Nintendo

The Dream Nintendo Game That Was Never Released

Shigesato Itoi (Mother), Shigeru Miyamoto (Mario, Zelda) and Tsunekazu Ishihara (Pokemon), all working on the same game? We should have known it would be too good to be true. In 1997, Nintendo announced a game called Cabbage. It sounded weird (by 1997 standards, anyway), was headed for a weird console and had a (presumably working)…

Game Boy XXL Is A Handheld For Giants

Earlier this year, reader Ilhan Ünal got started building his own Game Boy, which he only recently completed. It’s…a little bigger than Nintendo’s original version. Named the Game Boy XXL, Ünal’s handheld is more of a deskheld. It’s running off a Raspberry Pi, with an old 19” computer monitor acting as the screen, and was…

Nintendo Wii Blamed for Fire

A Colorado man lost his RV and many personal belongings in a blaze that firefighters believe his Nintendo Wii could have started. “This had nothing to do with the wires,” RV owner Trevor Pellegrin to KKTV (via Wii U Daily). “It started in the actual console of the Wii.” “I was coming back from a…

How Nintendo Makes Its Games Appear Cheaper in Japan

It looks like Nintendo is doing funny stuff on its official website with price listings to make its games look cheaper. Via Hachima, here is the official Nintendo Japanese site: Okay, so as people are pointing out online in Japan, Nintendo is listing the “tax not included” prices for its games. In Japanese, “tax not…

A Fridge Full Of Jurassic Park Games Is Good eBay

“Refrigerator full of Super Nintendo Jurassic Park games”. That eBay listing title says everything your heart needs to know. Well, almost. The fridge isn’t actually included in the sale. But over 300 video games—mostly copies of Jurassic Park for the Super Nintendo—are. Jurassic Park on the SNES was a masterpiece, combining Zelda-like overworld gameplay with…

Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Bowser’s Big Interview

Earlier this week Nintendo of America proudly announced that it had hired Mr. Doug Bowser as its new vice president of sales. What I want to know if how he dressed for that interview. I think our readers can help. Or Steve thought our readers could help and I used his suggestion, even though I…

Here Is A Thing That Happens In Nintendo’s Zombie Game

This is a Nintendo Mii killing zombies by… making them do math in school. The deadliest maneuver! The dreaded “cram session” is just one of the terrific special attacks in Battleground Z, Nintendo’s zombie game. You knew that Nintendo has a zombie game, right? It’s published by Nintendo, developed by Good-Feel (Wario Land: Shake It,…

The Worst Japanese Sales Week In a Long Time

Oh boy. The most recent video game sales numbers in Japan are not good. In fact, they’re bad. Very bad. As blog Hokanko points out, the most recent Media Create sales figures—which date from May 11 to May 17—are the worst since 2001. This period was the week that followed Golden Week, a string of…

Watch Us Play The Wii U’s New 2D RTS, Swords & Soldiers II

The first Swords & Soldiers, released nearly six years ago, was a hidden Wii gem. The new one, released today for Wii U? More of the same in all the best ways. I captured my playthrough of one of the game’s levels so you can see for yourself. What you’ll see is a colorful, briskly…

Splatoon’s Squids Started Out As Blocks Of Tofu

Can you say…killer tofu? No. Actually, you can’t. This is a Nintendo shooter, after all. In a recent “Iwata Asks” conversation between president Saturo Iwata and key members of the Splatoon team, the developers revealed that before the game became a bright and colorful paint-chucking extravaganza, it starred innocuous blocks of tofu. Mmmmm, tofu. So…

Nintendo’s just announced that they’re publishing a new Pokemon Mystery Dungeon game. Hitting the 3DS this winter, Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon will feature the series’ signature randomly generated levels, along with the ability to use Legendary and Mythical Pokémon. Contact the author at [email protected]

The 8GB Wii U Is No More in Japan

The Wii U Basic Set set is no more in Japan, Nintendo announced today. The Nintendo.co.jp page states that the 8GB Wii U is “slated to go out of production shortly” (近日生産終了予定). The 32GB model will continued to be sold, and Nintendo is introducing a white 32GB version in Japan starting in June. This has…

Smash Bros. Player Is So Damn Good, There’s Now A Bounty On His Head

Gonzalo “Zero” Barrios is on a hot streak. Since November 2014, he’s come in first for every Super Smash Bros. for Wii U tournament he’s participated in. That makes a whopping 34 consecutive first place wins for the 1v1 category. It’s absurd. Things have gotten so ridiculous, that now even spectators are trying to see…

This is Doug Bowser, Nintendo’s new VP of Sales. Yes, Nintendo hired a guy named Doug BOWSER. They claim he has “no relation to the King Koopa and Mario’s nemesis.” Uh huh. You can reach the author of this post at [email protected] or on Twitter at @patrickklepek

A Look at Adding Mario to Non-Mario Games

This week sees the US release of Puzzle & Dragons Z + Super Mario Bros. Edition, which (as the name implies) includes a version of the addictive mobile game completely redone with Mario characters, enemies, and levels. But this is far from the first time Mario has taken over a pre-existing game. There are numerous…

The Journey to Becoming a Nintendo World Champion Starts Here (or There)

You know how Nintendo’s bringing back their old-school World Championship competition? Well, they’ve just announced the eight U.S. locations where players can go to qualify and earn a chance to go to the big showdown at this year’s E3. Get pumped. Folks who want to try and grab at Nintendo glory will be playing the…

The Monday Stream Plays Splatoon, Looks Hella Cute While Doing It [Done!]

Splatoon is a very special game—and I’m excited to show you why in a livestream today. Starting at 6pm EST, I’ll be doing an hour-long Splatoon stream right here. Join me to catch a glimpse of what may legitimately be the most exciting shooter of 2015. We’ll play a couple of matches, show off the…

Every Fairy From The Legend Of Zelda. Even The Hideous Ones.

Which is your favorite fairy from The Legend of Zelda franchise? Our old friend MasterOfHyrulehas compiled a video featuring each and every—what the hell is that thing? Someone kill it! Set it on fire! Glue an Xbox One game to it! Okay, we’re safe. My personal favorite fairies are the ones from Ocarina of Time…

Puzzle & Dragons Z’s Freedom Bores Me

After years of dealing with the stamina restrictions and constant rotation of powerful paid content in the mobile version of Puzzle & Dragons, the pay once, play forever structure of Puzzle & Dragons Z for the Nintendo 3DS sounded like a dream. Sometimes dreams are stupid. Behind the annoying microtransactions and frustrating, play-limiting stamina bar…

Nintendo Won’t Make the 3DS Region-Free, But the NX Might Be

People hate Nintendo’s region-locked consoles. While the Kyoto-based game maker says it can’t unlocked current 3DS unit, the upcomingNXconsole could be region free. Nintendo is looking at that right now. No promises, though! During a recent investors meeting, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata wasasked the following question: When you were asked if you would lift the…