Hardware

So cheer up

Last week we learnt that Nintendo Japan is discontinuing the Aqua Blue 3DS, and we anxiously wondered what it might mean for us in the West. We've heard back from Nintendo Europe now and it's good news. The official line is that "this announcement is only for the Japanese market", meaning there should be a steady stream of Aqua...

Cobalt from the blue

Nintendo of Japan will soon end production of the Aqua Blue 3DS console. The company's 3DS page lists the currently available colours, with Aqua Blue bearing the note "scheduled to end production shortly" (近日生産終了予定). In March, Nintendo released the Cobalt Blue 3DS for Japan, so it makes sense to stick...

Looks the part

Wii U's controller will come with a built-in rechargeable battery, so naturally Nintendo will provide a means of charging it with the console. It may not be as boring as a cable though: it could be an immensely exciting cradle. NeoGAF user Aostia claims to have unearthed a patent showing off a charging dock for the controller, which...

Nintendoes what Nintendidn't

While Nintendo may have struggled to explain adequately the Wii U's unique charms at E3, the machine was created with one principle in mind: to do what Wii can't. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata told investors that while being an improved Wii — it does full HD output for a start — it's designed to be a brand new...

Told you so

North American shoppers get a new colour to choose from in a few weeks when the rumoured Midnight Purple 3DS console hits stores. Coming on 20th May for a suggested retail price of $169.99, it joins Cosmo Black, Aqua Blue, Flame Red and Pearl Pink in the rainbow of handheld console colours. Will you be picking one up? Nintendo 3DS Gets...

We promise

Yesterday's leaked Rayman Legends trailer raced around the internet, wowing us with its demonstration of Wii U's near field communication technology and much more. Naturally the trailer was picked apart, with readers and some sites (like GameXplain, for instance) noticing a strange black square on the Wii U controller's underside:

DS top of the pile

Nintendo's released updated sales figures for all its consoles, and it's certainly a lot of numbers. The company's three current platforms — 3DS, Wii and the DS family — sit at a combined global sales figure of 264.5 million consoles sold. That figure's dwarfed by the software statistic: over 1.76 billion games have been sold...

What else could it do?

THQ's Danny Bilson wasn't kidding when he called the Wii U controller the "Swiss army knife of video game controllers." Touch screen, game streaming, motion control and near-field communication technology is all well and good, but the latest rumour points to the pad controlling more than just the Wii U console. A...

The money merry-go-around

While nobody can seem to agree on exactly what's inside the Wii U, one anonymous tipster has told Forget the Box that the console's components will cost around $180 USD. That figure supposedly comes from sources "closely involved with manufacturing and distributing Nintendo products." The $180 number includes the...

Feels good

Here's a Wii U rumour that's more towards the 'believable' end of the scale: Wii U's new controller could include haptic technology. According to an E3 floor plan (via NeoGAF), haptics specialist ViviTouch will show a Wii U peripheral at the upcoming trade show. ViviTouch's haptic tech is a more advanced form of physical feedback than...

It worked for Wii

As the release of Wii U approaches, much focus seems to be on its technical capabilities, particularly its graphical prowess. Comments from anonymous developers that Wii U is less powerful than PS3 and Xbox 360 have raised the issue about how capable the machine 'needs' to be in terms of the graphics it's producing: we've already...

It's how you use it

One topic's dominated the Wii U news since Nintendo revealed its new console at E3 2011 — just how powerful is it? Nintendo's Wii U technical specifications give the vaguest of nods to its under-the-hood power, just mentioning a multi-core IBM processor — which we know is based on game show-conquering chip Watson — but it...

Has "really great processor"

There's a lot of Wii U love going on at Gearbox these days. Last week Randy Pitchford implored Nintendo for more Wii U power, and now the studio's Brian Martell has told Official Nintendo Magazine the console will have one of the best-looking versions of upcoming shooter Aliens: Colonial Marines. Martell is chief...

Is it, isn't it?

Welcome once again to the best game show on the internet, How Powerful is Wii U? While recently Darksiders II developer Vigil Games said Wii U is "on par" with current generation consoles, now a band of anonymous developers have spoken out to Games Industry.biz about the machine's power, claiming it's not got quite as much...

No concessions necessary

Vigil Games, the team behind Darksiders II on Wii U, has told GameReactor that Nintendo's new console isn't a huge technical leap over the Xbox 360 and PS3. In a video interview, game director Marvin Donald told the site: So far the hardware's been on par with what we have with the current generations. Based on what I...

Japanese gamers win again

We often tell you about limited edition 3DS consoles being released in Japan, simply because Nintendo's homeland has so many. There have been hardware exclusives dedicated to various themes, games and anniversaries, though the latest is arguably the most attractive. The console shown in this article's image is celebrating...

The biggest retro hardware release in more ways than one

The lapse of hardware patents on retro platforms has resulted in an explosion of clone machines, most of which are produced cheaply in the Far East. These systems emulate the performance of consoles such as the NES, Super Nintendo and Genesis/Mega Drive, all of which are no longer covered by...

Roar power

Not content with releasing a cobalt blue 3DS console this month, Nintendo of Japan is also putting together two more hardware bundles for Monster Hunter 3 G. Japanese consumers can pick a red or black 3DS console packaged with a copy of the game and an official MH3G cleaning cloth, all for 19,800 Yen — about £153 / $244 / €183. Has...

More colour coming

Nintendo of Japan just pulled the sheet off its newest 3DS colour: Cobalt Blue. The darker blue — which you may remember from a DS Lite that hit Japan and North America — is scheduled to go on sale across the country from 22nd March, the same day Kid Icarus: Uprising goes on sale. Even more beautiful is the special edition...

One cartridge, infinite possibilities

They may not find much favour with purists, but flash carts are becoming increasingly popular these days. The rapid march of technology combined with the low cost of flash-based storage has generated a wide selection of different options, almost all of which are produced in limited quantities and to very crude...

All change

The Wii U controller features 3DS-like Circle Pad sliders instead of the tilting analogue sticks that have been the industry norm since Nintendo 64. That wasn't always the case, though. An earlier version of the controller than the one we've seen included proper analogue sticks raised from the controller's surface, among other changes, as...

Mario, karts and monsters to the rescue

In recent weeks we've been reporting the exceptionally good run that 3DS is having in Japan, consistently selling more than all of its rivals combined. It's been confirmed today that it has hit yet another milestone, and in record time. As reported by Andriasang, Japanese chart master Media Create has...

Ahh, young love

The pearl pink Nintendo 3DS is ready to cast off the shackles of its previous relationship and strike out on its own from 10th February. The console — previously only available with pooch-snuggler Nintendogs + Cats — is ready to drink cheap wine and sing I Will Survive just before Valentine's Day rolls around. Shoppers in North America will be able to pick up the machine for..

A thin line between love and hate

It says a lot about the absurdity of the Circle Pad Pro that when its existence was leaked last year, some hardcore Nintendo supporters refused to believe it was real. The concept of adding an additional analogue stick to the machine by the way of a chunky add-on seemed almost unbelievable; surely Nintendo...