Nintendo

The Essentials From This Week’s Pokémon Sword And Shield Interviews

This week, Game Informer had a slew of interviews with the leads of the Pokémon Sword and Shield team at Game Freak. There’s a lot there, and some of the information has since been corrected or clarified, so here’s what you need to know. There’s Autosave, But You Can Turn It Off Traditionally, you’ve had…

Who’s up for some Galar region Pokémon spotting? Today’s Pokémon Sword and Shield “livestream” is in full swing, with a camera set in the lush and lyrical Glimwood Tangle, ready to catch any pocket monsters that may wander into view. I’ll have it running in the background all day, slowly driving me insane. Join me!

The Bite-Sized Link’s Awakening Is The Perfect Follow-Up To Breath Of The Wild

How do you create a follow-up to Breath of the Wild? The Switch launch game was a massive rethinking of the Legend of Zelda series, a colossal non-linear open world in which players could create their own journey. As it turns out, the perfect way to follow that was with a Zelda that is as…

Blizzard Really Wants Overwatch Characters In Smash

With Overwatch due out on the Switch next week, it’s obviously time for fans to start incessantly calling for characters like Pharah and Mercy to make an appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The loudest voice among them, though, will belong to Blizzard themselves. In an interview with IGN, Blizzard’s Jeff Kaplan was asked which…

Super Mario Maker 2 Finally Adds Online Matchmaking With Friends

Super Mario Maker 2 is packed with fun levels and player-made challenges. Enjoying these levels online with people on your friends list wasn’t possible, something that disappointed fans. A new update finally brings online matchmaking, allowing up to four players the ability to join up and tackle courses together. Before today, Super Mario Maker 2’s…

Mario & Luigi RPG Developer AlphaDream Has Gone Bankrupt

Founded in 2000, AlphaDream was originally known as Alpha Star and was staffed with people who had formerly been at Square, including former Square President Tetsuo Mizuno. The studio is best known for the Mario & Luigi RPG series. It was announced today that AlphaDream has gone bankrupt. According to Yahoo! Japan, revenue was sluggish…

Playing Ori And The Blind Forest On Switch Is A Little Strange But Brings Back Great Memories

It’s weird seeing the Microsoft Studios logo appear on the screen as I load a game on a Nintendo console. It’s also odd to have see my Xbox Live avatar and Gamertag displayed on my Switch screen. Everything else about about playing Ori and the Blind Forest on the Switch is pretty much perfect. Moon…

Everything You Need To Know About Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3‘s Big Update

Today’s massive update to Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 adds the first four paid downloadable characters to the game, but it’s not just that. The free update that accompanies the Curse of the Vampire expansion also adds a new game mode, ups the level cap to 150, and gives players the ability to spend in-game cash…

Mario Maker Level Lets You Compose Music And Play It Back

Some of the best creations in Super Mario Maker 2 often have extremely little to do with the experience of playing a Mario level. Consider the level “Music Maker – write a tune” by user knil (ID: 4MW-PJW-3JF). It isn’t a Mario course at all, but a really clever player piano of sorts that you…

New Brain Age Announced For Nintendo Switch In Japan

In 2005, Brain Age first went on sale in Japan for the Nintendo DS. The game, which had players solve math problems and more to judge the age of their brain, became a national sensation in Japan. Brain Age was one reason why the DS became a must-have handheld. Now, in 2019, it’s back. The…

Maybe Don’t Put The Goose In Smash?

I’ve seen a lot of people asking over the past week for the Goose from Untitled Goose Game to be put in Smash Bros. I don’t know if that’s a very good idea. I mean, I admire the passion! But you’re not thinking this through, for a number of reasons: 1) Pump your brakes. The internet…

Mario Kart Tour’s Microtransactions Feel Gross In A Post-Apple Arcade World

Mario Kart Tour is a fine racing game. The graphics are lovely. The simple touch controls are fine once you get used to them. It’s overflowing with colorful Nintendo brand polish. Mario Kart Tour is also a free-to-play game with a microtransaction-fueled gacha collection mechanic and game options and rewards locked behind a paid monthly…

Official Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Tournament Bans Hero, Then Unbans Him

The controversy surrounding Super Smash Bros. Ultimate character Hero and his place in serious competition intensified recently when it was revealed that an official, Nintendo-sanctioned tournament in France had chosen to ban him from play. But now, just two days later, Nintendo has reversed that decision. Originally announced back in January, the European Team Cup…

Using One Nintendo Account On 2 Switches Is Tricky, So Here’s The Best Way To Do It

Since last week’s release of the portable-only Switch Lite, I’ve been trying to set up my account on both the Lite and my original Switch so my wife and kids can play games like Super Mario Odyssey and Yoshi’s Crafted World on one without erasing my save data or interrupting my playing Puzzle Quest on…

Mario Kart Tour Locks The Fastest Race Mode Behind A Paid Subscription

Mario Kart Tour is available today on iOS and Android, bringing some portable kart action to phones and other devices. If you want to enjoy tough races with a faster pace, though, it turns out you’ll need to shell out some money. Mario Kart games have always had different racing tiers. This usually means starting…

During its first three days on sale, the Nintendo Switch Lite sold 177,936 units in Japan. Combined with the regular Switch units, nearly 250,000 Switch consoles were sold that same week. In case you missed it, here is Kotaku’s Switch Lite review. 

Link’s Awakening‘s Big ‘Twist’ Is Mind-Blowing When You’re Eight

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening is a mystery. Link, the hero of the Zelda games, wakes up after getting shipwrecked on Koholint Island. He meets a mysterious owl who tells him that in order to return home, he must wake the Wind Fish, the guardian of the island, who is currently asleep in a…

Mario Kart Tour Kicks Off Tomorrow In New York City

Nintendo’s latest free-to-play mobile game, Mario Kart Tour, launches tomorrow on iOS and Android. Every two weeks the nickley, dimey racer will test players in tours, special races inspired by real-world locations. The first destination is New York, New York, where players can earn Musician Mario and Super Mario Odyssey Pauline as playable racers. New…

Nintendo Was Founded 130 Years Ago Today

On September 23, 1889, Fusajiro Yamauchi founded Nintendo Koppai (koppai means “cards”) in Kyoto, Japan. Originally a playing card company, the company would go on to revolutionize video games forever. When the company was first founded, Nintendo made hanafuda playing cards. It was only three years earlier that the Japanese government legalized the cards, which…

Fans Found An Assault Rifle Texture Hidden In Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Princess Peach is powerful and not to be messed with in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. But I never expected that she was secretly carrying an assault rifle. Yet that’s what fans found when they dug around the files of Brawl. YouTuber Oddheader recently released a video showcasing some secrets in video games that players and…