September2012
Talking Point The Importance of the Wii U Press Event
Battle for the limelight
This Thursday’s Wii U press event is a big deal for Nintendo. Well, let’s assume it is, as a loose teaser for future reveals may cause too much fan anguish to control: we’re talking mass hysteria and riots on the streets. Joking aside, we’re 99% confident that Nintendo’s going to hit us with at least two big pieces...
News Mythical Pokémon Genesect to be Distributed to Black & White 2 Early Birds
Worth it for the Techno Blast move
Pokémaniacs all around the world now have only a month to wait until Pokémon Black & White 2 hits stores in North America and Europe, as well as some AR zapping fun with Pokémon Dream Radar on the same date. Nintendo is upping the ante further to encourage early adopters of the DS sequel, through a Wi-Fi...
News New Super Mario Bros. 2 Continues Run in UK Charts
Addaboy, Mario
There's been a particular trend for plenty of major 3DS releases in the UK charts; they make an initial foray into the all-format software top 10, before promptly falling away within a week or two. It seems that Nintendo's most reliable of franchises is bucking that trend, however, with Mario continuing his coin rush in British...
Talking Point Wii U and the Next Generation of Consoles
Getting there first
Wii U is getting ever closer, with a press conference scheduled for this week that’s expected to include details such as the system's price and a launch date. It’s possible to argue that Nintendo has been playing it too slowly in terms of building hype for Wii U, but that’s the company’s style in recent years when...
Rumour Nintendo Land May Not be Bundled With Wii U
Displayed for pre-order by Australian retailer
With just five days until Nintendo's expected to lift the lid on Wii U launch plans, some retailers are starting to accept deposits for the system and advertise its arrival later in the year. Specific details are missing, of course, but one major store in Australia — JB Hi-Fi — is listing Nintendo...
News Metroid Blast Joins Nintendo Land Roster
Samus old story
New screens have broken cover online which show a new game in the forthcoming Wii U title Nintendo Land. Metroid Blast is - as you might expect from the name - set in the universe made so famous by the heroic exploits of Samus Aran. It appears to feature co-operative gameplay, with players taking out large-scale enemies. Nintendo...
News August NPD Results Are Good Reading for Nintendo
Mario and 3DS XL boost figures
As part of a monthly routine that is so vitally important for developers, publishers and the big three console manufactures, U.S. market research firm NPD has released its latest software sales figures for the region, covering 29th July to 25th August. While the news for the industry as a whole is grim reading, a...
News New Super Mario Bros. 2 Smashes The One Million Barrier In Japan
New 3DS title has sold faster than Mario 3D Land
New Super Mario Bros. 2 has sold a staggering 1,068,878 units in Japan since it was released on July 28th - five weeks ago. The figure has been reported in the latest Enterbrain chart, which covers August 27th through September 2nd. The previous Mario title on the 3DS - Super Mario 3D Land - took...
News Tekken Producer: Working With Nintendo Offers Unique Possibilities
There's mushroom for fun features
Tekken series producer Katsuhiro Harada has spoken to Siliconera about the upcoming Tekken Tag Tournament 2, and briefly discussed what it's like working with Nintendo on the Wii U version. It would appear that from a marketing perspective Namco Bandai are currently keen to push the 360 and PS3 editions of the...
News Wave Race Trademark Resurfaces
New wave?
Nintendo of America has updated the trademark for watery racing series Wave Race. But don't get your wetsuit on just yet — there's no confirmation of a new game for now. The trademark was renewed as of mid-August, according to Trademarkia. It's possible that there's a new entry into the series coming, but it could also be a case of...
News North America, Award Yourself This Kirby Medal
Top of the podium
He might look baby faced, but Kirby is now 20 years old. To commemorate two decades of gobbling up food and enemies alike, North American Club Nintendo members can grab this adorable shiny medal. The 1x1 inch treat costs 600 reward coins and comes in packaging that celebrates the 20th year of the pink blob's adventures in Dream...
News New Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses Tour Dates Are Music to Our Ears
Fresh North American dates confirmed
Nintendo has confirmed more North American dates for its successful The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses Tour. To mark the occasion, the Nintendo World store in New York is hosting a series of special events on Friday 14th September, including the chance to pose with Zelda cosplayer Li "PikminLink"...
News Rhythm Hunter: HarmoKnight Is Almost as Big as New Super Mario Bros. 2
In terms of data, at least
We're all quite excited about Rhythm Hunter: HarmoKnight here at Nintendo Life - it was arguably one of the highlights of the Japanese Nintendo Direct broadcast last week. Combining platforming with rhythm action, the game launches in Japan this week, although a western release hasn't been confirmed as yet. However, sho
News Zelda II Strides Towards Euro 3DS Virtual Console
The divisive NES classic is coming to Europe next week
Nintendo has confirmed that Zelda II: The Adventure of Link will be hitting the European 3DS Virtual Console on 13th September. The game - which was originally released on the Famicom Disk System in 1987 and the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1988 - has already been made available through the...
News Reward Yourself With Smash Bros. on NA Club Nintendo
Smashing
If you're yet to experience the very beginnings of the Super Smash Bros. franchise, you might be interested in the latest North American Club Nintendo reward: the original Super Smash Bros. on Virtual Console. The classic Nintendo 64 fighter is available as a prize until 16th September. It's a bit pricier than usual at 200 reward coins,...
News Rhythm Hunter: HarmoKnight Brings The Beat Down
Hit them with your rhythm stick
Last week brought us a rather entertaining Nintendo Direct broadcast from Japan, which focused on upcoming titles on the way to 3DS in Nintendo's homeland and, hopefully, other regions as well. For those of us that don't speak Japanese half the fun was figuring out what was going on, though if you're still uncertain...
News Kirby Fans Suck Up World Record At Pax
The Pink One must be proud
A little over a week ago we told you about Nintendo's plans to set a new Guinness World Record for the most simultaneous chewing gum bubbles blown at once. Taking place at PAX Prime, we had little doubt that the big N would find enough people to break the old record of 304, but would the inspiration of Kirby be enough to...
August2012
Play Mario Kart 7 with Nintendo Life - Today!
Start your engines
Once upon a time Nintendo Life set up Communities in Mario Kart 7, and these rooms were full of happy 3DS owners enjoying some online races. The passage of time was cruel, however, and the official community room became almost empty, with just a few stalwarts keeping it going and some keen racers meeting up via the forums. We've...
News North America, Game Boy Tennis Is Your New Club Nintendo Reward
New balls, please
Nintendo has given the North American Club Nintendo rewards page a bit of a clean, with Game Boy sports title Tennis being the latest addition to the programme. One of the earliest monochrome Game Boy titles, Tennis isn't quite as amazing as Super Tennis on the SNES, but it's still worth a look if you've got some coins burning a...
News Brain Age: Concentration Training Puts North America to the Test on 3rd December
Concentrate on the date
The latest title in the Brain Age series — which we've been calling Demon Training — has now been available in Japan for a little over a month, but the popularity of the series has made localised versions in other regions an inevitability. North America now has details, with Nintendo of America confirming a release date...
News La Mulana Adventures Onto North American WiiWare on 20th September
At long last
La Mulana has had a torturous existence on the WiiWare service, arriving in Japan over a year ago but running into problems gaining approval in other regions. Earlier in the year publisher Nicalis pulled out of the project, seemingly due to issues between it and developer Nigoro when trying to resolve problems with DLC content and other...
You can call me Stu
Welcome to a new regular feature on Nintendo Life: the "Ninterview". Once a month we'll be taking the time to talk to someone who has a special affinity to Nintendo, and our first subject is Stu Brett - who also goes by the moniker Super Famicom Guy. Stu, a 33 year old designer from Scotland, is such a huge fan of Super Famicom...
News New Professor Layton Title Confirmed for 3DS
The Professor's final puzzle
During today's Nintendo Direct in Japan, it was confirmed that a new Professor Layton title will arrive on 3DS, in Japan, some time in 2013. Its title is Professor Layton Choubunmei to A no Isan, which roughly translates to Professor Layton and the Remains of an Advanced Civilisation, though we expect a snappier title...
Talking Point Challenges for the Future of Nintendo Gaming
Evolving with the industry
Recently we attended the Turing technology festival in Edinburgh, and in particular an event called Gaming@Turing. You know why we attended that one, of course. The focus of the event was to look at the future of gaming from a number of different perspectives, put forward by five experienced speakers from within the...
News Rest Easy, New Characters Are Coming To Smash Bros. 3DS and Wii U
Masahiro Sakurai confirms new additions to roster
Super Smash Bros. supremo Masahiro Sakurai's recent comments regarding the 3DS and Wii U versions of the game have caused a little concern amongst fans. Speaking a few weeks ago about adding more cameos to the game, he said: "Introducing more non-Nintendo characters willy-nilly will lose the focus of...
























