Latest Interviews
January2025
A chat with Simogo
You walk into a poorly lit, seemingly empty hotel. In desperate need of someone to speak to, you hesitantly wander just a single room farther from the entrance, down a serene walkway. You are funnelled into a similarly poorly lit library. You’re second-guessing why you are in this hotel, and why it even has a library, yet your...
Feature "I Don’t Want To See It Fizzle Out” - Stardew Valley Creator On Why He Can't Give It Up
"I feel like I could work on it for the rest of my life"
Back at the end of August we travelled to Seattle to attend PAX West and had the incredible opportunity to spend half an hour with none other than Eric Barone, AKA ConcernedApe. If you don’t know who Eric is, he’s the creator of Stardew Valley; the smash hit farming game from 2016, which...
Feature Child's Play: From Bokunatsu To Natsu-Mon - The Kaz Ayabe Interview
A sit-down with the creator of My Summer Vacation & Attack of the Friday Monsters
For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, summer has come to an end. Fortunately, through the magic of video games — and the video games created by one man in particular — it's never too late to take a little summer holiday... With the recent English-language...
December2024
Feature "I Avoided Almost All The Existing Tropes" - Peeling Back The Layers Of Animal Well
"No matter what you put in a game, it will get found"
Who the heck spends seven years making a video game about animals — literally, just animals? The game in question, Animal Well, isn’t a farm game, it’s not a virtual pet game, it’s not even some kind of cosy simulator. On top of that, if you were only handed the back-of-the-box...
Here comes the boom
Lena Raine has so much to say, and she’s figured out a lot of different ways to say it all. Of course, avid game players have been listening to her musical scores for over a decade now, which includes music for Minecraft, as well as the soundtracks for Chicory: A Colorful Tale and the BAFTA-nominated Celeste score. She’s...
Feature The Company You Can Pay To X-Ray Unopened Pokémon Card Packs Speaks Out
"The technology is not going away, and people know what it can do"
The entirety of the trading card community — that is, people who collect, buy, and sell the Pokémon Trading Card game, sports cards, Magic: The Gathering, Disney, or literally any trading card game you can think of — has gradually become aware of what might be an existential...
Feature "I Want You To Be Mad" - Crazy Viking Studios On The Brutality Of Volgarr The Viking II
"We didn't have any intention of ever making a sequel"
The original Volgarr The Viking might have flown under a lot of folks' radar when it launched back in 2013, but it's one of those games where if you know, you know. It garnered a solid 8/10 from us when it landed on Switch and it's cultivated a hardcore, dedicated fanbase whose members are...
Feature How Lemmings, ChuChu Rocket & Nintendo Inspired Unpacking Devs' Next Game
"When you play it, you feel connected, not judged"
Developer Witch Beam isn't ready to rest on its laurels. After creating two wildly different games — the twin-stick shooter Assault Android Cactus and the BAFTA award-winning, heartfelt puzzler Unpacking — it's ready to move back to the outside and go with something even more relaxing. We were...
Feature 'POCA!' Is A Game Boy Camera Photobook Adventure & A Heartfelt Homage To 'Hip' Tanaka
"I feel like I made the book almost for him"
Sitting down to speak with Jonathan Traynor, a Glasgow-based artist and writer, about his newly-released book, POCA!, we were expecting a few things. Y'know the sort of stuff: how the Kickstarter went; where the idea for the book came from; hopes for the future; picks for the Top of the Pops Xmas #1; and...
Feature Meet Four Developers Making Brand-New Game Boy Titles In 2024
35 years and stronger than ever
The Game Boy turned 35 years old on 21st April 2024. Today, George speaks with four talented individuals keeping the candle burning for the DMG-001 in the 21st century... The humble Game Boy may be turning 35, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing new to look forward to. Far from it, in fact – the homebrew...
Feature How Can Switch 2 'Fix' The eShop? Devs Share Their Storefront Stories
"It's feast or famine, really"
If you are the proud owner of a Nintendo Switch (and if you're reading this, we'd wager that you are), then it will come as no surprise when we say that the eShop is a wild place in 2024. While gaming may have never been better, Nintendo's storefront has never been worse. Discoverability is a thing of the past with...
Feature Pepper Grinder's Solo Dev Digs Into Scope, Smash Bros. & "Crunchy Feedback"
"I just made a game I always wanted to play"
It might feel like a long time since Pepper Grinder was unearthed for Switch at the November 2022 Indie World Showcase, but it has been even longer for Riv Hester, the game's solo developer at studio Ahr Ech, who first dug up the idea seven years ago. This is Sonic the Hedgehog meets Drill Dozer (by way...
Feature Meet The Three Brothers Making Their Dream 'Secret Of Mana'-Inspired RPG
"We want to make one of the most accessible and playable RPGs of all time"
Couch co-op and JRPG are two genres you don't often see together. Secret of Mana is one of the earliest examples of the genre, with most of the Tales of series also allowing fans to play together while sitting side-by-side. But outside of those examples, playing JRPGs with...
Feature Why Play Final Fantasy VII Remake When You Could Play FFVII 'Demake'?
"more than just pirate versions"
You’re probably aware of Square Enix’s lengthy and somewhat lavish efforts to remake the 1997 game Final Fantasy VII. The second instalment of this ambitious remake, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, was released just recently, and we’re still likely to be years away from any sort of conclusion. But you might not be...
Feature Meet Morphcat Games, The New-Gen NES Devs Pushing The 8-Bit Envelope
"No one has come close to exhausting its full capabilities"
Four decades after it became an international sales phenomenon and dominated a crowded games market, the Nintendo Entertainment System – the 8-bit box that gave birth to some of the medium’s biggest enduring franchises – today finds itself playing host to something else entirely: new...
Retro revival
For many younger gamers, the idea that Atari was once the undisputed king of console gaming might seem somewhat farfetched. Yet in the late '70s and early '80s, the gaming giant dominated the market with the Atari 2600, introducing audiences to the likes of Adventure, Yars' Revenge, and Haunted House. However, after a wave of...
"At the initial idea stage, we collected over 1,000 ideas"
While the Super Mario series can get quite weird with its lore, world design, and general concepts, nothing comes close to the sheer absurdity of the WarioWare franchise. How many games out there let you pick someone's nose, perform dental work, and have a back-scratching competition with...
November2024
"Cats are amazing animals"
Stray caught everyone a little by surprise when it first leapt onto PlayStation consoles back in 2022. A cyberpunk platformer where you play as a cute kitty sure looked sweet, but it was surprisingly heartfelt? Surprisingly fun to play? And (un)surprisingly drove any real-world cats in its vicinity wild? We weren't...
"If you've got a cool idea for a game, you can pitch your cool idea for a game."
Raise your hand if you haven’t played a Jackbox game… okay, trust us, if this were a real room, this would have created a pretty solid visual for how prolific the Jackbox party games have become over the years. Almost everyone has played one, and this week, believe...
"If the original fans aren’t satisfied, the remake will ultimately be considered a failure"
Booting up Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake and hearing the Overture — known as Loto / Erdrick's Theme in Dragon Quest III — played by the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra for the first time, it's hard not to be washed over by a wave of warmth...
October2024
Feature 'Nairi: Rising Tide' Dev On Standing Out In Switch's Cosy Crowd Six Years On
"We expect future chapters to roll out in a timelier fashion. Hopefully."
Back in 2018, Dutch indie studio HomeBear — a two-person team made up of partners Joshua van Kuilenburg and You Miichi — released NAIRI: Tower Of Shirin, a lovingly-made point-and-click adventure game which we awarded an 8/10 in our review. It's been a fair old while, but...
Feature "We Tested 60fps In Pre-Production, But The Smoothness Felt Unnatural"
Respecting Japanese animation in 'Shin chan: Shiro and the Coal Town'
Back in the summer of 2022, the world of Crayon Shin-chan collided with Millennium Kitchen's My Summer Vacation series in a delightful, beautiful game with an unnecessarily long name. Shin chan: Me and the Professor on Summer Vacation -The Endless Seven-Day Journey- brought Kay...
"...so I have to work and buy many toys"
In case you haven’t heard, Hironobu Sakaguchi, the father of Final Fantasy, is returning home to Square Enix, so to speak, for the first time in 21 years, bringing Mistwalker’s one-time Apple Arcade-exclusive RPG Fantasian to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 (both physically and digitally) and to...
September2024
Feature Life Is Strange: Double Exposure Directors Discuss Caulfield, Canon & Switch
"Both endings of the original Life is Strange are canon"
What were you getting up to in 2015? Maybe you were playing video games back then too, so as a refresher, 2015 was the release year for the sweeping epic Metal Gear Solid V, the somewhat polarising Fallout 4, and indie darlings Rocket League and Undertale. If you were one of the few people...
The world warrior
Shuhei Matsumoto may not yet be as familiar in the fighting game world as the exuberant Yoshinori Ono, but with his playful personality and regular online announcements, panels and interviews, he’s certainly on his way. Since 2017 he has been assisting with and spearheading productions on the likes of Street Fighter 6, Marvel...
"I’d like to think that eventually, no matter what, Gruntilda will get her revenge"
If you haven't played The Stanley Parable, stop reading right now and go and play it. Not because this interview contains spoilers, you understand - you just should have really played The Stanley Parable by now, especially since it came to Switch in Ultra Deluxe...
"I just have to not be too precious"
Back in 2021, Black Tabby Games — an indie studio formed by husband-and-wife team Tony Howard-Arias and Abby Howard — released the first episode of the episodic visual novel Scarlet Hollow on Steam. Visually striking with ink drawings and a deep branching narrative, the duo put the studio on the map from...
Feature Blasphemous Devs Talk Switching From Metroidvania To RTS Stealth In 'The Stone Of Madness'
“Failing is part of what makes this game fun”
The Game Kitchen has been cookin’ good. With Blasphemous and Blasphemous 2, the Spanish developer quickly gained a stellar reputation thanks to some of the best Metroidvanias to emerge in recent years. Their prickly difficulty, moody gothic vibes, and disconcerting take on Andalucian Catholic...
August2024
“Switch has been very, very important”
Out of the Seven Wonders of the World, we can add one more to the list in recent years, a triumph of human engineering achievement almost as jaw-dropping as the Great Pyramids of Giza or the Hanging Gardens of Babylon: Sid Meier's classic 4X Civilization series now operates fine and dandy on Nintendo...
Exclusive 'Loddlenaut', The Chao Garden-Inspired, Ocean-Cleanup Game, Revealed For Switch
"What we’re releasing on Switch really represents our full vision"
Whether you're an environmentally conscious sort or you find compulsive cleaning relaxing, you'll probably be happy to hear that Loddlenaut, which launched on Steam last November to Overwhelmingly Positive reviews, is coming to Switch on 19th September. Dubbed "PowerWash...
Feature New Attacks, More Speed, Bigger Challenge - Good-Feel On Bringing 'BAKERU' To The West
"We've made adjustments to improve the overall gameplay experience"
Some of you may have seen earlier this week that BAKERU, the previously Japan-only 3D action platformer from Good-Feel, was announced to be coming to Western shores for a fresh English release in just a few short weeks. We loved the original Japanese release, and in anticipation of...
Feature Here’s How Trading Card Companies Could Stop CT Scanning In The Future
"They really want to fix it"
Collecting trading cards, especially vintage cards, has gotten considerably dicier — seemingly overnight. Over the past month, multiple people have come forward to demonstrate how various X-ray technologies can reliably see inside unopened trading card products. The concept of X-raying packs has been rumored for as...
"I fear I may have dad jokes syndrome"
Can you believe it, Ace Attorney fans? We're almost at the end of the incredible journey that has been the AA Switch remakes, and honestly, we never thought we'd see the day – let alone so soon. The Ace Attorney Investigations Collection, comprising the first and second games in the Edgeworth-focused...
July2024
"Having a ceiling on any sort of media will always be seen as a negative"
It's been over four years since this writer last spoke to George Perkins of Super Rare Games, the boutique publisher of limited-run physical Switch releases which set up shop back in 2018. Since then the firm has branched out into both physical PS5 releases and digital...
Feature Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown Lands On Switch Today In A Port Two Years In The Making
Smoke me a kipper
Originally launching nearly five years after Ace Combat: Infinity and four years after the 3DS release Assault Horizon Legacy+, 2019's Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown was the first game in the mainline series for over a decade and brought the series back to Strangereal, the franchise's fictionalised Earth stand-in. Now, five years...
Feature TMNT: Splintered Fate Dev Talks Crafting A Radical Roguelike And How Hades "Opened Our Eyes"
Divine inspiration
TMNT fans were eating well back in 2023. Shredder's Revenge landed a totally tubular DLC, Mutant Mayhem was one of the franchise's best films in decades, and completely out of the blue Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate popped out of its shell on Apple Arcade. This roguelike from developer Super Evil Megacorp took the...
Feature "It Is Both Exciting And A Bit Terrifying" - Nightdive Studios On Reviving 'The Thing'
"We were working on getting the rights to this game for several years"
2002's The Thing is widely regarded as one of the best horror games based on an existing media franchise. Many licensed horror games are sadly relegated to genres that require a specific setup, such as asymmetrical multiplayer or short VR experiences, but The Thing — a...
Feature "A New Surprise On Every Page" - How Kids Helped Shape 'The Plucky Squire'
"My son calls it ‘The Plucky Square’”
“It's a new adventure,” is what James Turner, co-director of the absolutely delightful The Plucky Squire, told us when we asked him what it was like to leave Game Freak and The Pokémon Company. Before forming his own game studio, All Possible Futures, with Jonathan Biddle, Turner was most well-known...
June2024
Feature "Only Pokémon Can Make Pokémon" - Dicefolk Devs On Finding A Voice In A Crowded Genre
"You never know when the Pokémon inspiration will strike!"
In recent years, we have seen an increasing number of roguelikes on Switch. In even more recent years, we have seen the same happen for 'Pokémon-likes'. Naturally, each genre has its respective highs and lows, but rarely have we seen both of them joined by the same game. Tha
From Revenge to Rising
WayForward Technologies has worked on several well-known franchises over the years, including the likes of Contra, Silent Hill, The Mummy, Transformers, and even Aliens. Despite this, the reveal that the developer would collaborate with Atari on a brand new Yars entry came as a genuine shock to many, this writer included. Not...
May2024
"Collaboration contents from outside Capcom will not be carried over"
The Nintendo 3DS had plenty of incredible exclusives and in its heyday, a lot of those were in the Monster Hunter series. One gem that truly stands out from its no-glasses-3D siblings is Monster Hunter Stories. Developed as a collaboration between Capcom and Marvelous, this...
Feature Spitfire Interactive Talks X-Men, XCOM, And "What Age Has To Say To Youth" In 'Capes'
A new (Midnight) Sun rises
We first caught wind of Capes in the hazy days of early 2023. The turn-based superhero tactics set-up sounded like a novel idea, albeit one that we were worried might tread on the toes of one Marvel's Midnight Suns which, remember, we were still expecting to see on Switch. That Switch port was eventually cancelled, and we...
Feature Who Is Playtonic's Voice Of The People?
The driving force of change
Frances Williams, Head of People @ Playtonic Here at Nintendo Life we've followed Playtonic's journey since its inception back in 2015. We caught up with the team behind Yooka-Laylee and its follow-up Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair last year to see how the studio had grown and what they are working on next. During...
Feature How Nintendo Switch Is Being Used By A New Generation Of Therapists
Cooperative healing in handheld hybrid form
May is Mental Health Awareness Month and we'll be running several features focused on how video games of all types have helped us through periods when we were struggling with our mental health. Today, Tim speaks to therapists to discover how they are using Switch and video game therapy to help patients...
April2024
Feature Keza MacDonald On Meeting Miyamoto, 'Switch 2', And Her Upcoming Nintendo Book
"Nintendo is 'the' way you understand games"
The London Developer Conference (LDC) made its almighty return last week, allowing some of the biggest names in the gaming world the chance to talk about the industry, where it currently sits, and where it is likely to go. One of the speakers in this year's programme was Keza MacDonald, video games...
Feature 'Overjoyed' Is A Switch-Compatible, One-Finger Accessibility App That's Available Now
Addressing Nintendo's "random" approach to accessibility
We can all agree that Nintendo isn't exactly a games industry forerunner in terms of accessibility. The lack of being able to quickly and easily remap buttons in many Nintendo first-party games is just a start, but there are often mechanics that require multiple button prompts, or simple...
March2024
Feature "The Odds Seemed Just Astronomical" - Reviving Lost Media With Shantae Advance
"Decisions made by younger me created a ton of headaches for modern me"
It's not often that a developer gets to revisit a chapter of their past and pick up where they left off on a project two decades prior, but the revival of Shantae Advance in the form of Risky Revolution has given WayForward creative director Matt Bozon just that opportunity...
"I almost put a reference in there..."
We were lucky enough to play a lot of great games at Summer Games Fest 2023, but perhaps the biggest surprise was Little Kitty, Big City, an exploration-focused adventure from Double Dagger Studio where you play as a cat on its journey home. From our hands-on preview, the game really dug its claws in and we'd...
February2024
Feature Shiren The Wanderer Devs On Preserving Series' "Difficulty" And "Uniqueness"
"I made sure to preserve what I believed to be valuable"
Shiren the Wanderer is one of the longest-running roguelike series in the world. Debuting back in 1995 as the second entry in the Mystery Dungeon series, Mystery Dungeon 2: Shiren the Wanderer introduced the world to the young boy who would explore many procedurally-generated dungeons over the...
Feature "It Just Felt Right" - How Story Of Seasons & Piczle Cross Is The Perfect Union
"I am an unapologetic fan of the Story of Seasons series"
What's more relaxing than a farming sim? Many of us love to wind down with a few hours of tending crops, looking after cows, and taking in the seasons in a good ol' Story of Seasons game. And for almost 30 years, this hugely popular series has been sowing the seeds and setting the standard...
Feature Avoiding Co-op "Frictions And Frustrations" In Roguelite Restaurateur 'PlateUp!'
"Everyone can always benefit from another pair of hands"
From the moment it launched in March 2017, Switch quickly carved itself a niche as the console for couch-co-op gaming. Crack off the Joy-Con and in mere moments you have a a multiplayer setup suitable for wherever you happen to be. Soon, a crowd of zany, co-op party games — many inspired by...
Video We Chat To Eastward's Composer About How Game Music Is Actually Made
"'Perfect' is way overrated"
We love a good bit of video game music. Whether it is keeping us company throughout a gruelling boss battle or stuck on in the background while we make our dinner in the evening, there is something about these tunes that just hits different. Despite all of these hours getting familiar with the scores, however, very few...
Feature "We’ve Tried To Do Something Very Different" - Rivalry & Drama In Arcade Racer 'New Star GP'
Fasten your seatbelts
Being a fan of sports games can be a tricky business. AAA publishers roll out the same full-price titles year-on-year with fewer improvements and added pay-to-win incentives, all bundled up in a package that is regularly less-than-optimal on Switch. Fortunately, in the darkest of days, the indie scene is there to illuminate us...
January2024
With a patch incoming, Pathea charts the road ahead
You may remember Pathea Games' My Time at Sandrock, a life sim game released late last November that we weren’t massively enthused with. We awarded it a 5/10 in our review, saying that the launch version's "bland presentation and technical hiccups" affected this sequel to My Time at Portia. The...
Feature The Stunning Visual Delights Of 'El Shaddai', Inspired By Apple iPod Commercials
"...bringing El Shaddai to a new audience on the Nintendo Switch is exciting"
El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron is one of the most underappreciated gems of the PS3/Xbox 360 era. That's what people who've played the unusual action platformer, released back in 2011, will tell you. One look at El Shaddai — the only game developed by Ignition...
Feature Bandle Tale - Exploring The "Least Developed Parts" Of The League Of Legends IP
"I think this is the first time we've ever let a player self-insert into one of our games"
Last year was a busy one for Riot Forge, which published three solid, indie-developed games set in the expansive Runeterra universe (The Mageseeker, Convergence, Song of Nunu), each featuring totally unique art styles and gameplay. Now the company is turning...
Feature 'The Art Of Nintendo Power' Exhibit - A Guided Tour
"The whole mission is to share the work"
Have you ever seen an original Contra up close? What about an original Mario Kart? For Stephan Reese, organizer and showrunner for the non-profit Interactive Art Collection (and a Senior Producer at video game developer Bungie when he’s not busy doing that), it’s his life’s mission that you might have...
Feature 'Rugrats' Dev's Mission To Make NES-Style Games "That Should Have Existed"
"I want people to feel like they're a 10-year-old kid again"
While sauntering through the Seattle Convention Center at this year's PAX West, we saw hundreds of developers showing off their biggest, flashiest games to the enthusiastic crowds — many of which had already been announced and were highly anticipated by fans. However, in a tucked-away...
Feature "I Don't Want To Copy" - Paying Homage To Childhood RPGs With Sea Of Stars
"We just make the games that we want to make"
Back when Sea of Stars — Sabotage's follow-up to its hit genre-bending platformer The Messenger — was unveiled to the world in 2020, there was a sparkle in many an RPG fans' eyes. The game's stunning SNES-style aesthetic, the combo-centric turn-based combat, and the beautiful music, brought forth...
December2023
Feature Pikmin Bloom Devs On The Joy Of "Human Connection" And The Absence Of Bulborbs
"Our Pikmin aren’t going to die"
While having a strong and deservingly passionate fanbase, it's fair to wonder if the Pikmin series has ever received the commercial success it deserves. Yet, Shigeru Miyamoto-san and Nintendo continue to nurture these little fellas and let them bloom however they like. The Nintendo Switch has just given us the...
Feature Meet The Virtual Boy Fan Making New Tech And Games For Nintendo's Console Curio
"I thought, 'Hey, I can probably do that'"
As the reputed black sheep of the Nintendo console family, one might think 1995’s Virtual Boy to be the last piece of hardware capable of garnering an enthusiast following today. Discontinued after less than a year on the market and never released in Europe, the elusive red-and-black headset is remembered...
Feature What Video Game Consultants Actually Do, And Why ‘Kit & Krysta’ Are Doing It
Never A Minute consultants assess our killer game idea
I have an idea for a video game. Actually, I’ve been making it for about six months now. My video game is a rhythm-based game. It’s also an American football game. To play it, you choose between plays, just like any sports game … but your play only succeeds if you push the buttons in...
Feature The Rise Of 'Scam Games' And 'Keyword Bingo' Firms Flooding Switch eShop
Sea of low-quality
It's difficult now to remember a time when the Switch eShop wasn't rammed with low-cost, low-quality games making it laborious to find the great new releases amongst all the dross. What began as an immaculately clean, functional store back in 2017 quickly ballooned and before long Nintendo was inundated with software submissions...
Feature Meet The 'Arzette' Dev Salvaging The Zelda CD-i Games' "Genuine Potential"
"I didn’t make this game as a joke"
The year is 1991. 'Video games' — plastic, square-shaped cartridges that millions of people blow into every day — grip early-adopting proselytizers. Yet they don’t know their precious cartridge’s days are numbered. A mighty company from Kyoto rules the industry today, but a new laser-based challenger is...
Breaking out into 3D
Following up on one of the most beloved entries in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise is no easy task, but for the ex-Sonic Mania devs at Evening Star, it was a simple case of leaning into their considerable ambition and diving headfirst into the world of 3D. Announced earlier this year during a Nintendo Direct presentation, the...
Feature From Banjo To Mario - Grant Kirkhope Talks Big Huge Troubles And Composing For Massive IPs
Part Two: "How the f*** am I going to write music for a Mario game!?"
Last week, in celebration of Banjo-Kazooie's 25th anniversary, we published the first part of our career-spanning interview with Mr. Grant Kirkhope, composer extraordinaire and the man responsible for some of our favourite music ever, video game or otherwise. Part One covered his...
Feature How Super Mario World Became An Award-Winning Book Of Verse
“Super Mario World has one of my most difficult experiences wound through its code"
Most of us have some childhood memory of games – be it Pokémon Blue, Tetris, or Super Mario Bros. When we dust off those old consoles, the games often trigger memories of our lives outside the screen too. In his heart-wrenching series of poems, If All the World...
Feature From Bon Jovi To Banjo - Grant Kirkhope On The "Complete Fluke" Of His Rare Musical Journey
Part One: Mr. Banjongles
Grant Kirkhope is an interviewer's dream, and not just because he's responsible for some all-time great video game soundtracks. He’s great company — frank, funny, and loquacious. We spoke to him most recently for our Nintendo Life VGM Fest back in 2021 and only ended up publishing a small fraction of our chat in our...
Feature A Visit To '84 Hashi', Tokyo's Secret Nintendo Staff Bar Now Open To You
Eiji Aonuma? “Drinking buddy.” Shigeru Miyamoto?...
There’s no shortage of fascinating Nintendo-related places to visit in Tokyo. You could explore shops for boxed Famicom games, sit down and eat a Kirby burger, or play Punch-Out!! in its original cabinet at a retro arcade. Yet one attraction was hidden from Nintendo diehards for years. A...
Feature Nintendo Players UK - A Decade Of The UK's Biggest Nintendo Fan Community
Celebrating 10 years of meetups this August
In the gaming industry, Nintendo sets itself apart not just with the quality of its games and its evergreen catalogue of classic characters, but also a focus on community. Whether through software that brings people of all ages together, hardware features like StreetPass, or the local multiplayer...
Feature "Fans Have Waited Many Years For A Return To Form" - WayForward On Contra's Grand Revival
'Operation Galuga' launches in Early 2024
The Contra franchise has had a bit of a rough ride in recent years. Although fans and critics alike were generally receptive toward the 2011 title Hard Corps: Uprising, Konami put the franchise on ice for a total of eight years until the poorly-received Contra: Rogue Corps in 2019. Yet fans have continued...
Feature Inside The Mind Of A Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom Speedrunner
Tearing through Hyrule
Since its release in March 2017, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has been an attractive game to speedrun for many reasons, and in our article last year, we were able to talk about its intricacies with two high-profile members of the community, including the world record holder. In 2023, the sequel, Tears of the...
"You cannot go through your life punching everything"
The Prince of Persia series is held near and dear to the hearts of many, whether you fell in love with the original platformers and their revolutionary rotoscope animation, The Sands of Time for its rewind mechanic and magical atmosphere, or maybe even the reboot from 2008 — which we're sad...
"We actually don’t like to talk about Worldless as a Metroidvania"
Fans of 2D platformers in the Metroidvania mould aren't exactly lacking for excellent examples of the genre. It feels like every other game launching at the moment is either a roguelite deckbuilder or an explorative action platformer. It's a brave developer who dips a toe into this...
Feature Dragon Quest Monsters Producer On Introducing Series To A Whole New Audience
Revisiting Chapters of the Chosen
As a beloved RPG series in Japan, Dragon Quest took a pretty long time to make waves in the West. In Japan, games in the mainline series get released on the weekends to stop people skipping work and school, and the franchise has sold millions just in its native home. Dragon Quest XI changed that. Originally...
