Earlier this week, during the Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcase, we found out Cadence of Hyrule would be receiving three new paid DLC packs this year. As you probably already know, the first character pack is now available for $5.99 USD (or your regional equivalent). It contains Impa, Federick (the Shopkeeper), Aria, Shadow Link, and Shadow Zelda.

Alongside this, Brace Yourself Games has rolled out Version 1.2.0. We’ve now got our hands on the full patch notes – which adds and changes some content, and also fixes a lot of bugs. Here’s the full rundown:

PATCH NOTES 1.2.0

• Character DLC now available! Play through any game mode as Impa, Frederick (Shopkeeper), Aria, Shadow Link, or Shadow Zelda. Includes a new game mode: all characters mode, and 1 alternate outfit for each character (changeable at sheikah stones)
• added a new game mode modifier: mystery mode
• changed behaviour of some enemies to have them better avoid falling in holes
• changed Octavo’s haste ability to be speed capped in the same way as peaceful area movement or fixed-beat movement
• added portals to dungeon mode to allow the player to restart a zone from the boss area
• added 2 extra weapons in dungeon mode, in zones 2 and 3
• changed dungeon mode to not regenerate the dungeon after death when playing in seeded mode
• added a display of the random seed to the post-game screen, and make it briefly visable after a quick-restart

BUG FIXES

• fixed “bounce-cancelling”, an exploit that could allow the player to be stuck hovering at a specific height
• fixed a bug/exploit involving using the inventory screen to cancel a bow or power glove action
• fixed a bug where characters would continuously swap equipment if they picked up a new item while standing on a bridge or object
• fixed a bug where the contents of certain objects (crates, bushes, etc) could be duplicated using the power glove
• fixed a bug where “Quick Restart” in a co-op game would then start a new game in single player mode
• fixed a bug in dungeon generation where bounce traps could be generated adjacent to doors
• fixed a bug where picking up an item while sliding on ice could cause the player to slide too far
• fixed a bug where using the hookshot and the “haste” ability could cause the step count to be incremented incorrectly
• fixed an issue where helper characters in the Ganon battle could get stuck with glass weapons, and then lose their only available weapon after getting hit
• fixed some bugs involving player movement around wind traps
• fixed an issue where heart pieces could disappear if the player left the screen without picking them up
• fixed some bugs relating to unusable items appearing for Yves
• fixed an issue where Yves could unburrow inside certain larger enemies, causing them to get stuck
• fixed a bug where the shrine of death could allow the player to skip Necrodancer phase 3
• many other bug fixes

Packs 2 and 3 will be released before the end of October (for $5.99 and $9.99 respectively). You can also buy all three in the Season Pass for $14.99 (which includes bonus costumes for Link and Zelda). The second pack adds 39 songs to the game, and the third pack adds additional story content and allows you to play as Skull Kid.

There’ll also be a physical edition of the game released on 23rd October. It contains the base game and all of the DLC. Have you downloaded the latest update for Cadence of Hyrule? Did you buy the DLC? Leave a comment down below.

Earlier this week you may have seen a certain tweet doing the rounds on Twitter insinuating that 2020 is the worst year Nintendo has had for a while. This comes following an underwhelming Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcase which came on the heels of a Nintendo Treehouse stream that also disappointed fans hoping for big announcements on upcoming games in the second half of the year.

Even if the first half of 2020 has proved light on the ‘MEGATON ANNOUNCEMENT’ front, we’ve been playing some mighty fine games on Switch

Without naming names, it struck us as amusing that Nintendo’s year so far could be considered a ‘bad’ one. Has it been a bit quiet? Certainly. Lacking in blow-out Direct presentations compared to Switch’s previous years? Undoubtedly. But Nintendo’s worst year since…? Everything is relative, of course, but it’s clear that some fans have let their expectations run amok. Anybody expecting confirmation of the rumoured Super Mario 35th Anniversary remasters from a video clearly labelled as a ‘Partner Showcase’ only has themselves to blame.

Even if the first half of 2020 has proved light on the ‘MEGATON ANNOUNCEMENT’ front, we’ve been playing some mighty fine games on Switch the past six months. A quick visit to our reviews section reveals that in 2020 we’ve awarded over 30 games a review score or 9- or 10/10 across various genres. We’ve seen brilliant remasters of older titles like Catherine: Full Body, Xenoblade Chronicles and BioShock: The Collection, and delightful indie hits like Good Job!, In Other Waters, La-Mulana 2 and To The Moon.

Elsewhere, our review banks are bubbling over with great games that scored 8/10. We’ve had Pokémon DLC, we’ve had new Smash fighters, within the space of two months we’ve had the announcement and release of a brand new Paper Mario game that’s really rather good… and we’re only just halfway through the year. Oh, and that other first-party joint that launched back in March. What was the name? Animal something-or-other…

Nintendo Life

Have there been disappointments? Sure, but considering the wider trials and tribulations citizens across the globe are contending with in 2020, we’d say Switch owners and Nintendo fans have had a pretty good time of it when it comes to gaming.

With that in mind (and for a bit of fun), we thought we’d ask you lovely people which year from Nintendo’s illustrious gaming history you think was the ‘worst’. How you define that superlative is up to you: perhaps the release of an unloved console sullied an entire 365-day period for you; maybe a post-launch drought sapped your enthusiasm one year; perhaps a hilariously poor E3 showing flushed Nintendo’s gaming calendar down your toilet.

The poll below starts with 1986–the year of the NES’ full launch in the West following its release in test markets the previous year–giving you 35 years to choose from. If you’re having trouble remembering what was released when, you can always head to our games database and filter by year to jog your gaming memory.

So, let us know which year represents Nintendo’s nadir below, and leave a comment to let us know why.

All a bit of a downer? Fear not – it’s only a bit of fun and we’ll counteract this negativity with a ‘Best Year’ poll soon. In the meantime, we’re off to find that Ravi Drums clip…

© Nintendo

Famitsu’s Japanese chart figures are now in for 13th – 19th July, and Nintendo’s latest Switch release Paper Mario: The Origami King has made its debut in second place – surpassing 100,000 sales.

The PlayStation 4 exclusive Ghost of Tsushima has taken out the top spot in its first week. Animal Crossing: New Horizons has jumped up to the third place, Ring Fit Adventure is right underneath it, and Konami’s baseball titles have dropped down to fifth and sixth place.

Underneath them sits Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Pokémon Sword and Shield, and the other new entry this week – Together! The Battle Cats.

Here are the top 10 (first numbers are this week’s estimated sales, followed by total sales):

1) [PS4] Ghost of Tsushima (Sony Interactive Entertainment) {2020.07.17} – 212.915 / NEW
2) [NSW] Paper Mario: The Origami King (Nintendo) {2020.07.17} – 109.092 / NEW
3) [NSW] Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo) {2020.03.20} – 71.897 / 5.186.283
4) [NSW] Ring Fit Adventure (Nintendo) {2019.10.18} – 36.183 / 1.173.243
5) [NSW] eBaseball Powerful Pro Baseball 2020 (Konami) {2020.07.09} – 29.719 / 124.595
6) [PS4] eBaseball Powerful Pro Baseball 2020 (Konami) {2020.07.09} – 26.951 / 118.498
7) [NSW] Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics (Nintendo) {2020.06.05} – 20.586 / 235.891
8) [NSW] Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo) {2017.04.28} – 10.031 / 3.035.989
9) [NSW] Together! The Battle Cats (Ponos) {2020.07.16} – 9.725 / NEW
10) [NSW] Pokemon Sword / Shield (Pokemon Co.) {2019.11.15} – 7.843 / 3.662.804

Standard Switch hardware sales went up this week, but there was a decrease in Switch Lite sales. Here are this week’s figures, followed by lifetime sales in brackets:

Nintendo Switch: 95,764 (11,904,115)
PlayStation 4: 3,053 (7,628,803)
PlayStation 4 Pro: 1,470 (1,567,758)
Xbox One S: 12 (21,411)
Xbox One X: 19 (20,628)

Nintendo Switch Lite: 17,433 (2,408,524)
New Nintendo 2DS LL: 827(1,137,995)
New Nintendo 3DS: 76 (5,888,143)

< Last week’s charts

Any surprises this week? Let us know in the comments.

In case you forgot, a live-action video game film based on Capcom’s Mega Man series is still happening and some “big news” is apparently coming soon.

The directors – Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman – revealed this during a recent interview with IGN. Mattson Tomlin (who helped write the screenplay for the upcoming film The Batman – starring Robert Pattinson) will be helping out with the script for Mega Man. Here’s what Joost had to say about his involvement:

“We had such a great time working with Mattson on Project Power that we invited him in to help us out with Mega Man. We are super excited about it. I think we’re going to have some big news about it soon. I can’t say all that much right now, but it’s a project very near and dear to our hearts and we’re psyched.”

As for directors’ history with the blue bomber, Schulman said the first Nintendo game he ever played was Mega Man, and he liked how this particular video game icon was “an underdog hero”. As for the film itself, here are some of the themes it will feature:

“Both of us are deeply fascinated by robotics and the future of automation, for better and for worse. I think trying to combine that into one of our favorite historical video games is the ultimate challenge.”

When Capcom confirmed Mega Man was to be adapted into a live-action film, it said it wanted to appeal to video game players and action-movie fans, while capturing the true spirit of a Hollywood blockbuster.

This isn’t the only Capcom movie on the way. Monster Hunter is ready to go, but recently got delayed until 2021. Would a live-action Mega Man movie interest you, or will you be sticking to the video games? Leave a comment down below.

Most computer scientists, programmers, and hackers don’t even know the meaning of the word “Quine” in the context of programming. So, first things first:

What is a Quine?

Roughly speaking, a quine is a self-reproducing program: if you run it, it generates itself.

Here’s a great definition:

:quine: /kwi:n/ /n./ [from the name of the logician Willard van Orman Quine, via Douglas Hofstadter] A program that generates a copy of its own source text as its complete output. Devising the shortest possible quine in some given programming language is a common hackish amusement. (source)

The name “quine” was coined by Douglas Hofstadter, in his popular science book Gödel, Escher, Bach, in honor of philosopher Willard Van Orman Quine (1908–2000), who made an extensive study of indirect self-reference, and in particular for the following paradox-producing expression, known as Quine’s paradox.

Wikipedia

The shortest possible quine is the following empty program:

The program is self-reproducing because the output of the program is the program itself. Go ahead and run it in your own shell!

Let’s dive into a collection of Python Quines to demonstrate how they work!

Python One-Liner Quine 1

Here’s a short one-liner Quine, I found at this resource:

s='s=%r;print(s%%s,sep="")';print(s%s,sep="")

• You may want to improve your string formatting skills to really understand this one-liner.
• The separator argument of the print function avoids printing a new-line character at the end.
• The %r format specifier automatically supplies single quotes.

Here’s the code in an interactive shell so that you can play with this Quine in your browser:

Exercise: Run the code. What’s the output? Can you explain why?

Python One-Liner Quine 2

Voxel Tools is an open source and free C++ module for the Godot game engine that adds Voxel terrain support.  You can create both blocky Minecraft style maps, or smoothed realistic maps.

Details of Voxel Tools features:

• Realtime editable, 3D based terrain (Unlike a heightmap based terrain, this allows for overhangs, tunnels, and user creation/destruction)
• Physics based collision and raycast support
• Infinite terrains made by paging sections in and out
• Voxel data is streamed from a variety of sources, which includes the ability to write your own generators
• Minecraft-style blocky voxel terrain, with multiple materials and baked ambient occlusion
• Smooth terrain using Transvoxel
• Levels of detail for smooth terrain
• Voxel storage using 8-bit channels for any general purpose

Since Voxel Tools are implemented as C++ modules (learn more about that topic here), you are required to recompile the Godot engine.  Thankfully however Voxel Tools ships with precompiled versions available for all platforms here.  The sample level used in the below video can be cloned from this repository and the documentation is available here.

[embedded content]

GameDev News Godot

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