Dark Souls 3

Dark Souls 3 might as well be the sendoff for this genre-defining series, and it’s a depressing send-off for sure. The flame that breathes life into the once glorious kingdom of Lothric has faded away into ashes, sending the entire world into a spiraling descent to madness and turning them into lifeless Undead. The champions of the land like the Abyss Watchers and Aldrich have also turned into a shadow of their former glory, and the player embarks on a destined quest to once again link the flame and save what little is left of this kingdom. You literally start off in the cemetery, waking up from your own grave – which is made all the more depressing thanks to the game’s muted color palette and melancholic orchestral soundtrack.

Set after the events of Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask sees Link venturing to Termina where the moon is set to crash. Why is this happening and what does the mysterious Skull Kid have to do with it? You have three days to find out, using the allotted time to explore the world (including dungeons) and collate information. Of course, you can use the ocarina to return to the first day and keep whatever progress has been made.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask would be re-released throughout the years as part of The Legend of Zelda: Collector’s Edition on GameCube and on the Wii U’s Virtual Console. It was also remade for the Nintendo 3DS in 2015. But for those craving the original experience on Nintendo Switch, this may be worth the wait. Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack costs $50 per 12 months for individual members and $80 per year for the family membership.

Announcing the news on their Twitter, Nintendo confirmed that The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask will be available for Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscribers to play and enjoy from February onwards. No date or time has been mentioned for the release of the game on the online service yet, but it is still great news regardless for people who want to dive back into the classic game again.

People interested to try the game out would still have to get themselves a Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription, and Nintendo Switch Online subscribers have to upgrade their membership by paying an additional cost. Regardless, the news of the arrival of The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask is something to look forward to.

Save Termina before it’s met with a terrible fate!

The Legend of #Zelda: Majora's Mask comes to #NintendoSwitch for #NintendoSwitchOnline + Expansion Pack members in February! #Nintendo64 pic.twitter.com/WN2Q0Wqc8Q

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) January 21, 2022

Bowser – Super Mario 64

Super Mario 64 was a series of firsts for many Nintendo fans. But it also offered one of the most memorable battles with Bowser ever. It was simple – the Koopa King was huge and Mario was small. The only way to defeat him was to grab his tale, swing the analog stick to get enough speed, aim for the bombs surrounding the arena and release Bowser to damage him. Simple but unique and fairly challenging on the third go-around, Bowser’s 64-form remains an iconic fight.

Outer Wilds

The set-up of Outer Wilds, Mobius Digital’s stellar open world adventure game, is that you’re an intrepid explorer in a solar system that’s going to end. You have 20 minutes to explore nearby planets, solve mysteries and determine why the sun is going supernova and destroying everything. Spectacles like planets that are only explorable during certain time periods, shifting gravity and much more make the exploration a treat (and discoveries are tracked throughout all playthroughs).

Justice Online Player Loses $1.4 Million Character

Last month, a player for NetEase’s Justice Online sued the company and his friend. Why? Well, he had a character that was worth a whopping $1.4 million and gave it to his friend, who proceeded to sell it for just $552. Everything was settled by NetEase who gave the character back but the man in question had to pay $13,000 in damages to whomever purchased it online. Moral of the story? Well, there are many morals to take away from this so take your pick.

Keiji Shibusawa – Yakuza 0

There’s only room for one Dragon of Dojima in Yakuza 0 and unfortunately for Keiji Shibusawa, it’s not him. The patriarch of Yakuza 0’s Shibusawa family, he’s usually portrayed as someone with a mind for business. However, this hides his sheer ruthlessness as witnessed when he set out to kill the Kazama family. The final battle sees Kiryu nearly kill Shibusawa but Nishiki would intervene, thus ensuring that Keiji went to jail.

Boss Theme – Sonic CD

As a boss theme trying to represent the vileness of Eggman, this t-heme from the US version of Sonic CD was fitting. That is, until you listen past the 20 second mark which is when it descends into a David Lynch film and then a Dario Argento film. Neither of those is something you want to see as a kid by the way, forget hearing about it as an innocent child (relatively speaking).

For a long time now, the hardware charts have been ruled by either Sony or Microsoft- even though the highest selling system of this generation remains Nintendo’s 3DS handheld, it has been routinely outsold by Xbox One and PlayStation 4 every month since those consoles launched.

That all changed this last month, as the one-two-three punch of The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, and the launch of the refreshed New Nintendo 3DS XL finally propelled the 3DS to the top of the hardware charts, ensuring Nintendo a first place finish on the hardware and software front.

The Nintendo 3DS line of handhelds collectively sold 390,000 units in February 2015- this includes the 3DS, the 3DS XL, the 2DS, and the New 3DS XL. That said, Nintendo was quick to point out that the vast majority of sales came from the New model, which has sold 130 percent more units in its initial frame than Nintendo 3DS XL did when it launched.

And that’s not all either- according to Nintendo, through the first two months of 2015, sales of Nintendo 3DS hardware have increased by more than 90 percent over sales in the same period in 2014.

After four years on the market and a lineup that can easily and indisputably be called the best of any of the current generation machines, I think this success is well deserved. Hopefully the New 3DS rejuvenates Nintendo’s aging handheld much like the Gameboy Color did for the original Gameboy back in 1998.

That might change in the foreseeable future though, as Zelda director Eiji Aonuma stated on a recent Facebook Q&A that, “Oh, one more thing. I see many of you have been asking about a remake of Majora’s Mask for Nintendo 3DS. It’s nice to see such a strong response to this title and we haven’t forgotten about Link’s adventures in that world. If you play A Link Between Worlds, you may better understand what I mean by that.”

Whether this actually means there will be an Easter Egg for the same or a bonafide update to Majora’s Mask remains to be seen though. Stay tuned for more news.