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Cream of the crop

It may come as a surprise to some that a series of farming simulation games could become so popular and beloved by such a large audience, yet here we are, more than 15 years after the launch of the maiden game, with the release of Harvest Moon: A New Beginning. In celebration of this milestone anniversary, Marvelous AQL has decided...

Play it again, K.K. Slider

We love Easter eggs, and if you're a long-time Animal Crossing fan, you'll appreciate the hidden extra the which has been secreted in the official Animal Crossing: New Leaf website. Point your browser at this page, make sure your sound is turned on and click on musical pooch K.K. Slider in the middle of the image. You'll...

Another strong 3DS debut

In recent weeks there's been consistently good news for the 3DS in the UK, with titles occupying the top 10 of the all-format charts. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity continues that good form, coming in at number four in its first week. According to UKIE, this is the third best debut week performance for the...

"It's going to be all new"

Since its announcement in the last Nintendo Direct, little has been said since about Sonic Lost World, which is one third of an exclusive worldwide deal for the mascot between SEGA and Nintendo. It's a new main series Sonic title coming to Wii U and 3DS, which may be enough for some long term fans for the time being...

Also planning a new 3DS game

Silicon Studio, the developer behind the recently confirmed-for-the-West title Bravely Default: Flying Fairy, also works in creating software tools and game engines for a variety of companies, including Nintendo and Sony. Two higher-ups at Silicon recently sat down with Siliconera t

Columns, Sonic and Shining Force all inbound

We've not seen many Game Gear releases for the 3DS Virtual Console lately, but thankfully it has been confirmed during today's Nintendo Direct broadcast that the situation will be changing soon. It's taken quite some time, but the following Game Gear games will be hitting the western 3DS eShops in the...

Nintendo announces worldwide partnership with SEGA

Today's Nintendo Direct broadcasts didn't include a significant number of major reveals, but one surprising announcement was that the next Sonic the Hedgehog title, Lost World, will be exclusive to Wii U and 3DS. Satoru Iwata announced a new worldwide partnership with SEGA for the famous mascot,...

Shot directly into your eyeballs

Today at 10am Eastern and 7am Pacific time, Nintendo of America will be holding a Nintendo Direct broadcast which will contain information relating to its big summer titles for Wii U and 3DS. As always, you can watch the presentation live on this very site, and we'll be posting comments as events unfold. You can...

The summer's big releases to be revealed

At 3pm UK time / 4pm European time, Nintendo Europe will host a live Nintendo Direct presentation which will showcase forthcoming software for the Wii U and 3DS consoles. What's in store, you ask? Your guess is as good as ours at this point. Will the broadcast contain any shocks? Will we see solid release...

One day, Western gamers, one day...

While many of us in the West are still obsessing over rare items to forge that sword we always wanted in Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, 3DS owners in Japan are already looking forward to the arrival of Monster Hunter 4 this Summer. Alas, those of us in the West probably have quite a wait ahead of us for that one. But...

Times they are a changin'

A recent study has revealed that in the first quarter of 2013, more cash was spent on iOS games than on 3DS and PS Vita software combined. This marks a slight change from the previous quarter, where it took iOS and Google Play's combined spend to overshadow dedicated handheld gaming systems. This quarter, iOS alone has...

"It prints money", etc

Nintendo of America has reported that first party 3DS software sales have risen by 52 percent in the past year. In the first four months of the 2013, more than 2.1 million first party 3DS games were sold in the U.S. alone. Back in 2012, it took 30 weeks for first party 3DS game sales to reach 2 million units. This year, that...

No more monkeying around

It's easy to forget, as Nintendo has seemingly decided that it's no longer a definitive unique selling point, but the 3DS has a fantastic stereoscopic 3D screen. It's tempting to be blase about it, but it's still the only mainstream piece of hardware — certainly in gaming terms — that uses it so effectively. The...

Input began on the ground floor

Localization is often seen as a post-production task, but a new diary video for Animal Crossing: New Leaf shows that its cultural nuances were being considered well in the early stages of development. According to Reiko Ninomiya of Nintendo of America’s Treehouse division, she and other localizers began...

View of fictional character's butt is uncensored, millions rejoice

We recently reported that the latest North American DLC release for Fire Emblem: Awakening contained some strange censorship, with Tharja's dainty behind being covered by a cloth sheet which actually made the situation look ruder than it was in the Japanese original. Thankfully, it...

Set hype mode to stunned

Nintendo likes to keep us on our toes, as it's just announced that there'll be a Nintendo Direct broadcast on 17th May, giving us the usual 24 hours of notice. In both North America and Europe it'll cover Spring and Summer releases, with Nintendo UK emphasizing a "focus" on Wii U games, and Nintendo of America promising...

Wii U and 3DS titles playable on the show floor

Nintendo UK has confirmed that it is bringing its popular Nintendo Unleashed tour to the forthcoming MCM London Comic Con, which is due to take place from 24th to the 26th May at the ExCel London. The largest comic and pop culture show in the UK, the MCM Comic Con will play host to a dedicated...

Nintendo giveth and Nintendo taketh away

Nintendo has announced yet another new 3DS colour for gamers in Japan: Metallic Red. Announced yesterday — though the Eevee 3DS XL stole a majority of the limelight — the new system is a more vibrant shade of red than the previous Flame Red 3DS. It'll launch on the 13th June for 15,000 yen, along with a...

"He’s not as bad as other people might think he is"

When you start a new game of Animal Crossing, the figure who seems to loom largest in those early hours is Tom Nook, a tanuki who always seems to have dollar (or should that be bells?) signs in this eyeballs. Nook has a reputation of being a rather greedy capitalist, profiting on naive newcomers...