Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy Coming to North America in 2014

Level-5’s super-popular puzzle-solving series gets a new installment, finishing up the second Layton trilogy. Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy will pack more than 500 brain-teasers into the release. The game’s already out in Japan and you can take a look at Richard Eisenbeis’ impressions right here

The Next 3DS Zelda Is Set In The World Of Link To The Past

Nintendo is developing a new Zelda game for the 3DS. In Japanese, the game is called The Legend of Zelda: Kamigami no Triforce 2. You probably remember the first Kamigami no Triforce game’s English title, A Link to the Past. The game will feature a new storyline, new puzzles, and new dungeons. Link will also…

Animal Crossing 3DS XL Bundle Comes to North America June 9.

Nintendo says a new 3DS XL Bundle, featuring Animal Crossing: New Leaf will be available in North America on June 9 for $219.99. It comes preloaded with a copy of Animal Crossing (An earlier version of this post erroneously listed the bundle and the game’s release date.)

Bravely Default: Flying Fairy Is Coming To The US In 2014

Square Enix’s 3DS role-playing game Bravely Default: Flying Fairy is coming to North America next year. Nintendo will publish the game along with Square Enix. Described by some players as a spiritual successor to Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light and a throwback to classic Final Fantasys, Bravely Default has been a critical success…

2001 GBC titles The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons will be released on May 30 in the US for the 3DS Virtual Console, Nintendo has announced in today’s Nintendo Direct.

At today’s Nintendo Direct, along with a new gameplay trailer, Nintendo has dropped the release date for their new 3DS title, Donkey Kong: Country Returns 3D: May 24 in both Europe and North America.

New Super Luigi U DLC Coming this Summer

Nintendo has just announced via Nintendo Direct that their new DLC for New Super Mario Bros. U, titled New Super Luigi U, will be landing this summer. The DLC, which stars Mario’s brother, Luigi, who can jump higher but slips off ledges easily, will feature shorter stages redesigned with replayability in mind—with a default timer…

Holy Crap! Earthbound Is Coming To The North America Virtual Console In 2013

FINALLY. Nintendo is bringing the beloved RPG Earthbound to the Wii U’s Virtual Console this year. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata announced the news during the Nintendo Direct presentation this morning. I’m still stunned. Fans have been begging Nintendo to re-release the quirky role-playing game, titled Mother 2 in Japan, for years now, but the Mario…

Mario & Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move, a collection of puzzles and minigames, will be available for the 3DS from the Nintendo eShop on May 11.

Wii U Virtual Console Update Coming Next Week with GamePad Support

The download store for Nintendo’s new home console will be morphing next week, alongside the long-awaited firmware update for the Wii U. [Update: Videos of the upcoming Virtual Console games are now below.] The new software will let you move data from one USB drive to another and supports automatic update downloads while in standby…

New Yoshi’s Island Game Coming To 3DS

Well that was unexpected. The 3DS is getting a new game in the Yoshi’s Island platforming series. This is the third Yoshi’s Island game, following the old Super Nintendo version and Yoshi’s Island DS, released in 2006. Nintendo announced the new game during their Nintendo Direct presentation today, promising more information in the near future.

Mario Party Coming to 3DS This Winter

The multiplayer competition of Nintendo’s virtual board game gets a new evolution with Mario Party. The 3DS game features multiple game boards and 81 new mini-games. Look for it this winter. The last game in the franchise appeared on the Wii last year. No word if there will be any online multiplayer for this mobile…

Japan Is Getting a Special Luigi 3DS XL

To mark Luigi’s anniversary, Nintendo is releasing a special Luigi emblazoned 3DS XL in Japan. The hardware comes bundled with a digital version of Mario & Luigi: Dream Team In Japan, it goes on sale June 18, which is when the game also launches.

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team Comes Out Aug. 11

Mario & Luigi Dream Team, for Nintendo 3DS, arrives Aug. 11. In the game, Mario travels between the real world and a dream world to, yet again, rescue a kidnapped Princess Peach. Co-op puzzles and a legion of Luigis—that can be rolled up Katamari-style to bowl over enemies—also are featured.

Nintendo is holding a 3DS-centric Nintendo Direct this morning at 10am Eastern. You can watch it live right here. And we’ll be covering all of the news on Kotaku as it happens, of course.

There’s Going To Be A Mario Kart Tournament…In Minecraft

The guys that make up YouTuber group WorldGoodSquad built a Mario Kart-style map in Minecraft, as you can see in the video above. They’re even planning a small tournament that could very well be a hilarious event, considering the ridiculous mods at work. The only thing missing now is an array of power-ups, just like…

Wii U Left Out of Another Major Sports Release with FIFA 14

The first details on FIFA 14 point to continued refinement of the gameplay in EA Sports’ top-selling, critically acclaimed football franchise. But what wasn’t announced also is noteworthy. FIFA 14 is, so far, slated to release for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC—with “additional platforms” to be announced later. That most likely means a…

This Wreck-It Ralph Character Looks Just Like…a Real Japanese Popstar

Wreck-It Ralph recently opened in Japan, where it’s titled Sugar Rush. Besides enjoying the flick, Japanese moviegoers are doing something else: Comparing the character Vanellope to a real idol. Namely, Japanese moviegoers are saying Vanellope looks like AKB48 member Ami Maeda. Yes, their eye color is different, but their eyebrows, hair and facial expressions seem…

The Coolest Japanese Video Games With Over The Top Action

You don’t need to worry about Japanese developers when it comes to creating an insane, over-the-top frenzy on the screen. It’s in their veins. Just think about the superb 60 frames per sec action in Bayonetta or having twelve characters on the screen all at once in Guardian Heroes (thank you Sega Saturn), few things…

We’ve seen a lot of the gameplay mechanics behind Mars: War Logs, Spiders’ third-person sci-fi RPG. This time, Spiders CEO Jehanne Rousseau tells us about the game’s story and universe, and describes the ways our choices will shape the way the story unfolds. Mars: War Logs is coming “very soon” to PS3, Xbox 360 and…