Chris Kohler

How To Buy The Animal Crossing Switch Parts Separately, From Japan

Everybody’s losing their minds over Nintendo’s new Animal Crossing-styled Switch hardware. The Tom Nook-themed dock! The pastel Joy-Cons! Whatever’s on the back of it! Many of the millions of people who already own a Switch are tempted to upgrade just for the new look, but wish they could just buy the accessories separately. Well, you…

The Wii U Games That Still Need To Come To Switch

With Platinum Games bringing The Wonderful 101 to Switch via a Kickstarter campaign, that’s one more former Wii U exclusive that’s being moved to Nintendo’s newer, much more successful console. As of now, there are a few major games still stuck on the Wii U, but only a few that will likely end up on…

The 25 Best Gaming Handhelds, Ranked

I recently got a Nintendo Switch Lite, and I love it. I wanted to write about the joys of that dying breed of device, the dedicated portable gaming machine. And I thought to myself, how can I write this in a way that would make the largest number of people hate me? And I realized:…

It’s a new year, so this is your semi-regular reminder that if you’re a freelance writer, you can (and should!) pitch Kotaku, using the email address [email protected], with your story ideas. Include some clips to let us know who you are as a writer and what you can bring to the table.

Fight, Magic, Item: The Comfort Of Simple RPGs

The last two games I played on my Switch were the original Dragon Quest and Breath of Fire, two early examples of the Japanese role-playing game. Today, they might seem overly simplistic: grind for levels, brute-force through a boss, repeat. These two games are, if anything, even more simplistic than their peers. And right now,…

Well, Okay, Let’s Talk About Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker

Scientists agree that the leading cause of climate change is carbon dioxide emitted by people offering their opinions about Star Wars movies. I am sad to say that we are only making the problem worse today. The Rise of Skywalker is out today, a big weird mess of a movie that we aren’t sure what…

Luigi’s Mansion 3 is getting a $10 season pass. Two multiplayer DLC packs will each include three extra costumes for ScareScraper and three new mini-games for ScreamPark. The first will launch by April 30; the second by July 31. You can pre-buy them both starting today and get a new Polterpup flashlight for all modes.

‘Nintendo Play Station’ Prototype Will Be Auctioned Off In February

The original prototype of the PlayStation—a Super Nintendo with a CD-ROM drive attached, created via a partnership between Sony and Nintendo—will be auctioned in February via Heritage Auctions, the company has said. Its owner has turned down million-dollar offers for it in the past. Now the market will decide the price. Properly known as the…

I’ve finally done it. I’ve crammed the entirety of the first Legend of Zelda into a single Mario Maker 2 level (KFH-GN2-L2G). And I was able to do it without cutting anything. Okay, maybe there are some small insignificant cuts here and there, but why quibble? Let’s just say it’s 100 percent identical.

All The Big Announcements From Nintendo’s Indie World

Today’s “Indie World” presentation from Nintendo was surprisingly packed full of big announcements, including sequels to indie Switch hits Axiom Verge and Golf Story. Here’s a rundown of the big stuff you missed if you weren’t watching along. Developer Tom Happ showed a short look at Axiom Verge 2, which  will be available in the…

Sports Story Is Golf Story Except With Lots More Sports

Just announced during Nintendo’s Indie World showcase this morning, Sports Story is a sequel to Golf Story, the 2017 golf RPG that was a breakout indie hit on Switch. It’s coming in mid-2020 and will launch exclusively on Switch. Not only are we talking about more sports, we’re talking about a mashup of every sport.…

How’s your Mario Making going after that last update? Making any Zeldas? I made a Zelda. If you make one, be sure to submit it to the contest! I am not eligible. Please enjoy this one, though. THB-4LW-MJG. Don’t forget about all of Link’s items!

Mario Maker’s New Update Is The Closest Thing To Zelda II Maker We’ll Ever Get

Super Mario Maker 2 has finally leveled up with today’s release of the version 2.0 update. Some carefully-considered new enemies and items open up new creative possibilities, but the big change is the fact that Mario can now transform into Link, with a full suite of new moves that turn Mario Maker levels into Zelda…

Hey do you like Donkey Kong and do you want to listen to me yell about Donkey Kong for like two hours? Here you go, it’s the latest Retronauts podcast

The State Of The Nintendo Switch In 2019

2019 was the year of the Switch. Wii U is so far in the rear view mirror now that it all just feels like a bad dream. 2019 was the year that Nintendo proved that its console, a true hybrid machine that works just as well as a TV-based player as it does a portable,…

Everything Announced For Xbox One And PC At X019

New game announcements from Obsidian, Rare, and Dontnod highlighted Microsoft’s Inside Xbox presentation at X019, the company’s annual fan festival taking place in London this weekend. It also showed several updates and new trailers for previously announced games, as well as new content coming to Project xCloud and Xbox Game Pass—including 10 Final Fantasy games.…

Toad’s Performance Of ‘Shallow’ Should Win A Grammy

Noted vocalist Toad has finally released his long-awaited version of “Shallow,” the Oscar-winning duet from Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, and it is truly the height of vocal performance. If you’ve already written a piece about the top songs of the decade, talk about bad timing! Toad, of course, is a big Gaga fan himself,…

Let Us Not Forget About The Ninja Saviors

Yes, yes, I know. Our Switch backlogs are huge already. Pokémon is about to come out. Nintendo’s even surprise-releasing games. But if you enjoy the side-scrolling beat-em-up genre, don’t forget that The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors is just sitting there on the eShop waiting for you. Much like 2016’s Wild Guns Reloaded, Ninja…

Nintendo’s Ambulance Game Is Giving Me Some Serious Dreamcast Vibes

All I could think as I played through a few levels of The Stretchers, Nintendo’s new eShop-exclusive Switch game, is that it feels like a Sega Dreamcast game I somehow forgot to play back in 1999. It’s got that low-poly, bright-colored aesthetic, a tiny little open city in which wreaking cartoonish havoc is acceptable, and…

I Installed Windows 3.1 To Play A Myst Parody Starring John Goodman

On Sunday, I went to the flea market, and found exactly what I was hoping for: a big pile of cheap video games. In this case, it was a bin full of somebody’s collection of big-box 1990s PC games, adult-owned, in mint condition. I suddenly found myself the owner of the critically acclaimed I Have…