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
Find Them On
LinkedIn •
  • Warren Spector Believes Epic Mickey is 'The Best Looking Wii Game Ever'

    39

    News Warren Spector Believes Epic Mickey is 'The Best Looking Wii Game Ever'

    Epic Mickey 2 will bring improvements

    Warren Spector is proud of Epic Mickey, and why not? Although it suffered from well-known camera issues, it was nevertheless a title full of creativity and great ideas that made good use of the Wii hardware. Such good use, according to Spector, that he still believes it to have the best visuals on the system...

  • More Mario Tennis Open Details Served Up

    29

    News More Mario Tennis Open Details Served Up

    Piranha plants, online play and StreetPass

    With the release of Mario Tennis Open getting ever closer, Nintendo is starting to tease more details about game modes and features. Today's update is a mixture of the old and the new, reiterating that online leaderboards and unlockable characters will be included. There is some new information, such as...

  • Oster Lays Out WiiWare Criticisms

    30

    News Oster Lays Out WiiWare Criticisms

    Lessons to be learned

    There was a lot of controversy recently when Trent Oster — president of Beamdog, the company responsible for MDK2's WiiWare port — said that his company would never develop for Nintendo again: some objected to the tone of his remarks and comments about Wii as a console. In an interview with Nintendo Life, Oster outlines...

  • Tumblepop Set to Suck on 3DS Virtual Console Soon

    26

    News Tumblepop Set to Suck on 3DS Virtual Console Soon

    Sucking up enemies is the main activity, honest

    Despite describing it as Tumble Pop, the Australian Classification Database has now listed Tumblepop, originally a Game Boy title and now on the way to 3DS Virtual Console in PAL regions. Tumblepop was originally an arcade game and has been described as a cult classic, though it's unclear whether that...

  • UK Charts Bring More of the Same for Nintendo

    11

    News UK Charts Bring More of the Same for Nintendo

    Not better, not worse

    In the coming weeks and months, it's safe to say that Satoru Iwata and the managerial team at Nintendo HQ will be monitoring the progress of UK sales, after telling investors that, for one, Mario's presence in the country is the 'smallest in the world'. It's too early for that to have changed, and the latest top 40 software...

  • Fan Video Gives a Tease of Star Fox HD

    22

    News Fan Video Gives a Tease of Star Fox HD

    A bit better than Mode 7

    The Star Fox franchise hasn't had a great deal of love recently, the only recent glimmer of hope being Star Fox 64 3D, a remake of the highly regarded Nintendo 64 title. Will Wii U revive the franchise, or was the N64 remake a warmup for a new title on 3DS? Who knows, but we'll always have the power of nostalgia. YouTube...

  • Brain Training 3DS Confirmed for Worldwide Release

    27

    News Brain Training 3DS Confirmed for Worldwide Release

    Available in both physical and digital formats

    In its February Nintendo Direct broadcast Nintendo unveiled Onitore — basically Brain Training 3DS — which will focus on testing your concentration and working memory. Already confirmed for Japan this summer, the success of the DS titles in the series made a worldwide release inevitable; Satoru...

  • 'Majority' of Nintendo Games to be Released Digitally

    75

    News 'Majority' of Nintendo Games to be Released Digitally

    Maybe not all, in that case

    Most of us have now had plenty of opportunity to digest the news that Nintendo will be delving into the brave new world of retail downloads, starting with New Super Mario Bros. 2 on 3DS in August. An assumption for some has been that Nintendo would release all of its titles as both downloads and boxed game cards or discs,...

  • VVVVVV Set to Flip Into Europe on 10th May

    28

    News VVVVVV Set to Flip Into Europe on 10th May

    About flippin' time

    While gamers in North America have been fortunate enough to enjoy VVVVVV on their 3DS since late last year, those of us in Europe have been patiently — or impatiently — waiting for our own release. After announcing that it expects a European release in early May, publisher Nicalis has now nailed a date down on its Twitter...

  • How Running to the Right is Heroic

    45

    News How Running to the Right is Heroic

    An epic montage

    For gamers of a certain age that grew up in the era of 2D pixel-based platformers and action titles, there are a lot of happy memories of one simple activity: running to the right. Yes, a lot of games did involve some backtracking in the other direction, but the main task was to keep moving right until you'd reached the goal or...

  • Mario's Presence in UK is 'Smallest in the World'

    35

    News Mario's Presence in UK is 'Smallest in the World'

    "We need to promptly improve this situation"

    It's become apparent from the weekly UK software charts that Nintendo titles are struggling to make a significant impact in the country. Today's financial report statements from Nintendo revealed an interesting statistic about the sales of Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 throughout Europe, and the...

  • Does Nintendo Finally 'Get' Digital?

    75

    Talking Point Does Nintendo Finally 'Get' Digital?

    Mario out of thin air

    Now that Nintendo’s got the announcement of financial losses out of the way, it can look ahead to plans for the coming year. As expected, follow-up statements to investors revealed some interesting insights into the company’s plans, with the biggest news that Nintendo's 3DS retail games will be available to download later...

  • Analyst Calls for Mario on Non-Nintendo Platforms

    102

    News Analyst Calls for Mario on Non-Nintendo Platforms

    Is that a flying pig?

    After today's financial reports confirmed major losses for Nintendo, there are once again calls for the company to take its greatest IP treasures onto other platforms, such as smartphones and tablets. We've heard this all before, with investors saying similar things when Nintendo dropped the 3DS retail price. It's as likely now...

  • A Big Year for Nintendo

    56

    Talking Point A Big Year for Nintendo

    Time for a transition

    Today Nintendo announced its annual financial results, and the big headline is that it made a loss of 43 billion Yen, roughly $529m USD or £327m GBP. While we don't need to fear for the future of the company at this stage due to its significant stockpiles of cash and assets, it’s nevertheless a blow for the big N. The loss...

  • Sakurai: Smash Bros. to 'Change Direction a Little' on Wii U and 3DS

    49

    News Sakurai: Smash Bros. to 'Change Direction a Little' on Wii U and 3DS

    Still a long wait ahead

    Masahiro Sakurai has been busy with Kid Icarus: Uprising for a while now, but it seems that he's finally turning his attention to the next entry in the Super Smash Bros. franchise. The confirmation of a new title for both Wii U and 3DS was actually made at E3 2011, though we later learned that the announcement was premature...

  • Fire Emblem: Awakening Battles to Number One in Japanese Chart

    34

    News Fire Emblem: Awakening Battles to Number One in Japanese Chart

    An early victory

    The latest Media Create Japanese chart results are in, and Fire Emblem: Awakening has stormed to the software number one position with an impressive 242,600 sales: more than the other nine top ten titles combined. The intriguing Code of Princess, an action-brawler on 3DS, made its debut at number two with a more modest 19,554 units...

  • Nintendo Banks on Its Old Money Makers

    59

    Feature Nintendo Banks on Its Old Money Makers

    If in doubt…

    Nintendo is set to announce its latest financial results that will cover the past year, and it’s anticipated that, for the first time in its history, the company will record a yearly loss. It’s an obvious blow for Nintendo, particularly as the past five to six years have brought staggering success. Even the results for 2010-2011...

  • Shinesparkers - Celebrating Metroid with Music

    12

    Interview Shinesparkers - Celebrating Metroid with Music

    Recreating the adventure

    Recently we became aware of Harmony of a Hunter, a two-disc album of fan-produced Metroid music that covers the history of the franchise: it's available for free from this download page. It's a project from Metroid fan-site shinesparkers.net, and a follow-up album called Harmony of a Hunter: 101% Run is on the way. We spoke...

  • Nintendo Zone Launched in Europe

    20

    News Nintendo Zone Launched in Europe

    Free content on the go

    The release of Nintendo Zone in Europe has been a slow process, compared to North America, but with today's system update the service is officially available in Wi-Fi Hotspots around the region. Once your 3DS update is complete your handheld will be primed to pick up the service, so if you haven't updated yet, what are you...

  • Shaun the Sheep Reveals All in 'Raising the Baaaaa!'

    9

    News Shaun the Sheep Reveals All in 'Raising the Baaaaa!'

    He's not too sheepish

    European 3DS owners have been lucky enough to enjoy weekly animated shorts of Shaun the Sheep in Nintendo Video for a number of weeks. From Aardman, the creators of Wallace & Gromit and Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists, these episodes each give about 60 seconds of charming animation and humour. Each episode involves...

  • Kid Icarus: Uprising AR Battles Hit the Stage

    15

    News Kid Icarus: Uprising AR Battles Hit the Stage

    No more fighting on table tops

    For those who've been able to get hold of some AR cards for Kid Icarus: Uprising, there may have been some fun had in pitching iconic characters against each other with a number of backdrops. Ultimately, though, a dull piece of furniture isn't necessarily the most epic environment for a battle of the ages. Readers of...

  • Real Life Skyward Sword Controls Don't Work

    44

    News Real Life Skyward Sword Controls Don't Work

    Though kids have better luck

    We rather liked The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, stating that it's 'as good a Zelda game as we've ever played' in our perfect 10 review. We simply felt that everything blended beautifully, including the immersive MotionPlus controls. Not everyone felt the same about the control scheme, however, with some complaining...

  • UK Chart Results Are Less Than Golden for Nintendo

    20

    News UK Chart Results Are Less Than Golden for Nintendo

    Not flying off the shelves

    Each week we have two sets of charts to bring you. On the one hand Nintendo's Japanese hardware and software sales are always through the roof and dominating its competitors, while the UK software charts often give a very different impression. Regular hardware sales for the UK aren't provided, but this week's software top...

  • Kingdom Hearts 3D Dream Drops into Europe on 20th July

    22

    News Kingdom Hearts 3D Dream Drops into Europe on 20th July

    Confirmation at last

    Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance hit Japanese stores on 29th March, even causing a jump in 3DS sales when it was released. After a long wait we finally have news on a release date outside of Japan, with the title set to land in European stores on 20th July. In his Nintendo Direct presentation Satoru Shibata reiterated some...