A survivor in a harsh new world
The DS family of systems is wonderful in many ways, and achieved sales - the highest ever for a range of gaming portables - that are staggering: around 154 million units. That number accounts for those picking up replacements or upgrading to new models, yes, but it's a monstrous number that is representative of...
Free-to-play needs to make money somehow...
Nintendo is just hours away - at the time of writing - from announcing its Q3 financial results, which will teach us much about its Holiday season performance. The company's stable share prices approaching the publication of these accounts suggests that we're not looking at apocalyptic target misses, and...
The Super Mario range doesn't stir the soul like Smash Bros., it seems
When it comes to amiibo we often discuss stock issues, and the fact that acquiring specific toys is akin to obtaining an interesting quote from a politician - difficult and mostly fruitless; yet there's perhaps not enough focus on the concept itself. Until last week its...
The Club Nintendo brand shouldn't necessarily be lost, however
There was some surprising news today with the upcoming closure of Club Nintendo, bringing an end to Nintendo's only consistent consumer loyalty programme. There have often been promotions to encourage gamers to buy and enjoy more systems and games, with the Nintendo Network Deluxe /...
A delayed Western arrival and XL-only in the Americas detracts from buzz
The New Nintendo 3DS now has a release date for both North America and Europe, with 13th February no doubt circled on a number of calendars. It continues Nintendo's trend of sprucing up and revitalising a portable generation with a refreshed system, and there's certainly...
The bigger the better in 2015
An accusation occasionally hurled at Nintendo is that it's slow or behind the times in social media, and failing to do enough on platforms such as YouTube and Twitch. It would have been a valid point in past years, certainly, but it looks increasingly wrong with each passing year; 2014 brought some major improvements...
We'll tak' a year o' blockbusters yet
2014 is drawing to a close, ending another year of fun, frustration, innovation and madness in the world of Nintendo. Once again the Kyoto company went its own way, which is a strength and weakness in any given circumstances. The 3DS continued to sell in highly respectable numbers, though may track below 2013,...
Communication, stock and implementation could have been better
For Nintendo fans and Wii U owners, we feel that the last few months have been a terrific period — there's been excitement and buzz around 2015 games and, more importantly, a selection of high quality and hugely enjoyable games that are in stores now. There's been a perceivable shift...
Nintendo's range is off to a blistering start, but what could 2015 hold?
Amid the confusion regarding amiibo figures apparently being discontinued (and then not) and the scarcely credible defected models we've been seeing, it's easy to miss the fact that Nintendo's new "toys to life" range has been a storming success — so much so that the...
A move by Nintendo into the mobile space could make the company even bigger
Rumours of Nintendo working on its own mobile phone have been appearing on and off for the past decade, and recently we even heard that the idea almost become a reality back in 2004. The prospect of owning a mobile telecommunications device crafted to suit Nintendo's...
All the pieces have come together
We often talk up Nintendo's alternative and unique approach in the current games market, primarily that of generally focusing on colourful, fun games that often run at a silky smooth 60 frames per second; when it comes to Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, we're even looking at a native 1080p resolution to round off the...
Satoru Iwata's "Same-Generation Hypothesis" actually makes sense
It's almost taken for granted that Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire will perform well on 3DS (and 2DS) over the Holiday season. It's the safest bet for Nintendo since Pokémon X & Y jumped into a bold new 3D engine and became the biggest-selling of all 3DS games;...
Its ambition is both a strength and a curse
Back in August we outlined amiibo pros and cons, mainly within the context that Nintendo had revealed little about the figures over the course of the summer months. Many questions have since been answered in terms of how the figures will be used in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, in addition to their minor...
It was a S.T.E.A.M.Y Direct
This week Nintendo produced a rather traditional Direct broadcast — there was no animation, relatively little flashy presentation beyond trailers, and a diverse range of announcements. It was back to type and rather like those that we'd seen throughout 2013; that's not a criticism, as Nintendo has diversified its...
Bayonetta 2 joins the brilliant Wonderful 101
We argued, right at the start of our Bayonetta 2 review, that the "Wii U library is small, but also diverse and exciting". The reason we opened with that point is that, despite lazy comments often shared online — increasingly irrelevant with each passing month — stating that the Wii U has 'no...
Proper next-gen
There was a period, in the latter half of the last generation of systems, when it seemed as if Sony and Microsoft were making a major play for the young gamer's market — Microsoft pushed for advertising presence on major multi-platform franchises, in particular, while Sony tried new ideas with its range of Wonderbook releases...
125 years and counting
On 23rd September 1889 Nintendo was founded as Nintendo Koppai, meaning the company is now 125 years old; it's been known as Nintendo Co., Ltd since 1963. The history of the company is particularly fascinating, and also reminds us of some important lessons regarding Nintendo; it's not solely a video game manufacturer,...
The 3DS brawler is given a chance to shine
With around 24 hours passed since its announcement, we can't help but be slightly amused by the understated nature of Nintendo of America's announcement of a Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS demo. Two of the Nintendo Treehouse staff stood outside their venerated department and, with a mixture of...
A human touch
It's not so long ago that The Treehouse at Nintendo of America's HQ was a mystery, a department with a rather charming door behind which delights could be found. It was tempting to think of it as a smaller game-related version of Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, with Oompa Loompas in Mario hats singing songs and playing games. Of...
Game changer
When Nintendo announced a Japan-only 3DS Direct, one phrase immediately came to mind — RPGs. Yet what happened was entirely unexpected. Not only was new 3DS hardware announced, but it's a substantial change that can — perceivably — extend the life of the portable a fair amount. We've discussed, here in the office and briefly in...
