Nintendo

This Might Be The Best Nintendo Thing At E3 This Week

With their new console already out, and with the company deciding against holding a big E3 press conference, there’s seemingly little for Nintendo fans to get really excited about at this year’s show. But hey, who knows. If there’s one company able to conjure a megaton moment out of nothing at E3, it’s Nintendo. And…

More Proof That the Wii U Basic Is About To Go Extinct, Via Best Buy

Earlier this week, GameStop issued a June 18 “recall” of the 8GB $300 Wii U Basic, the version of the Wii U that smart consumers knew to avoid. (Edit: Okay, okay, see the comments for reasons why some smart people did buy the 8GB version.) Now a tipster sends us an internal flyer from Best…

I Played The New Animal Crossing With The People Who Made It

I’m a lucky gamer. I get to play games with the people who make them. I know it’s the job and that it’s usually tied to selling something, to puffing up a preview or what have you, but, hey, it’s also fun. It’s odd, too. You’re in this virtual world with the people who made…

Mario Kart Never Looked This Wondrously Fearful And Insane

A few too many mushroom pickups and Mario Kart transforms into a seriously strange and gorgeous 1930-style grand prix, courtesy of artist José Emorca Flores, Mario re-imagineer extraordinaire. But where’s Waluigi? With all this insanity going on, he would probably look nice guy in a fuel-efficient family car. Flores’ prints are up for sale here,…

Shockingly, Six Critics Really Like Animal Crossing: New Leaf

I mean, come on, it’s Animal Crossing. Nintendo’s addictive life sim series has always maintained consistently high review scores, and New Leaf, coming out on Sunday for the 3DS, is no exception. Although a few chided New Leaf for its stubborn refusal to shake up the series’ gameplay, the sheer number of customization options and…

Smash Bros. Lead Developer Says We’ll Be Seeing New Video Next Week

Earlier today, Masahiro Sakurai sent out a tweet saying that new video from the upcoming installment of the Nintendo all-star fighting franchise will be debuting on June 11. Translation by Kotaku East’s Toshi Nakamura: “Notice: On the June 11th 11PM Nintendo Direct, the first footage of the new Smash Bros will be aired for the…

This Live Action Smash Bros Video Makes Me Want To Play Smash Bros 4

Ness, Captain Falcon, Snake, Link and a lot of familiar gameplay elements come to life in this awesome live action Smash Bros. flick. The video has been in the works for more than a year, and it’s quite impressive to see how many people helped video creator pwnisher complete it. Snake with his giant hammer…

Oh, If Only This Mother-Themed 3DS Were Real

Alas, it’s just a Mother-themed mock-up created by a poster named Mazza on the Nintendo Blast forums (via Tiny Cartridge). I would buy the crap out of this. Nintendo, c’mon.

The Last Sports Stars of Video Games’ Cartridge Era [Corrected]

Monday, Jason Kidd gave the NBA his retirement notice. He and Grant Hill were the only active players this year that appeared in NBA Jam: Tournament Edition from 1994. Like veterans of a long-ago war, day by day we are losing the athletes of video gaming’s cartridge era. These are the last of them. In…

Nintendo’s Clarification About The 8GB Wii U Doesn’t Clarify Much

Nintendo is pushing back a tad against the notion, reported by Kotaku yesterday, that 8GB Wii U Basic’s demise is imminent. Yesterday we reported that GameStop has issued a “recall” of the $300 white version of the Wii U. Today, Nintendo says that they are simply doing a “rebalance” of the supply of white 8GB…

Redesigning The Super Nintendo For The 21st Century

I think the Super Nintendo, at least the Japanese/European model, is one of the most beautiful pieces of consumer electronics ever made, from its colour palette to its timeless design. Just because the original is timeless, though, doesn’t mean we can’t get an update for these more modern times. Like this one, by Colombian designer…

Nintendo’s Fart Fixation

Nintendo loves farts, and they would very much like you to know it. That’s right! Farts! The flatulence in question is tied to the upcoming Game & Wario, a Wii U game that very few people seem to care about. I mean, I’m sure some people care about it, but it’s not really garnering the…

8GB Wii U Basic Nixed?

A reliable retail source tells us that some GameStop chains will no longer be selling the 8GB Wii U as of June 18, exactly one week after Nintendo’s big E3 kick-offevent. Our source says GameStop has contacted stores with the following message: Nintendo Wii U Basic Recall – Two Week Preparation On Tuesday, 6/18, all…

Animal Crossing: New Leaf: The Kotaku Review

Let me tell you, I’ve done some fantastical things while playing games. Saved the world. Visited galaxies. Destroyed evil—you know, that sort of thing. And yet none of that has baffled me as much as the idea that there’s a game where I accrued a home mortgage and was able to sit down and go,…

One Year Later, Did Nintendo Keep Their E3 2012 Promises?

E3 is just around the corner and, for the fifth year in a row, we’re taking a look back at the big three’s big E3 promises. What came true, and what didn’t? Coming up now is Nintendo, following yesterday’s look at Sony. Microsoft will have its turn tomorrow For Nintendo, E3 2012 was all about…

Gaming Contractors May Not Be Superstars, But We Don’t Need To Strike

There was recently an article published on this very site, written by Nathan Peters. It was a description of his experience as a contract employee in the video game industry; specifically in the QA department of Certain Affinity, a studio that worked on multiplayer aspects of Halo 4. The summary of the article is that…

Expect more about Bayonetta 2 in next Nintendo Direct, hints Bayonetta creator Hideki Kamiya via TwitterUPDATE: Never mind. It turns out this is a generic response Kamiya gives to lots of questions; no news. The next Nintendo Direct kicks off June 11 am at 10am EST.

Got a Thousand Bucks? Buy This Rare Nintendo Cartridge…Test

The Famicom Test Cart was used to, well, test Nintendo’s Family Computer. It might be rare, but it’s certainly not exciting. But it is somewhat interesting! And probably more so for hardcore collectors. As Famicom World explains, there were test cartridges for the console itself as well as ones for the controllers. Have a look…

Monster Hunter 4 will be released on September 14 in Japan. There will also be limited edition MH4 themed 3DS XL bundles available at launch. Nintendo Direct [Nintendo] To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you…

Super Mario Bros. 3 Was Kind Of Different In Japan

You might have already known that Nintendo changed a few things when bringing NES platformer Super Mario Bros. 3 to North America—mostly to make it easier—but it’s still fascinating to see the changes presented side-by-side. This video, created by YouTuber Master0fHyrule, does a nice job displaying the differences between the Western and Japanese versions of…