July2012

  • News Mario Kart 7 'Fastest Family' Video Gets Serious

    Real life weapons

    Not long ago we brought you a video with UK celebrity Rufus Hound, which was a promo for the Mario Kart 7 "Fastest Family" competition. With regional heats due to start in August, and with a real car and coveted Leaf Cup at stake, the latest video has one simple message: get training. As you can see in the footage below some...

  • News 3DS XL UK Launch Trailer is Quite Small

    30 seconds of familiar Mario action

    With 3DS XL officially arriving in stores tomorrow, Nintendo UK has released a short promotional trailer to celebrate the fact. The footage used appears to be recycled from the announcement trailer broadcast on Nintendo Direct a little over a month ago, showing the original and larger model side-by-side, with some...

  • Nintendo Download 26th July 2012 (North America)

    Planet crashing, Wario, moles and more

    This week we have all three Nintendo consoles catered for, including a long awaited platformer on the 3DS Virtual Console, the latest from Renegade Kid and much more. Let's get right to it. 3DS Virtual Console: Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 (Game Boy, Nintendo, $3.99) — This has no doubt been on a number...

  • News Mole Mania Burrows onto US eShop Tomorrow

    Can you dig it?

    North America's 8-Bit Summer promotion continues to heat up 3DS' Virtual Console — tomorrow you'll be able to dig into Game Boy puzzler Mole Mania. Mole Mania originally came out in North America in 1997. Shigeru Miyamoto was producer on the puzzle game, in which you push, pull and throw a black ball around to help Muddy Mole work...

  • News Here's a Freakyforms Deluxe Launch Trailer

    I told you I was freaky

    If the mere idea of creating hilarious beasts doesn't entice you to try Freakyforms Deluxe: Your Creations, Alive!, maybe this launch trailer will help. The expanded retail version of the 3DS eShop game is arriving alongside 3DS XL on 28th July in Europe. Just like the download-only original, you'll be able to play at Dr...

  • News New Club Nintendo of Japan Rewards

    Featuring the Mario gang and Kirby

    Today Nintendo of Japan has added two more goodies to its already bountiful collection of merchandise on the Club Nintendo website. For a mere 200 points you can bag yourself a rather snazzy-looking 40x40mm Kirby 20th Anniversary Special Collection medallion, to celebrate Kirby's recent escapade at the top of the...

  • News Kirby's 20th Anniversary Collection Tops Japanese Charts

    The pink one's still got it

    Kirby may be little more than a pink blob with arms and legs, but he's become a beloved Nintendo mascot with a legion of dedicated fans. It's unsurprising that his anniversary is being celebrated, and it seems that plenty of Japanese gamers have shown their support by picking up Kirby's 20th Anniversary Special Collection...

  • News 3DS Retail Codes Being Sold Through Online Retailers

    Codes only, no download card

    While most of us wait until mid-August to see the Nintendo retail download machine kick into action, it's already up and running in Japan ahead of the arrival of New Super Mario Bros. 2 and Demon Training this weekend. It's now emerged, courtesy of Andriasang, that as well as download cards available from stores, online...

  • News Nintendo Confirms Financial Loss for First Quarter

    Not a surprise

    As you may recall, Nintendo announced its first annual loss in 30 years in April, as the company faced the music for problems with the 3DS launch and a declining Wii. It's just announced its results for the first quarter of this current financial year and, as anticipated, it's a loss. In the three months that ended 30th June this...

  • News New Super Mario Bros. 2 was Once Called NSMB Gold

    Gold digger

    The latest edition of Iwata Asks is out now, and it focuses on 3DS's next goldmine: New Super Mario Bros. 2. This time Nintendo global president Satoru Iwata is joined by director Yusuke Amano, art director Masaaki Ishikawa and, arriving fashionably late, EAD general manager Takashi Tezuka. Apparently Mario's latest adventure is so...

  • News Bonsai Barber is a Snip at 150 Coins on US Club Nintendo

    Hairing to go

    There's some vegetation in need of a trim if you pop over to the North American Club Nintendo page right now. Bonsai Barber is the latest reward in the program, listed for just 150 coins. Zoonami's bizarre WiiWare barber simulator takes Mario Tennis' spot and will be available until 5th August. Read our Bonsai Barber review if you're...

  • News Retro Mario Discounts Jumping Onto North American eShop

    Celebrating New Super Mario Bros. 2

    When it comes to New Super Mario Bros. 2, you'd have to live in a deep, dark cave to not know about it. Trailers and videos swarm the web and its status as the first retail download being offered by Nintendo has given it even more profile. Still, that won't stop Nintendo of America doing some additional marketing...

  • News Retail Download Cards in Japan Set For Small Discount

    And we mean small

    Last week we shared the news that Japanese gamers will be offered incentives for retail downloads, and that there'll be a Club Nintendo bonus in North America: this is against a context of the eShop downloads being full retail price. Purchases from the eShop aren't the only retail download option, of course, with download codes on...

  • News Fan Group 'Operation Zero' Attempts to Scare Nintendo of America

    Into localising Fatal Frame 2, that is

    Project Zero 2: Wii Edition arrived in Europe at the end of June, and despite a few flaws has been scaring gamers witless since. This isn't survival horror in the shoot-a-zombie-in-the-face Resident Evil sense, but exploring dark, creepy locales with nothing but a camera to protect you from malevolent ghosts...

  • News New Super Mario Bros. 2 Download Size Breaks Some Blocks

    2950 of them, to be precise

    The arrival of New Super Mario Bros. 2 will herald the dawning of a new downloadable retail age for Nintendo, with gamers having the option of buying direct from the eShop or as download codes from retailers: old-fashioned physical copies are still an option, of course. For those carefully managing their SD card space,...

  • News Kingdom Hearts 3D Flows Into UK Top Ten

    Dreaming of top spot

    Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance was a high-profile arrival in Europe last week, bringing the popular franchise to the current generation of handhelds. Square Enix and Nintendo — the latter dealing with distribution in PAL regions — invested plenty of hype, particularly online, behind the title; has it paid off? The...

  • News Demon Training Demo Heads to the Japanese 3DS eShop

    Get a first look at Dr Kawashima's demonic floating head

    Last week we reported that Nintendo would be broadcasting a short Nintendo Direct conference dedicated entirely to the upcoming 3DS game, Dr Kawashima's Demon Training. The broadcast featured examples of some of the puzzles on offer, which can be seen listed below, as well as some disturbing...

  • News New Super Mario Bros. 2 eShop Bonus Confirmed for North America

    Double the coins for digital

    Nintendo's efforts to tempt gamers into an eShop purchase of New Super Mario Bros. 2 instead of the boxed alternative is now kicking in outside of Japan. We've already reported on retail download incentives in Japan, but Nintendo of America is joining in with its own offer, and like Mario's new adventure it's all about...

  • News 3DS XL Represents 'The Progress of Technology'

    More than just a super-sized 3DS

    3DS XL lands in Europe and Japan a week from now, with North America joining in on 19th August. There's been a justifiable temptation for some to readily dismiss the new model as a re-scaled 3DS with no actual technological improvements. While that's a true comment in terms of processors and graphics chips, the new...

  • News New Super Mario Bros. 2 Official Website Reveals Complex Plot

    Kidding, but 'world coin total' will use SpotPass

    As it's a Friday, and because we've just learnt about it through the wonders of the internet, we've checked out the official New Super Mario Bros. 2 website and discovered a couple of interesting details. First up, here's a summary of the complexities that the plot will offer in Mario's newest...

  • News Satoru Iwata: 'We Have Not Changed Our Strategy'

    Return to profitability not far away

    With Wii U getting closer, and various opinions swirling around about the system's capabilities and even Nintendo's long term future in the industry, Satoru Iwata has spoken to Gamasutra to once again outline Nintendo's philosophy and plans. On the subject of profitability, Iwata has reiterated that the company...

  • News Nintendo Offering Incentives for Retail Downloads in Japan

    Virtual goodies only

    Retail downloads on the 3DS eShop start, for most of us, with New Super Mario Bros. 2 in mid-August. For Japanese gamers, however, it all starts in just eight days, the same day as the arrival of 3DS XL and Five Minute Demon Training, the next Brain Training entry that's also known as Onitore. A common criticism of the download...

  • News Grab Your Kirby 20th Anniversary Puzzle Swap Piece Now

    Hiii!

    If you're a Kirby fan, you'll want to check the blue SpotPass light that's blinking on your 3DS today. Nintendo has released a brand new Puzzle Swap panel to celebrate the upcoming release of Kirby's Dream Collection: Special Edition on Wii. Internet-connected 3DS systems will receive a SpotPass message informing them of the new treat. With...

  • News Mario Kart 7 'Fastest Family' Competition Calls in a Celeb

    No, we don't mean Mario

    Not long ago we brought you Nintendo's announcement of the Britain's Fastest Family competition, which is naturally all about Mario Kart 7. Young and old family members team up and enter regional heats around the UK in August, with the grand finale in October. Regional winners receive 'a year’s worth of Nintendo 3DS games',...

  • News Pokémon Orchestra is Suitably Epic

    Gotta compose 'em all

    The Pokémon franchise has always been home to some quality music, but one fan has taken it to another level. Over the last couple of years Braxton "Skotein" Burks has been putting together orchestral versions of some of the series' best loved tunes to super effect. Burks is currently working with Joypad Records to release a...