Nintendo Defends Choice To Have Retro Make a New Donkey Kong Country

Nintendo knows that the choice to have the company’s top-flight development studio in Texas make another Donkey Kong side-scroller was controversial—so controversial, in fact, that Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime actually addressed it in a video yesterday shortly before I asked him about it. The video stands out as one of the few original…

Sonic the Hedgehog leads the march of digital offerings for Nintendo hardware this week. The line-up also includes games like Mighty Switch Force! 2 and Shining Force: Sword of Haiya. Here’s the full list.

Mario’s Creator Likens Game Ownership to Toy Ownership

It’s clear what Microsoft thinks of game ownership—the Xbox One’s policies don’t communicate much of a belief in it. Sony scored a lot of points on Monday, but to be fair, it was a defense of the status quo. Where does Nintendo come down on the subject? Shigeru Miyamoto, the creative face of the company,…

The “World’s First Speed MOBA” Spawns On The App Store

Crafted by former members of A Bit Lucky and some folks from Trion Worlds, Solstice Arena is a free-to-play multiplayer online battle arena game that Zynga is calling the “world’s first speed MOBA.” What does that mean, exactly? Well, it means 3-on-3 matches last for 5-12 minutes, making it a very mobile-friendly. They’ve gotten rid…

The Best Moments of Nintendo’s E3 Direct, Mixed With Attack on Titan

If an anime with Nintendo characters existed, the powerful opening theme of Attack on Titan series would be a perfect cover song for it. It sums up Nintendo’s E3 direct rather well. The video, by demoncry54 is similar to one made for the Sony event. I have a strange feeling we won’t see an Xbox…

That Other XCOM Game Snuck Into E3

The folks over at Twitch have been streaming live gameplay demos from E3 all week. I know this, becuase every now and then over the course of the past few days I’d completely cut-off contact with my coworkers to enjoy a particularly compelling segment, like this one for The Bureau: XCOM Declassified. I’ve been intrigued…

StreetPass Has Problems In The West. Nintendo Is Fixing Them.

At their E3 analyst briefing yesterday, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata revealed the company’s plans to revitalize sales of its handheld 3DS system in the US and Europe by fundamentally changing the way its StreetPass feature works. Currently, StreetPass operates by exchanging game data between 3DS consoles in close proximity to each other. Iwata explained that…

A Bestiary of Japanese FPS Player Types

Anyone who has played a First-Person Shooter online has encountered one of “those” players; the prepubescent brat who will kill them and then mock their corpse in some manner, the lone mute killing machine who will wordlessly charge through the map, efficiently slaughtering anything that gets in their way, the loudmouthed newbie whose sole reason…

According to its Director, Kingdom Hearts 3 Was Revealed a Little Early

Kingdom Hearts fans were overjoyed to the teaser announcement of Kingdom Hearts 3 at E3 on Monday. Tired of the wait? Ready to party? Well, don’t too hyped up – the wait isn’t over just yet. In an interview with Famitsu.com, director Tetsuya Nomura noted that the announcement for the first official numbered sequel in…

The Truth about Japan’s Amazing “Book Towers”

Jenga, this ain’t. Hundreds of books carefully stacked, creating what’s known as a “tower pile” (tawaa tsumi or タワー積み) in Japanese. Store employees spend thirty minutes—or more—to create these book sculptures that delight some and upset others. Traditionally, books in Japanese bookstores are stacked in small piles or placed on shelves—like anywhere else. The book…

Yakuza Series Developer Offers His Opinion On the New Consoles

As seen from thephotograph, the well-tanned Yakuza series developer, Toshihiro Nagoshi was walking among the crowds at E3 this year. Hopefully basking in the saturated spectacle of upcoming consoles and games. Nagoshi wrote on his blog about the Sony conference and the announcements from Microsoft and Sony (Unfortunately, due to flight delays, he was unable…

Garbage Can That Looks Like the Mac Pro Is a Hot Item in Japan

You know how people are comparing the new Mac Pro to a garbage can? Turns out one Japanese garbage can is already reaping the rewards. Below, you can see the Mac Pro. No, strike that. Below, you can see a garbage bin by Osaka-based design firm Ideaco. It really, really looks like the new Mac…

The LEGO PS4 Is Not $399

The amazing thing here in this video by builder Kooberz isn’t just that his LEGO PS4 looks just like the real thing, but that he got this done – and edited a video – so damn fast. The console was only shown off on Monday, and here he is good to go on Thursday! Lego…

That’s One Hell Of A Persona Statue

This Persona figure, by Vertex, will probably cost you $120-130. Which is a lot for something that’s only 1/7 scale (not much bigger than your standard action figure). Then again, your standard figure isn’t of Persona 3’s Mitsuru Kirijo. Depicted here in her combat gear from fighting game Persona 4: Arena, she comes with a…

Inside the Japanese Arcade That Looks Like a Hong Kong Slum

Japan has an array of arcades. Many of them have their own personalities, but only one of them looks like this. Located in Kawasaki and called “Anata no Warehouse” (“Your Warehouse”), this arcade is apparently based on Hong Kong’s Kowloon Walled City. Back in 2009, Kotaku reader Landon checked it out, saying, “It’s 18 years-old-and-up,…

A Very Wonderful Wii U Game

Maybe it’s because it’s a hard game to nail in a single sentence, maybe because it’s Platinum’s “other” Wii U game (after Bayonetta 2), but Wonderful 101 has sadly not gotten the attention it deserves this week. Let’s change that. I mean, what’s there not to love about a game that can channel Viewtiful Joe…

Secret of Mana illustrator Hiro Isono recently passed away due to heart failure. May he rest in peace.

Why Some in Japan Aren’t Thrilled with Final Fantasy XV‘s Setting

As the game’s trailer states, Final Fantasy XV is a fantasy based on reality. A select group of Japanese gamers don’t exactly seem thrilled with that. What is bothering a handful of players is that the latest game has elements that seem, I dunno, commonplace? That is, if you live in Japan. Here’s what I’m…

E3 Just Makes You (Well, This Guy) Want To Dance

E3 is, for many attendees, nothing but one giant party. Most of the time, those parties are in dark venues with catered food. This guy, however, managed to find his party in what looks like the…Ouya parking lot You go, man. Dance the E3 away. Video [Frag Burn]

E3 Swag Is Already All Over eBay

Most professional press attending E3 avoid going overboard on grabbing “swag”. It’s unprofessional (plus it’s usually tacky anyways!). For many fansites and retail reps, though, E3 is as much about the race to collect free t-shirts as it is to play some new games. For some of those, it’s then also a race to get…