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CultureTotal Recall
My Favourite Nintendo Console Wasn’t Even Made by Nintendo
We’re going to get a little personal today on Total Recall, and take a look at my favourite Nintendo console of all time. Not the best, not the biggest-selling, just…my favourite. And that console is the Panasonic Q, a machine sadly never made commercially available in the West. The Q, a very fancy version of…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 19, 2011 -
Check Out the World’s Largest Working NES Controller
Students at a Dutch university on Tuesday unveiled what they claim is the world’s largest working Nintendo Entertainment System controller, some 30 times bigger than the console’s actual game pad. It’s so big, the only way to manipulate the D-pad or buttons is to stand on them Built by electrical engineering students at TU Delft,…
By Owen Good Published May 18, 2011 -
Some Person’s 3DS Has Wrinkled Buttons (Does Yours?)
The 3DS is an expensive, beautiful piece of gaming hardware. Because it’s so expensive, owners might be prone to notice the smallest things. One gamer in Japan apparently has a paint issues with the Dpad and a button on the Nintendo 3DS. The paint on the Dpad looks warped; a line of some sort appeared…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 18, 2011 -
Ten Years of Crappy Tasting Pokémon Bread
Back in 1999, Japanese bread maker First Baking launched Pokémon bread. Here is a collection of commercials from 1999 to 2009. While the ads got better (they really did!), the bread didn’t. Kids buy the bread for the stickers, not the taste. If the Japanese word for bread (“pan”) sounds vaguely familiar to Portuguese speakers,…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 18, 2011 -
Nintendo Fakers, You Got to Do Better Than This
For those who checked the internet when the Xbox 360, PS3 or Wii launched, you’ll remember the fake “secret presentation” photos. They were typically either bad photoshops or bad photos showing new hardware presentations. That was over five years ago, before the proliferation of high quality camera phones. It’s 2011, new hardware is incoming, and…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 18, 2011 -
CultureTotal Recall
When Mario Had a Best-Selling…Book?
Mario has gone through three distinct phases of super popularity. One in the early 90’s. One is seemingly just on the wane, born of the success of his games on the DS and Wii. The other, though, was in the mid-80’s. The fat plumber was so popular then that he didn’t just have a best-selling…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 18, 2011 -
Link and Ganon and Power and Courage
The monster Ganon and courageous warrior Link face off for a duel to the death! Hunter Bonyun went all out when creating this masterpiece. Power and Courage by Hunter Bonyun (Blog) (deviantART) (Note: This print will be available at Canada’s upcoming Otafest and Anime North cons, if you’re a neighbor to the north.) Need your…
By Michael McWhertor Published May 17, 2011 -
Nintendogs Made People So Happy
ROOF ROOF | LEIPZIG, GERMANY: Nintendogs on display in the 2005 Gamescon. (Photo: Daniela Schaar | Getty) Building Better Portal 2 Personality Spheres We’ve already seen our fair share of Portal 2-inspired art around these parts, but this series of miniature personality spheres by Chris Myles certainly takes the, ahem, cake. Life-Sized Gundam Vehicles You…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 17, 2011 -
Best Buy Getting 3DS Hotspots
Starting June 7, Nintendo and Best Buy are teaming up to bring 3DS WiFi spots to over 1,000 stores across the country. Besides trailers and exclusive content, the spots will take advantage of the 3DS’s SpotPass feature. [via Nintendo]
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 17, 2011 -
Chrono Trigger Warps Your Wii Back to 1995
The Wii Virtual Console travels back in time this week to a time when a much softer Square made games that were consistently excellent. It’s not that Square Enix doesn’t put out good games. There are plenty of excellent modern games out there bearing the company’s brand. It’s just that back in the days when…
By Mike Fahey Published May 16, 2011 -
Don’t Lend Strangers Your Game Handhelds, Kids!
On May 12, a 10 year-old grade-schooler in Kochi City and her friend waere playing with her Nintendo game portable along the city’s waterway. A 23 year-old man named Akira Nakamura appeared and said, “Let me see your game machine.” According to Yomiuri Online, the girl lent her handheld and two games to the unemployed…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 16, 2011 -
The Right Way to do Japanese Box Art
The same smart people at Nintendo Europe who thought it was a good idea to localise Wii RPG Xenoblade also know how important box art can be for such a localisation. So they’re letting the game’s fans vote. While the front cover – which we’ll assume is the same as that found in Japan –…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 16, 2011 -
Windowed AR Cards Reveal 3DS’ Secret
When the Nintendo 3DS is looking for an AR Card to start a game, it isn’t searching for or recognizing its specific image-it’s recognizing a color, and then spawning whatever comes next off of that. To prove this, AR enthusiast Super Jezmerelda created cards with the question-box design cut out, then framed certain colors within…
By Owen Good Published May 13, 2011 -
What Does Ubisoft Think of the Wii 2?
According to the French publisher’s CEO, not only is Nintendo’s Wii successor—currently known as Project Cafe—a “fantastic platform,” it’s also bound to be home to many a port from the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Ubisoft’s Yves Guillemot said during an investor call today that the company’s a huge fan of the Wii 2, according…
By Michael McWhertor Published May 12, 2011 -
Mario, This is Why You’re Fat
We know why Mario has a mustache. We know why his uniform is blue and red. These were the most distinctive features Nintendo could render on the character sprite due to the limitations of the Z80 processor, the venerable workhorse of the arcade. And it’s the same reason Mario’s proportions are a little on the…
By Owen Good Published May 12, 2011 -
StarFox 64 3D Supports up to Four Players. No Online.
At a retail event today in Japan, Nintendo gave more Star Fox 64 3D details. The game sports a “64 Mode” and a “3DS Mode”. In the 3DS Mode, players can control the spacecraft by using the 3DS’ internal gyroscope sensor. That means, moving the 3DS right causes the spacecraft to go right, moving it…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 12, 2011 -
Nintendo, Your Piracy Protection Isn’t Working
Earlier this week, Nintendo pushed live an updated piece of firmware for the DSi. It was aimed at stopping piracy. Less than a day later, however, flash cart manufacturers had already found a way around it. It took flash cart (cartridges allowing the use of homebrew and/or pirated software) producer R4iDSN less than 24 hours…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 12, 2011 -
The 3DS E-Shop Has Been Delayed
The 3DS launched without its online store being ready for business. Which was weird. Weirder still is that the store’s launch has now been pushed even further back (if only by a week or so). A brief announcement on Nintendo’s web site states that the online store, originally planned for release in late May, will…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 12, 2011