Nintendo

Happy 30th Birthday, Famicom

Your carefree 20s are over, Famicom. No more gallivanting. It’s time to settle down—find a nice wife, get a stable job, maybe put a down payment on a house. You’re 30 now. The Famicom—or Family Computer—first hit Japanese stores on July 15, 1983, and although it took a couple more years for it to make…

The Best Way To Catch Beetles In Animal Crossing: New Leaf

This might sound rash. I’m going to suggest you basically demolish your island. Say your goodbyes, because you’re about to go on a tree murder spree, you criminal. As Patricia already highlighted in her handy How To Make Mounds Of Bells And Then Roll Around In It article, the island is where you want to…

Even Bowser and Bullet Bill are peaceful in Pablo Pintachan‘s digital drawings of Mario, Link and Luigi. Well, Link looks a bit nutty and I’m not sure he’s up for to exploring Hyrule, but at least he’s calm. Dayshot is an image-based feature that runs every morning, showcasing some of the prettiest, funniest game-related screenshots…

Pokémon Modded to Skyrim for Some Reason

Just because you can do something, that doesn’t necessarily mean you should. That didn’t stop Steam user DJSuperGenius from adding Pocket Monsters to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim The mod’s description might explain better. No, wait, strike that. Nothing can explain this. Pokémon? In Skyrim? Yes, you read that correctly. You now can Battle Pokemon,…

Smash Bros. Survives Ban, Becomes Biggest Fighting Stream In History

It’s a good thing Nintendodidn’t follow through with its reported attempts to ban streams of Smash Bros. Melee from this year’s Evo fighting game tournament. Because it just became, for the time being at least, the biggest fighting game stream of all time. At its peak during the game’s finals held earlier today, over 130,000…

Professor Sycamore Introduces Five New Pokemon And More For X And Y

Who are those five Pokemon? Let’s ask Professor Augustine Sycamore, the latest in a long line of tree-named Professors, making his debut in Pokemon X and Pokemon Y this October. Hit the jump for new gym leaders, Team Flare, and an all-new gameplay vid. He speaks for the trees, the good Professor Sycamore, the mentor…

Why Nintendo Fans Are Called “Pigs” (and Other Things) in Japan

Not everyone in Japan loves Nintendo. Some people hate Nintendo. Like, really, really hate Nintendo. And online, those folks have nicknames for Nintendo diehards. Online in Japan, mean nicknames aren’t unique to Nintendo fans! Previously, Kotaku covered the mocking monikers given to Sony and Xbox fans on Japanese gaming forums and in blog comment sections.…

Bow Before Your Japanese Boy Band Overlords!

Have you ever heard of Arashi? It’s a Japanese boy band that’s so popular, that a poster of the group is drawing crowds, cameras, and grovelling. You might not know Arashi, but perhaps you’ve seen Letters from Iwo Jima? One of the stars, Kazunari Ninomiya, is a member of Arashi. The group has also appeared…

3DS Update Adds Rabbit Who Sells You Stuff In the Most Nintendo Way [UPDATE]

A new 3DS update in America (the rest of North America, too?) is triggering a major overhaul to the system’s Mii StreetPass Plaza. And, in the process, Nintendo adds a rabbit to the system who wants to sell you stuff. The video above shows you this rabbit salesman (salesrabbit) in action. It’s quite a sight…

Does Animal Crossing ‘Promote Otaku Citizenship?’

That’s the question explored in this week’s PBS Idea Channel video. Now, I’ve been writing on the internet long enough to know that otaku is Internet Dynamite. Like “dubstep” and “roguelike,” it’s a word that you can’t even say without making hundreds of people break their keyboards typing apoplectic comments. That said, I thought this…

A trio of classics—Metroid, Donkey Kong and Super Mario Bros 2—roll out in this week’s Nintendo Download. If you want newer stuff, there’s Shin Megami Tensei IV, too. Check out the full list of digitally available offerings here.

The horror never stops in Animal Crossing: New Leaf, surfacing in the most unexpected locations. Really glad Nintendo didn’t pick this face for its Smash Bros. character. Dayshot is an image-based feature that runs every morning, showcasing some of the prettiest, funniest game-related screenshots and art that we can find. Send us suggestions if you’ve…

EVO Co-Founder: Nintendo Wanted Smash Bros. Pulled From Tournament

Evo co-founder Joey Cuellar says Nintendo didn’t just want to stop Smash Bros. Melee being streamed from this year’s fighting game competition, they wanted to stop that part of the tournament taking place altogether. “They were not only trying to shut down the stream”, he told OneMoreGameTV, “they were trying to shut down the event,…

The Wii U has just received a system update, bringing it to 3.1.0. Nothing major, but here’s the summary anyways. Version 3.1.0 U available via wireless Internet connection includes the following improvements: Improvements to Standby Functions: The standby functions will now regularly connect to the Internet when the Wii U is powered down to check…

It’s Time Nintendo Brought Out a New Franchise, Says Shigeru Miyamoto

Nintendo has a stable of tried and tested games. But those of you who wished Nintendo would do something new, listen up. According to Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo will. In the latest issue of Famitsu, Miyamoto talked about a “new franchise”. Here’s the direct quote (translation via Kotaku‘s Toshi Nakamura): Famitsu: So, starting with…

Report: China Is Ending Its Ban on Video Game Consoles

Since the year 2000, video game consoles have been banned in China. According to a new report, however, that is about to change. Video game consoles could soon be legal in the world’s most populated country. The South China Morning Post is reporting that the Chinese government is expected to reverse its 13-year video game…

Hacked Mario 64 Lets Boy Smash His Own Face In

OK. So this is weird. Reddit user pourmeanother77 has edited a copy of Mario 64 so that his son’s face replaced the texture on the game’s goombas. It’s about as simple a modification as you can do to a game, swapping one file for another, but when the result was “He laughed for a good…

Why Are You Here? Shigeru Miyamoto On The Ocarina Of Time

For many, Ocarina of Time is the greatest video game ever made or, at the very least, one of the most influential. In this Kotaku feature story we speak to its creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, about the making of the game we waited seven years for. “Mr Miyamoto, what are you doing? Why are you here?”…

Nintendo Changes Mind, Allows Smash Bros. Streaming

Only hours after Nintendo blocked fighting game tournament Evo from streaming Smash Bros. Melee matches, the publisher has swiftly reversed its decision. A notice on SRK reads: I’ve just receive word from Nintendo that the Evo Smash Bros. Melee stream will be allowed to proceed. We will be restoring the original stream and tournament schedules.…

The Nintendo Power Glove Gets Its Own Documentary

It was supposed to be the first part in turning yourself into a bad-ass cyborg. An artifact from the glorious gaming future that we couldn’t live inside of yet. Sure, you can laugh at it now but you know you wanted a Power Glove back in the day. The accessory favored by Nintendo superfan Isaiah…