Nintendo

Flash Game Says Nintendo’s Console Manufacturing Supports Slave Labor

Nintendo is again being chastised by activists for not ensuring that minerals mined by slave labor in African conflict areas are not used in the manufacture of their electronics. Nintendo is criticized annually for this, but this time the activists have made a Super Mario game to underscore their point. It’s the work of something…

Nintendo: All These Sequels Don’t Mean We’re ‘Playing It Safe’

In a season of new Mario Karts and Donkey Kong Country games Nintendo hears the calls from supporters and critics to make something new. Their answer: we’re already doing it. I don’t believe in writing things I wouldn’t say to the faces of the people I’m writing about, so after writing on Kotaku last week…

Nintendo Is Releasing A Free-To-Play Game

Yup. You can wail “SAY IT AIN’T SO”, but Nintendo can easily wail back – if they ever decided to begin wailing directly to consumers – “THE TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGIN'”. Speaking with IGN at E3 last week, Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto revealed that the company’s first foray into the business model, popular with…

Goodbye, GameCube Controller. It’s Been Fun.

Like any Smash Bros. fan, I’ve taken in the news of a Wii U iteration with great joy. Look at the awesome new characters! No tripping? Hooray! It’ll find a sweet spot between casual and hardcore play? Excellent! And yet, there’s a tinge of melancholy about it all: the Wii U doesn’t have a GameCube…

Nintendo Wants To Re-Convince You The Wii U Gamepad Is Cool

Nintendo has been having a bit of a tough time communicating just what the Wii U is all about. In particular, the company still seems unable to clearly articulate just why the Wii U’s gamepad—a combination game-controller and touchscreen—makes their system worth buying. Perhaps, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata suggests, it’s time for some new ideas.…

Nintendo: Saying Next-Gen is Only Sony vs. Microsoft Is So 2006

Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo of America, is aware of all the Wii U skepticism. He’s certainly aware of mine and the fact that there’s a $400 PlayStation 4 bearing down on his $350 32GB Wii U this fall. Plus an Xbox. What, him worry? The storyline told throughout the halls of E3 was that…

Shin Megami Tensei IV had its English demo on display at last week’s E3, and, as this screenshot proves, it has some funny moments. This tends to happen in some localized games. UPDATE: We’re told this is actually intentionally broken animal-speak. Amusing, nonetheless!

Animal Crossing’s Smash Bros. Crossover: Food For Thought

After the PS4 beatdown, the next-biggest thing amongst internet gif makers last week was the announcement of the Animal Crossing villager for the new Smash Bros. game. He was portrayed as everything from a psycho to a…psycho, something which may have made you laugh, but did anyone think of his feelings? He’s just a kid,…

Animal Crossing Fans Want More Than Just White Skin Colors In New Leaf [UPDATE]

At its heart, Animal Crossing is a game that’s all about personal flair, customization, and expressing yourself. And now that even franchises like Pokemon allow players to choose their skin color, some are wondering: why doesn’t Animal Crossing allow you to do the same thing? All player characters in Nintendo’s intensely charming life sim start…

Shigeru Miyamoto’s Next Great Game, As Far As He’s Concerned

I’d heard that Shigeru Miyamoto was really proud of his new game, Pikmin 3. Like, really, really proud. Like, guy-who-made-Donkey-Kong-and-Super-Mario-and-Zelda-thinks-this-game-is-great proud. That good, huh? “How many games have you made?” I asked Miyamoto last week at E3. We’ve been doing interviews for a decade. We can go outside the conventional chitchat and product hype if…

Fake Smash Bros. Character Screens Flood The Internet

For me, probably the funniest thing during last week’s E3 was the reveal trailer of Smash Bros. for the Wii U and all the hilarity that followed. The internet picked up that poor villager character from Animal Crossing quickly, which was followed by crazy fictional character intro screens that have taken on a life of…

What Will It Take to Get EA on the Wii U Again? ‘Sell More Boxes.’

The most glaring indictment of the Wii U’s poor performance to date is the fact that FIFA—one of the biggest-selling franchises worldwide, in any genre—is publishing for everything but Wii U. FIFA 14 will come out on the PSP. It will publish on the original Wii. There’ll be a version on the PS Vita, for…

Meet Four New Pokemon, The First Gym Leader, And Everybody Else In X/Y

You’d think The Pokemon Company would have gotten all of its Pokemon X and Pokemon Y news out during the major gaming trade show that just blew through, but no — the info train keeps rolling. Meet your trainer’s pals, the first gym leader, and four new entries in the Kalos Region Pokedex. Let’s do…

Yoshi’s New Island Is Like the Old Yoshi’s Island. That’s a Good Thing.

The new game for Nintendo’s most nurturing dinosaur was available to play this week at E3 and Kotaku‘s Jason Schreier did exactly that. In the video above, you’ll see Jason try to talk and play at the same time—harder than it looks, especially in a crowded E3 Nintendo booth—while he gives you a quick glimpse…

Compare the Look of the Newest Smash Bros. Game to the Old One

Lots of attention—some of it creepy—has been paid to all the new characters coming to the fourth installment of Nintendo’s all-star beat-em-up. It’s great that the Animal Crossing villager, Wii Fit trainer and Mega Man are getting people excited. But there’s another reason to get hyped: this Smash will be in hi-def. That means a…

The New Smash Bros. Characters Blew Up The Internet

Smash Bros. got introduced for the Wii U and for the 3DS on Tuesday, during Nintendo’s E3 direct and we had the chance to see the Villager from Animal Crossing, the Wii Fit Trainer and Mega Man among others. People liked them a lot and they can’t get away without some Internet attention. Especially the…

Look, no one’s actually expecting that more characters and critters died in this week’s Nintendo Direct broadcast than in Sony or Microsoft’ E3 presentations. But, still, the question remains: just how many folks kicked the bucket while the House of Mario showed its cuddly brand of carnage? More than you’d guess? Or less? Watch The…

AT E3, You Can Have a Cool (and Slightly Weird) Convo With Luigi

The Nintendo booth at E3 has a curious station featuring a screen with its most iconic characters, Mario and Luigi. The booth let people go up to the characters and hold a conversation with em (which you can see above)—which is cute, but also kind of eerie for some reason. I’m curious as to how…

Retro Studios Wants To Expand The Metroid Prime Universe

Retro Studios, makers of the legendary Metroid Prime series, is currently busy creating the next generation of Donkey Kong Country, much to the chagrin of a lot of Metroid fans. That doesn’t mean, however, that they abandoned Metroid. On the contrary, Samus’ world might be getting bigger in the future. IGN spoke to Nintendo’s Kensuke…

The Next Smash Bros. Will Balance Casual And Hardcore, Creators Say

If Super Smash Bros. Melee was for hardcore players, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl was for casual players, the next Smash Bros. game will fall somewhere in between, creator Masahiro Sakurai says. This time around, Sakurai is going for the best of both worlds. This morning, Sakurai and I had a long chat about all…