News - 2011, Week 42

Sunday23rd Oct 2011

  • First Impressions Mighty Switch Force

    The Mighty series just got a lot mightier

    While Shantae will probably always be the series WayForward is best known for, it's also been quite successful on Nintendo's download services, especially with its two previous Mighty releases, Mighty Flip Champs and Mighty Milky Way. Now the developer is looking to continue that success with its first 3DS...

Saturday22nd Oct 2011

  • Review Fish Tank (WiiWare)

    An unrequested fishin' surplus

    We know what you're thinking: "yawn... another colour-matching puzzler." And you'd be forgiven for shrugging and moving on. If you do that, however, you'll be missing out on a game that's quite good on its own, and a multiplayer experience that absolutely bursts with frantic fun. Fish Tank is a game that's...

  • News We Have an Exclusive Extra Level for Pyramids

    Scan it below

    3DS download Pyramids just released on the eShop in Europe, with one of its major features the ability to add new levels by scanning a QR code just like the one below. In order to access our exclusive Pyramids level, follow these instructions: Launch Pyramids On the title's front screen, select 'QR CODE' The top screen will show nine...

  • Review Castle Conqueror - Revolution (DSiWare)

    It revolves, but it doesn't evolve

    The first Castle Conqueror game was one that we definitely felt comfortable recommending. It mixed cutesy aesthetics with fast and addictive gameplay, and while seasoned RTS veterans no doubt found the game a little too simplified, the amount of fun it offered was difficult to resist. Its sequel, Castle Conqueror...

  • Round Table Let's Talk About Castlevania

    25 years of memories

    This week has been Castlevania features week. We’ve picked our top ten games from the series, reviewed an awful novelisation of Castlevania 2: Simon’s Quest, and provided some tips for wannabe Dracula hunters. One thing that has become clear amongst the team is that this series is packed full of memories and nostalgia, as...

Friday21st Oct 2011

  • Review Cave Story 3D (3DS)

    Third dimension is the charm

    When Cave Story was first released for the PC in 2004, players quickly fell in love with its simple visual design and action-packed gameplay. And while the game has generally retained that look and feel for its subsequent multiplatform releases in recent years, Nicalis decided to put the 3D capabilities of Nintendo's new...

  • Review 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors (DS)

    Fine, fine, fine

    You wake up in a cabin on a ship, clueless as to how you arrived. You soon remember a mysterious figure in a gas mask and an odd odour filling your apartment. Before you have time to put the pieces together, the window cracks and water begins to flood the small space. Either you find a way out of the locked room, or you drown. This...

  • News Kid Icarus, Kirby Getting 3D Classics Makeovers

    And PictoChat lives on, sort of

    Following the illustrious lead of Excitebike, Xevious, Twinbee and, uh, Urban Champion, Nintendos of Japan and Europe announced that NES gems Kid Icarus and Kirby's Adventure are next i

  • News 3DS System Transfer Tool Arrives With November Update

    It's not a physical tool, you understand

    Frustrated that all the awesome content for your 3DS is trapped within its physical body, unable to exit to reside within another, perhaps differently coloured console? Angry that no matter how many times you tap the 3DS Transfer Tool in the system menu it won't let you move content between consoles? You'll...

  • News We Wish These Mario 3DS Consoles Weren't Japan Only

    Too cool for words

    It's a complaint we've heard countless times over the years: "Japan gets all the cool stuff." It's not always true of course — just look at StarTropics — but these limited edition Mario-themed 3DS consoles are definitely some of the coolest things we've seen. The Mario, Peach and Super Mushroom machines are special...

  • News Nintendo Direct October 2011 - 3DS Gets Official Plans for Hulu Plus and 3D Video Recording

    Streaming service also Wii-bound

    Much of the hullabaloo surrounding the upcoming 3DS system update and its will-they-won't-they feature set can be put to rest, as Nintendo has now stepped in to reveal exactly what it will entail for the device's multimedia capabilities. At the end of November the 3DS will get the ability to record 3D video for up...

  • News Mario Kart 7 Online Features Come Into View

    Group effort

    As promised, Nintendo has opened up about the online features in its big multiplayer title for 2011, Mario Kart 7. One of the big new features is the ability to create groups for your friends, letting you organise players into specific skill, location or friendship groups, with these shared via StreetPass too. You can also custom rules...

  • News Three Brand New Zelda Skyward Sword Trailers

    Just for you

    It's Friday, and that means one thing: time to get down. It also means time to check out some brand new footage of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, with three trailers to choose from this week: Goddess Cubes, Eldin Volcano and the Earth Temple, all right here. Skyward Sword is just four weeks away. Getting excited? Goddess Cubes:...

  • News Nikkei Leads with Nintendo Firmware Update Details

    10 minutes of 3D recording

    Japanese newspaper Nikkei reports that the upcoming 3DS firmware update will land in late November and allow up to 10 minutes of 3D video recording. The paper (via Andriasang) also states that these videos can be uploaded to sites like YouTube, though it doesn't specify that this is possible directly from the 3DS, meaning...

  • News StreetPass Mode Shown in Super Mario 3D Land Vid

    More to share

    Nintendo just released a new video sharing a little information about the StreetPass mode in surefire Christmas hit Super Mario 3D Land as well as some of the other recently announced features and characters. The local sharing function allows players to exchange so-called "Mystery Box" levels with each other. These stages are...

  • News Learn About Heat and Music in Skyward Sword

    Very important information

    The latest update from Nintendo about Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword reveals more locales and more items Link will encounter along the way in his new journey which, you probably know, is just four weeks away. Zelda experts may be surprised to hear Nintendo refer to one particular item as "all new" as it bears a...

  • News Sonic Generations 3DS Release Dates Finally Revealed

    Not long to wait

    After earlier confirmation that Sonic Generations will indeed see release on 3DS next month, we now have the game's final confirmed release dates in North America and Europe. North Americans get a few days' head start on Europe with a release date set for Tuesday 22nd November, while Europeans can pick up Sonic's adventure the...

  • News Eurosport, Red Bull and Aardman 3D Content Coming to 3DS

    The roll out keeps rolling

    While North America prepares to get Hulu Plus for 3DS — it already has Netflix too — Europe is left sadly wanting in the 3D video stakes. That'll soon change though, according to Nintendo's recently revealed plans to release more 3D video content in the coming months. Starting "soon", videos from Red Bull and...

Thursday20th Oct 2011

  • Nintendo Download 20th October 2011 (North America)

    Dragons, castles and more

    Some games we expected to be available today haven't made it, but here's the full list of what's up for your download dollars today including the 3DS's first ever paid video content. 3DS Virtual Console: Double Dragon (Game Boy, Aksys, $3.99) — The classic 2D side-scroller finally makes it to North America, nearly four...

  • News Mario Kart 7 Art Shows DK, Peach and Big Blue Shells

    All the right ingredients

    Last week's Mario Kart artwork — Mario Kartwork, if you will — has been quickly overtaken by this new set of pictures showing Donkey Kong, Princess Peach and Mario all enjoying their brand new rides. Peach's regal mobile looks fine and dandy with its tiny wheels, while DK and Mario have both decked out their rides with...

  • News New Super Mario 3D Shots Show Tonnes of New Stuff

    But we won't say what

    Nintendo's putting out new media every week for its biggest titles, but we know you like to save yourselves until the games are released. We do too. That's why we're not going to tell you about the new power-ups, stages or bosses pictured in the Super Mario 3D Land screenshots below. Instead, we'll just let the 62 new images...

  • News So That's What a Boomerang Flower Looks Like

    Guess what it does

    A few weeks ago we brought you news of a new power-up in Super Mario 3D Land, and now we see exactly how you'll be strapping on the new suit. The official Super Mario 3D Land website just updated with some brand new screenshots, showing off more of the game's secrets. For instance, we now know that Boom Boom's female counterpart...

  • News More 3DS System Update Details on 4th November

    New StreetPass game on the way

    Update: It appears the update will not be released on 4th November, but rather this is the date we can expect to know more information. Original story: Nintendo promised a major 3DS system update next month, and it seems the new features may make it sooner rather than later, with a new report pointing to a 4th November...

  • Nintendo Download 20th October 2011 (Europe)

    Another late one

    Just like last week, there's been no press release announcing what's available this week but here's what's appeared in Nintendo's digital shops. 3DS eShop: Pyramids (Enjoy Gaming, €4/£3.60) — You'd think Nintendo would make more of a song and dance about this, only the second third-party release for the 3DS eShop, but hey ho...

  • News Pluck Harvest Moon: Tale of Two Towns 3DS on 1st November

    Free toy too

    With the regular DS version of Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns already available in North America, Natsume has revealed a release date for its 3D companion: 1st November. As is traditional for a new HM game, customers who pre-order Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns on 3DS will get a free cuddly toy, this time the same alpaca that...

  • First Impressions Gnomz (WiiWare)

    WiiWare gets weirder

    QubicGames' Gnomz isn't much like other fighting games. There are no punches, no blocks and no health bars — instead it has gnomes, rainbow socks and reindeer with lights on. We recently grappled with a preview version of the game and came out (mostly) mentally unscathed. Played with the Wii Remote sideways, Gnomz is a...

  • Feature A Guide to Hunting Dracula

    The old-school way

    So far this week we’ve listed our top 10 Castlevania games, while also launching the Nintendo Life Book Club with the horrific Simon’s Quest novel. A common theme across the series is the quest to defeat Dracula, mostly by trekking through his unfeasibly huge castle. Should the unlikely ever occur and the world looks to you to...

  • News Metroid Database Needs Your Help with Series Bestiary

    Get artsy

    Long-running fansite Metroid Database needs your help compiling an in-depth record of every creature that inhabits the series' enormous universe. With so many games in the Metroid series the site needs help from artists and knowledgeable veterans to bring the catalogue to completion. In its current incomplete stage it's still a fascinating...

Wednesday19th Oct 2011

  • News Nintendo Holding Online 3DS Press Conference on Friday

    Learn more about Mario Kart

    Nintendo of Japan has announced an online press conference for 3DS taking place this Friday at 8pm Japanese time. Dubbed the "Nintendo 3DS New Information Internet Presentation", the event will be a pre-recorded video of Satoru Iwata going over some of the information that couldn't fit into the company's...

  • News AiRace: SPE3D Racing to 3DS with Online Multiplayer

    Not until next year, though

    DSiWare flight game AiRace and its sequel AiRace Tunnel were two fine titles for DSi, and now publisher QubicGames has revealed exclusively to us its plans for a 3DS eShop sequel. Development work on the follow-up — cleverly titled AiRace: SPE3D — has just begun at the studio, with new tracks, planes and online...

  • Interviews QubicGames - Gnomz (WiiWare)

    Learn more about the porcelain protectors

    After the revelation of Gnomz yesterday we had to sit down with QubicGames' Michał Dys to learn more about the bizarre WiiWare fighting platformer. We'll also have a preview of the game coming up tomorrow, so don't miss it. Nintendo Life: The first question has to be: why gnomes? What is it about them that...

  • News Pix'n Love Updates Site, Puts New Books Up for Pre-Order

    Turning over a new leaf

    Pix'n Love Publishing, the company behind the rather good History of Nintendo: Volume 1, has just overhauled its website and put up a stack of new books to pre-order. Top of the list is the next issue in the series, titled The History of Nintendo: Volume 2 — Game & Watch, which goes through the development of Nintendo's...

Tuesday18th Oct 2011

  • Review Just Dance 3 (Wii)

    It's evolution, baby

    The world is not lacking in Just Dance games. Since that original perfect storm of pop style, goofy fun and lack of inhibition crashed the Wii party near the tail end of 2009, Ubisoft's dance factory has put out an additional eight releases of varying quality in a short two years. It would thus be easy to dismiss Just Dance 3...

  • Review Professor Layton and the Last Specter (DS)

    Smells like evil spirit

    By this point, most of our readers already know if they will like a Professor Layton game long before it's actually released. This is due to the fact that while the specifics of Layton's investigations change, the gameplay remains largely the same. With games such as these, however, that's not a bad thing. The Professor...

  • Feature Nintendo Life Book Club - Castlevania II: Simon's Quest

    For all you bookworms

    Here at Nintendo Life we do our best to keep you entertained with a diverse range of news, reviews, features, podcasts and music shows. We've been missing one thing, though: a Nintendo Life Book Club. There's a lot of game-based literature out there, so we thought that the bookworms out there would like to chill out with a...

  • Review Brunswick Pro Bowling (3DS)

    Split!

    What's not to like about bowling? The feel of manoeuvring the ball in your hands as you launch it down the lane, the crack of the pins, the fun of going out with your buddies or your team, trying on a pair of communal shoes – ok, not that last one. It was only a matter of time before Crave's Brunswick Pro Bowling series made it to the 3DS,...

  • News Skyward Sword Nearly Had Button Combat Controls

    Things could have gone very differently

    We know that Nintendo nearly dropped MotionPlus from Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, but it nearly had even less motion for your money, with the revelation in a recent Japanese Iwata Asks article that combat was nearly a button-based affair. The interview (via Silic

  • News Monster Hunter 3G Definitely Doesn't Have Online Play

    The final word

    Capcom's confirmed its much anticipated 3DS title Monster Hunter 3 G, due out in Japan in December, definitely won't have online play. The game's official Japanese site restates that the 3DS's online capabilities are only used to download extra content, and that anyone wanting to play multiplayer will need to get together with...

  • News New Fantasy Life Trailer is the Cutest Thing You'll See Today

    Also contains giant dragon

    Level-5 and Brownie Brown collaboration Fantasy Life is shaping up to be pretty special, if the super-cute video below is anything to go by. Revealed this past weekend at Level-5's regular press event, the video shows off some of the game's anime-styled cut scenes as well as in-game footage of the fantasy world itself. As...

  • News Behold, 3D Screenshots of Heroes of Ruin

    Thine eyes!

    By now you've hopefully listened to the Nintendo Life Podcast: Episode 22 where our host James Newton spoke to Heroes of Ruin community manager Kevin Eva about the 2012-bound 3DS action adventure game. Audio can only do so much, though: visuals pack a far mightier punch, particularly in three glorious dimensions. That's why Square Enix...

  • News BlazBlue: Continuum Shift 2 Gets Manga Edition in Europe

    Extremely limited edition

    How many copies would constitute a limited edition print run? 50,000? 5,000? How about 200? That's the number of copies Arc System Works Europe is printing of the BlazBlue: Continuum Shift 2 Manga Edition when it's launched on 4th November 2011. The extremely limited edition comes with the BlazBlue: Phase Zero Prologue...

  • News Blue Wii Heads Down Under with Donkey Kong In Tow

    Hide the bananas

    The reconfigured Wii console continues to spread its roots around the world, with Australia due to receive the blue machine on 3rd November. Whereas Europe gets the new colour with Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, the Australian bundle comes with Donkey Kong Country Returns instead, and all for $198 AUS. It's...

  • News Are You Afraid of Gnomes? You Will Be After This Gnomz Trailer

    Don't go into the garden alone

    QubicGames has put out some pretty good games on DSiWare — AiRace and AiRace Tunnel — but it's never made the jump to the big screen... until now. The developer has just told us about Gnomz, a new multiplayer fighting game for WiiWare starring everyone's favourite ornament — the garden gnome. From the video below...

  • News Ain't No Party Like a Mario and Sonic London Party

    Just stay away from Soho

    SEGA's next spin on multiplayer sports is just a month away, and to get you all excited for Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games the publisher has revealed a new trailer showing off the game's London Party mode. The minigame mode sees Mario, Sonic and friends take to the streets of England's capital city in...

  • News Now It's Getting Cold, Stay Warm with Game Boy Gloves

    Look cool, feel hot

    Our readers in the Southern Hemisphere can comfortably look away now: this one's for the northerners currently approaching the chill of winter. You know we love some Nintendo arts and crafts here, and these knitted Game Boy gloves by Nintendo Life reader MaDonna could be just the thing for keeping your hands warm during the...

Monday17th Oct 2011

  • Feature Castlevania - The Terrifying Ten

    Our favourite Dracula quests

    As the dreaded night of Halloween continues to loom ever closer, we are now turning our attention to the Castlevania franchise, which recently celebrated its 25th Anniversary. All of this week there'll be features looking at the series, as we join the hunt to take Dracula down once and for all. In previous features we've...

  • Review 1001 BlockBusters (DSiWare)

    1001 ways to say "meh"

    101 Dolphin Pets. 101 Shark Pets. 1001 Crystal Mazes Collection. And now 1001 BlockBusters. Teyon sure tends to feel a great deal of pride for the sheer amount of content it packs into every release. But playing this most recent game, at least, it's difficult not to wish that it'd aim for smaller, more refined ex

  • News Kids, Nintendo Wants to Know What Your Super Ability Is

    Kirby will help

    If the recent Kirby's Return to Dream Land artwork inspired you, Nintendo of America has a competition just for you. From today, Nintendo is inviting visitors to Kirby's Super Ability site to submit their own drawings and descriptions of their own Super Abilities, all in support of Starlight Children's Foundation and the upcoming...

  • News Sonic Generations Still On Course for Release Next Month

    Delay rumours may be off target

    There's been Internet grumblings recently that Sonic Generations might overshoot its projected November release date and land in 2012. However SEGA has reassured excited fans that the game will still see release next month: Sonic Generations for the Nintendo 3DS system will be released later in November 2011. Of...

  • News Limited Edition Zelda eShop Cards Confirmed for Europe

    Due before Christmas

    The Zelda 25th anniversary celebrations continue around the world. Next Tuesday sees the Zelda symphony reach London, and Nintendo of Europe has also confirmed it'll release limited edition Zelda eShop cards across the continent. These are the same designs as Japan's eShop cards and will be available later on this year. Remember...

  • News Symphonic Concert is the Latest 3D Nintendo Video

    Quick, to the 3DS!

    Calm down, fans of three-dimensional footage of orchestras rehearsing: today is about to be your best day ever. Nintendo of Europe has just released a 3D video of the Berlin Philharmoniker via SpotPass, as the world famous orchestra rehearses a performance of Russian Dance from Stravinsky's Petrushka, of course. By now you've...