New StreetPass features in Europe, update is worldwide
With no warning or fanfare Nintendo has released the latest update for the 3DS, version 6.0.0-11U. The update includes a save data backup feature for downloaded content, as well as a small improvement in system ability and usability. Save Data Backup Feature: Users can now back up save data...
Software results at lowest since May 2000
It's that time again, with the NPD results showing us how game software and hardware sold in the U.S. during May. The headline result, from a Nintendo perspective, is that the 3DS was the highest selling hardware system for the month; no firm number was given, so it's only known that it was more than the...
Supporting a good time
Way back in the days when video games in general were often referred to as 'Nintendo' games, a little gem called Tetris was packaged-in with the Game Boy, and it helped catapult the handheld to dominating heights. A couple of years later SEGA released the Game Gear, and in what can only be seen as an attempt to capitalize on...
3DS XL or current owners need not apply, so tough
Nintendo of Europe has been rather generous with 3DS promotions, with two notable examples to date — one rewarded 3DS XL owners with a free game, and the current promotion gives a fourth game for free if three others from a specified list are purchased. Nintendo of America has missed out to date,...
Coming to Japan this December
Sega has revealed that it is working on a 3DS RPG by the name of Hero Bank, where the ultimate goal isn't to save mankind, but to earn as much moolah as possible by taking part in a cyber sport known as "Hero Battle". Apparently, players can download "hero data" based on real-life individuals and use it in the game. It...
Even with downloads and promotions
Animal Crossing: New Leaf has been, in all likelihood, Nintendo's biggest release of the year to date. It's been long awaited by keen fans, but has also enjoyed a substantial build-up and marketing campaign as the company has sought to recreate the game's phenomenal success in Japan. Nintendo's stated that the...
No plans for any DLC at this time
The new Super Smash Bros. title was shown off during the E3 Nintendo Direct and news has been trickling through ever since. So far we know there will be a few new challengers, with Wii Fit Trainer, The Villager and Mega Man joining the fray, the Wii U and 3DS versions will have different stages, which...
Capture and share the moment
It's been a long time coming but Animal Crossing: New Leaf is out right now in both North America and Europe and it's not the only piece of software Nintendo has launched on the 3DS this week. The Nintendo 3DS Image Share is now available for players to use in the game, enabling them to share the goings on in their...
Exclusive access to Link's protector
Eiji Aonuma has presided over the The Legend of Zelda series for the past 15 years and has overseen some of the franchise's most iconic entries. We got the chance to sit down and speak with him during this year's E3 event, where he was promoting the two forthcoming instalments: The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker...
A nice quick look at the company's E3
Nintendo's E3 was certainly a bit different this year, as rather than a laser-focus on the events of a live presentation, it had the feel of revolving around multiple video releases — starting with the E3 Direct. There were the developer videos, which gave some enjoyable insight, while the standard round...
Is it October yet?
So it looks likely that Pokémon X & Y will be a bit of a success on 3DS. Something to do with the start of a new generation of one of the highest grossing gaming franchises in the industry, so we imagine that Nintendo, developer Game Freak and The Pokémon Company International are preparing bigger cash vaults and planning...
While 3DS delivers "magic that can't be replicated on a phone"
Nintendo's presence at E3, despite the battle between new systems from Microsoft and Sony, was nevertheless successful at earning some media attention. The focus was mostly on Wii U, as the company went into the expo with little choice but to acknowledge its issues so far, but...
Character customisation will be a thing
As we watched footage of Super Smash Bros. for both Wii U and 3DS at this year's E3, there was a nagging suspicion in the back of our minds at Nintendo Life HQ; will this support "cross-play", similar to that in Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, or are the games too different? No, is the simple answer.
Proud father
Mega Man creator Kenji Inafune is one of Capcom's most famous former employees, yet he appeared to part company with the publisher under a cloud. You might assume this could make Inafune rather bitter about how his former creations are being used by Capcom, but you couldn't be further from the truth. Speaking to VideoGamer, Inafune...
"We're certainly looking at different ways to add on content"
Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma has exclusively revealed to Nintendo Life that he and his team are looking into ways of incorporating DLC into future titles in the franchise. Speaking in an interview which will run on the site later today, Aonuma — who is currently hard at work on...
Mega Man is a "special case"
Smash Bros. and Mega Man fans alike are probably still buzzing over the Blue Bomber's inclusion in the latest Smash Bros., but series director Masahiro Sakurai has made it clear that including such third-party characters is something of a rarity. Players will remember that Super Smash Bros. Brawl was the first game in...
Tripping is out, for one
Some people like to place themselves in one of two camps when it comes to the Super Smash Bros. series: either siding with the faster-paced, more technical Melee or favoring the wilder yet easier to access Brawl. The rest of us just shrug and start chucking home run bats at each other no matter which version we’re playing,...
Still no date for Europe
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, the upcoming 3DS title set in the same world a A Link to the Past, has been listed for a November release in North America. The date was announced during an analyst meeting at E3, where Satoru Iwata revealed the schedule of 3DS titles Nintendo has in store for 2013. Europe is...
What's yours should be yours
Microsoft has shot itself in the foot so many times over the past few weeks that we imagine it's running perilously short on toes right now, but one of the biggest PR disasters it has experienced has to be the Xbox One's policy regarding game ownership. When you buy a game for the forthcoming console, you're effectively...
Nintendo working with third parties to release titles in the West
The Nintendo 3DS has been a huge hit in Japan. It consistently tops the hardware sales charts by quite a distance and naturally this has led to many Japanese studios investing in creating software for the system. This was something Nintendo President Satoru Iwata brought up during...
