Nintendo

And You Will Know Mario Games by The Colour of Their Boxes

In Japan, Nintendo has a practice of releasing more mature titles in black boxes. In America, pretty much the opposite is about to happen. From now on, a range of Mario’s DS games in the US will stand out on the shelf with a bright red case, drawing the eye of the customer towards the…

Nintendo’s Next Console May Have Something In Common With the iPhone

We’ve heard that the touch-screen controllers used in Nintendo’s next home console will have a camera. It appears that California-based OmniVision, who among others works with Apple on its iPhones, may be supplying those cameras. OmniVision specialises in camera solutions for handheld devices, and for a few years has supplied the swish back-facing camera sensors…

Behind the Scenes of The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past

For the past few years, Nintendo has run a series of interviews on its website called “Iwata Asks”, giving us behind-the-scenes looks at some of the company’s most important games and pieces of hardware. This interview, though, does not involve Iwata. And was never on Nintendo’s website. Because it was conducted in 1991, and involved…

Square Enix Making Social Game for the Nintendo 3DS

What is Heroes of Ruin? It is Square Enix’s stab at social gaming on the Nintendo 3DS. The game features a band of four heroes taking on monsters and other creatures that pop up in games involving bands of heroes. Heroes of Ruin uses 3DS StreetPass functionality for an in-game “Traders’ Network” that lets players…

The Absurdity of International Game Ratings

Different cultures have different tastes. That’s a given, and will always result in slight differences in game ratings. But what’s just happened to 3DS game Dead or Alive: Dimensions is too strange to overlook. The game won’t be sold in Sweden, Norway and Denmark because of fears over the region’s child pornography laws, which forbid…

Remembering Capcom’s Great Nintendo Promise / Betrayal

Capcom and Nintendo have always had a rather close relationship. In 2002, though, the pair became blood brothers. Or so people thought. That was the year the infamous “Capcom Five” were announced by the Osaka-based publisher, a range of titles seemingly designed to give Nintendo’s fledgling GameCube a shot in the arm, and which ended…

These Were Their E3 Promises, This is What Came True

For each of the last two years I’ve checked the E3 promises of Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft. Sure, they make June/July tradition of telling us exciting things that will surely, definitely happen with the PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS, Xbox 360, 3DS, PSP and Wii. But do their E3 promises of one year turn out to…

The Origins Of Pokémon

As the creator of Nintendo’s Pokémon series, Satoshi Tajiri is one of the most important (if not well-known) developers working in video games today. Like another Nintendo legend, Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto, Tajiri’s most popular work has been directly inspired by his childhood experiences and hobbies. While Miyamoto’s Zelda was the product of boyhood explorations,…

Here are the Pictures That Guy Took with his 3DS at the WWE SmackDown Event [Update]

Friday, Totilo noticed someone sitting ringside with a 3DS at WWE SmackDown’s recent event in Spokane, Wash., apparently capturing the action with the device’s 3D camera. (Kotaku commenter Dr. Zaius: ‘Guy was watching the match through the 3DS’s 3D lenses. ‘Whoa! It’s like I’m RIGHT THERE!'”) Yesterday, that guy contacted us to share the photos…

Whatcha Gonna Do When a 3DS Runs Wild on Friday Night Smackdown

On Smackdown last night, WWE rasslers Christian and Sheamus finally adjudicated matters inside the ring, and one fan captured the magic moment with an Aqua Blue 3DS, seen here. I bet this does indeed look lovely in 3D. For those interested in the final score, Sheamus pinned Christian (following a brogue kick) winning out in…

Rejoin Some Old Friends in This Resident Evil: The Mercenaries Character Trailer

Remember the time you gunned down all of those terrifying, pasty monks? Or when that unhinged fella with the chainsaw chased you down the alleyway? Man, that was really fun. This trailer for Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D for the 3DS put me in mind of a late night spent marathoning Resident Evil 4, or…

There Are No Safehouses in the Mushroom Kingdom

And shotguns won’t work, either. Your best bet is a star, though, that may be how this whole mess started in the first place… I’M-A-GONNA-EAT-YOUR-BRAINS! [Dan Hipp]

Has Sony’s NGP Been Gutted Before Release?

According to a report on French tech site 01net, in order to cut costs and compete with the price of Nintendo’s $249 3DS, Sony’s upcoming NGP handheld has been the victim of a little slash-and-run. The piece states that the NGP, which was originally intended to ship with 512MB RAM, will now only ship with…

Don’t Get Too Excited About Zelda Universe

A lot of people are getting hot under the collar over a listing on the ESRB website for something called Zelda Universe. It’s down as an “online” title, which considering the publisher and the franchise sounds interesting Only, it’s not. Zelda Universe is listed as “online” because, as is pointed out here, it’s a website,…

One Year Later, Did Nintendo Keep Their E3 2010 Promises?

E3 is the biggest event the video game business. Every company lays their cards on the table, and every AAA game for the next year is on display. Failure is not an option. As high as the stakes were before, Nintendo managed raise them at their 2010 E3 keynote. Riding high from strong Wii and…

Shinobi Delivers a Rare 3DS Game To Get Excited About

Ignore that this is a 3D game for Nintendo’s latest portable. Ignore that it’s been nearly a decade since we’ve seen a new title staring Joe Musashi. Embrace, instead, the fact that this is a Shinobi that fans of the 1987 side-scrolling arcade game may recognize and could come to love. I only had about…

Shinobi

Hey! Look At What’s New In The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D

The Nintendo 3DS remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time does more than just give the Nintendo 64 original a visual makeover and bring it into magical stereoscopic 3D. It has (at least) three potentially exciting new features. As shown in the video above, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D has…

This Is Definitely Not Nintendo’s Project Café

Mario does not approve. Sketch comedy group 20 Second Power-Up created this clip as a sort of “bizarre Marvel Comics ‘What If?’ scenario” celebrating the impending unveiling of the next Nintendo console. Here’s hoping they’re way off the mark.

Is Shinobi 3DS Bound?

If this trailer is legit, Sega’s ninja series Shinobi could be heading to the Nintendo 3DS. If it’s not, then it won’t. In 1987, the first Shinobi title was released in arcades and later on the Sega Master System. It’s been a few years since Sega has released a new Shinobi, so the series is…