The acrylic panel is 1000 Platinum Points

Zelda: Skyward Sword HD has been out for a bit, and it's had plenty of time to marinate. Do you like the motion controls? Yes, no? O??kay, keep them or turn them off! Opt??ions are a wonderful thing. Oh, you're done with the game already? Well you can admire this acrylic panel art while it's not installed on your Switch.

As we pointed out recently, Skyward Sword HD has a My Nintendo reward. It's an acrylic art panel, and it'll cos?t you 1000 Platinum Points. It just came in? the mail, and I have to say, I'm hap?py with it!

The quality is about the same as the prior acrylic art panels (which Zelda has gotten one of so far), and it comes with a little kickstand you can use to display it. ?Or you can upgrade: your call.

It's thin at 1/8" in terms of its ??thickness, which can be a boon depending on whether or not space is a premium. The size of the panel itself is 5"x7".

I mean, it's pretty much the perfect art for this game. It gets everything it needs to get across: Fi, Ghirahim, Link, Loftwings...the sky. And an epic pose. The best part? Fi is silent. Yuck? yuck yuck.

A close-up of the Skyward Sword HD acrylic panel:

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Codemasters' latest puts the pedal to the metal

In a surprising turn of events, Nintendo remaster The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD has already been pushed off of the top spot of the UK Charts, replaced by Electronic Arts finely-polished simulator F1 2021. The asphalt-burning racer launched on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC platforms on July 16, but jammed the accelerator in order to hit #1 in its second week of release, a regular occurrence for niche sports titles in the U?K retail market.

Elsewhere in the Top Ten, a fresh influx of PS5 shipments has seen both Insomniac Games' Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart and Spider-Man: Miles Morales receive a major sales boost, depositing both titles at numbers three and six respectively. Outside of the premier league, the PS5 editions of Capcom's Resident Evil Village, Activision's Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, and Square Enix Marvel's Avengers all saw sales?? spikes. A solid week for physical PS5 game sales.

Nintendo still maintains dominance of the UK's Top Ten, as they have done for a little over a year now. Old and new titles including Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Minecraft, and Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury continue to enjoy steady sales since launch, making up the majority of the UK Charts Top Ten scene since way back in 2019. With the next run of major releases not really expected until fall, this is likely to remain the general picture of the UK charts' st??agnancy for the coming months, whether F1 2021 re?mains in pole position for a second week or otherwise.

_{[A reminder that Destructoid will be winding down its coverage of the UK Chart scene this month]}

U.K. video game sales chart w/e: July 24, 2021
(Chart reflects in-store physical sales only)

1. F1 2021 - Electronic Arts
2. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD - Nintendo
3. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart�Sony Interactive Entertainment
4. FIFA 21 �Electronic Arts
5. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe �Nintendo
6. Spider-Man: Miles Morales - Sony Interactive Entertainment
7. Animal Crossing: New Horizons �Nintendo
8. Minecraft �Nintendo
9. Grand Theft Auto V - Take-Two Interactive
10. Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury - Nintendo

U.K. Video Game Charts [GamesIndustry.biz]

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Yikes, Wave 3, this you?

Hello? Is it amiibo nightmare buying experiences you're looking for? Be?cause you're in one! Two references, I'm on fire t??oday.

Ah man it feels like forever since I've written something like this, but the Loftwing & Zelda amiibo situation is unlike anything I've experienced in years as an amiibo collector. So it came out recently that the figure would interface with Zelda: Skyward Sword HD and add a feature t??hat basically should have come standard as a quality of life upgr??ade. Now we have a bit more inf??o on the toy, and how tough it might be to acquire it.

First off it's $25, which is roughly nine bucks higher than the average figure. OK, it's bigger generally, and more detailed. Some people can live with that. But it's also one of the most elusive f??igures in years, and has sold out at GameStop and Best Buy at the time of publication: sales?? that went up in the evening (US East) without warning.

All of that aside, we also have a full picture of what amiibo support will entail in Skyward Sword HD: and you're looking at it. According to the site, "The Zelda & Loftwing amiibo figure is the only amiibo that can be used in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD." For a lot of people that's a sigh of relief, for others, it's kind of a pain that this hard-to-find, more expensive amiibo is the only way to unlock that fast travel anywhere feature: even if you own other Zelda figures.

Good luck if you're trying to get one!

New Zelda & Loftwing amiibo Figure [Nintendo]

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It's out with the game on July 16

So first up I have to really com??plimen?t the sculpt of this new amiibo figure. Job well done, folks.

A new Zelda amiibo? Yes. With loftwing? That's a two for one! This figure is super rad and I dig that games like Skyward Sword are getting commemorative figures. For th??e most part, 2020 and 2021 have been dead on the amiibo front (although this year has already surpassed 2020). Onto the? bad news.

My hype dwindled a bit after watching the below trailer, which introduces the duo. So normally the game offers "fast travel" using specific statues in-game to go back to the main hub (Skyloft). But with the amiibo, you can just tap the figure to the NFC point, and instantly travel back to Skyloft. Even better, when you use it again, you'll go righ??t ba?ck where you left off.

Am I crazy or is this a basic remaster quality of life feature? I'm typically all for amiibo unlocking cosmetic content (even "early unlocks" are fairly innocuous), but this is something a lot of people probably expected to be in the base game. If this figure is hard to track down too (just like the recent Monster Hunter Stories 2 figures, which aren't even being sold on?line in the US),? it'll be even more of a pain.

As a reminder, we've kept a running tally of every amiibo figure released to date since 2014. You can check it out here.

The post This Zelda: Skyward Sword amiibo is love??ly, but its f??eature should be in the game by default appeared first on Destructoid.

'Smoother and more intuitive than the original version'

The day Zelda: Skyward Sword came out, I hooked up my shiny new golden MotionPlus contr??oller and...had some mechanical issues.

Then I tried my two other MotionPlus-adapter-ready Wiimotes, and...had more issues. Namely, deadzoning for bomb rolling and a fe??w aiming problems: sword swinging was mostly on point. It turns out Nintendo thinks that system can be improved upon, based on a new ad for the game.

Shared over on Twitter by Nintendo of America, Skyward Sword HD on Switch will apparently have new enhancements with more precise motion controls. Here's the rub: "the original controls have been recreated on Nintendo Switch, and are smoother and more intuitive than the original version."

It's a really bold marketing claim, to dump on the Wii like that; especially when?? Miyamoto got up on stage and touted how advanced MotionPlus technology was. But if it actually pans out, I'll take it.

It won't fix all of Skyward Sword's problems, but it's a start.

Nintendo of America [Twitter]

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'Sword motions can be made by tilting the right control stick'

Right around when Zelda: Skyward Sword came out so many years ago?, folks were trying to figure out ways that they could emulate it with traditional controls.

I mean, I had that exact same thought. Given that motion was used for pretty much everything from shimmying around vines, to flight, to rolling bombs; deadzoning (even with the new Gold Wiimote and several other MotionPlus remotes I owned) was a problem for me. I longed for a traditional control method, and finally, we're getting one with Skyward Sword HD.

Will it work well? Nintendo thinks so, despite touting that motion was the only way to play way back when. A new tweet sheds some light on things already discussed in the presentation, most notably how sword strokes will work. The tweet showcases how sword motions are triggered by tilting the right analog stick, which allows players to enjoy Skyward Sword eve??n in portable form (or on the Switch Lite, where traditional controls are their only opt?ion).

Truth be told, the mere existence of the Lite is a huge boon for me. I'm enjoying mine, to be sure, but I also like how it now forces Nintendo to try and support traditional controls as an option. Skyward Sword was occasionally fun with motion, but after that 1000th waggle t?o do a basic movement a button would have sufficed for, I was ready to swap to another control option; even for just a little while.

Nintendo of America [Twitter]

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Can you feel the power, Kronk? Oh, I can feel it

Oh hey look new Nintendo hardware ??that's highly sought after and wasn't up for pre-order when they were announced.

Yes, it's none other than a new pair of sleek looking Joy-Con: the Skyward Sword HD controllers. Nintendo noted the Joy-Cons will "launch on the game's release date [July 16] at your local retailers." Thanks! We could use a heads-up so these?? don't go on sale on a random midnight hour while some of us are asleep.

If you're just interested in the hardware goods, that picks up around 2:30 in the below video. As the video explains, the right Joy-Con is meant to emulate the M?aster Sword, while the left is the Hylian Shield.

?Good luck! If we hear anything we'll get th??e word out. In the meantime you can take a gander at them.

The post Oh yes, these Zelda: Sky??ward Sword Joy-Con will be mine appeared first on Destructoid.

Switch Lite owners won't be left out

I know it's not the most popular game in the series, but there is a special place in my heart for The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Sure, Fi is annoying, but it's one outstanding adventure with beautiful visuals and dynamic boss battles. If you skipped it on the Wii, you'll have a chance to experience it on Switch with The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD.

The game's motion controls are optimized for Nintendo Switch,?? with the right Joy-Con controlling the sword and the left Joy-Con controlling the shield. It will also have button-only controls if you want to skip all that. The game will release on July 16, 2021. Nintendo will also be releasing special Joy-Con controllers alongside the game.

The post The Legend ??of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD has button and motion?? controls appeared first on Destructoid.