Nintendo

Oh Nice, Super Famicom Wars Is Playable In English

Wars, one of Nintendo’s finest series—and one they seem intent on leaving to die in the cold like a dog—blew up in the West on the Game Boy Advance, but in Japan it’s a lot older. The series debuted on the Famicom in 1988, and then moved to the Game Boy for a number of…

In Style Savvy, ‘Basic’ Is Actually Very Cute

Style Savvy has about a dozen brands, each representing a different style. You can dress like a rocker, in psychedelic vintage clothes, or in elegant gothic lolita frills and lace. Unexpectedly, my favorite brand in Style Savvy: Styling Star is Basic U, which sells clothes that are basic. In previous games, the basic style was…

A Peripheral For Switch Owners Who Don’t Embarrass Easily

This is the “Comfortable Hands-Free Stand” for the Nintendo Switch. It is ridiculous. Game developer Jake Kazdal of 17-Bit in Kyoto spotted this third-party Nintendo Switch harness thing. I could see maybe someone using this in the privacy of their own home, but outside? In public? Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture,…

Golf Story Is Delightfully Weird And Hilariously Dramatic

There is the kind of drama that has distressing plot reveals and twists. Then there’s Golf Story’s brand of raw drama—delivered through hysterical dialogue, rap battles, and geese. In 2017, who knew an indie title about an underdog’s rise in a pro golf circuit could be so compelling? Golf Story, the Nintendo eShop sports game…

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Is Mindless, Frustrating, And Kind Of Fun

A month ago, I proclaimed that Nintendo’s Animal Crossing mobile game lacked heart and soul. Repetitive dialogue, rote gameplay, and the sleazy undertone of it all—Pocket Camp dilutes the series’ charm. But it’s confession time: I’m here today to partially eat my words. Since its late November worldwide release in 2017, Pocket Camp, a new…

The Brilliant Use Of Speed In Mega Man 2’s Quick Man Stage

One of the most extraordinary facts about Mega Man 2 is that it almost didn’t happen. Sales of the first Mega Man were low, and it was only with the special permission of Capcom’s vice president that development was allowed to proceed. But there was a catch. The staff had to work on it concurrently…

Vintage Game Retailers Say Nintendo 64 Was Their Hottest Holiday Seller

Should Nintendo be looking at releasing an N64 Classic? Yes, if this year’s sales of the original 64-bit hardware are anything to go by. Sellers of vintage gaming hardware said they noticed a boom in Nintendo 64 sales this holiday season, a shift away from the previous generations of consoles that Christmas shoppers had coveted…

In a new interview, Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima says the aim is to sell 20 million Switch machines in the next financial year, offer more robust DLC so people can play games longer and put out new Switch titles with new ways to play. 

Nintendo’s Newest 3DS Game Features A Nerdy YouTuber

In the latest Style Savvy game, which dropped Christmas Day, you’re not just a boutique owner but also a stylist who nurtures budding pop stars’ hopes and dreams. One of these singers is Alinatron, a nerdy YouTuber, and she is delightful. Style Savvy: Styling Star doesn’t quite have YouTube—its equivalent is MewTube, where you can…

Breath of the Wild’s Best Stories Are Our Own

Breath of the Wild’s vast open world is full of discoveries. The most important discoveries we make come when the game’s systems interact to help us imbue the world with our own interpretations and meaning. We take a closer look in this video essay. This piece originally appeared 3/9/17. Transcript: The Legend of Zelda: Breath…

Report: Nintendo Delaying 64-Gigabyte Game Cards For Switch Until 2019

According to the Wall Street Journal, Nintendo is pushing back the introduction of larger 64GB game cards for the Switch. Nintendo, the WSJ writes, had planned to make them available during the second half of 2018, but has reportedly told developers that they would have to wait. According to the WSJ, the reason given is…

ROM Hacker Adds Color To Super Mario Land 2

Super Mario Land 2 is one of the more underrated games in Nintendo’s library, with a suite of interesting ideas and some truly weird levels. It was even the first Mario game to let you go to the moon. And now it’s in color. Thanks to ROM hacker toruzz, you can now play a sleek,…

Nintendo Still Explaining Nintendo Account And Nintendo Network ID Differences

Who would’ve thought that Nintendo having different account systems would be so confusing for people? It’s December 2017, and in Japan, Nintendo says it’s getting lots of questions about the differences. “Currently, we are getting a great number of inquiries about the Nintendo Account,” the company wrote in a tweet. The attached image easily shows…

Nintendo Eshop Goes Down For Christmas

As thousands (tens of thousands? Hundreds of thousands?) of people wake up this morning to find Nintendo Switches under their Christmas trees (Hanukkah bushes? Kwanzaa shrubs?), they are discovering that they can’t actually download any new games. For the past three hours, trying to log into the eShop has resulted in an error message with…

Hackers Say Nintendo Switch’s Latest Firmware Update Removes Secret Golf Game

A few months ago Switch hackers showed the handheld had a hidden emulator designed to play NES Golf but only on July 11th, the date Satoru Iwata, former President of Nintendo and the game’s programmer, died. Now they say the company has overwritten the code as of the 4.0.0 firmware update. According to Switchbrew.org, these…

Vs. Super Mario Bros. Is The Meanest Trick Nintendo Ever Played

Super Mario Bros. is available on the Switch! Well, a long-forgotten version of it, anyway, that’s probably not the one you were expecting. While Nintendo hasn’t yet begun to add its classic console games to Switch, we’re getting something else instead: Nintendo’s classic arcade games, courtesy the Arcade Archives series by the publisher Hamster. This…

Xenoblade 2 gets a patch today that tweaks a few small things. You’ll get an extra zoomed-in map overlay when you press L3, and hitting X will now open the fast travel menu right at the area you’re in. “Tiger Tiger” gets an easy mode and there are a bunch of bug fixes. Sadly, this…

Nintendo’s Arms Gets Its Last New Character

Nintendo’s carnivalesque boxing game Arms, released in June, just received what looks like its final content update. Arms 5.0 just dropped along with the new fighter Dr. Coyle, the “empress of the ARMS lab,” and was appended by an announcement that, from now on, Arms will only be receiving balance patches. “As a big update,…

The Switch Gets An Excellent 2D Zelda Clone Today

Nintendo has not yet released a two-dimensional Zelda game for the Switch, but Blossom Tales is as close as you’re gonna get. If you’re looking for a new action-adventure to scratch that Link to the Past itch, this one’s for you. Blossom Tales, which came out for Steam earlier this year but is now on…

Nintendo Power Comes Back In Podcast Form

Nintendo Power magazine ceased publishing at the end of 2012. It was a nostalgic time full of sad goodbyes and fond memories. Its last cover was even a call-back to the first issue, where Mario pounds his fist triumphantly into the air while standing on a mushroom. But today, on the five-year anniversary of its…