Tag: Anniversaries
Opinion An Ode To The Fallen Arm, Xenoblade Chronicles' Best Map
How revenge falls
Among all the Switch 2 excitement, we didn't want this to get lost: Xenoblade Chronicles is now 15 years old! To celebrate, Alana recalls something which turned the game from a great one into a special one. Warning: This article contains spoilers for Xenoblade Chronicles, so be wary if you haven't at least made it to the final...
News Witcher 3 Celebrates 10 Years, Announces Mod Support For Consoles
Switch 2 update when?
Although CD Projekt Red is readying up for the release of Cyberpunk 2077 on the Switch 2 next week, it's also currently celebrating the 10th anniversary of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. As part of this, it's announced it will be bringing cross-platform mod support to multiple platforms. Unfortunately, this does not include the...
Opinion Splatoon Brought Me Back To Online Multiplayer, But Octo Valley Shines Brightest
It's basically good in all possible ways
Back in 2015, which is apparently 10 years go now, the shooter genre was packed full of heavy-hitting, very serious, macho video games about firing bullets into people. This was the year, after all, that brought us Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 (one of the best ones) and the incredibly shiny Star Wars...
News Nintendo Music Celebrates 10 Years Of Splatoon, Here's Every Song Included
Switch Online Splatoon icons also available
Splatoon is now a well-established Nintendo IP and this month marks its 10th anniversary. Don't worry, we can't believe it either! To celebrate this very special milestone, Nintendo has added the original Wii U soundtrack to its Nintendo Music mobile application today. This latest album contains 47...
Quiz How Well Do You Remember Super Mario Galaxy 2?
Flex those sequel skills
We hate to be the ones to break it to you, but Super Mario Galaxy 2 is 15 years old today. Fifteen. That also means it's been five years since it was omitted from the Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection, but we won't touch on that sore subject right now. A decade and a half of one of Nintendo's finest sequels is worthy of a...
Anniversary Perfect Dark, Another N64 Rare Classic, Turns 25
And Agent Dark is still going
Rare had a heck of a run on the Nintendo 64, and today we're celebrating the anniversary of yet another of the studio's classics — Perfect Dark. Joanna Dark made her debut on Nintendo's 64-bit console on 22nd May 2000 in North America, with a European release following in June. Today, it ranks as the studio's...
Opinion Cult Classic 'Tokimeki Memorial' Hits Switch - But 30 Years On, It’s Still Out Of Reach
Forever with you; never with us
True love lasts forever – and so do some games. Tokimeki Memorial: Forever with You, the legendary dating sim from 1995, is hooking up with Switch next month to celebrate 30 years on the scene. Immaculately presented but bewilderingly complex, TokiMemo is a foundational piece of video game history that defined a...
News Chrono Trigger's Lifetime Sales Have Now Surpassed The Five Million Mark
How about a modern Nintendo version?
The legendary 1995 role-playing game Chrono Trigger is currently celebrating its 30th anniversary, and as part of this, Square Enix has provided a sales update. According to an official post on its website, combined sales (across all platforms) since the game's original Super Famicom release have now surpassed...
Anniversary No, There's Absolutely No Way In Hell Animal Crossing: New Horizons Is Five Today
Nook, line and sinker
Remember two, maybe three years ago when COVID-19 hit and Animal Crossing: New Horizons came out? Hah, what a fun and relatively recent time that was! It feels like only yesterd- wait, five years? New Horizons came out five years ago?? Oh my... Yep, on 20th March 2020, Nintendo finally unleashed the latest entry in the Animal...
Feature But The Future Can Change - Chrono Trigger And Learning To Love The World
The Corridors of Time
Note: If you haven't played Chrono Trigger to completion...what are you playing at? If you're sensitive to spoilers, come back when you're done as we discuss end-game details below... “But... the future refused to change.” For the most part, Chrono Trigger is a chirpy, cheery game. It’s lightning in a bottle, a...
News Chrono Trigger To Celebrate 30th Anniversary With "Various Projects"
Expect more "over the next year"
A lot of classic video games are coming up on major milestones and anniversaries, and one of them happens to be Square Enix's legendary 1995 RPG Chrono Trigger. Today actually happens to be the game's 30th anniversary since its initial Super Famicom and SNES release and to mark this special occasion, Square Enix has...
Feature These Past 8 Years Have Been A Privilege
Golden generation
The Switch turned eight this week and Nintendo Life contributor and friend of the site Gonçalo 'Shiryu' Lopes posted this touching tribute to the console and its effect on his life on Patreon. With kind permission, we're publishing an adapted version of his personal Switch story... The Wii U sadly fizzled so I had picked up a...
News Hamster's Arcade Archives Celebrates Eight Years Of Switch eShop Releases
"Thank you for your unwavering support"
Since the arrival of the Switch in 2017, Hamster Corporation has been releasing all sorts of arcade classics on the eShop. Now, in line with the eighth anniversary of Nintendo's hybrid system, Hamster's president and CEO Satoshi Hamada has taken a moment out of his busy schedule to share some fun facts. If...
Anniversary Nintendo Switch Launched On This Day Eight Years Ago
Where does the time go?
It seems an almost impossible notion to consider, but with the Nintendo Switch celebrating its eighth birthday today, it's now merely two years away from being a decade old. A decade. That's simply absurd. It would be oh-so easy to remark on how the console is an ageing relic at this point that's in dire need of an upgrade,...
Anniversary HAL Laboratory Is 45 Years Old Today
Kirb your enthusiasm
Whip up a last-minute cake and bring out the candles because we have a big birthday on our hands, folks. HAL Laboratory, the company behind Kirby, the OG Smash Bros., EarthBound and another boatload of beauties that we'll get to in just a moment, has turned 45 today. Yep, on 21st February 1980, Mitsuhiro Ikeda founded HAL with...
Poll 10 Years On, Which Version Of Zelda: Majora's Mask Is Best?
Masktasker
No three-day countdown will prepare you for this one: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D is 10 years old today. Yep, on 13th February 2015, we all opened our 3DSes (some of you might have even landed one of those sexy gold special edition consoles — you lucky gits) and sat down to replay one of the weirdest Zelda entries to date in...
Memory Pak This Resident Evil Comic Made Me Sympathise With A Tyrant
"P-Payback Time, Thorndikkke..."
Welcome to the latest instalment in our nostalgia-inducing column, Memory Pak, where we deep-dive into some of the most memorable moments in gaming – good and bad. Today, to mark the 25th anniversary of Resident Evil 2's N64 launch in Japan, Ollie reflects on a curious short comic book story that, against all...
News Team Ninja Kicks Off Anniversary Celebrations With Ninja Gaiden 4
The Bayonetta developer PlatinumGames is back
As we enter 2025, Koei Tecmo’s Team Ninja (known for its work on series like Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive) has acknowledged its 30th anniversary. In 4Gamer.net’s round up on Japanese developer’s 2025 ambitions, Team Ninja’s Fumihiko Yasuda mentioned how the team hoped to release titles...
Video Let's Celebrate 10 Lovely Years Of Alex YouTube Videos
A decade of Mr Olney
Sure, 2025 might be home to some pretty big gaming anniversaries, but you want to know the biggest of them all? This week marks 10 years since the wonderful Mr Alex Olney published his first video on the Nintendo Life YouTube channel. That's right, it has been a decade of "Heeeeello there lovely peeeople". To mark the occasion,...
News 8 Years Ago Today, We First Got Our Hands On Nintendo Switch
So how about a 'Switch 2' reveal, eh?
On this day in 2017, Nintendo finally lifted the lid on a little console called the Nintendo Switch, revealing the hybrid's technical specs, price and all-important release date to the world. Eight years on, we're desperate to see 'Switch 2' get the same treatment. To be clear, the 2017 presentation wasn't the...
Anniversary Resident Evil 4, One Of The Greatest Games Ever Made, Turns 20
"2005... I'll never forget it"
It seems funny to think back on it now, but during the early days of Resident Evil – when decomposing zombies were the top dog and Raccoon City was everybody's favourite apocalyptic holiday destination – the idea that the franchise would find itself in the rural outskirts of Europe in which you fight a child-like...
Feature Biggest Nintendo Gaming Anniversaries Of 2025
57 games with big birthdays this year
Throughout 2025, many of gaming's most treasured gems will be celebrating a significant birthday and to remind you of some of the biggest (and of just how old you are!), we've compiled this list of nearly 60 gaming dates for your calendars. What do we mean by 'significant' birthdays? Anything that ends in a...
News SNK Announces New ‘King Of Fighters’ Studio
"KOF Studio will proudly carry on the 30-year legacy"
As part of The King of Fighters 30th anniversary, SNK Corporation has established a new King of Fighters studio to keep the "legacy" going and also bring forth a new "revolution”. Here’s the official announcement on SNK's website: Revolutionize the legacy Fatal Fury, Samurai...
Feature That Time I Was Invited To Square HQ To Playtest Final Fantasy VI
I was there 30 years ago…
If you’re reading this on October 11th 2024, then 30 years ago today Final Fantasy 3 (aka VI) was released in North America. A lot of memorable games (Super Metroid, DKC, Earthworm Jim, Ridge Racer, and Doom
News NieR:Automata Surpasses Another Sales Milestone, Plans For 2025 Teased
The 15th anniversary takes place next year
Square Enix and PlatinumGames' excellent action-adventure RPG NieR:Automata has reached another lifetime sales milestone - surpassing the nine million mark in total shipments and digital sales. This title originally launched on the PlayStation 4 in 2017 with the Switch 'The End of YoRHa Edition' following...
Soapbox The Trauma Of Giygas & Growing Up In EarthBound
EarthBound turns "adults into kids, and kids into adults"
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Nile celebrates the innocence of youth, the pain of growing up, and the magic of a cult classic SNES RPG, which celebrates its 30th...
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 Can We Track Down Every Cart In Our Top 50 Game Boy List In One Week?
Collection Quest GB
The Game Boy turned 35 years old on 21st April 2024. Today, George goes on an epic quest to see if he can acquire the 50 finest GB games — as ranked by you — in physical form with just 100 pounds sterling in his pocket... I’ve been enjoying something of a love affair with the Game Boy recently – or more specifically,...
Feature "It's Fun, So It's Okay!" - Celebrating Takashi Tezuka's Astonishing 40-Year Nintendo Career
A look back at a glittering catalogue
Takashi Tezuka seems like a good laugh, the kind of chap who knows how to have fun. Despite all the Master-Sword-waving and PR-related hijinx from fellow Nintendo luminary Shigeru Miyamoto over the years, you still get the impression he's merciless in the workplace — an exacting, intimidating,...
Feature Evolving With Pokémon: How The Games Helped Me Navigate A Confused Childhood
This coping mechanism was super effective!
The Game Boy turned 35 years old on 21st April 2024. Today, Tim thinks back on how Pocket Monsters came to his aid in his formative years, and how the series that started on Nintendo's iconic portable would stay beside him in the years that followed. Pokémon is a clockwork franchise. Its cyclical...
Soapbox 20 Years On, Pikmin 2's Waterwraith Remains Nintendo's Scariest Moment
H2Oh no
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Jim is reliving a childhood trauma to mark Pikmin 2's 20th anniversary... To the casual observer, Pikmin must seem like a pretty relaxed experience. Everything is colourful. The characters...
The sweat, the tears, the evil babies
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Mario Kart 8, George enlisted a troupe of willing racers (at least that's what he told us) to tackle every single track in the upgraded, DLC-laden Deluxe version in a local four-player blowout to end them all. What follows is a twisting tale of glory and grief, friendship...
Soapbox Vanillaware's Most Underrated Game Is More Than Just A Pretty Picture
Deserving of a Rebirth
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Alana is talking about a Vanillaware oldie — Muramasa: The Demon Blade, a Wii title that is celebrating its 15th anniversary. And, in the wake of 13 Sentinels and Unicorn...
Anniversary Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Is Now Six Years Old
Time flies when you're all-star brawling
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate fans around the world have this week taken to social media and other parts of the internet to celebrate the game's sixth anniversary. This entry was originally released exclusively for the Switch on 7th December 2018 and was followed up with multiple major game updates as well as...
Poll Okay, It's Time To Ask The Obvious - Will We Get Donkey Kong 64 On NSO?
The game turns 25 in Europe
Donkey Kong 64 — not the most beloved of Rare's titles, but probably the developer's most ambitious 3D platformer — turns 25 here in Europe today, 6th December 2024. DK and friends have a lot to celebrate lately: the Donkey Kong Land trilogy on Game Boy has trickled onto NSO over the past few weeks; the Donkey Kong...
News Pokémon Gold And Silver Celebrates 25 Years With Commemorative Plush
Featuring posable arms!
The Game Boy Color classics Pokémon Gold And Silver are now officially 25 years old and The Pokémon Company is celebrating with some new merch. If you have any fond memories of these titles or are just a fan of Pokémon Plush in general, you might be interested to know the Pokémon Center is now offering special...
Poll Was The Nintendo DS Prototype Really So Ugly?
Or just misunderstood?
It's hard to believe that it's been 20 years since the Nintendo DS launched, yet here we are. It's been even longer since it was revealed too, with the newly-appointed VP of sales and marketing Reggie Fils-Aimé taking to the stage at E3 2004 to showcase Nintendo's vision for the future of handheld gaming. We know now, of...
Talking Point What Are Your Top 5 Nintendo DS Games?
Phat wad
Believe it or not, it's now 20 years since Nintendo launched the DS. Rather than getting caught up in where the last two decades disappeared to, we thought it was worth looking back at our personal top five games for a system with a staggering amount of superb software. From delightful minigame gimmicks to full-blooded games in the...
Feature It's 20 Years Since The Launch Of Nintendo's Most Important Console
The rise to heaven
One of the joys of Nintendo's Switch is how it marries the company's home console heritage with its equally prestigious handheld line. Ask anybody over the age of 30 to name a handheld system and "Game Boy" will likely still be the first answer; that system became synonymous with portable gaming in the same way as all home...
Anniversary Donkey Kong Country Is Now 30 Years Old (SNES)
King K-O-N-G
Believe it or not, Donkey Kong Country for the SNES has turned 30 years old after originally launching in the UK on 18th November 1994. Often regarded as one of the greatest platformers of all time, Donkey Kong Country was the first in an SNES trilogy from developer Rare, and was really the game that properly kickstarted a fruitful...
"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...
Anniversary 20 Years On, Metroid Prime 2 Represents The Franchise At Its Experimental Best
Crossing worlds
Following up on Metroid Prime was never going to be easy. Although many (this writer included) were sceptical of Retro Studios’ abilities to move Metroid into the 3D, first-person realm, the team not only managed to put its own spin on an established Nintendo franchise successfully, but it also created one of the greatest games of...
Opinion No, Zelda: The Minish Cap's Worst Sidequest Isn't The Kinstones
Go figure
I've banged the Minish Cap drum so many times by this point that my adoration for Link's littlest adventure is old news. With today marking 20 years since this GBA gem landed in Europe, it felt too easy to sit down at my desk and gush over the tight six-dungeon structure, the brilliant puzzle design or the somehow still under-discussed...
Scarf out loud
Sonic Boom was one of the most ambitious projects Sega has ever undertaken with Sonic the Hedgehog. It was a full-throttle attempt at creating a brand-new sub-franchise for the blue blur, complete with new world, radically different character designs, and an accompanying animated series. Nintendo fans certainly had a lot to be...
Anniversary The Legend Of Zelda: The Minish Cap Turns 20 Today
Picori of the bunch
We're used to donning our finest party hats when a big birthday rolls around here at Nintendo Life, but today's celebration calls for a special piece of talking headwear. No cardboard cone will suffice today. We need something green, something intrusive, something with the spirit of an acclaimed mage trapped inside it... and with...
News Bayonetta Character Designer Celebrates Series' 15th Anniversary With New Art
The first game debuted in Japan in 2009
PlatinumGames' icon Bayonetta is currently celebrating her 15th anniversary, and while there have been no major announcements, the development team and creators have now taken to social media to acknowledge the Umbra Witch's time in the spotlight Platinum shared a brief message on social media featuring a...
News Level-5 CEO Reconfirms Three Switch Game Releases For 2025
"Three new titles next year"
Japanese developer Level-5 celebrated its 26th anniversary earlier this week and as part of this, its CEO Akihiro Hino shared a message to fans about the company's game schedule for next year. Hino reconfirmed how the plan is to release "three new titles" in 2025. In case you missed the original announcements, this...
Anniversary 8 Years Since Nintendo Unveiled Switch, The World Awaits The Next Reveal
Ha ha ha ha yeah!
20th October marks the eighth anniversary of the day we first laid our eyes on the console previously known as the mysterious ‘NX’, the Nintendo Switch. Revealed in a snappy trailer (teased in a tweet that was apparently controversial inside Nintendo) showcasing the system’s hybrid nature, the video was a dynamic...
News F-Zero Climax Celebrates 20th Anniversary With Free Course
It made its debut on Switch Online last week
The recent Switch Online + Expansion Pack release F-Zero Climax is celebrating its 20th anniversary tomorrow. As part of this, former Nintendo employee Takaya Imamura (who worked on the GBA title and the F-Zero series) back in the day has shared a special code. This code which commemorates the...
Feature 10 Years Ago, Nintendo Launched The Very Best 3DS
Practically perfect in every way
When it comes to Nintendo handhelds, it's standard for the first iteration to get the job done just sufficiently to sell the idea, but by the end of the system's lifecycle there are several upgrades available that, by comparison, make the original feel like a dev unit or pre-release prototype. We love the original...
