Latest Features
Gallery A Look at the Quirky Delights of the Play Nintendo Family Lounge at San Diego Comic-Con
Including the Nintendo Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition
San Diego Comic-Con is now getting into full swing, and in addition to a Splatoon-centric booth inside the show Nintendo is hosting its Play Nintendo Family Lounge nearby in the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina (333 W. Harbor Dr.). It's open to the public (no expo pass required) and...
Hands On Painting a Clearer Picture of Paper Mario: Color Splash
"This is more of an adventure game"
There was an elephant in the room inside of Nintendo's off-site Comic-Con Nintendo Play Lounge. Not to be confused with a small stage shaped like an oversized Nintendo 3DS console, or the mammoth, room-sized inflatable Kirby set up to greet guests, this elephant took the shape of a video game kiosk. The game was...
Hands On Squashing Space Pirates in Metroid Prime: Federation Force
Insane in the Mother Brain
It's safe to say the general - or at least loudest - response from Metroid fans upon the reveal of Metroid Prime: Federation Force was one of disappointment. One year on and things have calmed down a little bit, but is there enough in this game to sway those who spoke so strongly against it at E3 2015? First and foremost...
Interview Jason Behr on Buddy & Me: Dream Edition, Going Independent and His History With Nintendo
"We just needed some space to prove we could carefully craft our own world"
Along with the regular slew of digital releases in the weekly update of eShop downloads, today marks the release of Buddy & Me: Dream Edition. Starting life as a mobile game born of a Kickstarter campaign, Dream Edition takes the best of the endless runner and...
Guide Making the Meowst of Palicoes and Prowler Mode in Monster Hunter Generations
You can never have too many cats
Not only do cat puns abound in Monster Hunter Generations, but your furry friends are also bounding around the field. Palicoes - as they are called - are your friendly Felyne companions on your quest to hunt giant monsters, gather rare items and level up your battle-scarred Hunters. In this guide we provide key...
Feature What We Can Expect From The Future Of Pokémon GO
Keeping the going good
Niantic's Pokémon GO - in which Nintendo has a major stake - has been a lion's roar to the naysayers, for as you're probably well aware the app is breaking records all over the shop. Naturally, we can expect to see this huge spike of interest drop as the novelty may wear off for the more casual fans. However, if you're...
Hands On How Will the "Open World" Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Suit a Traditional Gamer?
Anthony Dickens feels too old to play in a sandbox
I'd consider myself to be quite a traditional gamer; I tend to prefer games that have a simple core structure and a finite length. Now in my 30's I've found that whilst getting older has many benefits it has also restricted the amount of time I spent playing games, typically an hour or two here and...
Poll What Other 'Classic Edition' Nintendo Systems Do You Want to be Released?
Dreaming of the good old days, but miniaturised
The Nintendo Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition (called Nintendo Classic Mini: Nintendo Entertainment System in Europe) has caused quite a stir since its announcement earlier this week - a budget Nintendo retro unit at $59.99 with 30 pre-loaded games is always likely to go down well. Its...
Guide How To Hatch Eggs In Pokémon GO Without Taking A Single Step
You spin me round (like a record)
Hatching eggs in Pokémon GO is definitely something you'll want to do on a regular basis. Not only does it give you additional 'mon for your collection, it's the only way to bag some of the rarer beasts. The big problem? You actually have to walk around for the eggs to incubate. The distances involved vary, but as...
Interview Collector 'Metal Jesus' on His North American Nintendo 64DD Discovery
"I knew from the first moment that it was something special"
Earlier this week we reported on the discovery of a North American Nintendo 64DD unit, likely the first high-profile example to be shared online. Its stickers caused plenty of chatter as they suggested it was a Lotcheck / retail-ready unit, helping to confirm the fact that a North American...
Guide Pokémon GO Monster Types And Where To Find Them
Trying to find your favourite? We're here to help
So you've been playing Pokémon GO for a few days and have built up a pretty impressive menagerie of 'mon, but there are still a few firm favourites you've not stumbled across yet. If you're wondering how to nab these elusive beasts, then we're here to help. Pokémon each have an elemental affinity,...
Talking Point Nintendo's NES Classic Edition is Just One Way to Revolutionise the Virtual Console
It could be the beginning of a new approach
It was certainly a surprise today when the NES Classic Edition was unveiled (called Nintendo Classic Mini: Nintendo Entertainment System in Europe), a tiny little system that uses HDMI and will give access to 30 games right out of the box. With its extremely small form and accompanying classic-style...
Guide Advanced Pokémon GO Capture Tips And How To Get Better Pokéballs
All you need to know about bagging those pesky 'mon
If you've already read and digested our handy starter's guide to Pokémon GO then you'll no doubt be ready for some more advanced tips and tricks. We're now going to take an in-depth look into how to actually catch monsters, how to bag the rarer ones and what you have you have to do to get your...
Book Review The Unofficial Guide To Konami Shooters
A timely reminder that Konami was really good at making games, once
Konami may be retreating from the production of video games these days but not so long ago the company was seen as one of the leading lights in the industry, challenging the likes of Capcom, Sega and Nintendo when it came to creating compelling, must-have experiences. This...
Talking Point The Viral Reaction to Pokémon GO is a Surprise Gift for Nintendo
And it's not even a Nintendo game, in the typical sense
Pokémon GO was an app that bored quite a few observers during a lengthy E3 Q & A this year, a session most entertaining for Shigeru Miyamoto's "who's your daddy" moment when he unexpectedly announced a release date for the Plus add-on - to the bemusement and surprise of Niantic and...
Talking Point A Front-Row Seat For The Yo-Kai Watch Multimedia Juggernaut
Damien McFerran on witnessing the birth of a brand
Despite being involved with Nintendo Life, there are elements of the wider Nintendo world of which I am largely unaware and, until very recently, Yo-Kai Watch was one such element. Naturally, I knew of the series, its popularity in Japan and the
Feature A Year On - Satoru Iwata and His Enduring Legacy
The gamer that changed the industry
On 11th July 2015, Satoru Iwata passed away, with Nintendo announcing the sad news a day later. It was rather sudden to those outside of the company, and undoubtedly had a profound impact on many around the world that felt a keen sense of loss. You can find our original features paying respects to Satoru Iwata at...
Feature What Are Your Thoughts, So Far, on Pokémon GO?
Avoiding cars and other problems, we hope
It's fair to say that Pokémon GO has struck a nerve with the public, with the app going viral in terms of downloads, money made from micro-transactions and through social media. Pokémon GO is everywhere - well, except for Europe and some other territories still waiting for the release. It's generated some...
Editorial Monster Hunter - Vicious Cruelty With Cute Cats and Silly Animations
Some of those monsters are just minding their own business...
As you've probably guessed since I wrote our preview, I'm currently deeply immersed in the world of Monster Hunter Generations. It's not review time quite yet, but as I've been alternating between Generations, Bloodborne and most recently Dark Souls III, the latter two being my 'spare...
Japan Weekly Famitsu Sheds Light on Monster Hunter Stories
Elsewhere the post-E3 hangover continues
We keep hoping we'll see more quirky Japan-only titles and reviews of upcoming Nintendo games each week a new Famitsu rolls out, but since E3 every subsequent issue has held less and less Nintendo information for us. This week is an all time low, but there is some information for 3DS-owning Capcom fans to...
Poll As The amiibo Collection Hits 100, What's The Current State of Play?
That's a lot of little plastic (and yarn) characters
The amiibo range has been one of Nintendo's biggest successes of recent times, shifting tens of millions of units in a little over 18 months on the market. After initial hype in late 2014 the narrative was often dominated, for a while at least, by stock issues - these problems were prevalent...
Guide New To Pokémon GO? Check Out Our Handy Starter's Guide
Catching, training and hatching - it's all here
Pokémon GO is experiencing a staggered release across the globe, and many people are now hunting Pokémon all around their homes and nearby areas. If you want to get off to the best start then we're here to help - we've compiled a handy starter guide for all budding 'mon catchers. Starting Out When...
Hardware Review EXEQ GameBox Game Boy Advance SP Clone
AGS-101 screen quality on a budget - what's the catch?
Love them or loathe them, clone consoles are very much here to stay. As existing hardware becomes harder to find or fails due to everyday use, the demand for replacement systems grows ever stronger, fuelled largely by the almost insatiable demands of a new generation of retro gaming enthusiasts...
Editorial Nintendo NX in Multiple Form Factors Could Shake Up the Video Game Industry
A new way to play and buy games
Nintendo, perhaps, has us in the palm of its Master Hand. As July begins to drift by there's a general feeling and assumption that the NX 'unveiling', whatever form it'll take, could fall as late as September or October. It would be a way to grab headlines heading into the Winter and Holiday season without having to...
Guide Here's How To Get Pokémon GO On iPhone And Android
Super effective!
Pokémon GO has just gone live in Australia and Japan, but for the rest of the world, you can't access the app unless you're willing to jump through a few hoops. [Update: it's now also available in the US] Thankfully, we're here to make that process a little easier. Here's how you can get Pokémon GO on your iOS or Android device...
First Impressions Exploring Whether Toad is a Fungi in Mario Party Star Rush
Getting the party started
Mario Party Star Rush was one of only a few new Nintendo announcements out of E3, with Ever Oasis by Grezzo (due in 2017) being the other major reveal. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was arguably a reveal too, but that was perhaps more of an unveiling, as it's a game we'd known about for around two years before it...
Feature An Insider's Look At The End Of An Era At Official Nintendo Magazine
Kate Gray on the final glorious days of a UK media legend
Back in 2014, I was fresh out of university, working in a call centre and feeling like maybe I'd never get anywhere in my dream to be a games journalist. I was also feeling like it was a stupid idea to dream of being a games journalist, because it's one of those jobs like "Jaffa Cake taster"...
Feature The Biggest Wii U and 3DS Games of 2016 - Summer Edition
Yes, we're combining the lists...
Summer is pouncing upon us and at the time of writing it's Independence Day in the US and a tad drizzly in this writer's part of the UK. It seems like a typical early July day, but we are shaking things up a little in this latest quarterly entry of the 'Biggest Games' series. We're combining the Wii U and 3DS...
Japan Weekly Previews and Reviews as Famitsu Continues to Play Catch-Up with E3
Puzzle & Dragons X sees more coverage as well
With so much news coming out of E3 a few weeks ago and only so many pages in a magazine, Famitsu has struggled to keep up with it all. Like last week, ample E3 news buried a few shining gems of information about upcoming Nintendo games, along with a couple obscure titles that will likely never see the...
First Impressions Looking Back With Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past
The old and the new
There are a small group of titles coming to the 3DS in 2016 that will target a broad audience, but one Summer release in particular has engaged a dedicated group of RPG fans - Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past. The wait for localisation certainly made some rather unhappy, especially in Europe where the PS1...
Hardware Classics Pokémon Mini
Nintendo's smallest console, in both size and stature
It's somewhat ironic that one of Nintendo's most obscure consoles is so strongly aligned with one of its most instantly recognisable brands, but understanding why the Pokémon Mini wasn't quite as successful as it probably should have been is relatively easy; it was marketed poorly, the games...
Interview Yoshifumi Hashimoto talks us through Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns
"Deep down, everybody has times when they just want to relax"
Somewhere above the Los Angeles Convention Centre, the Harvest Goddess was smiling over this year's E3; along with Natsume's in-house-developed Harvest Moon: Skytree Village, XSEED brought a farming-fan-favourite in Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns — the latest game in the long-running...
Editorial An Ode To The Wii U GamePad, Nintendo's Mad But Brilliant Controller
Big, unwieldy, but occasionally innovative and exciting
Hindsight is a wonderful thing. In hindsight the GamePad has been a problem for the Wii U, a system that has stumbled as a result of multiple issues. It contributed to a higher-than-ideal launch price for the hardware, and has been largely underutilised for most of this generation. The Wii U,...
Editorial Sonic the Hedgehog and Super Mario 64 Were True Game Changers
For Nintendo, in particular, changing the game remains a key task
In the past week we celebrated the 25th anniversary of Sonic the Hedgehog and the 20th anniversary of Super Mario 64, two games that were hugely influential alongside their iconic systems. They were notable when they first launched not just for being excellent games, but for their...
Japan Weekly Shovel Knight Impresses Famitsu as Puzzle & Dragons X Follows in Pokemon's Footsteps
Zero Time Dilemma's review and a ninja brawler also make an appearance
It's been a while since Nintendo Life covered Famitsu magazine, but because it consistently features world-first previews and reviews of many Japanese Nintendo titles, we decided to bring it back for your reading pleasure. This week's magazine featured a double-page spread on...
Hands On Painting the Walls Red with Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
Oh, it's good. Very good.
Back in 1997, Koji Igarashi made gaming history with the extremely successful Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. The reason that Castlevania shares half of the name with "Metroidvania", Symphony of the Night was lauded for its fantastic art direction and intricately designed castle. Later on, the formula established by...
Preview Over-Sized Swords and Athletic Finesse in Monster Hunter Generations
Bigger and more monstrous than ever
When a series gets to a decade old it naturally becomes ripe for experimentation and evolution, as fans crave fresh gameplay and executives dream of bigger sales. It's no surprise, then, that Monster Hunter Generations dabbles with a range of new ideas that allow players to approach the hunt in different ways...
Will you still love me when I'm 64?
To mark the 20th birthday of Nintendo's 64-bit wonder we're republishing this feature on the console, which originally went live on the site in December 2014. The Nintendo 64 is a console which divides opinions, even today. For some, it was an unforgivable fall from grace after the dizzying heights of the SNES;...
Editorial Mighty No. 9 and High Profile Disappointments Don't Invalidate Crowdfunding
Kickstarter and others bring risks, but sometimes they're worth it
I'm yet to play Mighty No. 9, but I've been following the chatter around it with a sense of weary resignation. It's been getting a lukewarm response in PS4 reviews, and the publisher hasn't exactly been rushing to get Wii U code out to anyone other than those who have paid for it...
Hands On Exploring Blocky Worlds with Cube Creator 3D's New Update
Better with friends
Cube Creator 3D launched a little over a year ago for the 3DS, in a time when Minecraft on Nintendo systems was nothing but a pipe dream. We liked the game then and we still like it now, but the development team hasn't been content to simply rest on its laurels and leave the project as is. A free update is due out for Cube...
First Impressions Working the Lands in Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns
Meanwhile, back at the ranches
This year's E3 was notable for many reasons, but for farming sim fans the bumper crop of 3DS agricultural adventures on display was one of the best. Along with the internally-developed Harvest Moon: Skytree Village at Natsume's booth, there was also the latest game in the Bokujō Monogatari series (formerly localized...
Hands On Dealing Death by a Thousand Cuts with SEVERED
The latest from DrinkBox Studios
Many of you will no doubt recall Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition, a wildly inventive and colorful 2D Metroidvania that set the eShop alight when it released back in 2014. We absolutely loved it, and if early impressions are anything to go by, it seems as though DrinkBox Studio's next game - coming to...
Hands On Skylanders Imaginators Brings Crash To Wii U For The First Time
Family Gamer TV's Andy Robertson gets back in touch with a gaming icon
Getting hands on with Skylanders Imaginators at E3 was something of a revelation. We had heard a lot about the character creator before the event but it wasn't until we tried it for ourselves that it became apparent just how in-depth and flexible this is. The interface works...
First Impressions Cowering in Fear in Corpse Party on 3DS
The kids aren’t alright
With Shantae and Story of Seasons filling XSEED's E3 booth with so much colour and cheer this year, there was one title that stood out starkly with its bloodstained logo and bleak look: Corpse Party on the 3DS. This inimitable Japanese indie horror game has been scaring people silly in various forms since 1996, and is now...
Hands On Waiting for the End of the World in Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse
In like Flynn
While Atlus' booth at E3 this year was decked out from top to bottom in Persona 5's deep red regalia, tucked in between artwork of the Phantom Thieves and attendees swarming for swag was a single splash of neon green, representing a hidden gem for 3DS gamers: Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse. This upcoming RPG is a sequel of sorts to...
Ninterview Avid Retro Game Collector Justin "Jutman" Hickman
"I would say close to 60 percent of my total collection is Nintendo"
In the latest of our long-running Ninterview series we speak to a UK-based video game collector with the kind of haul you can't help be insanely jealous of. Lifelong Zelda fan Justin Hickman - known on Twitter as "Jutman / thec0llect0r82" - was kind enough to sit down with us for a...
First Impressions Kicking It With Kunio-kun in River City: Tokyo Rumble
Return of the King
If you're a retro fan, chances are you've come across at least one game in the longstanding Kunio-kun series. Running steadily for the past 30 years in Japan and localized under such varied names as Renegade, River City Ransom, Street Gangs, Crash 'n The Boys, and Double Dragon, the series has been incredibly prolific and...
First Impressions Going Under the Gavel With Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice
No objections here
Nestled between the rowdy Street Fighter V stage and a rather impressive Monster Hunter airship at Capcom's E3 2016 sat an orange-tinted oasis of calm, in the Tibetan-esque temple of justice dedicated to Phoenix Wright's latest lawyerly adventure: Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice. We had the chance to go hands-on with a 20-minute...
Editorial Nintendo Did A Solid Job at E3 2016, But That Didn't Ease Long-Term Concerns
An exclusion from the broader picture remains a worry
Well, E3 2016 is over. Done. Finished. It was a show that - broadly speaking - didn't seem to set the world alight, but it also had some strong moments. Nintendo can probably look back at its week with some satisfaction, too. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild not only dominated social...
Hands On Embracing Freedom in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Where even the smallest details can surprise Zelda veterans
In our third and final hands on preview of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild from E3, Alan Lopez breaks down what makes it a unique new direction for the series. Links to our previous write-ups by Morgan Sleeper and Mitch Vogel can be found at the end. To really understand the...