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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  • Xbox 360 Sales Set to Pass the Wii's in the UK

    61

    News Xbox 360 Sales Set to Pass the Wii's in the UK

    Dem FPS and footie gamez

    The Wii has kicked some serious booty in terms of global sales, getting close to 100 million sales and 'winning', at the time of writing, its generation of systems. That impressive success can mask the fact that the diminutive console has seen momentum go off the cliff since early 2012, as games dried up and the Wii U...

  • Atlus' Parent Company in the Midst of Financial Difficulties in Japan

    44

    News Atlus' Parent Company in the Midst of Financial Difficulties in Japan

    Index enters "civil rehabilitation proceedings"

    Atlus will be a name familiar to fans of franchises such as Shin Megami Tensei and Etrian Odyssey, with the company's regional office in North America being particularly active on Nintendo systems. It's also a developer with which Nintendo is currently in partnership, with January's Wii U Direct...

  • Pikmin 3 Will Need to Gather 3950MB to Download onto Your Wii U

    65

    News Pikmin 3 Will Need to Gather 3950MB to Download onto Your Wii U

    That's 31,840 blocks in old money

    Pikmin 3 is getting so close that we can almost smell the flowers, right before we ruthlessly hurl Pikmin at them. It arrives in Europe on 26th July and North America on 4th August, and we shouldn't forget that fans of the GameCube originals have been demanding this new title since the early Wii days. Nintendo's...

  • Activision - "We Want to See Nintendo be Successful"

    59

    News Activision - "We Want to See Nintendo be Successful"

    "They've got some incredible IP that has yet to come"

    With the Wii U's difficult 2013, and the significant efforts from Nintendo to line up a compelling Wii U release schedule for Fall, the Holiday season and beyond, there have been the expected question marks over third-party support, particularly into 2014. If E3 demonstrated one loud point on...

  • Miiverse Update Doubles Character Limit for Posts

    53

    News Miiverse Update Doubles Character Limit for Posts

    Take that, Twitter

    The Wii U's bespoke social network, Miiverse, has seen quite a few changes since its initial launch in North America on 18th November 2012. It's escaped the Wii U hardware with a neat web browser version — though you do need a Nintendo Network ID to use it fully — and has seen various other tweaks and changes to improve the...

  • The #3DSreasons That Will Receive a Copy of Animal Crossing: New Leaf

    22

    Competition Winners The #3DSreasons That Will Receive a Copy of Animal Crossing: New Leaf

    Check out the winning videos

    Not so long ago we launched a regional competition, in partnership with Nintendo UK, in which gamers had to submit a video response to the following trailer promoting the 3DS. We had some terrifically varied submissions that responded to the call, as the UK-based members of the Nintendo Life community dug out those...

  • Level-5's Favourite Character Poll Doesn't Go to Plan

    58

    Weirdness Level-5's Favourite Character Poll Doesn't Go to Plan

    And the winner is...

    As part of the celebrations for its 15 year anniversary, well-known Japanese developer Level-5 recently held an online poll to allow gamers to vote for their favourite characters from the company's lineup. With franchises such as Professor Layton and Inazuma Eleven in its portfolio, some would have expected the voting to be...

  • 3D Adventure Title Dreamfall Chapters Under Consideration for Wii U

    37

    News 3D Adventure Title Dreamfall Chapters Under Consideration for Wii U

    No promises as Wii U is "underpowered compared to the next-gen consoles"

    A number of upcoming Wii U eShop titles, many scheduled for 2014, are coming to fruition thanks to crowdfunding. One that we may be able to add to the list in the future is Dreamfall Chapters: The Longest Journey — this is a 3D adventure title from Norwegian developer Red...

  • Kokuga Confirmed For North American Release on 27th June

    15

    News Kokuga Confirmed For North American Release on 27th June

    Yes, that's this week's update

    In happy news for action top-down shooter fans in North America, the intriguing Kokuga is now confirmed for this week's update, at least it's listed as such on the game's official website. This title is from Ikaruga creator Hiroshi Iuchi, and will include local multiplayer alongside options to determine how long...

  • Watch the Japanese Pikmin 3 Nintendo Direct - Live!

    31

    News Watch the Japanese Pikmin 3 Nintendo Direct - Live!

    Look at the pretty graphics, if you don't speak Japanese

    It's that time again — the first occasion since that bombast and noise-making of E3 — for a new Nintendo Direct. This may not be a landmark presentation to enrapture us all — it's focused exclusively on Pikmin 3 and will be in Japanese — but will allow us to see more of the upcoming...

  • Treat Your Ears to This Awesome K.K. and Friends Animal Crossing Album

    23

    News Treat Your Ears to This Awesome K.K. and Friends Animal Crossing Album

    An alternative soundtrack for your town

    With Animal Crossing: New Leaf currently the game of choice for many, it's pretty hard to get enough of the utterly charming franchise. Who thought that living in a town with talking animals and carrying out manual labour for a fictional currency would be fun? Nintendo did, and it was right. An important part...

  • It's Time for Nintendo to Drop Region Locking

    141

    Talking Point It's Time for Nintendo to Drop Region Locking

    Microsoft and Sony have moved on

    There are some realities that, despite their annoyances, are part of the typical life of a Nintendo gamer. For the second home console generation in a row Nintendo's offering is less powerful — in terms of raw graphical processing — than its direct upcoming competitors in the PS4 and Xbox One, with a focus on...

  • 27th June (Europe)

    51

    Nintendo Download 27th June (Europe)

    Dillon returns, Mighty Switchin', Wario madness and much more

    A day later than normal, we have the European download news to enjoy, and it's a packed lineup this week. We have various new and old goodies on Wii U and 3DS, even if the Wii and DSi miss out once again. Whatever your budget or favoured genre, you have decent odds of finding something...

  • Spin The Bottle Aims to be Fun for "Everything From Families to Drunken College Kids"

    24

    News Spin The Bottle Aims to be Fun for "Everything From Families to Drunken College Kids"

    More about the game that doesn't need a TV

    Those that follow our Wii U eShop coverage may have already read a good deal about Spin the Bottle: Bumpie's Party, the experimental title from KnapNok Games that takes the TV out of the equation, with players being assigned tasks on the GamePad which are then carried out, in a collaborative way, using Wii...

  • Star Wars Pinball Bringing the Force to Wii U on 11th July

    42

    News Star Wars Pinball Bringing the Force to Wii U on 11th July

    Patience, padawan

    When Zen Pinball 2 was released earlier this year, there was a delay before it landed in North America, while Wii U fans were disappointed to miss out on the Star Wars tables as DLC. It may have taken a while, and they've already been available on every other platform for a good amount of time, but it's been confirmed that Star...

  • Game Gear Mega Man Could be Destined for the 3DS Virtual Console

    40

    News Game Gear Mega Man Could be Destined for the 3DS Virtual Console

    Seems likely thanks to ESRB rating

    We've sure had a lot of retro Mega Man on Nintendo systems recently, with both the 3DS and Wii U Virtual Consoles bringing us fresh experiences that we hadn't enjoyed since the Wii Virtual Console; sarcasm aside, they've been additional opportunities for newcomers to the series to see what fans have been banging on...

  • Aqua Moto Racing 3D Hopes to Make Waves in the eShop on 27th June

    29

    News Aqua Moto Racing 3D Hopes to Make Waves in the eShop on 27th June

    Attempting to replicate smartphone success

    Update: Zordix AB has confirmed that, contrary to the impression given earlier, this title is only confirmed for 27th June in Europe, with a North American date yet to be confirmed. Original Article: Zordix is a developer that's enjoyed some success in the smartphone market with its Moto games, while...

  • Animal Crossing: New Leaf Secures Second in the UK Charts, Again

    23

    News Animal Crossing: New Leaf Secures Second in the UK Charts, Again

    A fine performance from the 3DS exclusive

    Animal Crossing: New Leaf is hot stuff right now, earning Nintendo plenty of Bells as it continues to attract gamers and cause obsessions over fossils, tree shaking and the latest cool hats available to buy. It's not often a title as quirky and twee as New Leaf sells in big numbers and engages gamers of all...

  • Fan Project Mega Man Unlimited Finished and Blasting Onto PC on 14th July

    22

    News Fan Project Mega Man Unlimited Finished and Blasting Onto PC on 14th July

    It's a new Mega Man game, rejoice!

    Back in early May we brought your attention to the fan-developed PC game, Mega Man Unlimited, though it perhaps helps dodge problems by ditching the space as Megaman Unlimited. The work of Philippe "MegaPhilX" Poulin and a small but dedicated team, its terrific art design once confused a Capcom employee who...

  • New Super Luigi U (Wii U eShop)

    109

    Review New Super Luigi U (Wii U eShop)

    New Super DLC for U

    So, what is New Super Luigi U? It's not straight-up DLC, nor is it sizable enough to justify a full price retail game, so Nintendo has opted for a best of both worlds approach; it's available as either pricey DLC for New Super Mario Bros. U or as an inexpensive standalone retail game to be released at a later date. What does it...

  • Are You in the DLC Brigade?

    100

    Poll Are You in the DLC Brigade?

    More and more is on offer

    The arrival of New Super Luigi U — our review of which will be posted this weekend — is, as we've argued, a potential evolution of paid-DLC and budget retail titles, as Nintendo seeks to produce a package significant enough to be a fairly expensive (comparatively) piece of add-on software and, on the flipside, a...

  • Reggie Shows Off Wii U to Jimmy Fallon, Hilarity Ensues

    90

    Video Reggie Shows Off Wii U to Jimmy Fallon, Hilarity Ensues

    COME ON!!! BANG BANG!!!

    It's been video game week on the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon show, with various executives making an appearance and various game-related shenanigans, including an awesome Mario rap by The Roots. Wrapping up the week, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime made his customary appearance to show off the Wii U. Rather...

  • Shigeru Miyamoto Explains Structure To Ensure First-Party Quality From Subsidiaries

    39

    News Shigeru Miyamoto Explains Structure To Ensure First-Party Quality From Subsidiaries

    "We want to leverage the capabilities of Retro Studios further"

    With third-party support for Wii U, beyond the Winter at least, practically on hold as companies wait to see a bump in the system's sales, Nintendo is stepping into the breach with an extensive range of first-party games. Some are from Nintendo's internal teams in Japan, some are from...

  • Mario & Luigi: Dream Team Download Needs 6,789 of Your 3DS Blocks

    55

    News Mario & Luigi: Dream Team Download Needs 6,789 of Your 3DS Blocks

    A smidge bigger than Animal Crossing: New Leaf

    Mario & Luigi: Dream Team — known as Mario & Luigi: Dream Team Bros. in Europe — hits in its European Bros. form on 12th July, and around a month later on 11th August in North America. As the latest in the adventure RPG series from AlphaDream, there's every chance that it could be a fairly...