Nintendo

Modder Adds Sonic To Mario Kart 8

Between his inclusion in Smash Bros. and his own kart racing title, Sonic fits into Mario Kart 8 like a puffy white glove. Modder CorBond57 makes it happen by swapping the hedgehog’s model with Mario’s. He looks like Sonic, he drives like Sonic, but he sounds like Metal Mario. That’s because CorBond57’s work-in-progress mod overlay’s…

A Super Famicom Cartridge Is Being Released In 2017 

For those who still own a Super Famicom (or are planning to get one), good news! The console is getting a new cartridge this year. The Super Famicom is the Japanese version of the SNES. In 1995, a satellite modem peripheral called Satellaview was released in Japan (though it was later discontinued in 2000). Setallaview…

Wind Waker HD Speedrunner Averts Disaster With Clutch Trick

Even the best players run into bad luck. Dying to some enemies should be enough to kill a speedrunner’s attempt at a fast time. But thanks to some quick thinking and a tricky glitch, a Wind Waker HD speedrunner brought Link back from the dead and saved their run. gymnast86 is a Zelda speedrunner who runs…

Live Spiders Found Smuggled Inside Bootleg Nintendo Cartridges

Mexico’s Federal Police yesterday intercepted a shipment of contraband goods headed for the US at Guadalajara Airport. Inside was not drugs, or weapons, but vials full of live spiders hidden inside what look like fake Famicom games. As Cronica report, authorities opened a box that contained ten cartridges with labels like Jurassic Park and Robocop…

Nintendo just revealed its E3 plans, which are similar to years past. On June 13 at 9am PT, there will be a Nintendo Spotlight presentation for Switch games, including Super Mario Odyssey. That will be followed by a Treehouse Live event. 

Look At This SNES-Themed Nintendo Switch

Here’s an unofficial SNES (well, Super Famicom) theme for the Nintendo Switch that looks incredible Made by Pop Skin, it covers everything. The base, the Joy-Cons, their backs, even the Switch itself. Because it’s a skin and not a paintjob, there are naturally going to be some rough edges, particularly at the points where there…

Four Hours In, I’m Enjoying The Challenge Of Fire Emblem Echoes

I’ve just started up playing Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. It’s a remake of the Famicom exclusive Fire Emblem Gaiden. I’m making my way through the early hours of the campaign. It’s been a challenging game that I can’t put down. Fire Emblem Echoes tells the story of Alm, a simple peasant, and Celica,…

Nintendo Releasing Standalone Switch Dock In Europe

For those with multiple TVs, good news. Nintendo is releasing a standalone Switch dock this May in North America and this June in Europe. Update May 10 – 7:40am: An earlier version of this story incorrectly state that this hadn’t yet been announced for North America. However, this was previously announced for the US and…

The ‘Worst’ Pokémon Sun and Moon Legendary Guardian Scores Big Competitive Win

Nick Navarre, a top competitive Pokémon player from the US, won last weekend’s Roanoke Regional Championships with a unique team that included what many consider the weakest Alolan Guardian: Tapu Bulu. Tapu Koko is by far the most common and successful guardian in competitive Pokémon, with Tapu Lele and Tapu Fini competing for the second…

The Zelda Escape Room Is A Little Disappointing (And Not Really An Escape Room)

When I first heard that there was a Zelda escape room coming to the United States, I imagined a labyrinth of elaborate puzzles, growing more challenging and complicated with each subsequent chamber. I did not expect to be solving brainteasers at a conference table. But I am pleased to report, dear Kotaku readers, that my…

Beating Pokémon Ruby with Magikarp Took Nearly Six Years

Back in 2011, a live-streamer named Leomon began playing with a Shiny of the most useless Pocket Monster. Almost six years later, the trainer has finally become a champion with that fish. After the stream, Leomon posted on Twitter that it didn’t matter if you had a strong or a weak Pokémon, that if you…

Only 90s kids will remember Mega Man’s nightmarish mascot visage. From Blake J Harris’ book Console Wars, via VideoGameArt&Tidbits

Rapidly Deflating Pikachu Rushed To Safety By Small Horde Of Suited Men

Tragedy struck in mid-dance number during the Pokemon World Festivalin Incheon, South Korea earlier this week, as the lead Pikachu sprung a leak during “You Can’t Stop The Beat.” Fortunately an elite squad of suited men was standing by. The incident occurs at the 1:00 mark in the video below, posted by YouTube user Green…

Here’s a quick look at Ever Oasis, an upcoming 3DS game (June 23) that feels a whole lot like Fantasy Life. You run your own village and do lots of side-quests in a cute world with basic action-RPG combat. Seems fun!

Legendary Mario 64 Record For Collecting All The Stars Finally Broken

For years, speedrunners have been trying to collect 120 Mario 64 stars in under 1:40:00. People have come close, but nobody was able to break the barrier—until now. Allan “Cheese05″ Alvarez just earned his place in Mario 64 history by collecting all the stars in a record 1:39:57, as you can see below: To understand…

Why Mario Kart Is So Fun

Mario Kart has been around for 25 years and the fun has never let up. How has the beloved racing manage to stay so exciting over the years? We take a look in this critical video. Transcript: There’s something inherently exciting about a Mario Kart race. The breakneck speed leads to frantic chases towards the…

The 3DS’ Pikmin Sidescroller Seems Fine, Unclear Why It Isn’t Also For Switch

At an event in a New York City hotel meeting room engineered by Nintendo to hype the July launch of the New 2DSXL, we played one of the new games also coming out that month: Hey! Pikmin. And we were left wondering, hey, why not also have these games run on Nintendo’s portable Switch? Hey!…

Here’s A Big Sign That Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga Is Coming To 3DS

Last week, a dataminer who goes by the handle SciresM reported that he’d discovered an apparent port or remake of the GBA game Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga in a 3DS file database. Although we can’t confirm this rumor, we did discover a new bit of evidence this week that makes it seem very likely.…

Hands-On With The New 2DS XL

The newly announced New 2DS XL looks sort of like an iPhone attached to a 3DS bottom, as you can see in the above video, which Kotaku boss Stephen Totilo and I shot at a Nintendo event in New York City this week. If you’re in the market for one of these New 2DS XLs,…

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Has Connection Issues

The Nintendo Switch’s first big online multiplayer game has arrived, and while many people are enjoying the upgraded version of Mario Kart 8, others are also enjoying frequent disconnects and lag. Despite upgrading and tweaking several aspects of Mario Kart 8 for the largely excellentSwitch port, online multiplayer is one area that hasn’t seen much…