The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Game-less Limited Edition in Japan, mandatory install on Wii U
Last week, Nintendo announced that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild would be released on March 3rd, worldwide. The game is getting various Limited Editions in all three main regions (Europe, North America, and Japan), with the contents varying from one region to another.
In Japan, there will be two exclusive Limited Editions : the first one is the Deluxe Collector’s Edition, that will only be sold via the My Nintendo Store. And that very store will also carry another exclusive Limited Edition, which only costs 4 000 Yen + taxes. Now this price is quite peculiar, and there’s a good reason for that… this edition doesn’t include the game itself!
Its contents are as follows:
- Link amiibo (Rider);
- map;
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Sound Selection CD;
- reversible cover.
Also, on its official website, Nintendo lists the file size for both versions of the game (something we actually forgot to mention in our original post… sorry!):
- Wii U: 13GB
- Nintendo Switch: 13.4GB
Quite interestingly, Nintendo mentions that the Wii U version of the game will require a mandatory install, with about 3GB of data. This shouldn’t cause any issue for users with a Premium Pack console (32GB of internal space), but it definitely for users with a Basic Pack console (8GB of internal space).
We can assume this mandatory install is there to speed up loading times, just like the additional data packs for Xenoblade Chronicles X (with one main difference: this time, it’s mandatory). After all, good loading times are pretty much a requirement for open-world games, where data needs to be streamed seemlessly.
Naturally, you will not need to install anything if you’re planning to get the digital version of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on Wii U, or if you’re picking the Nintendo Switch version (retail or digital). This mandatory install is only for the Wii U version at retail.
Perhaps even more interesting than the mandatory install is the fact that initially, the website indicated that the data to be installed needed to be downloaded (actually, it will simply be installed from the disc). In other words, players would have had to deal with a 3GB Day 1 patch instead, but fortunately for us, it was just an error that was promptly corrected.
