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Nintendo 3DS Gets Sudden, Massive Price Drop
Boy, those 3DS sales sure fell off a cliff. So much so that Nintendo has instituted one of the swiftest and deepest price cuts for a handheld in recent memory. The 3DS only went on sale earlier this year for $249, but as of August 12, it’ll be slashed all the way down to $169.99.…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 28, 2011 -
Nintendo’s Hardware Sales Aren’t Looking so Hot
What a difference a couple of years makes. It seems like only yesterday Nintendo was an unstoppable juggernaut, its consoles and handhelds tearing up the sales charts. In 2011, things are a little different. Nintendo just put out its financial earnings release for the three months of Apr-Jun 2011, and they’re grim reading, especially for…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 28, 2011 -
Is Japan Excited about Wii U?
The Wii U is Nintendo’s new console. You might be excited about it. You might not be. But what do Famitsu readers think? Famitsu is Japan’s biggest gaming mag, and its polls provide insights into what readers are thinking. So what are Famitsu readers thinking? Here are the results, via 1Up: •38.3 percent said they…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 27, 2011 -
Metal Gear Solid 3D Delayed Down Under
The 3DS line-up is kinda slim. The latest casualty? Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D. According to Kotaku Australia, it’s been delayed in the land Down Under from late 2011 to 2012—no explanation given. Kotaku is following up on the US release. [Kotaku Australia]
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 27, 2011 -
A Nice Nintendo Gift for Quake Victims
An individual who apparently is in a refuge shelter because of the March 11 earthquake received a special package from Nintendo. This, it seems, is it. Nintendo is sending out DSi units with DS Terebi attachments. Released in 2007, DS Terebi is a 1seg-based tuner that enables the DS to receive 1seg television broadcasts. The…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 26, 2011 -
Pokémon, Japanese Icon
Pocket Monsters first launched in Japan back in early 1996 on the Game Boy. Later that year, a card game followed. By the late 1990s, the series was supposed to be a fad, a passing fancy. Yet this month in Japan, two Pokémon feature films hit Japanese theaters. Pocket Monsters isn’t a fad, in Japan,…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 26, 2011 -
If You Update Our Firmware, Tell Us Why
There’s a new 3DS update in the wild. And it does, well…something. What exactly that is, Nintendo isn’t saying, because when Nintendo updates the 3DS, it doesn’t tell you what it’s updated. Aren’t we entitled to know that? Sony does the same thing on the PlayStation 3, firmware updates often accompanied by vague statements about…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 26, 2011 -
A Family’s Miis Aid in Return of One Stolen Wii
A Jacksonville, Florida family’s Wii is back in their possession after being stolen and pawned, thanks to a handful of Miis. According to a report from FOX 30 from Jacksonville, the Witherspoon’s Wii was stolen, alongside several televisions, during a burglary in May. Police tracked a stolen television to a local pawn shop, where the…
By Michael McWhertor Published July 25, 2011 -
Here Are Three New Ways to Spend Your Hard-Earned Club Nintendo Coins
You’ve bought Nintendo product, registered it online, and collected Club Nintendo coins for your effort. Nintendo repays you with a Metroid screensaver, Donkey Kong posters, and a giant AR card you could have printed out yourself! Reader Zonic505 pointed us towards these three new Club Nintendo rewards, sure to be a big hit with people…
By Mike Fahey Published July 25, 2011 -
Nintendo Video is Live and Chock Full of Dinosaurs
The 3DS’ Nintendo Video service, which sort of launched yesterday, really launched today, with two short animated clips (one with dinosaurs, rawr!), a Captain America trailer, and a new OK Go music video due July 27. Okay then, go.
By Mike Fahey Published July 22, 2011 -
Poor Americans are Gamers, Too
In case you didn’t know, there are poor gamers. Conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation has published a report on what it means to be poor in America today. According to the report, households living in poverty have many modern amenities including air conditioning, cable TV and video game consoles. The report is meant to…
By Sam Winstrom Published July 22, 2011 -
On the Bright Side, The Nintendo 3DS Video Service Can Only Get Better Than This [UPDATE]
Our very own Mike Fahey warned me that there were no new videos to watch on the 3DS today, despite today being some sort of 3DS Video Service launch day. Given that I trust Fahey about as far as I can throw him with one hand, I had to go to my 3DS’ eShop and…
By Stephen Totilo Published July 21, 2011 -
Hurry Up and Wait for the Zelda Symphony Concert
In case you’ve been waiting patiently for The Legend of Zelda Symphony Concert, good news! You’ll only have to keep waiting until October…unless you’re not in L.A. Nintendo has announced via press release that the tour will kick off October 21st in Los Angeles, California at the Pantages Theatre. From there, it will go on…
By Jen Schiller Published July 21, 2011 -
Wii Fit U? Wii Sports U? Wii Music U? U Betcha!
Nintendo has trademarked a whole host of Wii U titles. Most are fairly obvious, such as “Wii Party U”, but with one glaring miss: Nintendo trademarked “Mii U” and not “Wii Mii U”. Oh no, quick Nintendo, quick! Here is the full list, courtesy of website Siliconera: Wii U + logo Mii U Wii Fit…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 21, 2011 -
Is This the World’s Oldest Gamer?
Old people play video games. By old, maybe that means sixty years old? Seventy? How about 99 years old. Meet Umeji Narisawa. She’s 99 years-old, and according to Japanese TV program Nani Kore Chin Hyakkei, she plays nothing but Bomberman for hours everyday. And has for nearly the past 26 years. Bomberman was originally released…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 21, 2011 -
CultureTotal Recall
The Real History of the Triforce
It’s one of the most iconic designs in the history of video games: three golden triangles combined to form a single larger one. The Triforce. The object that lies at the heart of The Legend of Zelda The thing is, Nintendo didn’t come up with the design. It’s been around for almost 1000 years The…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 21, 2011 -
Aliens: Infestation Slips Flesh-Hungry Xenomorphs Into Your Pocket This September
Popular comic artist Chris Bachalo breathes life into the 19 space marines doomed to die this September in Sega and WayForward’s Aliens: Infestation for the Nintendo DS. We knew it was coming; now we know what it is. Developed in collaboration with Aliens: Colonial Marines developer Gearbox Software, Aliens: Infestation is a 2D side-scrolling shoot-em-up…
By Mike Fahey Published July 20, 2011 -
The Wii U Has One Big Problem, But Still May Be the Signature Gaming Console of Our Times
I haven’t held a Wii U in more than a month. I hadn’t even watched videos of myself playing it. But I just watched a bunch, as I tried to make sense of what Nintendo is trying to accomplish with its next big video game machine and as I endeavor to figure out just how…
By Stephen Totilo Published July 20, 2011 -
Is a 3DS XL Incoming?
In spring 2010, Hitachi showed off a 3.1 inch screen that could reproduce 3D graphics without graphics, shortly after Sharp revealed a 3.4 inch one. At that time, rumors swirled that either Hitachi or Sharp would be providing the 3D top screen for the then unreleased 3DS. Since then, details have been scant about who…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 20, 2011 -
Watch the New Pokémon Airplane for Almost Six Whole Minutes
There’s a new Poké jet. This is it! On July 18, this All Nippon Airways Boeing 777-300 Peace Jet landed in Hokkaido. The plane then taxied to the arrival gate. This isn’t the first plane featuring Pocket Monsters, and this plane aims to promote the latest Pocket Monster animated feature film. However, the “Peace Jet”…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 20, 2011