Thomas Whitehead

Thomas Whitehead

Former Editor, Nintendo Life

Author Profile

Tom has been involved in the games industry for over a decade, mostly writing about it or struggling to sell Indie games. Loves reading, writing, hunting Capcom’s fiercest monsters and watching baseball.

Having joined the site in 2011, Tom took over as Editor three years later, ably steering the good ship Nintendo Life through the Wii U waters and safely into the Switch era. He now serves as a Producer at PM Studios.

Username
ThomasBW84
Articles
11,883 (257 reviews)
First Article
Wed 26th, January 2011
Avg. Review Score
6.8
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  • Toki Tori 2 Top 5 - What's New In The Sequel

    9

    Feature Toki Tori 2 Top 5 - What's New In The Sequel

    Calling the shots

    Toki Tori 2, the sequel to one of WiiWare's best-known titles, arrives on the Wii U eShop on 20th December. This sequel features significant changes from the structure and gameplay of the original release, while the included level editor may give extra life to the experience for any budding game designers with their hands on a Wii...

  • Hacker Claims To Have Deciphered Wii U CPU and GPU Speeds

    95

    News Hacker Claims To Have Deciphered Wii U CPU and GPU Speeds

    Info apparently obtained from Wii U hacks

    For plenty that aren't merely interested in playing games on Wii U, but also want to know about its capabilities under the hood, the past few weeks have been full of claim and counter-claim about various aspects of the system. The CPU has been at the forefront of the debate, with negative and damning...

  • 30th November 2012 (Europe) - Wii U Edition

    52

    Nintendo Download 30th November 2012 (Europe) - Wii U Edition

    Got your hard drive ready?

    Wii U is finally arriving in Europe and PAL regions, and with it comes all of the excitement of a new system. Part of that — after the system update, of course — is the Wii U eShop, which arrives with some exciting download-only games as well as a host of retail titles. There's plenty to get through, so let's get to...

  • Nintendo Shrinks Prices and Consoles

    59

    Talking Point Nintendo Shrinks Prices and Consoles

    It's all about the money, mini, money

    When we first reported the rumour of a Wii Mini, we made the mistake of including a slightly mocking tagline that referred to flying pigs. With the existing Wii models already selling at such low prices, the concept of Nintendo arranging the manufacturing, packaging and advertising for a new model this late in...

  • Animal Crossing: New Leaf Surpasses One Million Sales

    42

    News Animal Crossing: New Leaf Surpasses One Million Sales

    E.X. Troopers has an underwhelming start

    When Animal Crossing: New Leaf was released in Japan, demand was so high that physical copies of the game sold out, while eShop download sales returned some rather impressive results. Subsequent weeks have remained solid, with the latest Media Create results showing that the title has passed the one million...

  • Mario Kart 7 3DS XL Bundle Confirmed for North America

    33

    News Mario Kart 7 3DS XL Bundle Confirmed for North America

    Rumour drifts into truth

    Less than 24 hours ago we reported two fresh 3DS rumours, which involved a standard model price cut and a new XL bundle. It didn't take long for one of them to be confirmed by Nintendo, with Holiday shoppers set to be tempted by a blue 3DS XL that also includes Mario Kart 7. As previously reported, this bundle will have a...

  • Game Designer Says "Wii U Isn't Sure of Itself, and That's its Greatest Virtue"

    39

    News Game Designer Says "Wii U Isn't Sure of Itself, and That's its Greatest Virtue"

    Nintendo tackles modern technology habits

    There are plenty of us, outside of North America at least, that are waiting to spend serious time on Wii U, so concepts such as asynchronous multiplayer are still shrouded in some mystery; even early adopters are likely to still be discovering new uses for the system's GamePad controller. Plenty is already...

  • Nintendo of Europe Gives Free Retail Game to 3DS XL Owners

    154

    News Nintendo of Europe Gives Free Retail Game to 3DS XL Owners

    Download delights

    Club Nintendo is a nice extra for Nintendo gamers, though we imagine there are a few that don't necessarily bother to go through the process of logging in and completing surveys for all of their game or hardware purchases. That may change due to a handsome new promotion for 3DS XL, as Nintendo of Europe is offering a free retail...

  • 3DS Gearing Up For Another Price Drop

    52

    Rumour 3DS Gearing Up For Another Price Drop

    Not quite as drastic this time

    Today's confirmation of Wii Mini, initially in Canada alone, is an intriguing move that is as surprising as it is creative. After all, our very first report of the rumour had a cheeky tagline referring to flying pigs; consider it a lesson learned, never underestimate Nintendo logic. Rumours of a fresh 3DS price drop...

  • Wii U Shifts 400K Units in Début Week

    34

    News Wii U Shifts 400K Units in Début Week

    It's "essentially sold out of retail"

    Nintendo's revealed its sales results to incorporate the Wii U launch and the Black Friday festivities, with NoA COO Reggie Fils-Aime weighing in with the company's perspective in an interview with CNET. Nintendo's total hardware sales — according to internal data — hit around 1.2 million units in the U.S.,...

  • Wii Mini Console Outed By Retailer Release Schedule

    60

    Rumour Wii Mini Console Outed By Retailer Release Schedule

    Flying pigs also sighted

    We like a good rumour here at Nintendo Life, but the latest delicious morsel to grace the internet is crazy enough that it might be true. This one's definitely a case of "only Nintendo", we give you... Wii Mini. While "mini" devices are quite the craze right now courtesy of a certain fruit-named tablet device, the concept...

  • Lack of "OMG" Idea Explains Borderlands Wii U Absence

    54

    News Lack of "OMG" Idea Explains Borderlands Wii U Absence

    Aliens: Colonial Marines pushed some buttons

    Gearbox is the developer behind Aliens: Colonial Marines, a title coming to Wii U in 2013 that promises to make many film-buffs weep with joy at the first "beep" sound to emanate from the GamePad. The famous motion control sensor from Aliens will be recreated on the system's controller, and is likely to...

  • Reggie Fils-Aime: Wii U Is "Much More Graphically Intensive" Than Rival Systems

    42

    News Reggie Fils-Aime: Wii U Is "Much More Graphically Intensive" Than Rival Systems

    Content from major devs to make for a "well-rounded console"

    While there's been much talk about Wii U in terms of its substantial launch lineup, as well as opinions on the system's operation system and functions such as Miiverse, there's also been plenty of discussion about CPU chips and graphical capabilities. Like Wii before it, some are...

  • YouTube App Goes Live on Wii U

    27

    News YouTube App Goes Live on Wii U

    In case you hadn't tapped the icon yet

    After a launch day that involved a firmware update and a few icons on the home menu that weren't quite ready for action, Wii U is starting to get into its stride with entertainment apps. It's not just about games, remember. If you haven't tried it in the last couple of days, you should know that the free...

  • Japanese Import Ban on R4 Cartridges Becomes Law

    31

    News Japanese Import Ban on R4 Cartridges Becomes Law

    Only years too late

    So, R4 cartridges. These are the devices that allow gamers to circumvent the security measure on a DS to run custom code — often referred to as homebrew — and illegally download copies of games. While the former reason often provides the grounds for defence of these cards, there are also a lot of people who used them to...

    • DS
  • What Games Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue Eight

    106

    Talking Point What Games Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue Eight

    Where shall we start?

    So, last time we ran one of these articles we suggested we'd try to get back to a fortnightly routine. That's one crazy aspiration too far, especially as Nintendo is intent on throwing interesting news, Nintendo Direct broadcasts and new HD consoles at us from all directions. Let's drop the promises, and say that we'll do these...

  • GoldenEye 007 Wii Dev Suffers Major Job Losses

    25

    News GoldenEye 007 Wii Dev Suffers Major Job Losses

    "Focusing mainly on mobile opportunities moving forward"

    Eurocom, the development studio probably best known for GoldenEye 007 on Wii, has today announced a large number of redundancies as part of a restructuring effort. The company has confirmed that its number of employees has dropped from over 200 to just 50. Eurocom has been in business since...

  • Publisher Dream Bringing Game Development Aspirations to DSiWare

    19

    News Publisher Dream Bringing Game Development Aspirations to DSiWare

    Release your games on the "cShop"

    Not too long ago Circle Entertainment brought Bookstore Dream to DSiWare, a thoroughly decent resource management sim that drew inspiration from similar titles available on smartphones. In that case it was all about managing stock and attracting customers, but the developer has announced a new entry in the series,...

  • Wii U UK Launch Event Set for HMV in London

    14

    News Wii U UK Launch Event Set for HMV in London

    Free games for the first 100

    With one week before its release in Europe, details have now emerged of the UK's Wii U launch event — it's set for HMV's flagship London store on Oxford Street. As you'd expect it'll be a midnight launch, and various incentives and activities are planned to keep eager Wii U early-adopters warm. The doors will...

  • Nintendo Provides Final Wii U Launch Line-Up for Europe

    47

    News Nintendo Provides Final Wii U Launch Line-Up for Europe

    The final, final list

    With the European launch of Wii U getting ever closer — quiet, North Americans — Nintendo of Europe has now issued its definitive list of packaged retails games that'll be there on day one. We already knew about all — or at least most — of these, but it's nevertheless nice to see a confirmed line-up for what games...

  • SUMO Digital Invites Fans To Campaign for Sonic Racing DLC Characters

    40

    News SUMO Digital Invites Fans To Campaign for Sonic Racing DLC Characters

    Now that's a challenge

    Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed is one of many Wii U launch titles, though it provides the sole source of racing fun for early adopters in North America. Of course the Wii U version, like its compatriots on Xbox 360 and PS3, will be open to potential DLC as the months pass by, and Sumo Digital's Steve Lycett has taken...

  • 22nd November 2012 (North America)

    83

    Nintendo Download 22nd November 2012 (North America)

    Mallo returns, Link has an adventure, spirits are hunted and more

    It's Thursday, which only means one thing here on Nintendo Life - it's download update time. This week sees a return for a popular 3DS eShop IP, a classic NES title, a long awaited DSiWare release and some other goodies. Nintendo's press release only mentions the Wii U eShop games...

  • This Zelda Video is Truly Epic

    30

    News This Zelda Video is Truly Epic

    One of the best you'll see

    We've seen some creative and clever videos over the years, with no shortage of film-making skill, that celebrate Nintendo franchises or characters. One of our favourites is this post-it Mario sequence, which used stop-motion video techniques and 7000 post-it notes — all in the name of entertainment. The talented people...

  • Wii U System Update Can Be Downloaded in the Background

    45

    News Wii U System Update Can Be Downloaded in the Background

    Play while you wait

    If one complaint drowned out all others among excited Wii U owners on launch day, it was the waiting time to install the system update. Depending on your internet speed and the performance of the Nintendo servers, the download typically seemed to take anything between 45 minutes and three hours, and then you'd have another 10-15...