Nintendo

Nintendo Flags YouTuber For Using Switch Sound

YouTubers who feature Nintendo games and products have long had issues YouTube’s controversial Content ID system, and Nintendo’s aggressive usage of that system is already impacting how YouTubers cover games on the Switch. Recently, a YouTuber had their video flagged by YouTube’s Content ID system over a sound effect from a Switch launch game. YouTube’s…

Switch Owners Report Hardware Problems, Though It’s Tough To Tell How Many

With every new console launch comes a suite of hardware issues, and the Switch is no exception. People who bought Nintendo’s hybrid console say they’re running into all sorts of problems, ranging from big (crashes) to small (dead pixels). There’s no way to tell just how many Switch users have received malfunctioning consoles. We reached…

The First Nintendo Switch Sales Numbers For Japan

The Nintendo Switch has sold an estimated 330,637 units in its first three days on sale in Japan. That’s according to Famitsu, which adds that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild sold an estimated 190,060 copies in the country. That figure is retail only and does not include downloads.  These early figures are…

My Kind Of Nintendo Portable

I know the Switch is a portable console in theory, but it feels so precious in the hand. This custom handheld, on the other hand, has some heft It’s a portable Super Nintendo that just puts a screen and an actual Super Famicom pad inside the console. Because the screen is where the cartridge slot…

Nine Things To Do If You Can’t Play Zelda

Like many of you, I failed to order a Switch and instead spent the weekend kicking myself because I couldn’t play Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. While the weekend only lasted the usual 48 hours, it felt like 10,000 hours, making me an expert on this subject. I am, therefore, authorized to give…

NES/SNES – childhood, N64 – college, GCN – 2nd full-time job, Wii – working at MTV, Wii U – Kotaku EiC, Switch – just became a dad. You? Add your history below. PlayStation, Xbox and Sega timelines also welcome!

When Miyamoto First Played Zelda: Breath of the Wild, He Wouldn’t Stop Climbing Trees

Nintendo creative maestro Shigeru Miyamoto is a genius. He’s generally considered to be the greatest game developer of all time. And, just like you and me, all he wants to do is climb trees. Here’s a fun story from deep inside Nintendo, a company that doesn’t often speak openly about their development process. When Nintendo…

Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Players Share Their Best Deaths

Breath of the Wild is hard enough that death has become one of the most common shared experiences for players discussing the game. Link has died in all sorts of surprising and absurd ways, and it’s a joy to watch. Perhaps “joy” seems like a strange word to use when talking about failure, but that’s…

Switch Launch Game Snipperclips Is A Pleasant Surprise

Snipperclips is the low-key charmer of the Nintendo Switch launch, a download-onlyindie game turned Nintendo-published co-op puzzler. It’s $20, with a free demo and, as you can see in the archived livestream above, we had a good time with it. In Snipperclips, players control little characters who can cut divots in each other and then…

The Nintendo Switch is getting a fight stick. Japanese peripheral maker Hori will release a Hayabusa stick for the Switch. Details to come at a later date, and no word yet on an international release.

Nintendo Switch’s HD Rumble Helps Wife And Blind Husband Enjoy Gaming Together 

Playing video games as a couple can be hard enough, but try finding something for two people to play when one of them is blind adds a whole new set of considerations. Enter 1-2 Switch, the interactive party game that finally gave a wife and her blind husband something they could enjoy together. At 23,…

Speedrunners Compete To See Who Can Beat Samurai Pizza Cats And Other NES Games The Fastest

Speedrunner Coolkid, aka DaBiGBoOi, won this weekend’s sixth ever Best of NES Big 20 Race, a competition in which players see who can finish a bunch of old NES games the fastest. His time? 2:44:11. It was over ten minutes ahead of the second place finisher, Jaguar King, and better than anything the players had…

Fans Are Still Trying To Recreate An Expansion For Ocarina Of Time That Probably Never Existed

Ura Zelda was originally supposed to be an expansion for the The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time that would add new new dungeons to the base game. It was never completed though, so naturally there’s an entire community of fans based around trying to revive it. Intended as disk for the 64DD peripheral that…

The Nintendo Switch Pro Controller Hides A Secret Message Inside

The Nintendo Switch’s Pro Controller is partially translucent, meaning that you can look inside the guts of the accessory. You’d think, then, that anything housed within would be easy to spot, but there’s actually a furtive little easter egg that you’ll need to look closely to see. Directly above the right stick, you should see…

Nintendo Confirms Switch Save Data Can’t Be Transferred

Sometimes shit happens, like accidentally deleting a save file you’ve invested lots of blood, sweat, and tears into. Unfortunately, there’s no way to backup the save files for Nintendo Switch games. It seems hard to believe but Nintendo has confirmed that’s the case. An FAQ on the company’s site explains Nintendo says on its own…

Zelda: Breath Of The Wild‘s Switch And Wii U Versions, Compared

By now everyone knows that Zelda: Breath of the Wild on the Nintendo Switch is a unique achievement, but how does the Wii U version of the game measure up? The latest video from Digital Foundry explains. While Zelda: Breath of the Wild on both the Wii U and the Nintendo Switch appear to be…

Man Drops Nintendo Switch On Concrete 11 Times, For Science

What did you do with your brand new Nintendo Switch when it arrived in the mail? Did you rip the box open and pop in Zelda? Did you lick the cartridges? Did you, perhaps, repeatedly drop it on concrete? YouTuber Brandon Baldwin (GimoSlip) did. For nine minutes. It hurts to watch. But now we know…

Nintendo Advises Switch Owners With Joy-Con Connectivity Issues To Avoid Bundles Of Wires, Aquariums

In its first detailed acknowledgment of connectivity issues that some gamers are having with its new console’s controllers, Nintendo has offered suggestions—some of them incredible—about how to alleviate the problem. Nintendo advises that people don’t put the Switch behind a TV, near an aquarium or “within three to four feet of another wireless device, such…

Podcast: The Good And Bad Of Nintendo Switch

The Nintendo Switch is out today. On the latest episode of Kotaku Splitscreen, Jason and I chat about what we like and don’t like about Nintendo’s new console, which we’ve both been using for a little over a week. You can listen on iTunes or Google Play, or directly in the embed below. As always,…

Famous Speedrunner Narcissa Wright Is Back From Retirement, But Still Worried About Health

Breath of the Wild is an exciting game for speedrunning, inspiring attempts before the game was released and early world records. The game’s unique structure and pace is now bringing famous speedrunner Narcissa Wright out of retirement. Narcissa Wright is a speedrunner best known for her work on games like Ocarina of Time and The…