Sequel to Breath of the Wild Delayed to 2023... And I'm Cool With That

Nintendo came out and announced that the sequel to the highly acclaimed 2017 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has been delayed to 2023. 

Breath of the Wild is one of my favorite games and like many of you, I've been anticipating the sequel since it was revealed that it was in development back in 2019. But when Eiji Aonuma said they were aiming for a 2022 release date in a 2020 Nintendo Direct, I had a feeling there was a serious chance that the game would not launch in the year they had planned. No doubt this delay is very disappointing to fans but in all honesty? I ain't even mad. 

Now teenage me would have reacted to the delay of this game with anger and frustration. But adult me has thankfully matured and learned that some things just aren't worth getting upset over.

In today's gaming climate, games can be rushed out the door in a pitiful state they really have no business launching in and be patched up later, a practice far too many triple A game publishers are perfectly fine with. I'm making mean faces at you, Cyberpunk 2077 and Grand Theft Auto The Trilogy: The Definitive Edition. Call me old fashioned, but I prefer my games to come out of the gate in a competent state to where they don't need to be stitched up like a pair of heavily worn jeans. 

I'd also like the developers to be treated like human beings and not be subjected to crunch. Release the game when it is done and don't overwork the staff just because there's a deadline to meet and stock holders to please. 

2022 is also looking to be a pretty packed year for Nintendo. I'm starting to lose track of all the games I've got pre-ordered on the Switch and I've got games from 2021 I haven't even really dived into like Metroid Dread. We've got 9th generation Pokemon near the end of the year and Nintendo hasn't even shown us what all they've got for us to play during the fall. I already have a ton of games on my plate so I'm not going to lose any sleep over Breath of the Wild 2 being delayed. 

I started playing through the original Breath of the Wild sometime in 2021 after having not touched the game in years. This delay will give me some time to explore ravaged Hyrule once again before seeing what Nintendo has in store for us in Link's next adventure. And that is an adventure I am perfectly fine waiting for.

SQUARE ENIX Presents SQUARE ENIX MUSIC Channel on YouTube

Spotify and YouTube are massive platforms for music listeners. Video game music has long been uploaded on the later but more often than not, these music uploads are not official and can be taken down at any time. It has taken years, but more and more game companies have slowly started to realize that, there might be something to these streaming services and that gamers actually like listening to video game music outside of the game. Crazy, right? The latest company to get in on providing their music on YouTube is none other than SQUARE ENIX, which launched their very own music channel earlier this week, simply called SQUARE ENIX MUSIC Channel.

If you're a game music listener that frequents Spotify, you've probably known that a sizable chunk of SQUARE ENIX music has been up on that app for a good while now. Still, it is always nice when game music becomes more widely available and as someone who practically lives on YouTube, I whole heartily  embrace SQUARE ENIX's decision to launch a music channel.

The usual suspects are up on SEMC. If you want to hear soundtracks from the mainline FINAL FANTASY games, the channel has you covered. But if you think that's all there is, you'd be mistaken. Soundtracks from the MANA games is here, the SaGa series, the Chrono series, NieR and specially crafted music selections are readily available on SEMC. Even the superb soundtrack for Octopath Travler is there along with the soundtracks for The World Ends with You and NEO: The World Ends with You. We are looking at well over 5,000 music tracks and the channel isn't even a week old yet. 

Eagle eyed SQUARE ENIX music lovers are sure to notice that there's still quite a few omissions. LIVE A LIVE is not up. The entire Front Mission series is absent. There's no Racing Lagoon, Bahamut Lagoon or any Parasite Eve soundtracks. And many of the spin off FINAL FANTASY soundtracks like Mystic Quest, Tactics and Crystal Chronicles aren't available. I guess we can chalk this up to the channel being so new, but I'm really hoping these soundtracks as well as others pop up.

Another quibble I do have is that there are a lot of track titles that are not in English. I find this strange since on Spotify, many of these soundtracks are available with Japanese as well as English titles. This could be another thing that is due to the channel being in it's infancy. I do hope more English track titles pop up as without them, it can be quite difficult to identify a specific song until you hear it.

SQUARE ENIX MUSIC Channel is something that I really, really, hope we see more of (glaring at you, Nintendo) and I hope to see the soundtrack uploads increase. As for suggestions on what to listen to? I recommend the GB SaGa games, AKA Final Fantasy Legend soundtracks for some underrated chiptune goodness. The Mellow Minstrel Mix has quickly become a favorite of mine, containing chill, lo-fi arrangements of SQUARE ENIX music, some of which as of this writing, has not made it's way to Spotify. 

Go listen to some music from this amazing channel. It'll probably help wash the horrendous taste that is Chocobo GP micro transactions out of your mouth.

TMNT: The Cowabunga Collection is my DREAM Anthology

Over the past 9-ish or more years, it has been widely accepted that Konami, well, sucks. Pachinko nonsense, practically bowing out of the game developing and publishing business and awful mistreatment of their well established IPs and Castlevania NFT crap has made the once great Konami a company every bit deserving of the hate it gets. 

BUT. Every now and then Konami will do something to remind us that at one point, Konami was a worthwhile company. The best thing Konami has done in recent years is re-release select games in their catalog such as the excellent Castlevani Anniversary Collection, Contra Anniversary Collection and Castlevania Advance Collection. I've given up hope on Konami reclaiming their lost glory but when it comes to retro releases, they've shown that they know how to not screw things up. 

One collection from Konami that I've long wanted to see was a collection of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle titles. Konami was the go-to company for games with the green machines in the late '80s to mid '90s. On the NES, SNES, Genesis or the arcade, you were well covered for a slice of turtle action. But since the TMNT is a licensed property, this meant that such a collection was nigh impossible. True, we had seen re-releases of the 1989 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade game the 1990 NES TMNT game but a big collection of Turtle games? No such luck. That all changed during the March 9th Sony State of Play when the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection was revealed.

I'm sure you've heard this a million times from every '80s brat either in person or on the internet, but the Turtles were my childhood. The 1987 cartoon series introduced me to the TMNT and made me a life long fan. It is a well known fact that the Turtles were originally conceived with a darker tone and themes in 1984 comic run but it was the '80s cartoon show that bought the franchise the fame it so richly enjoys to this day. 

The Cowabunga Collection focuses on the Turtle games released based off the 1987 series. The 13 games included are both arcade titles, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time, all three NES games, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project, the SNES beat 'em up Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time, the Genesis Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist the NES, Genesis and SNES versions of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters, and all three GB games, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall of the Footclan, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Back to the Sewers, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Radical Rescue. Whew! That is a lot of green ninja action and I would not have it any other way.

Like Konami's other retro releases over the past few years, Cowabunga Collection will include artwork, sketches and the like. Save and rewind features are now standard features of retro collections and our supped up Turtle anthology will have them, meaning the Dam level on NES TMNT will be far less painful. I just might see the ending to that game for once.

Cowabunga Collection has no release date yet. All we know is that it is coming out this year. We'll be getting a physical release and the asking price for this collection of 13 TMNT game is just $40. For what we're getting a plethora of beat 'em ups, some brawlers and some action titles, I have no problem with the price of admission. No matter what system you prefer to game on, this collection is coming to everything so everyone can join the party. When this game does drop I'll have the pizza ready.