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Inside Beat

2023 Nintendo Direct announces exciting upgrades but troublesome price increases

Nintendo announced exciting gaming news and dropped a trailer for "The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom" where you play as Link, the iconic video game hero. – Photo by @TOTKNews / Twitter

Another February, another Nintendo Direct convention to overhype. The gaming giants always have some sort of presentation to kick off the year, and 2023 was no different. It was announced on February 7 that a showcase would occur the next day at 5 p.m. eastern time about the company’s release schedule for 2023.

As a dork, I was, of course, in attendance — eagerly awaiting what announcements would be made early on. Here’s what stuck out to me the most. 

"Metroid Prime Remastered"

This was undoubtedly the highlight of Nintendo Direct. It’s been a long-standing rumor that Nintendo was working on some sort of remake for Samus Aran’s first 3D outing. Those plans finally materialized with the announcement of "Metroid Prime Remastered" — a high-definition overhaul of Retro Studios' beloved 2001 GameCube first-person shooter. This should feature quality-of-life improvements such as a motion-controlled aiming option.

The game was slated for release shortly after the end of the presentation on the Nintendo eShop, with a physical edition hitting store shelves on February 22.

It remains to be seen if Nintendo plans to give the remaining two games in the "Prime" trilogy similar re-releases. The company provided no updates for the upcoming "Metroid Prime 4," which was announced all the way back in 2017 during its E3 showcase. The only concrete news about the game taking the form of Nintendo announcing its development would be reset

Game Boy and Game Boy Advance games coming to Nintendo Switch Online

As an incentive for Switch owners to subscribe to its paid online gaming service launched in 2018, Nintendo offered members a collection of the company’s retro games. The company also promised more games to be regularly added over time.

The service’s offerings grew once again, as it was announced at Nintendo Direct that titles from the Game Boy and Game Boy Advance would make their way to Nintendo Switch Online shortly after the presentation concluded.

Additionally, it was announced that the Game Boy library would be made available to all Nintendo Switch Online subscribers. But the Game Boy Advance titles would only be offered to those subscribed to Nintendo’s higher-tier online service, Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pass.

"Professor Layton and the New World of Steam"

For fans of the critically acclaimed puzzle-game series, Nintendo Direct surprised and delighted fans with the announcement of "Professor Layton and the New World of Steam."

Although the game’s feature consisted only of a short animated trailer showing the titular character wandering a foggy street, fans were still quite pleased with the news of a new entry being in development — especially since the last main-line Professor Layton game was released almost a decade ago with 2013’s "Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy."

"The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom"

Nintendo ended the showcase with a trailer for its upcoming title, "The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom." Announced back during its 2019 E3 presentation as a sequel to 2017’s "Breath of the Wild." "The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom" is set to release on May 12.

"The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom" made recent headlines even before the Nintendo Direct event. A pre-order page for the game went live Tuesday evening, seemingly mistakenly, and it was taken down shortly after. While the page was active, the game was shown to have a $69.99 price tag. After the presentation concluded, the site returned, and the price point was confirmed to be accurate.

Ever since the start of the current console generation, game pricing models have been a controversial subject. From about the 1990s onward, games have remained $60 — this remained the status quo until the introduction of the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, when some games began to be sold for an additional $10.

Although the justification for the increase was tied to the jump in hardware, Nintendo has yet to give any reasoning behind its price increase, even as rumors continue to circulate regarding its imminent announcement of new hardware.


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