Mario Kart

An Accidental Offensive Gesture Had To Be Removed From Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Can you tell what the Splatoon character is doing?

Monday, May 22, 2017 - 11:23

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has been patched to remove an accidental offensive hand gesture.

Nintendo

Although Inkling Girl’s fist pump celebration isn’t considered offensive in the UK (nor in Japan, where the game was developed), in other countries - including Brazil, France, Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain - the meaning differs, translating into a raft of different things, from the equivalent to giving someone the middle finger, to, er, disrespecting someone’s mother. Whoops.

This is the original, would appreciate if someone can check the game for me. (Busy atm) pic.twitter.com/wtSunvWCBN
— Pedri (@BubblemanPedri) May 18, 2017

The replacement is subtle, but rather than putting her left hand on her right arm and pumping, Inking Girl now simply makes a fist-pump action with just her right arm. Here, you can see the difference yourself thanks to NeoGAF user Neiteio.

Nintendo

And that’s not all that’s changed, either. Other tweaks and improvements to the game on Nintendo Switch include a change to permit players to see opponents’ names in the rearview mirror in online matches, starting positions on the track now “properly reflect” the order in which players join, tournament clocks now show real-world times, and up to two players can spectate a friend group whilst waiting to join in with the action (and if you have 100+ friends, you can create a friend lobby).

Nintendo have also removed the invincibility period after a spin-out or crash in online matches, "Worldwide" and "Regional" modes add players to Mirror and 200cc matches less often, and - best of all, perhaps - Driver Miis now properly showing facial expressions. Yay!

- By Vikki Blake @_vixx

21 Secret Easter Eggs Hidden In 'The Legend Of Zelda: Breath of the Wild' That Will Blow Your Mind

What makes this shrine so special isn’t just the spirit orb waiting for you inside, its the shrine’s name ‘Oman Au’ which is actually an anagram for Aonuma as in “Eiji Aonuma”, the producer of Breath of the Wild.

YouTube/The Easter Egg Hunter

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Remember all those fake swords you came across whilst searching for the Master Sword in ‘A Link to the Past’? Near the start of BOTW a similar bluff is set up when you stumble across a sword that looks masterful but turns out to be a rusty dud.

YouTube/Zeltik

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The old man in the game is said to be a direct reference to the old man in the original Legend of Zelda who gives Link his sword. Whilst in the original game you start by entering a cave to greet him, in BOTW you exit a cave before greeting him.

YouTube/Zeltik

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The divine beasts’ names are references to characters from earlier in the series: Vah Ruta is said to reference Ruto, the Zora princess of Ocarina of Time, whilst Vah Naboris is said to be named after a Gerudo hero known as Nabooru.

YouTube/ZackScottGames

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Twitter user @Venick409 posted a genius way to get around without the use of a glider. Smash into a rock until its piping hot, then hop on just before it shoots off into the sky.

Twitter/Venick409

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Wanna ride around on a giant horse? Who doesn’t?! Ganon’s horse can be found exactly here.

YouTube/BeardBear

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Recognise the Temple of Time from 'Ocarina of Time’ in this scene? Speed up the background melody whilst walking through the temple’s ruins and you’ll also recognise the memorable ‘Song of Time’ which played whenever you entered the Temple of Time.

YouTube/The Easter Egg Hunter

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Wanna dress like ‘Dark Link’ from Ocarina of Time (complete with “night speed” boost)? Seek out the vendor named Kilton who likes to trade in monster parts. 4,000 monster points gets you the costume!

YouTube/Arekkz Gaming

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Additional classic costumes can be accessed by enabling amiibo functionality in your settings. Once activated, a proximity marker will show you where items will drop, with chests occasionally containing costume items you can then collect.

YouTube/Arekkz Gaming

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Spectacle Rock, which first appeared in the original 1986 release during the First Quest appears again in Breath of the Wild. It can be found on the edge of the Gerudo Desert, south of Gerudo Canyon.

YouTube/Looper

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Linebeck Island meanwhile takes its name from the cowardly Captain last seen in Phantom Hourglass.

Nintendo

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Parallels to older games continue when you take a look at the flowers surrounding the Master Sword in the game’s official E3 trailer and compare them to the flowers surrounding the Master Sword you find in ‘A Link to the Past’.

YouTube/Looper

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Whilst watchman Botrick’s striking resemblance to President Satoru Iwata may actually be a deliberate move by Nintendo to pay tribute to its former leader who sadly passed away in 2015.

YouTube/Seaniccus

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As in previous Zelda entries, the cuccos are still regarded as a sacred species so any attempts to harm a cucco continuously will result in a flock of cucco’s attacking you.

YouTube/Chris Bradel

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. In contrast, throwing a cucco at an enemy so that they attack it and incur the wrath of a cucco flock is a pretty genius move that may prove useful in defeating certain foes.

YouTube/Master0fHyrule

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As you may have heard, the ancient Hylian script in the game has scrambled words that can be decoded. Whilst most translations are pretty straightforward, “All Your Base Are “ found in this shrine actually references the 1989 video game Zero Wing.

YouTube/Chamber of Sages

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And “It’s dangerous to go alone” translated from the script viewed through Link’s scope here, is in fact a partial quote from the 1986 game.

YouTube/The Easter Egg Hunter

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One fan is said to have even translated some symbols from the game’s Master Edition packaging to reveal the phrase "The Hyrule Fantasy", the subtitle of the original Zelda game that was released over 30 years ago in Japan.

Nintendo

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Fancy a ride on Link's beloved horse Epona from previous games? You can unlock the best horse ever by using the Link amiibo figurine that came out with Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

YouTube/Eurogamer

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Similarly, Wolf Link can be unlocked by using the Twilight Princess Wolf Link.

YouTube/Eurogamer

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Lastly, just southeast of Hyrule Castle you'll find ‘Ranch Ruins’ which upon closer inspection bares lots of similarities to Ocarina of Time's Lon Lon Ranch. Might this be a clue as to when BOTW takes place in the expansive Zelda timeline?

YouTube/Tusken Raiders

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