Author Profile
James started his career in video games as News Editor on Nintendo Life. Since leaving in 2012 to join Nintendo of Europe, James has risen through the ranks to become NoE's Senior Product PR & Corporate Communications Manager.
News Your First Look at Pandora's Tower is Below These Words
Open the box
Nintendo's financial report in January this year unearthed all sorts of interesting bits of news, including Pandora's Tower on Wii. The game stayed hidden atop a lofty tower until now, as Nintendo has released the first trailer for its Wii adventure. The game appears to be a story-driven action game, with cutscenes spliced between...
News What's Going On With Solatorobo: Red the Hunter?
Trademarks and ratings emerge
As if screaming "don't forget about me!", the humble Nintendo DS has given gamers a glimmer of hope that at least one more intriguing title will make it to the handheld; in Europe, at least. Namco Bandai recently trademarked Solatorobo: Red the Hunter, presumably a localised version of its currently Japan-only...
News Nintendo Buys Up TheLastStory.com, Points to Nintendo.com
Announcement on the way?
Japanese RPG The Last Story has attracted more than a few envious glances from transatlantic gamers eager to delve into Mistwalker's Wii roleplayer, but so far Nintendo has made no concrete announcements about the game heading to the West. Now there's a little glimmer of hope for fans in North America. The domain name...
News Ubisoft's Petz Fantasy 3D Contains Lethal Levels of Cuteness
Oh gaudy
After a glorious two weeks on shelves around North America and Europe, the 3DS has convinced many it's not just a souped-up Nintendo DS: it's got no Petz games for a start. Well, that honeymoon period is about to end, as Ubisoft has announced Petz Fantasy 3D for release in June. Animals including unicorns and red pandas hatch from giant...
News Get a Gold Blanka Figurine Via SpotPass Now
Or read the code inside
SpotPass, so we're told, will deliver fresh updates straight to your 3DS: new characters, new content, all automatically and for free. Don't believe us? Ask a Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition player, as they recently received a new figurine from Capcom through thin air. While a level 7 golden Blanka statue doesn't sound...
News Sega Teases Sonic Anniversary Announcement for 7th April
Hold onto your sneakers
Last year was the 25th anniversary of Super Mario Bros., and there was much rejoicing, but this year Sega's jumping for joy over Sonic the Hedgehog reaching 20 years old. While Sonic's official birthday is 23rd June, the celebrations kick off on Thursday 7th April at the official Sonic the Hedgehog Facebook page. The Sonic...
News After Nine Years, Retro Studios Thinks Like Nintendo
Two companies "share a vision"
While many of us would love to work 10,000km away from your boss, when you're creating new instalments in some of Nintendo's best-loved series, it's not ideal. That's the situation at Texas-based Retro Studios, but after years of working with Nintendo's Japanese headquarters the developer has learnt a valuable skill:...
News Nintendo Refutes Claims of Widespread 3DS Headaches
Responds to refunds, too
Lynchpin of tabloid sensationalism The Sun has recently kicked up a fuss over the Nintendo 3DS, claiming thousands of users have suffered headaches and dizziness as a result of using the machine, but have been refused refunds at retailers. Now Nintendo UK has stepped in to respond, a spokesperson stating: Recent reports are...
News Steel Diver Depth Charges Towards Europe on 6th May
Sub-tle puns ahoy
The wait for submarine adventure Steel Diver to reach Europe won't be as long as first feared, as Nintendo confirms the game will hit the continent on 6th May. The game is a combination of styles, with a two-dimensional obstacle course of sorts as well as a gyroscope-powered periscope mode and a Battleships-style strategy minigame...
News Pac-Man & Galaga Dimensions Includes Modern Remakes
Including Championship Edition
The new motion-controlled games in Pac-Man & Galaga Dimensions aren't the only versions of the Namco classics you'll be able to play when the compilation launches in May, as Famitsu (via Andriasang) has revealed there are a further four games included on the cartridge. As well as the original arcade versions of...
News WayForward Talks 3DS Shantae Possibilities
Sounds eager
Shantae: Risky's Revenge is the best thing on DSiWare and, according to Metacritic, the best game released on DS last year, a stunning achievement indeed. With the 3DS available now, WayForward's Matt Bozon has touched on plans to bring the half-genie into the third dimension in an interview with CVG. While there was no official...
News WiiWare Gets Weirder with Pelvic Floor Training on Friday
Deal clencher
Last year Kaasa released Physio Fun Balance Training to help rehabilitate patients following hip, leg or foot surgery. Many readers rubbed their eyes in disbelief, but you've seen nothing yet. This Friday sees the release of Physiofun: Pelvic Floor Training for 1,000 Nintendo Points. Pelvic floor exercises are chiefly used to help...
Nintendo Download 4th April 2011 (North America)
Here's your Bonk
Banishing the memory of last week's poor showings on the Nintendo Download, this week offers up a bumper crop of games, with Virtual Console, DSiWare and WiiWare all receiving fresh new games to play. Virtual Console: Super Bonk (Super NES, 800pts) — A platformer so classic it's practically prehistoric, Super Bonk takes the...
Review Where's Wally? Fantastic Journey 1 (WiiWare)
Lite stripes
The world's most famous stripe-wearing recluse is making his first appearance on WiiWare following a trio of outings on DSiWare. Where's Wally? Fantastic Journey 1 (known as Where's Waldo? in North America) is all-but identical to the DSiWare release Where's Wally? Travel Pack 1, with the same stages and objectives, but it works much...
News PlatinumGames President Saddened by Decline of New Ideas
Pledges to bring smiles back
Japanese developer PlatinumGames has been responsible for some pretty innovative games over the past five years: Wii gorefest MadWorld and DS space RPG Infinite Space for Nintendo's formats, as well as the superlative Bayonetta and Vanquish for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Five years in and not a sequel in sight,...
News Mysterious Teaser Image Hints at BIT.TRIP 3D
CommanderVideo to return?
It's pretty certain that Gaijin Games is developing for 3DS, but the team isn't yet ready to share any concrete details. However, this mysterious teaser image just arrived in our inbox here at Nintendo Life, pointing to a possible 3D excursion for CommanderVideo. Bear in mind that as with most things posted today there's...
News Captain America and Thor Trailers Power-Up Wii Together
Sega's Marvel-lous double team
Cards on the table here: Sega's comic book movie tie-ins have not been fantastic. Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk; none of these games have set the world of Wii alight. But hey, we have new trailers for Thor: God of Thunder and Captain America: Super Soldier to make things better. Both tie-ins for upcoming Ma
News 3DS is the Fastest-Selling Nintendo Handheld in Europe, Too
Cue global hootenanny
Nintendo of America was quick to shout when the 3DS had the best first-day sales of any Nintendo handheld, and now Nintendo of Europe has joined in the sales trumpeting by confirming that it too has enjoyed record-breaking sales. According to the press release, 303,000 3DS consoles were sold across Europe in the first weekend...
News 3DSWare File Size May Be Bigger Than WiiWare
Let's hope so
WiiWare's restrictive 40MB file size has caused a few casualties in its time, with promising projects making the jump across to other formats where there's a little more room to breathe. While we still don't know much about 3DSWare, other than this fetching (if temporary) 3DSWare logo, a new interview with Nnooo's Nic Watt suggests we...
News Monster World IV Coming to Virtual Console in Europe
PEGI rating seals the deal
In February we brought you news that Monster World IV was finally coming Westward, according to a rating by the Australian OFLC, and there was much rejoicing. Now the European rating board PEGI has got in on the act, rating the game for Virtual Console in Europe. Naturally there's no specific release date yet, but the fact...
News Happy Two-Year "Nintendo Life" Anniversary
Celebrating two years of awesomeness
It was on this day in 2009 that Nintendo Life merged with WiiWare World and VC-Reviews to create the site you see before you now. In the past two years we've seen enormous growth: our monthly readership has more than doubled in that time, and we now receive more than one million visits every month, making us one...
News DS Has Outsold Xbox 360, PS3 and PSP Combined in Europe
Prepare for big numbers
DS is Europe's undoubted sales champion, according to recent data from GameStop and technology research firm IDG. In fact, such is the console's success, its sales are more than triple any other non-Nintendo console on the market. With an estimated 114m current generation consoles in homes around Europe, the Nintendo DS makes...
Nintendo Download 1st April 2011 (Europe)
Will you be an April fool?
This week's North American Nintendo Download was underwhelming to say the least, and its European counterpart absolutely blows it out of the water. Let's see what treats await. Virtual Console: Brawl Brothers (JALECO, Super NES, 800pts) — We've already got Rival Turf on Virtual Console, and now its successor reaches the...
News Xenoblade Chronicles Heading to Europe This Year
At long last!
Fans of Japanese RPGs have been gazing longingly at Xenoblade for a long time now, but those soppy eyes are about to cheer up as Nintendo of Europe announces the game will find release there under the name Xenoblade Chronicles. Featuring new English voiceovers as well as the original Japanese actors, the game will also include English,...
