Nintendo

Yakuza on the Wii U Is an “Experiment” and Not Happening for the 3DS

Yakuza 1 & 2 HD is coming to the Wii U. But what about future Yakuza games? Are they headed to the Wii U? And how about the 3DS? So many questions! In a recent interview, Yakuza producer Toshihiro Nagoshi described the Wii U release as “an experiment” to see how many Wii U owners…

Even eBay Is Making The Most Of The Xbox One’s Bad PR

We’ve all had our fun with the Xbox One’s less-than-stellar reveal, but for eBay, the console’s problems are more than just a joke; they’re a way for Nintendo to make some sales. eBay Germany’s Facebook page ran the above ad over the weekend. The image is fine, but it’s the text underneath that’s getting the…

The Man Who Played Luigi Recalls the Disastrous Super Mario Bros Movie

Super Mario Bros., the 1993 film, paved the way video game movies for all time to come. Namely, that everyone would expect them to be terrible. It opened 20 years ago on Tuesday, and John Leguizamo, who starred as Luigi, had the grace and good humor to record this message for a Super Mario Bros.…

Nintendoji is Cute, Quirky, Dungeon-Crawling Fun

Earlier this week, we took a brief look at Nintendoji, a Nintendo title only available to gold or platinum members of the Japanese Club Nintendo. And because of its very limited release, both Japanese and Westerners are unlikely to be able to ever play it—which is a real shame as it is a fun, cute,…

This Year’s Most Embarrassing Japanese Game Magazine Article

You might know Japanese celebrity Mari Yaguchi from her appearance in Yakuza 4. Or maybe you remember her days in pop group Morning Musume. Or you might have recently heard Yaguchi’s husband caught her screwing another man. On May 21, Japanese magazine Josei Seven published an article, claiming that Yaguchi’s husband, 27 year-old actor Masaya…

Classic Video Games With Real-Life Backdrops Are Delightful

Video games from the 8-bit and 16-bit era mixed with real life environments look awesome, and it’s a technique that lets anyone’s creativity shine. It’s something that Kotaku has covered before but it would be a mistake to not share the new ones. These superb photo edits are the recent work of acefecoo on deviantART.…

Watch Donkey Kong Scare The Crap Out Of Children

To celebrate the release of Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D, Nintendo spent a lovely spring afternoon scaring the crap out of children. The video (above) is quite fun. The game is good, too: Donkey Kong Country Returns was one of my favorite games for the Wii, and the 3DS version is even better, mostly because…

Hey, if you’re wondering what’s next from the House of Mario—and who isn’t?—there’s going to be a Nintendo Direct broadcast during E3. It’s scheduled for 7:00 a.m. Pacific Time on June 11th. What do you think they’re going to announce?

Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D and The Denpa Men: They Came by Wave are part of the Nintendo Download’s weekly offering this time out. See the full list here

Nintendo Will Have a Large Booth at E3

Previously, Nintendo said it was not holding a big E3 press conference. It also said it was bringing E3 to…Best Buy retailers across the U.S. But that doesn’t mean Nintendo will have a rinky-dink E3 booth. No siree! In fact, Nintendo is wheeling out two booths for E3. And they look pretty darn big! Compare…

Now, This Is One Stunning Retro Japanese Console

The Twin Famicom is an interesting game console. Produced by Sharp, it was Nintendo’s Famicom console and Disk System melded into a single console. While it looked nice enough, there is a way to make it look better: Lots and lots of gloss. Via Tiny Cartridge, this is the work of Slovenian artist Zoki64, who…

The Graphical Overhaul Of Super Mario Land Is Adorably Presumptuous

Super Mario Land, the iconic Mario game for the original Game Boy, is not the typical target for player-crafted redesigns, but here we are. Arne Niklas Jansson has taken a a 24-year-old classic portable game and made it look like an indie PC game released last week. Jansson explains the entire process of tweaking a…

YouTube has issued a statement following recent issues like the one surrounding Nintendo and various “let’s play” video creators. It basically amounts to “hey, take it up with the publisher”.

Disappointing Game & Wario “Crowdfarter” Campaign Lacks Actual Farts [Update]

I’m just saying. I’M JUST SAYING. If you’re going to call the promotional campaign for your game a “Crowdfarter” and talk ceaselessly about farts, said promotional campaign had best feature some actual flatulence. In that respect, Game & Wario‘s goofy new promotional campaign is a disappointment. You can head over to the page and “donate”…

This Wii U Game Doesn’t Seem as Polished as Its PS3 Version

The first Yakuza game debuted on the PlayStation 2. Last fall, an HD version of the game hit the PlayStation 3. This summer, it’s coming to the Wii U. How does it stack up? Today, the first screenshots for Yakuza 1 & 2 HD Edition for Wii U hit the internet. Via 4Gamer, there were…

Nintendo Japan’s Early-90s VHS Commercials Are Incredible

Reader Toad has got hold of a ton of old VHS promos for Nintendo games, played in game stores in Japan in the early 1990s. These aren’t short TV spots or trailers. They’re long, detailed looks at each game, some running for over 5 minutes and including custom animation and live-action sequences. Some of the…

The Wii U has Nothing to Offer a Sports Fan. Does It Even Matter Now?

If it wasn’t obvious at its launch in November, then this past week should have made it clear: The Wii U is functionally irrelevant to sports video games, and there is no reason for any sports fan to buy the console. The only question now is how much that will really matter to the fate…

EA Sports Developer Calls Wii U ‘Crap’ and Nintendo ‘Walking Dead’

At the end of a week in which Electronic Arts confirmed it wasn’t developing a thing for the Wii U, one of the software engineers in EA Sports’ Canada studio, in a series of since-deleted tweets, disparaged the console as “crap” and suggested Nintendo should give up on hardware altogether. “The Wii U is crap.…

If Nintendo Did Ever Make A Phone, Maybe It’d Look Like This

Now, I don’t think Nintendo will make a smartphone, nor do I think Nintendo should ever make a smartphone. But this concept video is too cool not to share. Created by the folks at T3, this video shows what a Nintendo Phone (WiiPhone?) could look like. And… it looks kind of awesome. I kind of…

A Much Deeper Look at Pikmin 3

You’ll be using the Wii U gamepad in a different way to control to the three new characters in the third installment of Nintendo’s too-cute strategy series. Alph, Brittany and Charlie are all astronauts trying to save their home planet by bringing food back. Pikmin 3— which comes out on August 4th in North America—looks…