November2012
Feature Reinventing Nintendo's Legacy Franchises on Wii U
It's comeback time
Despite often being criticized for a perceived lack of new franchises, Nintendo’s back catalogue offers a wealth of unique games which have each carved out their own place in the company’s legacy. From Mario to Link to lesser known characters such as Ness and the Ice Climbers, it is clear that Nintendo has a diverse range of...
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...
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...
Events The Paper Mario Pop Up Diner
Anything but flat
Wii U may be releasing in Europe in just over a week, but that didn’t stop Nintendo UK yesterday from reminding everyone that Paper Mario: Sticker Star is on its way to 3DS on 7th December in Europe. Already released in North America — and seemingly going down well with the critics — it was only fair that those of us across...
News "What is Wii U?" Adverts Start Quizzing Gamers
Depends on the game, of course
With all of the hubbub and excitement it may be possible that some Nintendo fans have forgotten about us Europeans and PAL gamers, still waiting for Wii U to arrive. It's actually the worst for Japanese gamers who'll get the system last — what were the odds on that a year ago? In any case, for many of us the...
News Wii U Becomes Profitable With One Game Sale
Buy a game, make Mario say wahoo!
It was confirmed in late October that Wii U will be sold at a loss, which gave the retail price some context and perhaps made some supporters nervous about the financial impact on the company. According to comments from Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aime, however, the loss on each console is evidently small...
News Wii U on Plenty of U.S. Christmas Lists
The kids are alright
With the Holiday season upon us, there are a number of gadgets vying to be the hottest attraction for shoppers, with Wii U doing its best to join in. Of course, so much money at this time of year is spent on kids, and according to surveys conducted by research firm Nielson, Wii U is high on a lot of wishlists. Of those...
News Nintendo Has No New Wii Games In The Pipeline
Focus fully shifts to Wii U
The Wii has been Nintendo’s most successful home console of all time, with close to 100 million units sold worldwide. Now that Wii U has been officially launched many have wondered what will become of its plucky old predecessor, which has served Nintendo so well over the past six years. Well it appears that where first...
Talking Point The Nintendo Network ID's Next Big Step
Not quite fully “networked”, yet
We’ve praised the concept behind the Nintendo Network a fair bit here on Nintendo Life, and in various news posts and features we’ve stated or alluded to the fact that it could be the start of a bright new online era for Nintendo. To start this particular article on a positive point, there are plenty of...
News Wii U Software Discounts Hit Ahead of Black Friday, Analysts Weigh In
Consoles reportedly sold out, over 2500 on eBay
Now that Wii U has had a day or so to launch and fly off store shelves, industry analysts are starting to look at the early signs of success, or otherwise, for the system. It's all very, very early days, of course, but nevertheless a couple of interesting trends have emerged. For starters, and to the...
News Nintendo Brings Heat to Black Friday With Flame Red 3DS Deal
Includes Super Mario 3D Land on the system
The Black Friday weekend is almost upon us, an annual shopping frenzy in North America that's gradually creeping into retailers in other territories. Naturally, companies are seeking attention and offering tasty deals to part you from your cash, and Nintendo's no different. It's been confirmed that,...
News Halting Wii U System Update May Brick the System
Be careful, gamers
A number of you in North America likely have your shiny new Wii U setup, and you've probably installed the day one update that's required for access to features such as Miiverse and the eShop. According to reports out in the Twitter-sphere, however, you may also be one of a small minority that's inadvertently bricked your Wii U...
News New Super Mario Bros. U To Jump Into DLC
Additional courses planned
New Super Mario Bros. 2 did something new for the core Mario franchise: it introduced DLC. While much of the game may have felt familiar — not always a bad thing — the idea of extra content being made available after release was new for the series, and has added some longevity to the Coin Rush mode. In an Iwata Asks...
News 3DS Passes Eight Million Sales in Japan
Turning over a new leaf
When it comes to keeping the accountants and shareholders happy, Nintendo can always point to its 3DS sales in Japan. While there's undoubtedly improvement needed in North America and, particularly, Europe when it comes to sales figures for the handheld, Nintendo's homeland consistently shows healthy sales that simply blow...
News Wii U External Hard Drive Usage Outlined by Satoru Iwata
Up to 2TB supported
For those of you that have watched today's Nintendo Direct broadcast — you can check it out here — you'll have seen lots of graphics of external hard drives, Wii U systems and some interesting demonstrations with large science lab-style glass jars. There was some pretty good news from Satoru Iwata, and a few small things that...
News Nintendo Talks Miiverse, Nintendo Network, And Internet Browser
NoA's Bill Trinen dishes on the Wii U's online functionalities
Last week, Nintendo of Japan hosted a Nintendo Direct, which focused on Miiverse and a variety of online features for Wii U. While Nintendo of America has yet to host its own streamed broadcast on the subject, it's released a new video that showcases Miiverse, Nintendo Network, and the...
News Pokédex 3D Pro Tops 3DS eShop Chart in North America
Not too high a price to pay, clearly
Pokédex 3D Pro was a high profile release on the eShop in last week's Nintendo Download update, bringing enhancements and extra features from the original freebie, Pokédex 3D. That said, many members of the Nintendo Life community were unhappy with the price, which is $14.99 in the US, €14.99 in Europe and...
Interview The Team Behind Paper Mario: Sticker Star
We speak to the team behind the biggest 3DS title this Christmas
The dust has barely settled on our Paper Mario: Stick Star review, but we're far from finished with Mario's latest handheld outing. Prior to launch we were lucky enough to speak with director Mr Naohiko Aoyama (Intelligent Systems), director and scenario writer Mr Taro Kudo (Vanpool)...
News Harmony of a Hunter: 101% Run Available From 17th November
A must for Metroid fans
Harmony of a Hunter is a fan-produced album that celebrates the Metroid franchise, and when released it gave a more significant acknowledgement of the series' 25th Anniversary than that from Nintendo itself. A free, two-disc album with 36 tracks, it was a major undertaking that we discussed in our interview with Shinesparkers...
News Wii U Holiday Sales Projected to Exceed Wii Launch
Four year sales expected to be lower, though
With Wii U set to arrive, and Nintendo needing a strong performance to appease shareholders, market analysts are inevitably checking various sources of data and making their predictions on the system's outlook. The latest to do so is research firm IHS Screen Digest, with projections that bring good and...
Nintendo Download 15th November 2012 (Europe)
Falling blox, hotshots, ninjas and a magical whip
It's Monday, but it's also time to turn that frown upside down. The European Nintendo Download update news is here, and it's full of handheld goodies for you to enjoy. Wii misses out, unfortunately, but we do have a highly anticipated sequel on the 3DS eShop, a teeth-grindingly difficult NES...
Feature Nintendo's Wii U Hype Machine
Sharing the message
Today marks the start of a major countdown for Wii U, as it's set to arrive in North American stores in just seven days; it's a major event for Nintendo, as new home consoles aren't an overly frequent occurrence. It's been six years since Wii arrived and revolutionised gaming with its focus on motion controls, and now the company...
News Nintendo Executive Describes Rise of Tablet Gaming as "Undeniable"
Believes these devices can be "allies"
In recent years Nintendo has continually faced the threat of smartphones and tablet devices to its handheld systems, though the Wii U GamePad's inclusion of its own touch screen is now attracting similar comparisons. It's not always a popular topic amongst Nintendo gamers, but the rise in popularity of gaming...
Out Now Animal Crossing: New Leaf Starts Life in Japan
Time to get envious
So, Animal Crossing: New Leaf is out now in Japan, released on 8th November. Once we got over the irritation of discovering that we were a day late, we thought we'd look at what we know so far, point you to previous articles that have stacks of information, compile some nice gameplay footage and look at the reaction to the game...
News Wii U Browser to Use Multiple GamePad Control Options
Gyro sensor, touch screen and buttons
Nintendo hasn't always enjoyed the most success with its console web browsers, often due to modest specifications or a lack of system memory. Nintendo's now released a new Iwata Asks transcript where the team discuss the development of the Wii U Browser, and why it'll be a pleasant surprise for gamers. Part of...
























