Retro Features
Feature The Making of the Nintendo Virtual Boy
Nintendo's other attempt to crack the world of three dimensions
Everybody has an awkward secret that they'd rather not share with the world. Be it an old school photo that showcases your crimes against fashion or an acutely embarrassing vinyl LP in your record collection that you simply can't bear to part with, we keep these things hidden from the...
Feature The Making of the Nintendo Game Boy
Last year the machine turned 20, but what was it like to work with? We speak to the developers who made this legendary handheld sing
Every now and then a product comes along that is so groundbreaking that it becomes synonymous with its function. The Hoover, Cellotape, Pritt-Stik…these names and many more like them have become so intrinsically...
Feature The Making of Unirally
Whoever said 2 wheels are better than 1 clearly didn’t experience this wholly unique racing title
If you consider yourself to be a true artisan then there’s nothing worse that pouring your heart and soul into creating something truly breathtaking only to then be accused of flagrant plagiarism; such an allegation robs you of the unique...
Interviews Readers Ask Steve Wiebe
The King of Kong answers your questions
You asked, and now underdog star of the 2007 documentary The King of Kong and current holder of the Donkey Kong Jr. world record Steve Wiebe has answered. Before he takes on the Donkey Kong world record yet again at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco this week, see what Wiebe thinks about modern...
Feature Retro GT Clothing Interview
We catch up with the chaps behind this awesome gaming-related clothing brand
Video gaming has spawned many iconic images over the years, so its little surprise that many brands have crossed over to feature on various items of clothing. One of our favourite clothing companies has to be UK-based Retro GT, who specalise in custom-made designs that...
Feature The Spooky Denizens of the World of Nintendo
We run down the scariest of scaries the Big N has cooked up
We here at Nintendo Life love Halloween. Despite the fact it was originally a time when the dead were believed to cause sickness to the living and damage their crops, but nowadays it's just a good excuse to gorge ourselves on delicious, delicious candy. As part of our All Hallows’ Eve...
Book Review Game Over: How Nintendo Zapped an American Industry
Game over man
You won’t find an abundance of book reviews here on Nintendo Life – we’re aimed squarely at providing you the best content from the world of interactive entertainment, after all – but anyone who considers themselves to be a fan of The Big N (or video gaming in general) should read David’s Sheff’s Game Over (or Game Over:...
Feature The Making Of The Wizard, The Greatest Nintendo Movie Ever Made (Honest)
We go behind the scenes of one of Hollywood’s most misunderstood classics
The Wizard is very much a guilty pleasure. When the film was released it was panned by critics and flopped at the box office, yet many people still talk about it in hushed, almost reverent tones over fifteen years after its release. Although many critics will gladly tell you...
Features Metroid's Metal Makeover
How five guys blasted the series' haunting soundtrack into a whole different genre - without sucking
The trouble with covering beloved music is that it’s so easy to lose something in the translation. Successfully capturing the original work’s intent and mood is atypical; what most often happens when things go south is the heart and soul of the...
A little history lesson on Nintendo's adorable platforming star.
Since many gamers outside of Japan are not terribly familiar with the Densetsu no Stafi series of games, not to mention the fact that The Legendary Starfy is set to be released in North American on June 9th, we thought it would be fun to take a look at the history of the series...
Talking Point Copyright and Video Games
What is stopping us from experiencing the entire history of video games?
Last year Taito issued Space Invaders Get Even on the WiiWare download service as well as multiple versions of the original game on the Japanese, PAL and North American Virtual Consoles. This was in celebration of the 30th annivesary of the release of Space Invaders in arcades...
Feature April Fool Jokes – The Dust Settles
We select our favourite Nintendo-related pranks from the big day
April 1st is a day feared by regular inhabitants of the internet. It’s the one day of the year when you can practically ignore all amazing and outlandish news stories as rival sites attempt to out-do each other with their attempts at humour. However, putting aside the more pathetic...
Feature Hardware Focus - NEC SuperGrafx
In 1989 the PC Engine was still selling quite well in Japan, but Sega's 16-bit Mega Drive system was beginning to pick up steam and Nintendo's Super Famicom console was looming just around the corner. Sensing this, NEC decided that they needed a true 16-bit console if they were to have any hope of continuing their success in the Japanese console wars.
The successor to the PC Engine was originally planned to be an entirely new system with true 16-bit architecture, but somewhere along the lines NEC decided to instead go for a 'quick fix' and thus the SuperGrafx console was born. Instead of designing a whole new system, NEC basically...
Movie Review The Wizard (1989)
Forget all you've been told. This film kicks all kinds of ass
In a world where everyone seems to have an opinion and they’re all too happy to force it upon others, it’s worth remembering that when judging something (be it a book, film or videogame) it all depends on your connection with that particular piece of media. For example, watching a...
Feature Castlevania: The Nintendo Years
Fangs for the memories
Although Konami’s influential vampire slaying franchise has since gone on to find success on several different hardware platforms, the association with the Nintendo NES is arguably what made the series so famous worldwide. The trio of 8-bit Castlevania titles remain highly regarded by fans and still stand up to scrutiny even...
Feature 10 Games We'd Like To See On The Wii
Is it too late to ask Santa for these?
The runaway success of Nintendo’s Wii has granted many publishers and developers a bit more freedom to experiment with their software. With such a massive installed base of users, software houses can be a little bolder with their ideas because chances are even brave failures will shift a few copies. Here at...
Feature A Brief History Of The Light Gun On Nintendo
With the imminent launch of the Wii Zapper here at NintendoLife we've gotten a little nostalgic as memories of the NES Zapper and Super Scope are brought flooding back.
Light guns were around in the 1930’s beginning with Seeburg’s Ray-O-Light arcade shooter all the way back in 1936. The game involved a moving duck which must be shot in order to...
Feature Hardware Lookback: The Virtual Boy
Headache-inducing monstrosity or misunderstood classic? Whatever the answer, the Virtual Boy represents Nintendo's biggest cock-up. We investigate the history of this strange console.
‘Failure’ is not a word you’d usually associate with Nintendo. Sure, there have been some crushing disappointments in the company’s illustrious history – the...
Gone, but not forgotten
As we count down to the release of Wii, we look back at our favourite moments on Gamecube. The Gamecube has been some what of a mixed bag, it's provided us with some classic moments but maybe its let us down, once more, with third party titles. It's pretty safe to say its done better than the Nintendo 64. We expect alot of...
