that the DLC is coming out as it is being created over the course of a year. It took them about 5 years to make Breath of the Wild so just doing the math.
Damn straight! and if you tattoo the master sword to your butt, I’ll kiss your ass! ;D
Can’t get enough Zelda. D;
I actually completely agree. When I play a game, I play to finish it and move on. I hate when they keep dragging out DLC that is 1/4(or more) the price of the original game and adds less than 10%(usually a lot less than that) of what the original game was. Then like you said, they are wasting time on DLC instead of making new games…So yes, release a game for what it was meant to be and more on to creating new ones. Obviously there is money to be maid selling an extra 2 hours of gameplay for $20.00 for time spent compared to time spent making the whole game(possibly well over a 100 hours of gameplay) for $60.
}{ At least you aren’t EA, Nintendo… }{
If this was any other company, I’d say lets see what the the content is before buying.
But Nintendo did good things with DLC on Wii U, so I just might buy it day one.
I would highly suggest dont. i agree that mk8 was great but wait and see how much content is there. There isnt much to gain buying it day one. At least wait untill you have played a good chunck of the game
MK8+ isn’t even a launch title. It’s going to be like WiiU. Many switch users will be so ready for another game, they’ll buy just about anything, especially a game as fun as MK8 again. If I traded my WiiU for a Switch and didn’t have another console, you can bet your ass I would too! That’s how it went down for me last gen (WiiU)
no i was talking about dlc in mk8
I really don’t get the hatred towards dlc when it’s done right. Think of it this way. Either you get this extra content by paying a couple more dollars, or you don’t get it at all. As long as they don’t lock parts of the main story behind dlc, I’m fine with it. Crying because Nintendo isn’t giving away content they worked hard on and put serious money into for free shows how immature you are, not how greedy they are.
Because DLC is digital and because Nintendo only gave us 24GB for DLC. Wish the game cartridges were rewritable as DLC is not future friendly (as we have just seen Nintendo drop backwards compatibility).
I had also hoped Nintendo would have gone with the option for rewritable sections on the game cards to enable DLC to be saved on the card (or do other stunts like the full concept what Fire Emblem Fates tried to do).. But there are quite a number of challenges to overcome if you want to make it a reality..
1. Do you know how much data the DLC takes up?
2. Do you know about a thing called an SD card?
An SD card that will cost more than a external hard drive for the same amount of data. Portable data is expensive, yo.
I would like to think We would get “hard” or Hero mode regardless… but yeah. mostly I agree!
Yeah, the hard mode is the only questionable thing I see. But maybe it’s more complex than just enemies with more health. Only time will tell.
True. We’ll see shortly. It would also be nice if it could also be unlocked after a playthrough. Again, we don’t quite know yet. but soon! I would be totally fine having to wait to unlock hero mode, as that’s kinda how Zelda games roll. :)
I don’t care that there is DLC, I’m actually excited for it.
But don’t insult me with your “We spend every minute making the game better” bullshit. 99% of the time, you would be right, but this time we know why Zelda was late…
Offer me great DLC. Offer me another Dungeon. Offer me a Hard difficulty mode…
IDC. I want my Gamepad functionality back you some of a bitch. #PrincessBride
They should make it so wiiU gamepad can communicate with switch.
that would kick ass. I would settle for gamepad functionality on the WiiU like it was envisioned and designed. D;
I really don’t mind this too much. You can’t really expect a team of a large number of developers to work on something for free. And if the scenario in the dlc is as good as they’re sort of saying then bring it on. Dlc is not ideal but I can wait until more is announced before buying the add on content.
Did they spend every last minute finishing the fucking game and making it amazing? No. but I don’t blame the devs. They were on my side. Aonuma had to convince them/ give them this shitty news.
“We need you to stop tweaking the Shieka Slate/gamepad controls…we Umm… are going to delay a year and… You need to remove the duel-screen aspect of the controls… yeah, we kinda need a game to sell with the switch…we don’t think 1,2 switch will sell any units… K.. Go team! #DontShootTheMessengerPlease”
“Nintendo of America’s very own Bill Trinen appeared on IGN Voice Chat […]”
The podcast is called “Nintendo Voice Chat” and is hosted by IGN.
OK. I got my “Fuck Nintendo for Fucking with Zelda WiiU” outta my system again. I’ve more in reserve if anyone wants to argue with me. otherwise I think I’m good. back to positive Zelda thoughts! ;D
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oYgAfCKq41M/U3Koa3VD2-I/AAAAAAAADU0/zgJEIpuABWU/s1600/diskinected.png
Sorry but this $20 does not seem to buy an amount of content worth 1/3 of the game’s sticker price.
Hopefully we’ll learn more in upcoming months, and at least we don’t have to decide right now.
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