Nintendo

Zelda: The Wand Of Gamelon: The Kotaku Review

In 1993, Nintendo made the inexplicable decision to license The Legend of Zelda to Phillips Media, creators of the CD-i. Among the resulting games is Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon. It’s known as one of the worst games ever made. Replaying it 24 years later reveals a game with interesting ideas marred by atrocious execution.…

Circle Of The Moon Is Secretly The Best Castlevania Game

The original Castlevania released 31 years ago on the Famicom in Japan. It launched a franchise that dominated games for decades. But there’s one game in the series that’s woefully underappreciated, the Game Boy Advance’s Circle of the Moon Released in 2001 as a flagship title for the Game Boy Advance, Circle of the Moon…

Zelda’s Hyrule Historia Gets A Follow-Up Encyclopedia

Nintendo’s partnership with publisher Dark Horse has already brought us two outstanding volumes, Hyrule Historia and Art & Artifacts. Next April the “Goddess Collection” gets its third and final volume in The Legend of Zelda Encyclopedia, a comprehensive guide to the series from the first game to Twilight Princess HD. Hyrule Historia and Art &…

Pokken’s Funky Fighting Controller Finds New Purpose On The Switch

Since the Nintendo Switch launched earlier this year, mine has rarely seen the inside of the TV dock. Now that Pokken Tournament DX is here, that’s changed. I need that USB port for Hori’s Pokken Tournament Pro Pad DX—and not just for Pokémon battles. Released in white for the Wii U version and now in…

Some GameStops Refuse To Sell Switches Without Bundles, But GameStop Says That Shouldn’t Happen

At least four GameStops were refusing to sell the Nintendo Switch on its own without a warranty or game attached, Kotaku has learned. And although GameStop’s corporate office says stores shouldn’t be doing that—and that, after being contacted by Kotaku, they have asked those stores to stop—an employee tells us that stores are incentivized to…

Pokken Tournament Is Way Better On A Console That Isn’t Dead

There was nothing wrong with the Wii U release of Pokémon fighting game Pokken Tournament that couldn’t be solved by Nintendo releasing an entirely new, more fully-realized platform for people to play it on. And here we are. Originally published on 9/18/17. Pokken Tournament is one of my favorite games on the Wii U. It was…

Working For Nintendo Used To Be Hell, But At Least We Got Cool Music Out Of It

Super Metroid has one of the most famous themes in video games. If you’ve ever wondered where it came from, you’ve got the nightmarish working conditions of 1990s video game development (and some impromptu one-man karaoke) to thank for it. In an interview on Nintendo’s site, Composer Kenji Yamamoto remembers that during the development of…

Hackers Say Nintendo Switch Contains A Game That Unlocks On The Date Of Satoru Iwata’s Death

When a Switch owner named Setery told a gaming forum about how NES Golf randomly appeared on her Switch’s screen, commenters accused her console of being haunted. Switch hackers’ subsequent race to unearth NES Golf now indicates that there’s a hidden game on the console and, actually, it appears to be a heartwarming tribute to…

Nintendo Files Copyright Strikes Against Super Mario 64 Online

Nintendo has issued copyright strikes against multiple accounts belonging to a well-known Super Mario 64 ROM hacker, days after the release of his newest project, a multiplayer hack called Super Mario 64 Online. As of this morning, you can no longer download Super Mario 64 Online or even watch its creator’s videos of gameplay footage.…

After Ratings Problem, Golf Game Returns To Switch, Minus The Sexy Demon Art

In early August, Zen Studios’ latest game, Infinite Minigolf, wasremoved from the Nintendo Switch eShop following a sudden shift in the game’s rating from E for Everyone to T for Teen. The racy artwork responsible for the shift is now gone, and the game is finally back up for sale. Zen Studios never specified which…

Japan Lines Up For Super Famicom Mini Pre-Orders 

This Saturday, pre-orders for the Classic Mini Super Famicom kicked off in Japan. At stores in Tokyo and Osaka, fans showed up in droves. The Classic Mini Super Famicom comes packed with 21 games, including the never released Star Fox 2. There were lines at stores across the country. At 5:30am on Sunday morning, there…

Metroid: Samus Returns: The Kotaku Review

There was a time, so many years ago now, when it felt like we had too much Metroid. The simultaneous launch of Prime and Fusion in 2002, followed up with another one-two volley of Metroids two years later. “Slow down!” we cried. “We can’t keep up with all this Metroid!” Time makes fools of us…

Arms‘ New Character: She Protec, She Attac, But She Also Inflate

Arms’ newest character, Lola Pop, joins the roster today. With a combination of fast movement and the ability to inflate herself like a freaky balloon, she’s exciting to play but horrifying to watch. Every fighter in Arms has unique abilities that activate when they guard, jump or dash. For instance, the movie star Twintelle can…

Here’s A Nice Nintendo Switch Controller

Xenoblade Chronicles 2’s overdrawn (over eight minutes!) showcase on today’s Nintendo Direct was agonising. To make up for that, the game is also getting this very pleasant Switch Pro Controller. I appreciate, as a fan of pink controllers but not Xenoblade Chronicles 2, how there’s no obtrusive branding for the game plastered all over it,…

A sequel to Dillon’s Rolling Western is coming to 3DS in Japan. The Dead Heat Breakers continues the original 2012 game’s combo of armadillo-rolling action and tower defense, and will also turn your Mii into a furry character in the game. Spring 2018 in Japan, digital and physical, no overseas announcement yet.

Japan Gets All The Best 2DS Colors

Nintendo announced a few new colours for the 2DS XL today. Some were given release dates in the West, but as is becoming custom, the best ones were not. In October, the US isfinally getting the white/orange model first shown off in Japan in April: And in November, there’ll be this Pokeball one: Which is…

Shirtless Mario Leads To Widespread Pandemonium

"everyone was so horny to play as naked link they didn't consider the consequences. now we have naked mario. i hope you're happy."

Yes, Please Inject Nintendo Switch RPG Octopath Traveler Directly Into My Veins

The team behind Bravely Default is making a Nintendo Switch exclusive called Octopath Traveler. It looks beautiful, and there’s a demo out tonight. Octopath Traveler is just the working title, although this is Square Enix, so anything goes. It was originally announced at the Switch reveal event in January, and Nintendo showed off more details…

Super Mario Odyssey will get a snazzy Switch bundle on October 27th, Nintendo announced today.

Dragon Quest Builders is coming to the Switch for Spring 2018. It was one of our 2016 games of the year. There’s towers to build but you’ll probably spend all your time befriending Slimes