August2012

  • Feature 20 Years of Mario Kart

    How the time, and kart, flies

    Today is yet another Nintendo anniversary, in this case the 20th anniversary of Super Mario Kart's release in Japan. That's 20 years of powering around tracks and making other mascot's driving lives miserable, while infuriating their masters in multiplayer. It's a series with enduring appeal that has evolved into one...

  • Nintendo Download 30th August 2012 (Europe)

    Kirby, Japanese spot the difference and learning English

    It's Monday, but we fear that you may be a little disappointed with the Nintendo Download news we bring, European gamers. On the positive side all platforms are covered, but whether any will tempt you into a download is another question entirely. 3DS Virtual Console: Kirby's Star Stacker...

  • News New Super Mario Bros. 2 Global Coin Total Surpasses 50 Billion

    That's a whole lot of coins collected!

    If you live in Europe or North America and have enabled SpotPass on New Super Mario Bros. 2 you should have recently received your first update to let you know how many coins have been collected by Mario fans globally. We reported on this a few days ago when Japanese players got their first update, at that...

  • Feature In Defence of Super Mario Sunshine

    Do or don't look back into the sun

    Ten years ago today, on 26th August 2002, GameCube title Super Mario Sunshine was released in North America to an abundance of critical acclaim, with relatively muted murmuring that it was an unworthy follow-up to Super Mario 64. Gradually over the past decade opinions have grown more divided and gamers have become...

  • News Nintendo Plans to Blow Away World Record in Honour of Kirby

    Forever blowing bubbles

    Celebrating anniversaries can be a tricky business: how do you do it? You can buy a nice cake, a bottle of champagne, or perhaps a nice bunch of flowers. Alternatively, if you're Nintendo celebrating Kirby's 20th anniversary with Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition, you also arrange to try and break the world record for...

  • News Nintendo's Hardware and Related Software Hits 70% Market Share in Japan

    The highest in five years

    Earlier this week we brought you the news that Nintendo was not only continuing to enjoy a good run with 3DS hardware sales in its homeland, but that the top ten in the software charts were all on Nintendo systems. Chart masters Media Create have now produced some follow-up information that makes even more good reading for...

  • News Nintendo In The Game For Golden Joystick Awards

    Your votes can help

    It's awards season, once again, with nominations for the 30th Golden Joystick Awards now confirmed and Nintendo games or exclusives featuring in a number of categories. These awards are decided entirely by the public, so if you feel that the big N deserves a chance to win you can have your say. Below are the nominations for...

  • News Satoru Iwata: Miiverse is About More Than Competitive Multiplayer

    It's a "social graph" for gamers

    Since Miiverse was revealed during Nintendo's pre-E3 video presentation, it's become evident that it takes the Mii concept from Wii and expands it to something more than a humorous avatar that's playable in some games. Wii did allow some fun ways of sharing Mii characters and giving them more personality, and 3DS has...

  • Tips New Super Mario Bros. 2 Rainbow Courses

    A handy pot of gold

    It takes relatively little time to beat the main Worlds in New Super Mario Bros. 2, but it adds many, many hours with unlockable levels, collectibles and secrets to discover. Yesterday we shared two small tips that would allow you to play as Luigi in single player and to keep those hard earned profile stars sparkling. Due to...

  • News Nintendo Power Magazine Will End With December Issue

    Nintendo issues confirmation

    Yesterday we brought you the news that Nintendo Power magazine was set to be shut down, and today Nintendo has confirmed the reports. The short statement clarifies that the magazine will continue until a final issue currently planned for December. We can confirm that the December issue of Nintendo Power magazine will...

  • News Conker's Bad Fur Day Madness and Vulgarity The Work of "Twisted Genius"

    Warning: poo references

    Although Nintendo systems are notorious for censoring and toning down adult or vulgar content, there have been various mature games released on its consoles. A recent example, to name just one, is Madworld on Wii, which had enough violence and bad language to keep any mature gaming fan happy. If you want to go back to retro...

  • News Mario Kart 7 'Fastest Family' Contest is in The Final Straight

    The last chance to qualify

    In recent weeks we've brought you regular updates on Nintendo UK's Fastest Family competition, which aims to seek out the quickest Mario Kart 7 racers from around the country. Throughout August regional heats have been taking place at HMV stores, with the winners securing a place in the grand final in October; there'll be...

  • News Nintendo Grabs Lots of Coins in Japanese Charts

    1-ups for everyone

    Japan is currently enjoying its summer break, which often represents a peak shopping period and, hopefully, plenty of Yen for gaming companies. The chart results for last week have come out rather well for Nintendo, continuing a positive spell of sales for the Kyoto-based company. In terms of software, the entire top ten consists...

  • News Pick Up Keldeo For Free in Pokémon Giveaway

    Off to the shops with you

    Pokémon Black and White 2 is getting ever closer, and we can expect the hype machine to continue kicking into gear. One tactic seems to be to remind you that you should really still be playing the original Pokémon Black and White, and one way to get you back into the action is to run a legendary 'mon giveaway. Between...

  • News Satoru Iwata: Demand for Rich Experiences on Handhelds "Not Going to Go Away"

    Smartphones provide "different" competition

    For Satoru Iwata, there are plenty of priorities and challenges to face. Nintendo is currently preparing to brings its next home console to the market, while also generating and sustaining momentum for 3DS. Both are important, but it's perhaps 3DS, and dedicated handheld gaming as a whole, that has been...

  • Tips Two New Super Mario Bros. 2 Secrets

    Don't worry, fun but (relatively) spoiler free

    If you're anything like the members of the Nintendo Life team, you're probably well on your way through New Super Mario Bros. 2, perhaps even beaten it, and are currently scrabbling around levels looking for elusive star coins and secrets. This title may hand out extra lives like they've gone out of...

  • News Take a Sneaky Look at The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia

    In English, hurrah!

    It's been a good month so far for Zelda fans. Not only has the monumental book, The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia, been translated and confirmed for the West next January, but this week we also had the smug satisfaction of knocking off E. L. James' infamous Fifty Shades of Grey from the top spot on amazon.com's best-sellers...

  • News Nintendo Power Magazine Looks Set to Shut Down

    Could be the end of an era

    Update: The tweet quoted below, from Nintendo Power senior editor Chris Hoffman, has since been deleted, as have a number of others sharing a similar message. As always and as promised in the original article below, we will report any official updates from Nintendo and Future Publishing. Original Article In a surprising...

  • News Score NES Play Action Football as a US Club Nintendo Reward

    Worth a try?

    It's that time again — there's a new reward available on the North American Club Nintendo website. NES Play Action Football is the latest treat on offer, giving you the opportunity to relive some 1990 American football glory on Wii Virtual Console. It replaces Fluidity and is available until 2nd September for a reduced rate of 100...

  • Reaction Nintendo's Steady Start in Retail Downloads

    It’s only half of the picture

    Earlier today we reported that Satoru Iwata had given loose figures for retail downloads in Japan, which started alongside the launch of 3DS XL on 28th July. Speaking to Wall Street Journal, Iwata-san stated that New Super Mario Bros. 2 retail downloads account for 5% of sales in Nintendo’s homeland, but provided...

  • News New Super Mario Bros. 2 Worldwide Coin Total Surpasses 36 Billion

    May be used to buy 17% of Apple

    Those of you that have picked up New Super Mario Bros. 2 have probably also enabled SpotPass, which will be used to contribute your haul to the world coin total. We'd also assume that Nintendo will send regular updates so we can all see how ludicrously high that total gets. While there haven't been any updates as yet...

  • News Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles Helped to Save NES

    In the UK they were heroes, not ninjas

    It's a popular perception that NES swept all before it when it was released, dominating sales and 8-bit popular culture in the late 1980s. While that's probably true in North America and Japan, Nintendo's debut home console actually had a slow and rather unsuccessful start in the UK, with distribution via...

  • News Nintendo UK's 3D Film Contest Approaches Its Finale

    Budding film-makers need look no further

    Not long ago we brought you news about a competition being run by Nintendo and BFI (British Film Institute), with support from Ridley Scott, to give 3DS owners an opportunity to produce and show a professional 3D production at the 56th BFI London Film Festival in October. With this weekend also bringing a...

  • News New Super Mario Bros. 2 Typo Isn't So Golden

    More grammatical 'revelaitons'

    It can be a pastime of some gamers to chortle at spelling errors or sloppy typos in video games, with many recently enjoying a typo by Capcom in its now infamous Resident Evil Revelaitons packaging for, of course, Revelations. While that version of the packaging became, bizarrely, a collector's item of sorts, it seems...

  • News The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia Tops Amazon Book Charts

    Now that's epic

    Last week we were rather delighted to share the news that The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia is on the way to the West, with all 272 pages of its Zelda goodness making its way out of Japan early next year. We know enthusiasts will be interested in this, but the question is whether there'll be enough demand to make it worth the...