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You're doing well, young one

Earlier this week British tabloid The Sun somewhat defied its own 3DS-bashing tradition, when one of its writers rather boldly proclaimed that Nintendo's portable is "the best console ever". While we're not sure about that just yet, we do think the handheld has come a long way since its early days of non-existent sales...

Veteran UK developer talks about Putty's return and future projects

Today saw the confirmation that System 3's Putty Squad is coming to the Wii U and 3DS. We got in touch with the UK-based studio to talk about the game, how it differs from the Amiga version and what the company's plans are for the future. We spoke to studio founder Mark Cale, who...

Jon tries to drop the hammer but settles for waving a foam finger

This is the second part of our man Jon's personal Animal Crossing: New Leaf diary, which is part of a Nintendo-organised "Mayor Program". You can read all about how we came to be involved in this article, where we also explain our reasoning for participating. With that out of the way,...

Games are a bit less 'final' than they used to be

It's not so long ago that Sony and Microsoft's platforms began to drown in DLC (downloadable content) while, for Nintendo gamers, it was largely restricted to the occasional Guitar Hero or Rock Band track on Wii. Nintendo had an attitude of adopting online trends and practices in its own sweet...

Nibbling away at good taste

This is the first part of our man Jon's personal Animal Crossing: New Leaf diary, which is part of a Nintendo-organised "Mayor Program". You can read all about how we came to be involved in this article, where we also explain our reasoning for participating. With that out of the way, we hope you enjoy this first despatch...

Jon gets recruited as an early Mayor, sadness ensues

If you follow us on twitter you may have noticed that our Editor-At-Large, Jon Wahlgren, has in his enviable, clammy hands an English-language digital copy of Nintendo’s newest quaint life sim, Animal Crossing: New Leaf. In fact, a few dozen people have received early copies — not only the...

We go hands-on with the map packs released in Europe so far

Fire Emblem: Awakening is a truly amazing 3DS title, packing hours of compelling tactical action into one of the most entertaining games we've played all year. However, thanks to a growing selection of downloadable maps, the battle doesn't have to end when the credits roll. Before moving...

Small price, lots of space

When the 3DS was launched, it didn't even have an eShop to enjoy, and even after the online store arrived the pack-in 2GB SD card seemed perfectly adequate. With a mix of Game Boy Virtual Console titles, the odd 3D Classic and the first flashes of download-only titles from third parties, the number of blocks offered up...

3DS leads as Wii U goes slow and steady

Around this time every year Nintendo reports its financial results for the previous 12 months, and in by-gone days they could be summarised very easily — "we're rolling in cash like money hogs, victory lattes for everyone". Recently it's not been quite that simple, with the decline starting with the...

We sample the best 2013 has to offer

Last week we were invited to a Nintendo 3DS showcase to get first-hand impressions of some of the upcoming releases in the next few months for Nintendo’s handheld, as well as a demo of the recently announced 3DS Zelda game. We've already previewed a number of these titles in detail from a similar event in San...

Another step forward

This week it was announced that Nintendo of Europe had established an agreement with retailer GAME, for it to exclusively sell select download codes from the high street and its website; it's the first serious move to match up to similar download cards already available in Japan. The GAME retail group has stores across Europe...

Jon and Damien go hands-on

You guys are so lucky. What you're getting here is two previews for the price of one; our dashing US Editor-at-Large Jon Wahlgren was lucky enough to attend a 3DS showcase in North America this week, and got to spend a short amount of time with Animal Crossing: New Leaf. His thoughts are below, while UK-based editor Damien...

Classic or Casual - which mode do you play?

Fire Emblem: Awakening is finally available in Europe after a couple of additional months of waiting. The series itself is now 23 years old, and is arguably one of the more 'hardcore' franchises that Nintendo owns. One element Fire Emblem is known for is its punishing levels of difficulty, which has...

Further muddying the timeline

Surprise! That rumored Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3DS remake was totally not true, and no doubt planted as a red herring by some unscrupulous Nintendo employee to throw us all off the real story: Nintendo's handheld is getting a “sequel” to fan-favorite The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.

There's a lot to take in

Before the latest Nintendo Direct broadcast, we're sure that many were unsure of what to expect. We've watched enough of them to know that sometimes they can be rather light on revelations, simply stringing us along with a few release dates, and on other occasions they can be blockbuster events that get the Nintendo Life...

Live at 3PM UK time

Today at 3PM UK time, Nintendo Europe will be broadcasting a 3DS-themed Nintendo Direct. You can watch the entire thing live on this very page, and as always we'll be providing textual commentary as events unfold. What exciting news could be contained within? Are the rumours of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask being...

Hype train inbound

Today, we'll be getting a special 3DS-focused Nintendo Direct which will hopefully give us a better idea of what the rest of 2013 has in store for the popular portable console. Nintendo of America will be broadcasting a special announcement at 7AM PT / 10AM ET. You can view the proceedings — along with our typically insightful...

An interview with a gentleman

We were first introduced to Professor Layton back in February 2007 with his debut title, Professor Layton and the Curious Village. Since then, the 'Sherlock Holmes' inspired character has gone from strength to strength with an original trilogy, a prequel trilogy, a movie, and an upcoming crossover with defense...

"I don’t hate Nintendo at all"

Michael Pachter has been called a lot of things — not all of them repeatable on a family-friendly site such as this — but many of his harshest critics seem to miss the point of what he is actually saying; his job is to ensure that people invest their cash wisely and not to placate over-zealous fans...

Do you download?

In moving from the Wii Shop and DSi Shop to the Wii U eShop and 3DS eShop, Nintendo has shown a desire to compete head on with the Xbox, PlayStation and Steam online marketplaces and offer full retail downloads. It's amazing to think that downloads from the Wii Shop were limited to a meagre maximum of 40MB, yet now we can download...

Room for no more

We're all more than a little familiar with video game droughts by now. Until a few years ago, it was tradition to suffer a lack of software in the summer, surviving only on the ever-faithful backlog and the revitalising elixir provided by E3 info dumps. It's common in the months following a console launch too: we're sure you...

Sweaty palm time

As those of you currently diving Jaggi Helm-first into Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate no doubt already know, Capcom — and various retailers — have been encouraging you to buy two copies of the game. Naturally one is for Wii U and the other is for 3DS, with the big selling point being that you can transfer your save data between...

The features that time forgot

Remember the augmented reality (AR) games on 3DS? Go on, check your handheld, they're still there, quietly sitting on the home screen waiting to be enjoyed. Built into the system for all to experience whenever they like, taking an established technology and adding a hefty dose of Nintendo whimsy and charm. They were...

They did WHAT with [insert treasured franchise name here]?

There are some undeniable truths in life, death and taxes being two examples, and the video game industry has its own rules and obligations that can never be avoided. One of these revolves around reboots of treasured franchises — if you're going to "re-imagine" a popular character or...