Nintendo

Inside A Nintendo Power Line Game Guide

When you used to call the Nintendo Power Line as a kid, you’d have been excused for thinking you were talking to some kind of gaming master, a person with such an innate knowledge of the game in question they could tell you anything you needed to know. Sometimes, they might have been, but for…

Fire Emblem: Awakening: The Kotaku Review

There are games that I like. And then there are games that I like that I become obsessed with. Fire Emblem: Awakening falls into the second category. What follows, therefore, isn’t just a review. It’s a warning. Play the new Fire Emblem on Nintendo’s 3DS, and all of this could happen to you… Some basics…

Why There Won’t Be a Wii U Price Cut Anytime Soon

Three hundred bucks, at least. That’s hefty for some gamers, who are waiting (and hoping) that Nintendo will slash the Wii U’s price. The console, released last fall in North America, isn’t quite flying off the shelves like the Wii did. A price cut might be just what the doctor ordered. Don’t hold your breath,…

Mistreated Mother Fans Swarm Miiverse To Beg For Earthbound

There is perhaps no group of gamers more mistreated than American Mother fans. While Japanese gamers have gotten all three games in the surreal RPG series, all we’ve gotten is Earthbound, a Super Nintendo localization of Mother 2. Americans didn’t get Mother on NES, Mother 3 on Game Boy Advance, or any of the subsequent…

A Hot JRPG Sets the 3DS on Fire In This Week’s Nintendo Download

Fire Emblem: Awakening seems like one of those games that’s been on the horizon and out of reach forever. But it’s finally out for the 3DS next week, promising a funny take on fantasy & strategy tropes. Aside from that bit of portable JRPG goodness, this week’s downloadable offerings include fluid physics puzzler Puddle, RPG/platformer…

Why Monster Hunter Is So Popular In Japan (And Struggles Everywhere Else)

The Monster Hunter series wasn’t always the “monster” (heh heh) hit it is currently. Originally released for the PS2, the first game, Monster Hunter, and its sequel, Monster Hunter G, sold less than a million copies each. It wasn’t until the game went hand-held to the PSP with Monster Hunter Portable (Monster Hunter Freedom in…

Nintendo’s President Expresses His Commitment To Bringing A Profit

Nintendo’s current president and regular spokesperson for Nintendo’s online press conference, “Nintendo Direct,” Satoru Iwata spoke today at an analyst presentation meeting on Nintendo’s plans for the upcoming business year. During the presentation, Iwata spoke of his “commitment” to a business profit goal of ¥100 billion (US$ 1.1 billion) by the end of the next…

The First Nintendo Console That You Can Drive (On A Table)

The Famicom was once a magnificent beast, but its time in the sun has long gone. Unless you’re a collector, you probably don’t have much need for one. These guys didn’t. So they turned it into an RC car, which is driven by the console’s control pad. ファミコンラジコン疾走 [友樹 小堀]

Satoru Iwata told Japanese investors Nintendo will put out 10 or so big, first-party titles for 3DS in the next quarter.

Nintendo and the Cult of Personality

Mario. Link. Donkey Kong. These are the faces of Nintendo. But those aren’t the only Nintendo icons. There’s also this guy This guy is Satoru Iwata. He is the President of Nintendo Co., Ltd. Chances are, however, if you like Nintendo games and Nintendo game news, Iwata is more than just a corporate suit. Way…

Let’s Rank the Pokémon Games, Best to Worst

We did it with Halo, Grand Theft Auto, and Final Fantasy, and now we’re back at it again to rank the Pokémon series. The Pokémon world is an enormous one, one that spans over 20 core titles (mostly with slight variations) and countless other side stories (30 by my count), but for newcomers into the…

Nintendo Sells Three Million Wii U Systems, But Expects To Take A Hit

Nintendo sold just over three million Wii U systems worldwide from the system’s November launch through to the end of December, with over 1.3 million of them selling in America. Both Nintendo Land and New Super Mario Bros. U have sold over two million copies. The sales don’t offset some bad news from Nintendo—bad news…

A Detailed Look At Character Progression In Fire Emblem: Awakening

Nintendo is really pushing Fire Emblem: Awakening, the strategy-RPG that comes out for 3DS next Tuesday. This new Awakening trailer—one of quite a few on Nintendo’s feed—shows off some of the class advancements, skills, weapons, and other aspects of character progression you can find in the game. Expect more on Fire Emblem—including Kotaku‘s full review—later…

Dreaming Of A Wii U That Can Also Play 3DS Games

Nintendo actually used to make stuff like this. I had an add-on for my GameCube, for example, that let me play Game Boy Advance titles through the console on my TV. They were good times, but sadly, times that have been short since the release of the Wii, which failed to receive a similar add-on…

Thank God, A 3DS XL Case For Adults

If you, like me, recently dropped a couple hundred bucks on a 3DS XL, you probably have thought about picking up a case to keep it safe. The challenge is finding a case that is even remotely acceptable. For some reason, the majority of non-Nintendo-made 3DS accessories are poorly-made hunks of junk, a problem is…

Your Favorite Zelda Game Could Have Looked Like THIS

Flipping through the Hyrule Historia book (which you can finally get in English) makes you realize that Nintendo’s Legend of Zelda series isn’t just a bunch of games. It’s a mythology, one filled with personas that change their shapes, personalities and abilities in each new telling. Anyone who’s been a die-hard Zelda fan has had…

Wii U Virtual Console Games Won’t Work With Older Save Files

You won’t be able to transfer save games from your Wii’s Virtual Console to your Wii U’s Virtual Console, Nintendo has confirmed to Kotaku Last week, Nintendo detailed how the Wii U’s Virtual Console will work when it officially launches this spring. It will be an entirely separate entity from the Wii’s Virtual Console—which you…

Europe Ungrateful for Slower, More Authentic Version of Balloon Fight on Wii U

Beginning with Balloon Fight this week, Nintendo is releasing NES and SNES console classics over a new Virtual Console for the Wii U. Eurogamer noticed that the NES version of Balloon Fight in the EU runs slower—50 Hz compared to 60 Hz for the NTSC version of the game we get here in the U.S..…

Emergency maintenance from 3 to 8 p.m. EST on Monday will bring down the Nintendo eShop and shopping for the DS and Wii.

Here’s Your First Look Inside The Glorious Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia Collector’s Edition

For the last year or so, the Hyrule Historia seemed like a piece of the powerful and legendary TriForce. Fans of Nintendo’s mega-popular series knew the Japan-only book existed. But English-speaking Zelda acolytes had to go through out-of-the-way means—like maybe-not-legal scans and fan translations—to get at its knowledge. Not anymore. Technically, the English version of…