Nintendo

Huh. So Even I’m Liking Bravely Default.

“Oh, that game must be good, because even [some person] likes it”. Bravely Default is that game, and I am that person. I am Jason’s worst enemy. I am a casual JRPG player. It’s not that I despise the genre. I am instead just incredibly picky about it. I don’t care much for the core…

The Week in Games: Lightning Strikes

The week’s big new packaged release is Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, with a couple of bundles and re-releases arriving with it on Tuesday. The MMO World of Tanks fully launches on Xbox 360 on Wednesday, and The Last of Us gets its prequel, Left Behind, on Valentine’s Day. Here’s the week in games: Tuesday,…

Tips For Playing Bravely Default

Bravely Default is out in North America today, and if you’ve just picked it up, we’ve got a whole bunch of tips to make your experience better. (Read our review of the new 3DS RPG right here.) Do all of the sidequests—at least in Chapters 1-4. Every time you see a blue exclamation point on…

Bravely Default: The Kotaku Review

There’s an old saying: if it looks like a Final Fantasy, feels like a Final Fantasy, and sounds like a Final Fantasy, it’s probably Bravely Default Yes, Square Enix’s latest sojourn in the well-trod world of medieval fantasy and magical crystals will feel familiar to anyone who has played old Final Fantasy games and other…

“Housed within the Control Capsule! Protected by Rinkas! Eyeball armed with a Laser Brain Attack!! The massive Assist Trophy Mother Brain joins the collection!!” Masahiro Sakurai, in his latest Screenshot of the Day Miiverse post, presents the upcoming Smash Bros. games’ newest assist trophy: Metroid’s Mother Brain

Kirby: Triple Deluxe Makes Me Want to Play the Rest of the Series

Confession time: I have never played a Kirby game before now. But if they are even half as well done as Kirby: Triple Deluxe, I really need to do the entire back catalog. Good – Power-ups Galore Kirby’s trademark attack is inhaling his opponents and then copying their powers. Kirby has 26 different powers he…

Meet The New Sonic and His Next Game

Sonic’s celebrating more than 20 years as a video game icon. So it makes sense that Sega’s giving their furry blue mascot a bit of a facelift—nothing drastic, mind you—along with a new game and TV show in the hopes of keeping the hedgehog moving at top speed. You might be squinting to see what’s…

Have No Objections Against This Ace Attorney Cosplay

This is so well-made. Probably not the hardest costume to create, but that means you can bring the small details to perfection. The cosplayer is a veteran called Elffi, and this is one of his latest works, Godot, the prosecutor from the Ace Attorney series. Here’s another shot, Godot with his favorite drink: Godot –…

All Of These Indie Games Are Coming To Wii U Or 3DS

The PlayStation people are always going on about indie games. The Xbox people talk them up, too. Nintendo’s been quieter about supporting indie games, but that appears to be changing. A whole bunch of indie games are coming to Wii U and 3DS, and pretty soon at that. 3DS Moon Chronicles This one is an…

Pokémon Bank is Finally Live

Pokémon Bank is now available on the Nintendo eShop, ending a delay more than a month long. The Bank allows players to store and manage up to 3,000 pokémon online, even moving them between Pokémon X and Y. The app is free to download and use beginning today through March 14. After that, a $4.99…

Nintendo Is Slowly Reinventing The Video Game Instruction Manual

Like the daily newspaper, the printed phone bill and personal checks, the video game instruction manual is facing extinction in our increasingly paperless world. Hold off on mourning, though. Nintendo has spent the last year or so quietly implementing a digital revival that’s been a joy to behold. If you haven’t noticed what’s been going…

The Curtain Opens on a Special Final Fantasy 3DS XL

Aw, look at that! They’re all singing. How adorable. Upcoming 3DS game Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call is the latest entry in the Final Fantasy-themed music game series. To mark its April 24 release in Japan, the game is getting a special 3DS XL. No word yet about a Western release for the game or…

​Four Reasons To Love Bravely Default

Four heroes. Four special moves. Four musical anthems that play during those special moves. 1. Tiz’s Theme – “You Are My Hope” Genre: Celtic Disco Solo Instrument: Penny Whistle Adjective: “Driving” 2. Agnès’ Theme – “Wind’s Direction” Genre: Magical Waltz Solo Instrument: Violin Adjective: “Sparkly” 3. Ringabel’s Theme – “Love’s Vagrant” Genre: Vaguely Argentine Solo…

​Nintendo Wants Their Platforms To Be More Like iOS

Nintendo’s fighting on two fronts. The first, very real battleground they’re waging war on is in retail, where their Wii U home console is struggling to build a user base. The second area of struggle has been in the hearts and minds of observers trying to decide how much faith to put into the company’s…

Here’s 21-year-old illustrator Piper Thibodeau’s rather cartoony reimagination of the Kanto starter Pokémon. Compared to Charmander in the third picture, Squirtle and Bulbasaur both look so grumpy and bored, you might consider not using them in battle at all. Squirtle’s evolution line is in the top pic, here’s Bulbasaur and Charmander. Head over to Cryptid…

Check Out Kirby‘s Own Take on Super Smash Bros.

The newest Kirby game, Kirby Triple Star Deluxe came out on the Nintendo 3DS in Japan earlier this month, and its story mode is only the tip of the iceberg in what it has to offer. There are tons of additions to Kirby’s classic gameplay. We’ve already looked at Kirby’s new copy abilities, but that’s…

Let’s Not Get Too Excited About Nintendo’s ‘Mergers and Acquisitions’

In the past, major video game companies like Square and Enix merged. It’s a big deal when something like that happens! Nintendo president Satoru Iwata recently mentioned “M&A” (aka mergers and acquisitions), setting off speculation around the internet. But what does he mean? It’s not yet clear—he could just be talking about licensing Nintendo characters.…

Nintendo Thinks Free-To-Play Is Hurting Their Business

The term “free-to-play” has become anathema to some gamers, and Nintendo doesn’t seem to like it all that much either. In fact, Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata says he believes that this trend is actively hurting their hardware business. Last week’s Q&A between Iwata and Nintendo’s investors was published in English today, and it’s full of…

Gaming Tip Or Life Lesson?

Boot up the forthcoming Nintendo 3DS role-playing game Bravely Default and you’ll get some tips about how to enjoy the game “to the fullest.” You see these tips before you even see the game’s title screen. You get a different screen of tips each time you start the game. Some explain how to use Bravely…

Texting While Driving Can Get You Seriously Hurt (In Mario Kart)

By now we should all be on board with the idea that texting while driving is a particularly dangerous and irresponsible thing. But how does it affect one’s driving within Mario Kart? A physician and some elementary schoolers found it significantly increases the risk of driving backwards, among other hazards. The study, led by Dr.…