Nintendo

Pokémon Based On Inanimate Objects, Ranked

Some people will tell you that the worst Pokémon designs are the ones based on real-world items, rather than animals. Those people are wrong. Actually, some of the best creatures in the pocket monster roster are ones based on inanimate objects. The thing about inanimate object Pokémon is, you can tell Game Freak actually has…

Damn, Look At These Super Nintendo Sneakers

Just as there must be balance in life, so too must there be balance in sneaker concept posts on Kotaku.com, a website that is occasionally about video games. We have had Adidas designs recently, so now we must share these very nice Jordans. They’re the work of custom sneaker specialists Freaker Sneaks (via Nicekicks), and…

The Man Who Worked On The Original Game Boy Explains Why Nintendo Created The DS

Satoru Okada, who was General Manager of Nintendo Research & Engineering before he retired in 2012, said in a recent interview with Retro Gamer Magazine that no one on the handheld team liked the idea of the DS when it was first proposed. If some folks had gotten their way, Nintendo would have produced a…

One Father’s Issue With Peach Getting Kidnapped In Super Mario Run

Super Mario Run, Nintendo’s first mobile game, follows the standard Mario formula: Princess Peach gets kidnapped right away, and it’s up to Mario to save her. It’s for this reason that Chris Suellentrop doesn’t want his daughter to play it, as he wrote in an Op-Ed for The New York Times, saying, “the game is…

Pirates Leak Pokémon Prism After Nintendo Shuts It Down

Pokémon Prism is a fan-made ROM hack for Pokémon Crystal. Over the course of eight years, creator Koolboyman and his team crafted a new Pokémon experience, which they hoped to release this Christmas. Nintendo hit them with a cease and desistfour days before release. Thanks to a group of pirates, the project still made it…

The Rise and Fall of Competitive Pokémon’s Most Hated Bird, Talonflame

Talonflame, a fire/flying Pokémon, took over the competitive scene after it was added to the monster compendium with Pokémon X & Y. For the last three years, wise competitive players made sure to prepare for Talonflame’s appearance on the enemy team. Everything changed after the release of Sun and Moon. At first, many believed Talonflame…

3DS Software Famed For Piracy Hit With Nintendo Takedown, Creator Says

Freeshop is homebrew software touted as a tool used to download 3DS games that you already own. Most people, however, know Freeshop as a thing you can use to download entire 3DS games, free of charge (hence the name). Today, Freeshop’s main distribution source was hit with a DMCA notice. If you visit the old…

The 31 Most Important Japanese Games Ever Made

Over the decades, Japanese developers have churned out a mind-boggling number of video games. Some are good, and some are bad. These are the thirty-one most important ones. This piece originally appeared 7/1/16. Deciding which ones are the most important is tricky and subjective. I’ve tried to include games that have influenced Japanese gaming, worldwide…

Nintendo filed for a trademark for “Eternal Darkness” on December 20 according to a document submitted to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The filing could be related the Nintendo Switch’s reported ability to play GameCube games. Kickstarters for a spiritual successor to Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem never got off the ground.

A Close Look At A Prototype Nintendo DS

You may not know Evan Amos by name, but you’ve certainly seen his work: he’s responsible for many of the clean product shots of video game consoles that you see on Wikipedia (and by extension everywhere else). Today, he’s shared something very cool for fans of old Nintendo hardware These are nice, clear shots of…

The Legend Of Zelda Was Planned On These Sheets Of Paper

There’s something about analog development materials. Take, for example, these Legend of Zelda original design documents. Hand drawn on paper, they are still a sight to see. Nintendo UKrecently uploaded a host of these originals on its official site. Here is Takashi Tezuka’s skull room drawing, with a comparison to how it appeared in game.…

1992 Miyamoto Interview About Zelda Is Great

In 1992, Shigeru Miyamoto sat down for an interview with Famicom Tsuushin magazine, mostly to talk about Zelda, but also to shed some light on what it was like working at Nintendo at the time. It’s a very good read. We’ve actually written about this interview previously, though that was apparently an incomplete translation; this…

Why Is The 3DS So Hard To Find Right Now?

Tiny Tim or Little Timmy might not get their Nintendo 3DS for Christmas this year. The handheld console is facing a shortage in brick and mortar stores across the country and online. At Best Buy, GameStop and Target, the console is low-stock or unavailable in stores throughout and proximate to America’s six most populous cities.…

Another Pokémon Fan Game Says Nintendo Shut Them Down

The creator of Pokémon Prism, afan made hack for Pokémon Crystal that was due to release on Christmas, says he’s received a cease-and-desist from Nintendo and will have to shut down the project for good. On Twitter early this morning, Pokémon Prism creator Koolboyman broke the news and shared a copy of the letter he…

Super Mario Run: The Kotaku Review

If you were worried that Nintendo’s move into mobile gaming would change the quality of their games, Super Mario Run should be a relief. Auto-running and screen orientation aside, it’s a full-featured Mario game that just happens to run on your phone. Originally posted 12/21/06: Now that everyone on iOS is done playing, Android gets…

Adidas, Make These Zelda Sneakers

As part of his application process for a design internship with Adidas, student Paxton Porter—a lover of both sneakers and The Legend of Zelda—came up with these designs. Both of which I would cop in a heartbeat. Figuring that Nintendo would be down for a footwear collaboration, and rightly believing that the brand deserves better…

It Took Five Years For One Man To Find The First NES Advertisement

A neat little piece of gaming history has been archived in full thanks to preservationist efforts. The original advertisement for the Nintendo Entertainment System has been catalogued after a five year search. Archivist Frank Cifaldi managed to get his hands on an issue of Consumer Electronics containing the advertisement after an extended search period. The…

The State Of The Wii U In 2016

The Wii U spent 2016 on life support, relying on a slow trickle of exclusives to keep owners from pulling the plug completely. As Nintendo prepares to release the Switch in March, the Wii U readies its dying breath. This is part of our 2016 “State of” series, a look at how the major consoles,…

Dragon Quest XI is coming to the Nintendo Switch! Previously announced for the PlayStation 4 and the Nintendo 3DS, it was revealed that the game is headed for the Switch, too. No word yet on a Western release.

Redditor Signs Up For Secret Santa, Gets Bill Gates

A few days ago, user Aerrix posted on Reddit that she had won Secret Santa. That’s because she had taken part in Reddit’s annual gift exchange, and instead of receiving a nice holiday gift from just any old stranger on the Internet, she got a package in the mail from the richest person in the…