Legend of Zelda game sells 10M copies in three days • Hacker News Board

Re: Legend of Zelda game sells 10M copies in three days

#351

Post by underdeserver » Thu, May 18, 2023, 4:39 PM UTC

eru wrote: post #73

timeimp wrote: post #9

For those out of the loop: think Garrys Mod (GMod) meets the Zelda series and yes, it was made by Nintendo themselves. The entire game is a fantastic example of well-designed map, gameplay, storyline / plot advancement, AND sandboxing all in one. Incredible to think that its also running on seven year old hardware. The emulation videos of the game running at 4K 60FPS on YouTube are astounding to watch.

Even seven years ago the hardware was already quite underpowered, and only really made sense because it's a hybrid console. Yes, the game looks good. They also seem to have fixed some issues compared to BotW, eg the pop-in of objects isn't as jarring.

Why is every one saying seven years ago? I remember the Switch coming out around March 2017. We're in May 2023. That's six years (and change) ago, not seven.

Re: Legend of Zelda game sells 10M copies in three days

#352

Post by majormajor » Thu, May 18, 2023, 4:40 PM UTC

sharatvir wrote: post #202

AlwaysRock wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Weird take because of how much they have experimented with entire consoles in the past. I don't know how the Wii could be called betting on withered technologies.

The wii is basically a slightly more powerful GameCube with novel controls. It competed with (and outsold) the ps3 and xbox360 which offered HD visuals and integrated online play.

So it was outdated tech except for the parts that weren't? If you add in "outdated graphics tech," sure, but saying it's just outdated period does Nintendo a big disservice.

One of the issues with the Wii was that the controller tech was too immature, hence the later addition of the MotionPlus stuff, and how the Switch versions of "use it like a pointer" games are so much more robust.

Re: Legend of Zelda game sells 10M copies in three days

#353

Post by ggregoire » Thu, May 18, 2023, 4:40 PM UTC

I wonder what would be those sales if the game was released on PC too.

Like they obviously make it exclusive to the Switch to sell more consoles. But I'll never buy that console (or any console, really) just to play this game, or even to play 10 games as good as this one. I imagine tons of PC gamers are in my case. I heard the game runs quite well on a Switch emulator and it was getting massively downloaded via torrent on day 1. Personally I won't bother going this route, I'm too lazy for that, but if the game was on Steam and playable in 1 click, I would gladly give Nintendo 70 bucks.

Re: Legend of Zelda game sells 10M copies in three days

#354

Post by schaefer » Thu, May 18, 2023, 4:41 PM UTC

speeder wrote: post #110

dzonga wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

nintendo's playbook: bet on withered technologies. which means their focus is only on gameplay mechanics, story and art direction. not focusing on bugs that are well not known cz of using something too new, expensive etc. not fancy graphics, or other modern fancy things - that don't really add anything to the game. wish the software industry would learn to bet on old technologies and develop novel experiences on thos…

You are wrong there. Nintendo instead been always pushing the tech. The NES, SNES, N64 and GameCube were part of the "bits race" and kept pushing forward in hardware power. Mario 64 is credited along with Wing Commander for creating the AAA graphics race at all costs behavior in the industry. The Wii wasn't entirely a direction change, Nintendo felt competing on CPU power now was not interesting and went for motion c…

>they just tried it again with the Switch and made it portable. This again is spawning clones (steam deck for example)

Calling the steamdeck a switch clone feels really weird to me.

I had a sega game gear as a kid, and it was effectively the same form factor...

Re: Legend of Zelda game sells 10M copies in three days

#355

Post by munificent » Thu, May 18, 2023, 4:41 PM UTC

kettlecorn wrote: post #187

I'm often discouraged by comments on Hacker News that downplay the importance of great design in a design-heavy medium. This game isn't succeeding primarily because of great marketing, franchise, or blind loyalty to Nintendo (though all of those help!). It's succeeding primarily because it's the follow-up to a game that critics and players universally found enormously fun. Before Breath of the Wild previous Zelda ent…

> Before Breath of the Wild previous Zelda entries did not sell this well.

Breath of the Wild was certainly the best-seller, but nearly every Zelda game has been a knock-out success selling millions of copies. I think Breath of the Wild is an outlier among them in part because it was out during the pandemic. I know a whole lot of people who bought a Switch during the lockdown and poured hours into escapism with that game.

Re: Legend of Zelda game sells 10M copies in three days

#356

Post by Namari » Thu, May 18, 2023, 4:41 PM UTC

ggregoire wrote: post #353

I wonder what would be those sales if the game was released on PC too. Like they obviously make it exclusive to the Switch to sell more consoles. But I'll never buy that console (or any console, really) just to play this game, or even to play 10 games as good as this one. I imagine tons of PC gamers are in my case. I heard the game runs quite well on a Switch emulator and it was getting massively downloaded via torre…

I bought the switch for the first Zelda, great game that got me back into console games. I don't really see any other game worth playing on Switch but it was great. You can always buy it second handed and sell it once you're done.

Re: Legend of Zelda game sells 10M copies in three days

#357

Post by giobox » Thu, May 18, 2023, 4:42 PM UTC

mrguyorama wrote: post #143

arnaudsm wrote: post #8

It is impressive that a game running on an 8-year-old phone GPU will likely be game of the year. Nintendo proved again that gameplay and art direction matter more than anything.

Is it really that impressive that focusing on game design results in a better game than spending a billion dollars on a thousand artists so that every tree can have ten times as many polygons and each texture is 16kX16k? Better graphics rarely actually IMPROVE a game, and can do nothing to fix a game that was designed poorly. AAA studios whine and cry about how expensive games are to make (completely glossing over th…

> not play the exact game they bought a decade ago with more detailed scenes, and more detail doesn't make a game better

Except in the case of this Zelda sequel you sort of are playing the exact same game you bought 5 years ago, and with little/no improvement to detail, for an even higher price (69.99)... While I've bought it and am enjoying it, its hardly some huge shift in any way (technical, gameplay or story) from BOTW, and virtually all the mechanics are identical. I still think it worthy of great reviews to be clear, but it is not some genre shaking release.

Re: Legend of Zelda game sells 10M copies in three days

#358

Post by moffkalast » Thu, May 18, 2023, 4:43 PM UTC

s1artibartfast wrote: post #319

jjoonathan wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It never fails to amaze me how quickly the hate train starts or how fast it gets going when it comes time to blame technical artists for the shortcoming of others, even though they are arguably the best in the industry at reliably accomplishing amazing deeply technical feats that deliver joy. I'm glad I figured this out before spending much time going down that path, but I still know people who did, they're the smart…

I think it is odd too. Why do people care? It seems like the reasonable response to a product you dont like is to not buy it and then ignore it. Why do people get fixated, angry, and shit on products they dont like.

It's not odd, it's the result of false marketing and frankly very much the direct fault of publishers. They spend an untold amount on promotional campaigns showing prerendered footage, gameplay running on workstations with unrealistic specs, and buy endorsements. All together that makes people invested and makes them expect too much. It's very easy to feel lied to and betrayed when the final result doesn't even closely live up to the promises. It's even worse for sequels, as they inevitably get compared to the original by its fans.

If the promotion wasn't false advertising there would be no backlash and people would act rationally, as you say. Nobody hates on something they've never seen before unless somebody tells them to expect more than they'll get.

Re: Legend of Zelda game sells 10M copies in three days

#359

Post by skyyler » Thu, May 18, 2023, 4:44 PM UTC

mrguyorama wrote: post #283

skyyler wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only one that's difficult to emulate is the N64. Last I checked there wasn't an agreed upon project like there is for the GC/Wii and other Nintendo consoles.

I'm about to make your day: https://www.libretro.com/index.php/parallel-n64-low-level-rd... That is a software emulation of the RDP from the n64 that runs in a shader on your GPU. No more visual bugs, no more artifacts, no more perfect dark missing a visual effect that kills an entire mission, and accurate upscaling, and it actually runs very well even on cheap GPUs.

AMAZING!!!!

You've absolutely made my day! Going to have to try this out later, maybe try out some Blast Corps!

Re: Legend of Zelda game sells 10M copies in three days

#360

Post by yamtaddle » Thu, May 18, 2023, 4:44 PM UTC

mrguyorama wrote: post #149

speeder wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are wrong there. Nintendo instead been always pushing the tech. The NES, SNES, N64 and GameCube were part of the "bits race" and kept pushing forward in hardware power. Mario 64 is credited along with Wing Commander for creating the AAA graphics race at all costs behavior in the industry. The Wii wasn't entirely a direction change, Nintendo felt competing on CPU power now was not interesting and went for motion c…

You are proving their point. Nintendo switched to the "don't care about tech" strategy because they had been pushing tech for 2 generations and only doing worse as a business. People preferred the Playstation 2 over the Gamecube because it had more and better games, and Nintendo spent the n64 and Gamecube console generations losing their third party support. That's also why the doubled down on their first party games…

> People preferred the Playstation 2 over the Gamecube because it had more and better games

PS2 was barely more expensive than a decent DVD player, at the time, and came out before most folks had a DVD player. And it played DVDs. Gamecube didn't. This made the Gamecube a second console for most people... which meant they didn't get it at all, if they only had one console. PS2 also played PS1 games, which meant some gamers had a large library that could be played on it on day 1. GC didn't play N64 games.

Nothing else is really needed to explain the GC's weak sales relative to the PS2.