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Sony Is Losing Money, Too!
It’s not only Nintendo who getting hit hard, Sony, along with seemingly every Japanese company these days, is as well. A combination of the strong yen and floods in Thailand mean that Sony is forecasting a US$1.1 billion loss. [Reuters]
By Brian Ashcraft Published November 2, 2011 -
Will the PS3 Overtake the Xbox 360? Will It Happen?
Nintendo rules this generation, leaving Microsoft and Sony to duke it out for numero two. So, which of those two is winning? As website MCVUK pointed out, Microsoft. The U.S. console maker announced last month that it has sold 57.3 million Xbox 360s worldwide. Today, Sony revealed that it’s sold 56 million PS3s. Simple math…
By Brian Ashcraft Published November 2, 2011 -
This Is the Worst Nintendo Commercial In a Long, Long Time
Compared to the company’s unbridled success of the past five years, Nintendo in 2011 has its back to the wall. It needs now, more than ever, effective marketing to help sell its products. Sometimes, it gets this! Other times, like this trainwreck of a commercial, it does not. I’d point out the parts that were…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 2, 2011 -
Reviews
Kirby’s Return to Dreamland: The Kotaku Review
Kirby was always a simple video game character. He was a pleaser. Today, he’s a rebel. In the vintage of his heyday, one that Nintendo has attempted to uncork again with this season’s Wii game, Kirby’s Return to Dreamland, Kirby charmed players by being cute. He was—and is again—a pink blob with puffed cheeks and…
By Stephen Totilo Published November 1, 2011 -
Good Samaritan Attempts to Stop DS Theft with a Bat, Is Murdered
On Monday in southern California, a fight broke out with one teen wounded and one baseball bat-wielding Good Samaritan ending up dead. All of this over a Nintendo DS. According to KTLA News, a teenage boy arranged to meet four teens met at a local shopping center to sell a Nintendo DS. The four teens…
By Brian Ashcraft Published November 1, 2011 -
Link on the Beach, Rapping with Girls
In the Zelda games, Link doesn’t talk. He’s the silent type. In this video, he doesn’t talk either, he raps Internet person Hiimrawn is back with another game rap. This time, it features Zelda characters Link, Navi, Sheik, and Ganondorf. The above video is the “clean” version. LEGEND OF ZELDA RAP!! [YouTube] You can contact…
By Brian Ashcraft Published November 1, 2011 -
This is How Our Copy of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Begins
The mailman may have squashed our copy of the Wii’s new Zelda game, but that doesn’t appear to have impacted the quality of the game’s intro. Fresh from Nintendo to our Wii here at Kotaku, behold the first few minutes of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (up until we get control of Link). If…
By Stephen Totilo Published October 31, 2011 -
Things Get Epic in This New Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Trailer
Could Skyward Sword be the best Zelda game of all time? Well, it’d be nice if that was the case, since it’s the franchise’s anniversary year and all. See if watching this GameTrailers exclusive trailer does anything to convince you. Exclusive Origins Trailer HD [GameTrailers] You can contact Evan Narcisse, the author of this post,…
By Evan Narcisse Published October 28, 2011 -
Nintendo Adding Playable Demos, eShop Web Interface and Sleep Mode Downloads to 3DS
We live in an era of demos and freemium games now and one thing that’s probably hampered the fortunes of the 3DS game library is that users can’t try anything before they buy it. There’s no ability to sample and see if a title might be worth your ducats. After apparently getting requests from Nintendo’s…
By Evan Narcisse Published October 28, 2011 -
The Wii U at E3 2012 Will be the Finished Product
Even though Nintendo’s new Wii U was playable at this year’s E3, the console wasn’t exactly looking its best. Control pads were tethered, and most demo units were hollow cases, the games actually being played on dev kits. There’s even the possibility that the design we saw at the show won’t be what the Wii…
By Luke Plunkett Published October 28, 2011 -
Nintendo is Working On “New Genres” For the 3DS
One of the big reasons Nintendo’s DS handheld sold so well was the fact it introduced all kinds of different types of games. Like Brain Training, or Nintendogs. So it’s little surprise the company is looking to do the same thing with the 3DS. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has revealed that “we are…working on new…
By Luke Plunkett Published October 28, 2011 -
Anima: Ark of Sinners Makes the Whole Nintendo Download Awesome
There’s a sexy side-scrolling combat platformer based on a Spanish fantasy setting that’s been described as the JRPG of pen-and-paper role-playing? Where the hell did I put those WiiWare points? You can’t darken my mood today, traditional Nintendo Download fluff; not when Anima: Ark of Sinners is going up for sale. It’s a side-scrolling hack…
By Mike Fahey Published October 27, 2011 -
How Nintendo Is Being Kicked When It’s Down
In Japanese, it’s called “endaka” (円高), or “high-valued yen”. And it’s wreaking havoc on so much of the country. If you are living in Japan, getting paid in yen and then converting that into another currency, or if you are importing goods from outside the country, the strong yen is gravy. If you, like me…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 27, 2011 -
Nintendo Stops Printing Money
Yesterday, Japan’s Nikkei estimated that over the past six months Nintendo has lost ¥100 billion. Today, Nintendo revealed its official figures, and…they’re not quite that bad. The company instead has posted a loss of ¥70 billion. Here’s to silver linings!
By Luke Plunkett Published October 27, 2011 -
No, You Can’t Play Mario Kart On Facebook, Despite Scammers’ Claims
There’s currently a rather clever scam fishing its way through Facebook at the moment, looking to cash in on one of the most popular video game series of all time: the humble Mario Kart You know you can’t play Nintendo games on Facebook. I know you can’t play Nintendo games on Facebook. But millions of…
By Luke Plunkett Published October 27, 2011 -
Nintendo Defeated. Japan Crowns a New Game Sales King.
This year isn’t over. There are still months to go. But according to Famitsu publisher, Nintendo didn’t own the first six months of this year. Other years, sure, but not this one. In a recently released report, Nintendo tumbled to the number two spot for Japanese software sales, dropping from ¥21.5 billion (US$283 million) to…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 26, 2011 -
Report: Nintendo Bleeding Cash
Remember the days of Nintendo printing money? Those days are over, apparently. According to Japan’s Nikkei, the Kyoto-based game maker is poised to post huge losses tomorrow. Profits are supposedly down a staggering ¥100 billion ($1.3 billion), which is twice what Nintendo forecast. The two major culprits are struggling hardware sales and the stubbornly strong…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 26, 2011 -
Nintendo’s “Circle Pad” Peripheral Gets a (Slightly) Different Name In the West
In Japan, the new second-thumbstick add-on for the Nintendo 3DS is simply called the “Circle Pad Expansion”. Not very exciting, but it at least gets the point across. In the West, though, it looks like it’ll have a different name. A trademark filing from Nintendo in Japan has revealed that the peripheral’s name in places…
By Luke Plunkett Published October 26, 2011 -
Duck Hunt: The Movie is Surprisingly Terrifying
When you think about it, Duck Hunt is a pretty scary game. Get past the blue skies and cheery art design and that’s one evil dog lurking in the bushes. Something this horror movie based on the Nintendo classic knows only too well. The Hunt is the first of G4’s promised trilogy of short horror…
By Luke Plunkett Published October 25, 2011