May2012

  • News Nintendo and USTA Team Up for Some Tennis Doubles

    Going on a U.S. tour

    The upcoming launch of Mario Tennis Open is coinciding with the start of summer, warm days and the prospect of taking to the courts in real life. It's also launching at the same time as the USTA SmashZone Mobile Tour, which encourages young people to try the sport; so a doubles team has naturally followed. The SmashZone tour is...

  • News Nintendo Patents 'Ornamental Design' for 3DS Circle Pad

    It's so pretty

    One of the first things we noticed when Satoru Iwata stood on stage at E3 2010 with a 3DS was the Circle Pad. Some called it a slider pad, others opted for analogue stick: whatever name you chose, it ultimately meant that Nintendo was giving us analogue control in its shiny new handheld. It's since given us the Circle Pad Pro to...

  • News Japanese Charts Bring Golden Results for Nintendo

    Holiday week brings extra sales

    It's time for the weekly Japanese charts update, and if you've been reading these articles for the past couple of months you'll already know the story: Nintendo dominates sales in its homeland. The company's performance around the world may be a mixed bag at present, but results in Japan rarely let Satoru Iwata and...

  • Feature Kid Icarus - Nintendo's Next Big Franchise?

    Taking to the sky

    Whether planned or not, Nintendo has fallen into a routine with its franchises. There’s always a big 3D Mario title and an epic yet delayed Zelda game guaranteed for each system, with a good chance of others such as Metroid and Kirby making an appearance in between. This backbone of core franchises has served Nintendo well over...

  • News Let Animal Crossing be the Soundtrack to Your Day

    Music 24/7

    One thing that you may think about occasionally is that, unlike characters in video games, movies and TV shows, we don't have a music soundtrack following us through our daily lives. Animal Crossing on GameCube, meanwhile, followed the same clock as us and its characters had an active soundtrack for every hour of the day. Courtesy of a...

  • Feature The Magic of Console Launches

    It’s all about day one

    In the coming weeks, as we build up to the excitement and madness of E3 2012, we’re going to reflect on some major Nintendo console launches from the past. We won’t necessarily cover them all in this series, but we’ll be looking at some notable console arrivals and thinking about why these system launches were...

  • News GameCube is Ten Years Old Today in Europe

    Time for some celebratory cake

    We celebrated the ten year anniversary of the Nintendo GameCube last year, including a rather fond retrospective on the console with the coolest handle. That was the North American anniversary, but today the console turns ten in Europe. Although the GameCube wasn't Nintendo's greatest success in the home console...

  • News Sakurai: Dual Analogue Control in Kid Icarus: Uprising Was "Technically Impossible"

    Stylus aiming speed "is on a whole different level"

    Kid Icarus: Uprising enjoyed an excellent critical reception from the majority of the gaming press, though even some of the most positive reviews raised the controls as an issue. We argued that they work well 'with practice' in our Kid Icarus: Uprising review, but it was nevertheless a common...

  • News Dress Up and Win at Kid Icarus Event

    Even if you don't go you can still dress up

    Nintendo UK is currently in the middle of a Kid Icarus: Uprising event tour, giving plucky gamers a chance to take on a 'battle squad' of professional gamers in multiplayer. Participants at the first event at HMV Oxford Circus in London received limited edition posters, while those who triumphed over the...

  • News Mario Party 9 has Sales to Celebrate in the Japanese Chart

    3DS still having a good time

    Although it's been available in PAL regions and North America since March, Mario Party 9 has only just been released in Japan. The Media Create charts, as reported by Andriasang, report that it sold 152,883 copies in its debut week, earning it second place in the charts behind the PS3 version of Resident Evil: Operation...

  • Feature Three Reasons Why Mario's Next Adventure Should Visit Subcon

    It's from Super Mario Bros. 2, if you didn’t know

    By the mid 1980s the world had fallen in love with a stocky Italian plumber named Mario. With the release of Super Mario Bros. on NES, the gaming icon left an indelible boot-shaped impression on the minds of gamers around the world and forever changed the landscape of the video game industry. After...

  • News Pokémon Conquest Details Revealed by Nintendo

    Lots of kingdoms to conquer

    Pokémon Conquest, a translated version of Japanese title Pokémon + Nobunaga's Ambition, is getting ever closer for gamers in North America. With the 18th June release date approaching, Nintendo has started to release details about the title and what 'mon fans can expect. With 17 kingdoms to conquer, and these being...

  • News More Mario Tennis Open Details Served Up

    Piranha plants, online play and StreetPass

    With the release of Mario Tennis Open getting ever closer, Nintendo is starting to tease more details about game modes and features. Today's update is a mixture of the old and the new, reiterating that online leaderboards and unlockable characters will be included. There is some new information, such as...

April2012

  • News Brain Training 3DS Confirmed for Worldwide Release

    Available in both physical and digital formats

    In its February Nintendo Direct broadcast Nintendo unveiled Onitore — basically Brain Training 3DS — which will focus on testing your concentration and working memory. Already confirmed for Japan this summer, the success of the DS titles in the series made a worldwide release inevitable; Satoru...

  • News 'Majority' of Nintendo Games to be Released Digitally

    Maybe not all, in that case

    Most of us have now had plenty of opportunity to digest the news that Nintendo will be delving into the brave new world of retail downloads, starting with New Super Mario Bros. 2 on 3DS in August. An assumption for some has been that Nintendo would release all of its titles as both downloads and boxed game cards or discs,...

  • News Mario's Presence in UK is 'Smallest in the World'

    "We need to promptly improve this situation"

    It's become apparent from the weekly UK software charts that Nintendo titles are struggling to make a significant impact in the country. Today's financial report statements from Nintendo revealed an interesting statistic about the sales of Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 throughout Europe, and the...

  • Talking Point Does Nintendo Finally 'Get' Digital?

    Mario out of thin air

    Now that Nintendo’s got the announcement of financial losses out of the way, it can look ahead to plans for the coming year. As expected, follow-up statements to investors revealed some interesting insights into the company’s plans, with the biggest news that Nintendo's 3DS retail games will be available to download later...

  • News Analyst Calls for Mario on Non-Nintendo Platforms

    Is that a flying pig?

    After today's financial reports confirmed major losses for Nintendo, there are once again calls for the company to take its greatest IP treasures onto other platforms, such as smartphones and tablets. We've heard this all before, with investors saying similar things when Nintendo dropped the 3DS retail price. It's as likely now...

  • Talking Point A Big Year for Nintendo

    Time for a transition

    Today Nintendo announced its annual financial results, and the big headline is that it made a loss of 43 billion Yen, roughly $529m USD or £327m GBP. While we don't need to fear for the future of the company at this stage due to its significant stockpiles of cash and assets, it’s nevertheless a blow for the big N. The loss...

  • News Sakurai: Smash Bros. to 'Change Direction a Little' on Wii U and 3DS

    Still a long wait ahead

    Masahiro Sakurai has been busy with Kid Icarus: Uprising for a while now, but it seems that he's finally turning his attention to the next entry in the Super Smash Bros. franchise. The confirmation of a new title for both Wii U and 3DS was actually made at E3 2011, though we later learned that the announcement was premature...

  • News Fire Emblem: Awakening Battles to Number One in Japanese Chart

    An early victory

    The latest Media Create Japanese chart results are in, and Fire Emblem: Awakening has stormed to the software number one position with an impressive 242,600 sales: more than the other nine top ten titles combined. The intriguing Code of Princess, an action-brawler on 3DS, made its debut at number two with a more modest 19,554 units...

  • Feature Nintendo Banks on Its Old Money Makers

    If in doubt…

    Nintendo is set to announce its latest financial results that will cover the past year, and it’s anticipated that, for the first time in its history, the company will record a yearly loss. It’s an obvious blow for Nintendo, particularly as the past five to six years have brought staggering success. Even the results for 2010-2011...

  • News Nintendo Zone Launched in Europe

    Free content on the go

    The release of Nintendo Zone in Europe has been a slow process, compared to North America, but with today's system update the service is officially available in Wi-Fi Hotspots around the region. Once your 3DS update is complete your handheld will be primed to pick up the service, so if you haven't updated yet, what are you...

  • Talking Point Could AR Games Drive eShop Sales?

    Augmenting profit

    Nintendo made a big deal of augmented reality at 3DS' launch, but it's all gone a bit quiet on the gaming-on-your-table front aside from scant appearances as extra modes in titles like Kid Icarus: Uprising, or in its various uses in horror games that don't cut it. The 3D overlay technology, through which games and avatars can...

  • News Kid Icarus: Uprising AR Battles Hit the Stage

    No more fighting on table tops

    For those who've been able to get hold of some AR cards for Kid Icarus: Uprising, there may have been some fun had in pitching iconic characters against each other with a number of backdrops. Ultimately, though, a dull piece of furniture isn't necessarily the most epic environment for a battle of the ages. Readers of...