Nintendo

Mario Creator Shigeru Miyamoto is Working on Something Brand New

Nintendo talisman Shigeru Miyamoto is a busy man! Not only does he help in an overseer’s role on many of Nintendo’s biggest games, but he’s also revealed he’s working on something new. Really new. While we already know he’s involved in the next Pikmin game and Luigi’s Mansion for the 3DS, Miyamoto recently told Associated…

By Luke Plunkett Published January 8, 2012

Nintendo Doesn’t Let WiiWare Self-Publishers Reveal Sales Figures

The independent publisher Icon Games Entertainment, a week ago, looked back on 2011 and counted up how many copies it had sold of games such as Bashi Blocks (pictured above) and Arcade Air Hockey. Icon’s Richard Hill-Whittall found that he’d sold 255,763 copies of games in all, a pleasant surprise given he figured they’d only…

By Owen Good Published January 5, 2012

How I Managed to Write about Super Mario Every Day Last Year

I spent 2011 documenting the life of one of the most important people in the media world. His name is invoked when referring to the European debt crisis, Medicaid reform, soccer stars, and even bioplastics. PETA protested him, coasting off his reflected fame. I spent the year blogging about Super Mario. While researching my book…

Jeff Ryan Published January 5, 2012

This Week’s Nintendo Download is Colorful, If Nothing Else

Four games I’ve never heard of form a giant robot of borderline apathy in this week’s exciting episode of the Nintendo Download. Having done the Nintendo Download post for nearly five years now I’ve learned that sometimes Nintendo just has to throw some random crap out into the interwebs to make room for fresh new…

By Mike Fahey Published January 5, 2012

Bullet Bill Will Destroy This Man’s Kitchen

The aspiring baker at the wonderfully-named Bake With a Vengeance got just about the best Christmas present ever for someone who loves video games and who wants to bake stuff: a Bullet Bill blender. It was made by taking a black KitchenAid Pro mixer and getting some custom decals sent over. After that, the mixer’s…

By Luke Plunkett Published January 5, 2012

Is the 3DS Lite Coming Out Next Spring? Wonders a Japanese Magazine

Japanese magazine Nikkei Trendy put forth a question that’s nagging us all: is Nintendo releasing a 3DS Lite? In a recent issue of the publication that looks at 2012, Trendy wrote, “To increase the 3DS’s install base, there’s a possibility for a lighter version that addresses the handheld’s weak points, the thickness and the battery…

By Brian Ashcraft Published January 4, 2012

Zelda: Skyward Sword‘s Alphabet Cracked

Leave it to Zelda fans to fix the Zelda timeline. And leave it to Zelda fans to undertake yet another laborious task: translating the in-game lingo. In the Zelda games, you see Hylian, the language written throughout the Zelda games. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, the most recent Zelda title, features a new type…

By Brian Ashcraft Published January 3, 2012

New Mario Party and Pokemon Games Hitting the ahem 4 Million-Selling Nintendo 3DS [Update]

Nintendo tipped the world off to its coming software line-up last month, but it seems like they left a few aces up their sleeves as far as what’s coming to the 3DS. In an announcement crowing about the 4 million 3DS units the company’s sold in the United States since launch, Nintendo also declared that…

By Evan Narcisse Published January 3, 2012

Is the PS Vita A Device Ahead of Its Time or Behind It?

With its big, bright screen, ability to sense touch and motion, and controls that mimic a home game console’s, Sony’s Playstation Vita delivers the sort of gaming that approaches what you might expect to experience in your den. But is that what gamers still want? I’ve spent the past week with a PS Vita, enjoying…

By Brian Crecente Published January 2, 2012

The Most Pirated PC, Xbox 360 and Wii Games of 2011

This week, TorrentFreak reported on the 50 most searched terms on torrent sites, giving indications as to what may have been the most pirated things of 2011. Not a single video game title was among them. Well, now TorrentFreak has listed its top 5 most pirated games of the year, across three platforms. PC, Wii…

By Owen Good Published December 31, 2011

Big Game Makers Take Names Off SOPA Support

The Stop Online Piracy Act, currently a bill before the Congress, is utterly detested by the Internet, in case you don’t read the Internet. Gamers don’t think much of it either, as it would have some rather stupid ramifications for how they enjoy that lifestyle and consume its products. So it’s of note that Nintendo,…

By Owen Good Published December 31, 2011

A Multiplayer Role-Playing Game You Can Play in Swapnote

Savannah College of Art and Design game design student Ben “MNC Dover” Gray saw more than just a chance to draw dicks with Nintendo’s free Swapnote program for the 3DS. He saw a chance to draw +4 vorpal dicks. What Ben is proposing in this video is a nifty variation of good old play-by-mail Dungeons…

By Mike Fahey Published December 30, 2011

One Very Good Reason to Be a Nintendo-Exclusive Gamer

Tired of being picked on and looked down upon for being a Nintendo-exclusive console owner, commenter ClaudioIphigenia speaks up on Kotaku about the rather reasonable reasoning behind his brand loyalty. So after having just replied to three different comments on why I only own a Nintendo console, I figured it was time for a Speak…

By Mike Fahey Published December 30, 2011

Nintendo Starts Offering NES Classics to All in the 3DS eShop

Nintendo not only gave its 3DS “Ambassadors”—early adopters of the device—10 Virtual Console classics for free, it also didn’t let anyone else buy them. That exclusive privilege appears to be headed to a close, as the Japanese eShop has already listed Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, and will get Super Mario Bros. next week.…

By Owen Good Published December 30, 2011

Myst Re-Release Headed for 3DS in March

The super-old collection of HyperCard stacks Myst will be published as Myst 3D on the 3DS, with a release date scheduled for March 27. The publisher handling the port says it will add 3D effects to the original game, so it isn’t a reboot or a new adaptation. It will, however, include the Rime Age,…

By Owen Good Published December 30, 2011

In Week Two of the Vita vs. 3DS Showdown, Guess Who Lost?

On Dec. 17, Sony released the PS Vita, its PSP successor. The PS Vita is a fine machine (read Kotaku‘s review). In its first week, Sony sold over 360,000 Vitas. But during the machine’s second week, sales plunged to approximately 72,000 machines sold. That’s fewer than the PSP, which came in second in hardware sales…

By Brian Ashcraft Published December 29, 2011

I Agree with This Little Girl about Pink Things

In the above video, little Riley goes off on the way toys are marketed to kids: blue and superheroes for boys, while girls get pink and princesses. While she’s specifically talking about toys (she is in a toy store), I agree with so much of what she says. And so much of what she says…

By Brian Ashcraft Published December 29, 2011

Finish the Year Strong Talking About the Skyward Sword Finale with the Kotaku Game Club!

Welcome back to the Kotaku Game Club. Today we’re wrapping up our discussion series on The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, and 2011. Since we’ve all (hopefully) completed the game, let’s talk about the game’s final dungeons and the ending. Since we’ll be discussing the entire game today, including the ending. Players who haven’t finished…

By Mike Epstein Published December 29, 2011

VVVVVV Spells Victory for the Final Nintendo Download of 2011

The Nintendo Download ends the year on a high note with the release of Terry Cavanagh ‘s indie darling VVVVVV on the 3DS eShop, adding a 3D twist to the game’s already twisted gravity platforming. If the 3DS does nothing more than get a few indie PC greats into the hands of the masses, then…

By Mike Fahey Published December 29, 2011