News Articles
Wednesday4th Nov 2015
Wii U sales stay in four figures
It's Media Create chart results time in Japan, and after a debut week at number one for The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes and plenty of Nintendo platform releases close behind, the latest results show new titles on rival platforms taking over the top spots. We already highlighted that Tri Force Heroes
Tuesday3rd Nov 2015
News Crazy Super Mario Maker Level Creator, Panga, Has Produced Another Insane Level
Took a combined 50 hours to upload
Super Mario Maker is a wonderful release from Nintendo, giving fans the ability to share incredibly creative levels. Some specialise in producing hugely difficult stages, perhaps none more so than 'Panga'. In case you need reminding, Panga produced the downright ridiculous P Break level, regarded by many as the...
Monday2nd Nov 2015
News Super Mario Maker Still Leads the Way for Nintendo in the UK as Tri Force Heroes Stumbles
Happy Home Designer leads for 3DS
The UK charts aren't always a happy home for Nintendo, though can give an indication of which titles have the strongest long-term momentum on Wii U and 3DS. This week's results, then, show which titles are finding an audience and others that are having a tougher time. The first Nintendo game in the all-format top...
News Super Mario Maker Developers Share Details on How Costumes and Cursor Variations Came About
Evidently, Takashi Tezuka has ten cats
Super Mario Maker has been out for a couple months now and by all accounts has been a massive success. One particularly interesting feature is the ability to scan in virtually any amiibo and have the character replace Mario's sprite on certain stages. While this may not have much of an impact on gameplay, it's...
Wednesday28th Oct 2015
News A Level Made by Shinya Arino Will Be Included in the Upcoming Super Mario Maker Update
Who?
Games Center CX – known to many as Retro Games Master – is a fascinating Japanese show where a charismatic host plays through retro video games and conducts interviews with developers. It certainly seems like stuff that would belong in the realm of Youtubers and Let's Players, but the show has gone on to achieve a cult following both in...
News Vital Wii U and 3DS Releases Join the Million-Seller Club
Updated lifetime game sales for both systems released
Nintendo has released its Q2 financial results covering the first six months of this year, and the outcome's largely positive. Overall sales are up in comparison to last year, which can be put down to improvements in hardware sales for both Wii U and 3DS, the continuing popularity of amiibo and,...
Tuesday27th Oct 2015
News Super Mario Maker Gets Mid-Level Checkpoints and More in Upcoming Update
But no slopes or Chargin' Chucks yet!
We absolutely adore Super Mario Maker here at Nintendo Life, but as polished and wonderful as the level creating experience can be there is always room for a little improvement. Nintendo isn't resting on its laurels and a software update has been announced which will add a few requested changes from players,...
Monday26th Oct 2015
Random Someone Loved Super Mario Bros. Special Enough to Recreate it in Super Mario Maker
From when licensed Mario platformers were a thing
It's interesting that we often talk of Nintendo being cautious in licensing its IP - a trait it's currently moving away from - when considering some of the quirks in its history. For example, between Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels on NES there was Super Mario Bros. Special...
News The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes Misses Out on UK Top 10
Tri again next week
The latest UK chart results are out, with some new releases battling it out with long-established blockbusters. It's a mixed week from Nintendo's perspective, with some ever-green titles clinging on and a new release underperforming - arguably - a little. The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes has made its début in 11th place in...
Friday23rd Oct 2015
Random This Super Mario Maker Level Was Created on a Plane, With the Flight Crew's Help
Wigglers on a plane?
Back in 2013 we reviewed an in-car adapter for Wii U, a logical albeit weird step considering the console's ability to stream to the GamePad screen. Others showed it off as 'portable', too, taking it on trains and anywhere with a power supply. With that theme in mind we rather like this video by Nick Robinson, who took his Wii...
Wednesday21st Oct 2015
News Nintendo of Japan Has Just Published a 30th Anniversary Super Mario Bros. Complete Encyclopedia
255 pages of gaming history
As many of you are likely aware, we're currently approaching the end of the year that has marked the 30th anniversary of the Super Mario series. It's hard to believe that this iconic game franchise has only been around for 30 years when you look at the impact it's had on the game industry and the world as a whole, but...
Tuesday20th Oct 2015
Over half a million Super Mario Maker sales in the US so far
Though a little later than normal this month, we finally have the NPD US sales for September; though these only represent physical retail sales of new games, they provide an idea of what's performing well in the US market. The big release from Nintendo's perspective was, of course, Super...
Monday19th Oct 2015
News Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer and Super Mario Maker Maintain Decent UK Sales
Mario Kart 8 sneaks back onto the grid
The latest UK chart results are in and they represent a couple of things from our perspective - there are various new releases on other systems that are only modest hits, and Nintendo's two standard bearers (one each for Wii U and 3DS) are showing reasonable momentum. First of all, Animal Crossing: Happy Home...
Friday16th Oct 2015
Video Super Mario Maker Gets A Family-Focused Challenge
Mums and dads, get ready for a showdown
With millions of Super Mario Maker levels being created, the folks at Family Gamer TV are spreading the craze to mums and dads with a new family-friendly competition. A handful of families from all over the world will be going head-to-head to create their own levels and then battle each other to reign supreme...
News Yukio Sawada's Super Mario-Kun Is Coming To Super Mario Maker
In Japan, at least
Super Mario-Kun is a manga series which has been appearing in the pages of CoroCoro Comic since 1991. Created by Yukio Sawada, the series is coming to Super Mario Maker in the form of a special costume. In addition to allowing his own unique take on the character to appear in the game, Sawada will also be designing his own level,...
Wednesday14th Oct 2015
Video We Want Your Super Mario Maker Levels for Our New YouTube Series
Levels that require button inputs, preferably
For quite a while now we've been asking for your Super Mario Maker levels on our own dedicated page, with many of you joining in. We've also had some Nindies share and explain their designs to, hopefully, pass on some useful tips. We're now stepping up our efforts to share your creations on YouTube,...
Monday12th Oct 2015
News Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer and Super Mario Maker Continue Solid UK Form
Happy Home Designer holds top 10 place
The UK chart results have been updated for another week and bring a decent outcome for Nintendo; despite a small number of new arrivals on other platforms the current mainstays on Wii U and 3DS are holding good positions. For starters Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer has enjoyed a strong second week in...
News Takashi Tezuka Gives His Opinion on Hard Levels Made with Super Mario Maker
"You need to take into consideration a wide range of users."
Super Mario Maker has been out for a while now and a nearly limitless amount of levels are already available to all players around the world. One popular trend among the countless armchair level designers is creating controller-throwingly difficult courses. More often than not, these...
Tuesday6th Oct 2015
News Super Mario Advance 4's e-Reader Levels Get Resurrected Thanks To Super Mario Maker
e-Reader attachment not required
When Nintendo launched Super Mario Bros. 3 on the Game Boy Advance under the rather misleading title Super Mario Advance 4, it included 30 secret stages - all falling under the banner "World-e" - which could only be unlocked by using the optional e-Reader accessory and a set of special cards. Given that both of...
Video This Super Mario Maker Player Captures The Frustration of Surprise 'Don't Move' Stages
Is this a joke?
Super Mario Maker is wonderful, at least in our humble opinion, and millions of stages have been created for us all to try. Naturally with so many people taking part there's scope for levels that are slightly peculiar of almost impossible to beat, yet it's the 'don't move' or 'keep running' stages that seem to be among the most...
Monday5th Oct 2015
News Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer Makes Top 10 Chart Debut in UK
Quite Pleased Home Designer
Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer has now rolled out around the world, attempting to charm all-comers and to tempt them into buying amiibo cards. The spin-off entry appears to have made a reasonable debut in the UK charts, too, following the fairly impressive sales numbers that have been developing in Japan. Happy...
Friday2nd Oct 2015
News GAME Sends Out £10 Gift Cards and Apologises for Super Mario Maker Pre-Order Issues
"We made a mistake"
When Super Mario Maker arrived on 11th September, some UK gamers that pre-ordered the title with GAME experienced serious issues. The major problem was that some were charged up to seven times for the order and saw hundreds of pounds deducted from their bank accounts; this took quite a few days to resolve fully. It was...
Thursday1st Oct 2015
Video Catch Up With a Special Super Mario Maker Episode of GameCenter CX
GameMaker CX
When it comes to Japanese TV culture and gaming, GameCenter CX is well known and fondly regarded by plenty of viewers in the country and around the world. Host Shinya Arino and the show's unique style are familiar to many, so fans may want to take a look at a recent episode featuring Super Mario Maker. Nintendo has released two videos,...
Wednesday30th Sep 2015
News Super Mario Maker Back on Top in Japan as 3DS and Wii U Sales Increase
Building blocks for success
The Japanese Media Create chart results are out once again, and despite an absence of major new releases this time around there's good news for Nintendo. New releases in Japan have been on Vita, PS4 and PS3, though none have shifted significant numbers. In fact Nintendo system exclusives occupy the top three places, with...
News Super Mario Maker Passes One Million Sales
Over 2.2 million levels played nearly 75 million times
Super Mario Maker has now been available for around three weeks, keeping Wii U owners busy as they play and create clever, bizarre and fiendish 2D Mario levels. Nintendo has now issued some updated statistics on the title which make happy reading for Wii U fans. The game has now passed one...
Video Ryan Craddock Performs His Super Mario Maker Song 'Mix It Up' Live On Stage At EGX 2015
Clap your hands!
Nintendo Life was in attendance at this year's EGX - officially the UK's biggest gaming event - and while we were there we got the chance to help out on the Nintendo UK stand, running live sessions on stage and our very own daily Splatoon tournaments. A highlight of the event was Nintendo Life tune-smith Ryan Craddock performing...
Monday28th Sep 2015
News Super Mario Maker Continues Steady UK Run as Skylanders Performs Well on Wii U
Not much else to shout about for Nintendo
The UK chart results have now been released for the most recent week, and bring a mix of expected results along with occasional surprises. FIFA 16 seizes top spot, naturally, though there are a couple of interesting outcomes from a Nintendo perspective. For starters, Super Mario Maker continues to...
Friday25th Sep 2015
News Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon Tops Japanese Charts as Wii U Beats PS4
Super Mario Maker claims second place
The Media Create Japanese chart results have been later than normal this week, but the eventual outcome certainly has some positives for Nintendo. For starters, Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon has claimed top spot in its début week, with the 3DS title sneaking past 150,000 sales. Super Mario Maker claims second...
News Analysts Wonder If Super Mario Can Save Nintendo
"I do think that Super Mario will be a driver for mobile revenue"
American business publication Fortune has recently asked the big question 'Can Super Mario save Nintendo from itself?' and to answer that question has consulted the wisdom of several analysts including Nintendo Life reader favourite Michael Pachter. With Super Mario Maker seemingly...
Thursday24th Sep 2015
News Angry Sun Game Files Reportedly Uncovered In Super Mario Maker
Future DLC or simply unused assets?
A well-known Splatoon data miner under the Twitter handle NWPlayer123 has reportedly made an exciting discovery whilst sifting through the files of Nintendo’s latest Wii U title, Super Mario Maker. It appears there are a series of unused files leading to speculation about future download content for Mario's...
