Nintendo

Nintendo Explains Where Tingle Came From

Tingle, map-seller in The Legend of Zelda Majora’s Mask, is a man in his mid-30s who wears a green fairy suit. Presumed by some—incorrectly, it turns out—to be gay, he is one of Nintendo’s most unusual characters. I recently asked Nintendo’s top Zelda creator what Tingle’s origins were. “I guess the heart of the character…

More Than a Third of 2014’s Big-Budget Games Got Day-One Patches

You may have had the feeling lately that the games you’ve been buying and playing didn’t quite get finished when they were shoved out onto store shelves. Well, a lot of them weren’t done baking. We’re a few years into a new console hardware cycle, one that promised to make games on the PS4, Wii…

Looks Like We’re Getting A Gold Mario Amiibo 

Oh, hey, were you already too stressed out about the availabilityand value of Nintendo’s Amiibos? Maybe don’t look at this image then. It’s reportedly a photo of a banner ad for Walmart, and shows not only a Golden Mario Amiibo itself, but also says that something (it’s unclear whether it’s the Amiibo or just a…

Tips For Playing Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate

If you’ve never played Monster Hunter, then Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is the best jumping-on point – but it’s still hella confusing to the uninitiated. There are so many menus and icons and confusing screens of help text, and there’s quite a lot to do before you can just grab a weapon and kill something…

I’m Glad I Waited Fifteen Years To Play Majora’s Mask

I first played The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask in a small, dark hotel room that offered rentals on all of the hottest N64 games, Expansion Pak and all. I don’t remember where we were or even how old I was, but I do recall convincing my parents to let us rent Majora’s Mask for…

Nintendo Really Likes Metacritic

This is actually rather sad. At an investor’s meeting today, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata talked a lot about how great Nintendo’s Metacritic scores are—even going as far as to brag that Nintendo’s current releases have higher Metacritic numbers than Sony’s or Microsoft’s. Um, congrats? Keep in mind that Iwata is talking to boring investor types.…

The Legend of Legacy Doesn’t Live Up to Its Pedigree

The Legend of Legacy has a pedigree other JRPGs can only wish for with its development team consisting of former Square Enix and Level-5 employees. But given that it comes from a team who had a hand in some of the most popular classic JRPGs of the 90s and beyond, this game is more than…

Amiibos Will Unlock NES and Super NES Games

Now, you buy Amiibos. You collect them. You scan them in. But Nintendo says Amiibos can—and will be—so much more. In the future, Nintendo says, they’ll unlock NES and Super NES games. Well, parts of them. In a recent investors meeting, Nintendo exec Satoru Iwata outlined the company’s Amiibos plans. “We are also planning a…

These Are The Most Popular Amiibo

Nintendo just announced what the best-selling Amiibo are across the world. If you’re wondering why the one you’ve been looking for is toughto get your hands on, this might explain why. There were two charts released: one for the best-selling Amiibo, and one for the Amiibos that have sold the most of their production run.…

Super Smash Bros. Is Unbalanced, And That’s A Good Thing

Controversies over Smash Bros. characters like Diddy Kong and Little Mac illustrate a larger concern that people have with Nintendo’s famous fighting game: is it properly balanced? One of the most compelling arguments I’ve read says no. But then it asks a compelling follow-up: So what? Forrest Smith, a software engineer at Uber Entertainment and…

What’s So Great About Metroid Prime

The Metroid Prime trilogy, arguably the best gaming trilogy ever, has just been re-issued as a $20 download on the Wii U. That’s a good reason for Kirk “never played a Metroid Prime” Hamilton to try them out. I had to see how that went. What follows is an early report of Kirk’s findings, an…

Nintendo Sure Screwed Up The Majora’s Mask New 3DS Launch

On January 14, Nintendo announced a limited-edition Majora’s Mask-themed gold New 3DS XL. Since then, chaos has ruled humanity. Food is scarce. Most spend their days staying inside and huddling with their loved ones. Gangs of scalpers roam the streets to prey on hapless consumers who like shiny things. Well, at least it feels that…

Nintendo’s Ballsy Star Wars Knock-Off

Nintendo had a pretty strange relationship with Star Wars in the early years of its video game enterprise. We’ve already seen the weird shit that went down when Star Wars came to the NES, but a 1979 arcade game was even weirder. This is art for Nintendo Space Launcher, one of the company’s earlier arcade…

How Items In Pokémon Would Actually Work

The fine folks at Dorkly imagined how Pokémon items—that usually are just a few pixels with a short description—would actually look like. Here’s the “Ring Target” (moves that would otherwise have no effect would land on the Pokémon that holds it) above, and a few more below. To see all of them head over to…

Let Zelda Remakes Show You How Instruction Booklets Are Vanishing

These days, many companies—Nintendo, included—have been moving away from game booklets. That’s making some nostalgic for the days of printed instructions. Newly released The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D does not come with a printed instruction booklet in Japan, something Twitter user Cocoa was quick to point out was a buzzkill. [Photo:p_cocoa_f] There’s simply…

Hope You’re Ready For Custom Majora’s Mask Music (And Dumb Jokes)

Yes,it’s an old joke, but it’s also an old game. If sticking one of those things on the 3DS can make it fresh again, then it can work for the other as well. (viaKotaku AU)

How To Create A Convincing Fake Smash Bros. Rayman Leak

A “leaked video” showing Ubisoft’s mascot character being selected in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U stirred rumors of suprise Nintendo DLC over the weekend, at least until YouTube’s Artsy Omni posted a clip showing how he faked the whole thing. With an odd Rayman trophy already present in the latest installments of Smash Bros.,…

The always hilarious Smash YouTuber Lythero has a new video showing Kirby doing his best Boo impression in a “fight” against Luigi. As one fan put it on Reddit: “Anyone who played Luigi’s Mansion will absolutely love this!” See more of Lythero’s great stuff here

The New 3DS XL Is Nice, But Not A Must-Have Yet

For a couple of years we at Kotaku have deemed Nintendo’s 3DS as an essential piece of gaming hardware. And for decades, new iterations of Nintendo hardware have immediately rendered older units obsolete. Things are different this time around. Get it if you don’t have one. We still think you should have a 3DS in…

Tips For Playing The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D

You may have heard that The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask is the most challenging Zelda game, or the most stressful, weirdest, and saddest. Most of that is correct. It’s also a great game that has now been remade for the Nintendo 3DS. If you decide to play the very good remake (you should!), here…