Nintendo

That Time An Island In GoldenEye Disappointed A Generation

Far off in the distance, beyond the murky arctic waters, the vague silhouette of a tower can be seen through the mist. You raise your sniper rifle for a closer look. A solitary island is nestled away from all the chaos. What secrets does it hold? This piece originally appeared 3/21/17. GoldenEye 007 is one…

Watch A Man Spend 350 Hours Drawing All 807 Pokémon 

Here’s a timelapse video of reader Christopher Cayco drawing all 807 current Pokémon. It took him 350 hours over a span of 42 days. Actually, there are more than 807 Pokémon: while he’s got all of them accounted for, he’s drawn some of them more than once, so there’s actually over 1100 pocket monsters in…

A Pocket Of Passionate Players Is The Only Thing Keeping Competitive ARMS Alive

While the Switch as a platform is thriving, ARMS is its redheaded stepchild. In its first two weeks, it peaked at the 13th most popular game on the eShop. Despite being a less popular Nintendo exclusive, some competitors are keeping the fighting spirit alive months after most moved on to other games. ARMS is a…

The Nintendo Switch Is The Fastest-Selling Console In U.S. History

Today, Nintendo announced that the Switch has become the fastest-selling home game console ever in the United States. It surpassed the previous record holder, the Nintendo Wii. Since launching on March 3, 2017, the Switch sold over 4.8 million consoles in the U.S. In comparison, during the Nintendo Wii’s first ten months, over 4 million…

Fans Have Finally Translated The Most Recent Tingle Game Into English 

Tingle’s a guy dressed in a green onesie who sells maps in The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask. The offbeat cartographer we so well received, Nintendo embraced him and let him return in later games, even providing him with a stand-alone spin-off series. Just a few days ago, fans finally finished translating its fourth installment.…

The Miiverse Has Been Saved, Preserving 72,135,190 Drawings

Not all of them are hairy dicks As we discussed in September, despite Nintendo’s decision to kill the Miiverse—an online community for the Wii U and 3DS—late last year, some fans and engineers wanted to save everything that had been posted to the service, so that it wasn’t lost to the ether once Nintendo pulled…

Style Savvy: Styling Star: The Kotaku Review

The best thing about the newest Style Savvy isn’t the cute outfits or the glamorous fantasy. It’s that it makes you feel good about helping people. Style Savvy is a series of games about running a boutique. In them, you have to stock a store and then sell clothing to customers. It’s your responsibility to…

Oh Nice, Super Famicom Wars Is Playable In English

Wars, one of Nintendo’s finest series—and one they seem intent on leaving to die in the cold like a dog—blew up in the West on the Game Boy Advance, but in Japan it’s a lot older. The series debuted on the Famicom in 1988, and then moved to the Game Boy for a number of…

In Style Savvy, ‘Basic’ Is Actually Very Cute

Style Savvy has about a dozen brands, each representing a different style. You can dress like a rocker, in psychedelic vintage clothes, or in elegant gothic lolita frills and lace. Unexpectedly, my favorite brand in Style Savvy: Styling Star is Basic U, which sells clothes that are basic. In previous games, the basic style was…

A Peripheral For Switch Owners Who Don’t Embarrass Easily

This is the “Comfortable Hands-Free Stand” for the Nintendo Switch. It is ridiculous. Game developer Jake Kazdal of 17-Bit in Kyoto spotted this third-party Nintendo Switch harness thing. I could see maybe someone using this in the privacy of their own home, but outside? In public? Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture,…

Golf Story Is Delightfully Weird And Hilariously Dramatic

There is the kind of drama that has distressing plot reveals and twists. Then there’s Golf Story’s brand of raw drama—delivered through hysterical dialogue, rap battles, and geese. In 2017, who knew an indie title about an underdog’s rise in a pro golf circuit could be so compelling? Golf Story, the Nintendo eShop sports game…

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Is Mindless, Frustrating, And Kind Of Fun

A month ago, I proclaimed that Nintendo’s Animal Crossing mobile game lacked heart and soul. Repetitive dialogue, rote gameplay, and the sleazy undertone of it all—Pocket Camp dilutes the series’ charm. But it’s confession time: I’m here today to partially eat my words. Since its late November worldwide release in 2017, Pocket Camp, a new…

The Brilliant Use Of Speed In Mega Man 2’s Quick Man Stage

One of the most extraordinary facts about Mega Man 2 is that it almost didn’t happen. Sales of the first Mega Man were low, and it was only with the special permission of Capcom’s vice president that development was allowed to proceed. But there was a catch. The staff had to work on it concurrently…

Vintage Game Retailers Say Nintendo 64 Was Their Hottest Holiday Seller

Should Nintendo be looking at releasing an N64 Classic? Yes, if this year’s sales of the original 64-bit hardware are anything to go by. Sellers of vintage gaming hardware said they noticed a boom in Nintendo 64 sales this holiday season, a shift away from the previous generations of consoles that Christmas shoppers had coveted…

In a new interview, Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima says the aim is to sell 20 million Switch machines in the next financial year, offer more robust DLC so people can play games longer and put out new Switch titles with new ways to play. 

Nintendo’s Newest 3DS Game Features A Nerdy YouTuber

In the latest Style Savvy game, which dropped Christmas Day, you’re not just a boutique owner but also a stylist who nurtures budding pop stars’ hopes and dreams. One of these singers is Alinatron, a nerdy YouTuber, and she is delightful. Style Savvy: Styling Star doesn’t quite have YouTube—its equivalent is MewTube, where you can…

Breath of the Wild’s Best Stories Are Our Own

Breath of the Wild’s vast open world is full of discoveries. The most important discoveries we make come when the game’s systems interact to help us imbue the world with our own interpretations and meaning. We take a closer look in this video essay. This piece originally appeared 3/9/17. Transcript: The Legend of Zelda: Breath…

Report: Nintendo Delaying 64-Gigabyte Game Cards For Switch Until 2019

According to the Wall Street Journal, Nintendo is pushing back the introduction of larger 64GB game cards for the Switch. Nintendo, the WSJ writes, had planned to make them available during the second half of 2018, but has reportedly told developers that they would have to wait. According to the WSJ, the reason given is…

ROM Hacker Adds Color To Super Mario Land 2

Super Mario Land 2 is one of the more underrated games in Nintendo’s library, with a suite of interesting ideas and some truly weird levels. It was even the first Mario game to let you go to the moon. And now it’s in color. Thanks to ROM hacker toruzz, you can now play a sleek,…

Nintendo Still Explaining Nintendo Account And Nintendo Network ID Differences

Who would’ve thought that Nintendo having different account systems would be so confusing for people? It’s December 2017, and in Japan, Nintendo says it’s getting lots of questions about the differences. “Currently, we are getting a great number of inquiries about the Nintendo Account,” the company wrote in a tweet. The attached image easily shows…