Nintendo

Introducing The Nintendo 2DEES… That IS a Mistake This Time

Watching this clip of ABC News reporting on the 2DS, I am honestly surprised that I’ve never heard someone mistakenly refer to the 3DS as ‘three-dees.’ Sure, it’s wrong, but I can kind of see why someone would mispronounce it that way! Same goes for the 2DS. Observe: But beyond that, this clip perfectly sums…

Let’s Open Up Some Pokémon Rumble U Figures

Pokémon Rumble U is available for the Wii U today, capitalizing on the Game Pad’s near-field communications feature to give players the ability to import special toys directly into the game. I purchased seven of these special blind bagged toys. Let’s see who we got. Note that I don’t have access to the game yet,…

How To StreetPass Like a Champ On the Nintendo 3DS

One of the best features of the Nintendo 3DS is its ability to StreetPass. You will find this feature in no other portable device that plays games. The Vita doesn’t do it. The iPhone can’t do it. Android’s hopeless, too. And yet some 3DS owners don’t StreetPass or do it minimally. Let’s change this! We…

Nintendo Is Still Making Its Most Popular System Ever

With the introduction of the Nintendo 2DS to bolster the Nintendo 3DS line-up, it seems that the days of the Nintendo DS could be drawing to a close. But it turns out Nintendo still makes a couple of models of the hardware. You just might not see them in your neck of the woods. “There…

Nintendo Says Wii U’s Name Not Responsible For Wii U’s Problems

One of the popular theories about why the Wii U has struggled is that it just might have the wrong name. Millions of people loved the Wii, so maybe they should have called this one the Wii 2? Here’s Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime’s take: “The challenges we’re facing with Wii U are not…

It’s Pokémon Rumble U day in the Nintendo Download. They might not be the Pokémon you’ve been waiting for, but they’ll do in a pinch. Don’t forget to hit up GameStop for the near-field communication toys. And hey, is that the entire Bit.Trip Saga on 3DS for $5? SOLD! And that’s pretty much it for…

Super Smash Bros. Creator Believes in the Oculus Rift

In his weekly column in this week’s Weekly Famitsu, Super Smash Bros creator Masahiro Sakurai wrote about the changing forms of media technology. In particular, the article talked of the release of new digital readers and the advance to digital media from paper media. One upcoming tech in particular that Sakurai predicted would be a…

Online in Japan, the Nintendo 2DS Baffles Many

Yesterday, Nintendo of America revealed a new handheld: the Nintendo 2DS. Kotaku checked it out and chronicledthe reaction in the West. But what about the reaction in Nintendo’s home turf of Japan? Not… good. On 2ch, Japan’s largest web forum, the reaction was rough. At first, many 2ch commenters thought the announcement was a prank.…

Let’s Help Nintendo Choose Next Year’s “Year Of ” Star

The best thing about 2013 is that it’s the Year of Luigi. So it’s going to suck when 2014 comes around and it’s not the Year of Luigi anymore. Unless… …unless we can keep the good times rolling and make 2014 the Year of Blathers. Or the Year of Birdo. Or the Year of Any…

The Internet Reacts To The 2DS Reveal

Think what you will of the recently-unveiled Nintendo 2DS, but at the very least we can’t say that it’s a hardware reveal that went unnoticed—Nintendo’s curiously-designed budget handheld started getting reactions from the internet almost immediately. Even just the headlines announcing the handheld anticipated bafflement or reacted to the console—we wrote that the 2DS name…

Nintendo 2DS vs. 3DS: A Direct Comparison

Wondering how Nintendo’s newest piece of portable hardware stacks up to their older pieces of portable hardware? Via Nintendo of Europe, here’sa nifty little chart to show you all of the differences between the company’s three different 3DS models. Yes, the 2DS is a 3DS model. If you find that confusing, well, you’re not alone.

Top Smash Bros. Fan Sites Knocked Offline, Hackers Blamed

Having a single website go down isn’t so unusual. But in this case, bizarrely, the Smash Bros community has allegedly become a target for multiple distributed denial of service attacks (which disable a website’s server with high traffic). Meaning, we’re not just dealing with one downed website. We’re dealing with multiple out of commission websites.…

New Zelda For 3DS Gets Handsome Boxart With Intriguing Icon

Here’s the excellent box art for November 22’s Nintendo 3DS (and 2DS—wow that feels weird) game The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. Hey, listen! What’s that orange icon in the top right corner? Why, that’s the logo for the Nintendo Network, which indicates that a game might have online multiplayer or support DLC.…

Introducing… The Nintendo 2DS. No, That’s Not a Typo.

Nintendo will be launching a new portable gaming system in October. It’s called the Nintendo 2DS. It’s a 3DS without the 3D, and it’s shaped like a thin piece of cake. “This is an entry-level handheld gaming system,” Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime told Kotaku earlier this week when we got our hands on…

Wii U Price Drops $50 Effective September 20

Nintendo’s home console can be yours for just $299.99 starting September 20, the house of Mario announced today. That’s a $50 price cut for a console that’s about to get a steady flow of Nintendo-made games but that’s been struggling to sell at even half the pace of its predecessor. The Wii U will sell…

Wind Waker HD Releasing Early, If You’re Willing To Download It

The Wii U remake of the the GameCube’s Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker will be available two weeks earlier than initially announced by Nintendo, but only if you download it to the console. The download will be available on September 20. The disc version remains slated for an October 4 release. The digital-first promotion is…

Nintendo Doles Out Release Dates, Changes For Big Holiday Games

Mario and Donkey Kong are flipping release dates for Wii U this fall for what will be a Nintendo console and handheld line-up stacked with big Nintendo franchise sequels. Nintendo gamers, these are the major Nintendo game releases to choose from and, with few exceptions, the biggest games of the season for Wii U and…

What Can You Do with a Broken Nintendo DS?

You can play Game Boy Advance games, that’s what! Who needs dual screens? Who? While the Nintendo DS and DS Lite have GBA slots, the Nintendo DSi, released in 2008, does not. こいつのDSレベル高い [Twitter] To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft Kotaku East is your slice…

How A Basically Blind Girl Can Play Nintendo Games

Jennifer Powers suffered an anoxic brain injury at birth, and as a result she’s practically blind, unable to “focus within a few inches of her face, even with very thick glasses”. That should rule her out of playing regular video games, but nope, luckily, she’s found a way to get her game on. As her…

Five Life Lessons I’ve Learned From Pokémon

I’ve grown up — rather fondly, I might add — with Pokémon. Over the years the several different hundreds of pocket monsters have become my dear friends. Simply settling into a new game (like I’ve recently done with Black) is a comfort to me. In a tumultuous, changing world, I find solace in the fact…