Nintendo

Kirby is Getting a New Game Next Year on 3DS

Kirby returns to the 3DS with a side-scrolling platformer in 2014, said Nintendo at the end of today’s Nintendo Direct. You can see the cuddly devourer in this teaser for the as-yet unnamed game.

Wear Link’s Snazzy Shirt in Animal Crossing Right Now

Screw municipal management. Nothing matters in Animal Crossing as much as what you’re wearing. So it’s exciting that there’s a new top Legend of Zelda-themed top coming to New Leaf today. Starting today, you can grab the top by scanning the QR Code you see right here.

The demo for Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney—Dual Destinies on 3DS will be available for download from the eShop after today’s Nintendo Direct. The game launches Oct. 24.

Super Mario 3D World is a Smorgasboard of Fun New Power-Ups

Cat Mario is Nintendo’s ploy to dominate the internet. Think about it. The internet loves Mario. It also loves cats, especially when they’re doing funny things. So, the feline power-up that Nintendo’s iconic plumber gets in Super Mario 3D World should be prime raw material for GIF creation. And if that doesn’t work, all the…

The first Pikmin 3 paid DLC mission pack will be available today for $1.99. A game update will also show the top global scores for each level in the game. Hooray for high scores!

The Wii U Gamepad Gets a Horizontal Stand with Wii Party U

A horizontal stand for the Wii U gamepad will be included with Wii Party U when the game launches at the end of the month. The stand will make it easier to play one of the title’s mini-games. In this morning’s Nintendo Direct, a group dance game was shown in which the Wii U gamepad…

Hey, look at these snazzy new Wii remotes! The Mario and Luigi-themed controllers showed up during the Super Mario 3D World segment of today’s Nintendo Direct. These Wii Remote Plus peripherals come out on November 1st. Wonder if one of them lets a player jump higher than the other?

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze Delayed Until February

The next Donkey Kong Country game has been pushed back to February of 2014, Nintendo just announced. It was previously slated for this December.

Nintendo Direct starts at 10am Eastern: you can watch it right here, or stay tuned to Kotaku for all the news as it happens. UPDATE: A new Kirby game, clones of Mario running amok in Super Mario 3D World and the return of Sega’s super-fast hedgehog to the Smash Bros. fighting franchise… and that’s only…

Nintendo Says Wii Production Will “End Soon” [Update]

The Wii was a juggernaut during Nintendo’s last console generation. Since going on sale in late 2006, it sold 100 million. Now, it seems those days are over. For good. On Nintendo.co.jp, the Wii page reads, “Manufacturing is scheduled to end soon” (“kinjitsu seisan shuuryou yotei” or 近日生産終了予定). In Japan, Nintendo has been known to…

I’m in Love with This 8-Bit Akihabara

Kunio-kun is a game series that has been around since the NES era. While only a few of the Kunio games have been released in America, like River City Ransom and Super Dodge Ball on the NES, the series has resulted in over 20 titles in Japan in the past two decades. But although the…

In Japan, if you buy two 3DS games between today and January 13, you can get a third for free. However, you must select the downloadable freebie from a list of fourteen titles, which you can view here. No word yet if this campaign will be extended outside Japan.

Dildos, Sex Shops And Nintendo In The 1990s…One Man’s Tale

Time for another tale—albeit unconfirmed—of the inside workings of Nintendo, though this one’s a little saucier than the last. Because of Europeans and sex shops. Read it here via a 2011 translation of an account that originally appeared on fan site Classic-Zone. A fascinating read about what it might be like to be in Nintendo’s…

Wii U Gets 700mb Firmware Update

The Wii U has just got a big firmware update. Here’s the full list of changes/additions, courtesy of Nintendo: Version 4.0.0 U, available via an Internet connection, includes the following improvements: New Features: A feature to output video and sound to the Wii U GamePad when using Wii Mode¹ Users can choose to output to…

The Year of Luigi is almost over, but that won’t stop Nintendo from launching yet another Nintendo Direct, tomorrow (Oct 1) at 10am ET “focused on Wii U and Nintendo 3DS games launching later this year.” We’ll have all the news for you right on Kotaku as it happens.

Odd Man In Cave: “Stop Naming Princesses Zelda”

A tradition based on a great tragedy that only seems to breed more tragedy? Awkward Spaceship has a point — maybe Hyrule needs to revisit its princess naming policy before everything explodes. There are plenty of perfectly good princess names out there that won’t cause powerful evil to arise and threaten the land. Princess Bubblegum…

How To Get A Job With Nintendo

They’re the godfathers of modern video games. Creators of some of the most beloved games of all time. For many, it would be a dream working for Nintendo, but seeing as the company runs pretty much everything out of its Japanese offices, that’s impossible, right? Well…not quite Programmer Anditto Heristyo recently applied for a job…

New York Times Correction, 25 Years Later: Mario Is Not a Janitor

Nowadays, everyone knows what Mario does for a living, right? Nintendo’s mascot character is about as recognizable as Mickey Mouse or Superman. Mario’s been a global entertainment icon for decades now but, back in 1988, the New York Times thought the guy was a janitor. A correction note ran in today’s New York Times—which Kotaku…

The Original Pokemon Hero Returns In Pokemon Origins

Ash Ketchum was never the very best, like no one ever was. It was always Red, the hero of the original Pokemon Red and Blue. His story is Pokemon Origins, a four-part animated series premiering November 15 on Pokemon TV. This is the Pokemon trainer I became when I first fell in love with this…

Mega Charizard, Venusaur and Blastoise, In Classic Red and Blue Style

One of the more distinctive things about the first Pokemon games—aside from nostalgia—is that we got to see the older, distinctive art style drawn by Ken Sugimori (Pokemon’s art director). And thanks to artists like Tomycase, we can still have the pleasure of seeing new Pokemon in that older ‘Sugimori style,’ too. Like the original…