Tag: Anniversaries
Anniversary Goodness Me, Is The GameCube Really 20 Years Old?
Time is the enemy
You know how it is. One minute you're a youthful, exuberant 20-something, looking forward to being unleashed into the world and making your way; forging new relationships, getting a job, perhaps renting your first home. Your whole life is ahead of you! Then – BOOM – you're suddenly past 40, the last two decades have been a blur...
News Fans Celebrate All Things Metroid As The Series Turns 35
Happy anniversary, Metroid!
35 years ago today, on 6th August 1986, the original Metroid launched for the Famicom in Japan. The game would eventually arrive on the NES in North America and Europe in 1987 and 1988 respectively, before blossoming into a series of titles adored by fans to this day. Metroid games don't always come around too often...
Anniversary The Nintendo 64 Launched 25 Years Ago Today
Super Birthday 64
On 23rd June 1996, Nintendo launched its latest home console, the Nintendo 64, in Japan. Boasting a 64-bit processing unit and good old clunky cartridges (incidentally, the N64 would go on to be the last home console to use game cartridges until the Switch), the system has become one of the most iconic consoles in gaming history...
News Pokémon Designer James Turner Celebrates HarmoKnight's Anniversary With A Cute Drawing
"It’s been years"
It's been a big week for the 3DS, with the device celebrating its tenth anniversary. Yep, it's now an entire decade old. Of course, there were a number of amazing games released for it over the years and one of them happens to be HarmoKnight. The Pokémon developer Game Freak originally released this game locally back in 2013,...
Anniversary Nintendo 3DS Launched Ten Years Ago Today In Europe
US anniversary also falls later this week
Making the vast majority of the Nintendo Life team feel excruciatingly old, today sees the tenth anniversary of Nintendo 3DS' release in Europe. Yes, on 25th March 2011, the 3DS hit western shores for the first time following its Japanese launch a month prior – the North American release came just two...
Anniversary Animal Crossing: New Horizons Launched A Year Ago Today
2020's most important game?
Ah, the days before the museum opened and we had to start our own menagerie. 2020 was a pretty wretched year for most of us, but one of the few positives shining brightly amongst the overwhelming barrage of bad news and misery was Animal Crossing: New Horizons, a game which is celebrating its first anniversary today...
Video 2021 Is A Huge Year For Major Nintendo Anniversaries
Zelda and Pokémon are just the beginning
It's a pretty busy time for Nintendo franchise anniversaries at the moment. As you'll no doubt remember, last year saw Mario's 35th birthday be celebrated in style with Switch rereleases of some of the series' best games, more merch than we could ever hope to buy and more. This year, we've already had...
Soapbox There Might Be A Bright Side To Mario's March 31st Doomsday, After All
The termination of various Super Mario games looms, but it's not all bad news
Soapbox features enable our individual writers to voice their own opinions on hot topics, opinions that may not necessarily be the voice of the site. In this piece, Kate argues that Mario's Doomsday might not be as bad an event as you think... Let's begin with a tally of...
Feature People Are Sharing Their First Four Zelda Screenshots On Switch, And We Wanted To Join In
Let's just delete all the ones of Link's bum in those rubber tights real quick
It's been 4 years (and a few days) since the release of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, alongside the Nintendo Switch itself. Despite not being a particularly big anniversary, it's been celebrated nonetheless by fans and game critics alike. The latest birthday...
Anniversary Nintendo Switch Launched Four Years Ago Today
And Zelda: Breath of the Wild, of course!
Four years ago today on 3rd March 2017, the Nintendo Switch was first released across most regions worldwide. With its monstrous sales records and incredible library of games, it's not especially easy to remember how different things were for Nintendo before the Switch's arrival. We all know the story of...
News Game Devs From Riot To Xbox Spoke About Their Love For Zelda, And How It Influenced Them
Huh, we didn't realise Zelda was so popular
In celebration of Zelda's 35th anniversary, journalist Imran Khan spoke to 18 different game developers across the industry for Inverse, including members of Riot Games, Capy, and Phil Spencer himself, the head of Microsoft's Gaming division and the face of Xbox. Although Spencer's quote was a little dry,...
News Nintendo Ignored Zelda's 35th Anniversary This Weekend, But Fans Are Celebrating In Style
Not even a quick social media mention
Yesterday, 21st February, marked the 35th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda, the very first game in one of the industry's most successful, popular, and important series. Despite heavily celebrating Mario's 35th last year with remastered games, merchandise, and more, Nintendo has been surprisingly quiet on the...
Anniversary Japan Celebrates 15 Years Of Super Mario Strikers
It was technically last year, in Europe and North America
Next Level Games is seemingly on a hiring spree, and it got us thinking about some of its past releases. One standout hit, in particular, is the GameCube title Super Mario Strikers (also known as Mario Smash Football). Although the game made its original debut in Europe and the US in 2005...
Anniversary ActRaiser Turns 30 Today, And There's Still Nothing Quite Like This SNES Classic
Raise this game!
Another day, another significant anniversary for another celebrated video game. The Super Famicom launched in Japan three decades ago last month and knowing the incredible catalogue of classics birthed in the bloody 16-bit console wars, you should brace yourself for a barrage of 30th anniversaries over the next few months/years (all...
Anniversary Pokémon Stadium 2 Launched 20 Years Ago Today In Japan
Ah, the memories
Pokémon Stadium 2's gorgeous golden European N64 cartridge 20 years ago today on 14th December, 2000, Pokémon Stadium 2 launched for the Nintendo 64 in Japan. It was actually known as Pokémon Stadium Gold & Silver in Japan and was the third entry in the series – Pokémon's home country has had three Stadium games in...
Anniversary Super Mario Land Launched 30 Years Ago Today In Europe
Mario's first portable platformer
Here's our fancy Japanese version, because we're show-offs... Believe it or not, today marks the 30th anniversary of Super Mario Land's launch on the trusty Game Boy in Europe. Developed as a Game Boy launch title, Super Mario Land offered Mario his very first outing in a portable platformer. It was a truly...
Anniversary Pokémon Black And White Are Now 10 Years Old
We're ready to return to Unova
This week marks the 10 year anniversary of Pokémon Black and White on the Nintendo DS (aka the fifth generation of Pokémon games). Both titles were originally released on 18th September 2010 in Japan - with the western launch following in March 2011. These entries were some of the top-selling games on the DS,...
News Today's The Big Day - Happy 35th Anniversary, Mario!
Here's to the next 35!
35 years ago today, on 13th September 1985, the original Super Mario Bros. launched for the Famicom in Japan. Nobody could have predicted just how successful Nintendo's main mascot would become, especially 35 years down the line, but here we are, looking at one of the most instantly recognisable faces in gaming and –...
Anniversary Super Mario Maker Turns 5 Years Old Today
Mamma mia!
The original Super Mario Maker is celebrating its fifth anniversary today, after originally launching for the Wii U in Japan on 10th September, 2015. Also appearing in Europe and North America on the following day, Super Mario Maker flipped the Mario platforming franchise on its head by giving players access to a full suite of level...
Feature Rare Turns 35 This Week - We Pick 10 Highlights From The Nintendo Years
Rare talent
Three-and-a-half decades ago this week, British developer Rare was formed. Formerly known as Ultimate Play the Game, the company was created with the express purpose of creating titles for the Nintendo Entertainment System and from the mid-1980s until the early '00s the Twycross-based team would deliver some of the finest video games on...
Soapbox 25 Years On, I Still Can't Get Into Yoshi's Island
And it's not for want of trying
On the 25th anniversary of its Japanese release, Gavin ponders why he just can't get down with one of Nintendo's most celebrated games of the 16-bit era... There's a strata of gaming classics so renowned for their quality that they become untouchable. Not liking, say, Ocarina of Time is cause for some serious...
News Nintendo Celebrates Splatoon 2's Third Anniversary With Special Art
Woomy!
Believe it or not, Splatoon 2 first launched on Nintendo Switch three years ago today on 21st July, 2017. It was a super exciting time for Nintendo fans, with a new Zelda, a (kind of) new Mario Kart and a new Splatoon game all launching within the first few months of the Switch going on sale. Naturally, Breath of the Wild took most of the...
Anniversary Pokémon Yellow Launched In Europe 20 Years Ago Today
16th June, 2000
In danger of making plenty of you - and us, we might add - feel dangerously old, today marks the 20th anniversary of Pokémon Yellow's European launch. The game celebrated its 'proper' 20th anniversary a couple of years ago, thanks to its original Japanese launch date of 12th, September 1998. Those of us in Europe had to wait a...
News Splatoon Players Celebrate The Series' Fifth Anniversary With Lovely Fan Art
Stay fresh!
Five years ago (well, five years and a day ago, actually) the original Splatoon inked its way onto the Wii U. It was an exciting and fresh take on the online shooter and a completely new venture for Nintendo - and boy are we happy that it was released. Splatoon and its sequel, Splatoon 2, have arguably been two of the most important...
News CD Projekt Red Celebrates 5 Years Of Witcher 3 With A Rocking Rendition Of Its Main Theme
The Switch port has some catching up to do
It feels strange to say, but The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt turned five-years-old today. No, we can't quite believe it either, and not just because it only came to a Nintendo console last year. We're still poking around its incredible world over six months on from the remarkable Switch port, but to think that...
Anniversary Super Smash Bros. Turns 21 Today
And look how far it's come!
On 21st January 1999, the original Super Smash Bros. was released for the Nintendo 64 in Japan. Over the last 21 years, Smash has become one of the most celebrated, adored, and hype-inducing series available on Nintendo's platforms. The character selection screen in Super Smash Bros. with all characters unlocked...
Anniversary amiibo Have Been Draining Our Bank Accounts For Five Years Now
2014 feels forever ago
It might be pretty hard to believe, but it has now been five whole years since we first got our hands on Nintendo's amiibo figures. Today sees the fifth anniversary of the launch for the first wave of figures in Japan, where characters like Link, Kirby, Donkey Kong, Star Fox, Pikachu, Mario and more all entered the scene as...
Anniversary The Game Boy Color Turns 21 Today
They grow up so fast
Nintendo's Game Boy Color was first released in Japan 21 years ago today on 21st October 1998. A successor to the original beast that was the Game Boy, the Game Boy Color unsurprisingly featured a colour screen, giving Nintendo's handheld games a whole new lease of life. While we sadly don't have exact figures for each of the...
Anniversary The Original Super Mario Bros. Launched On NES 34 Years Ago Today
Feeling old yet?
The original Super Mario Bros., one of the most celebrated and adored video games in history, was first released 34 years ago today, on 13th September 1985. It was on this day that the game launched for Nintendo's Famicom console in Japan, a system which would soon go on to release as the NES or 'Nintendo Entertainment System'...
Feature 20 Dreamcast Games We'd Love To See On Nintendo Switch
20 games to mark 20 years
The Dreamcast turns 20 in North America today - yes, 9/9/99 was now two decades ago - and in honour of the occasion we're republishing this article from last November when the console reached the same milestone in its homeland. Enjoy! The Sega Dreamcast turns 20 today – it launched on November 27th, 1998 in Japan – and...
Anniversary Pokémon GO Turns Three Years Old Today
Time flies when you're walking literally everywhere
Three years ago today, Niantic and The Pokémon Company changed the world of mobile gaming by introducing the augmented reality-focused Pokémon GO. On 6th July 2016, the app released in the US, Australia and New Zealand. Technical difficulties which came as a result of higher-than-expected early...
Anniversary Minecraft Turns 10 Years Old Today, New Pokémon GO-Like Mobile Game Revealed
Where has the time gone?
Today, the global phenomenon that is Minecraft is celebrating its 10th anniversary and we dread to think how many blocks have been lovingly crafted in that time around the world. On 17th May 2009, Minecraft saw its first public release. The build wasn't quite the same as the beast players enjoy today, but it steadily grew...
Anniversary Nintendo 3DS Launched 8 Years Ago Today In Europe
And what an eight years it's been
Eight years ago today, on 25th March 2011, the Nintendo 3DS was released in Europe. Just two days later it arrived in North America, too, with Australia following suit on 31st March of the same year. We still vividly remember picking up our 3DS consoles for the first time, excitedly watching things popping out of...
News The Sega Mega Drive Turns 30 Today
Three decades of doing what Nintendon't
30 years ago today, Sega launched what would turn out to be its most successful piece of home gaming hardware, the Mega Drive (Genesis if you're in North America). It was pushed onto Japanese store shelves on October 29th, 1988, alongside Space Harrier II and Super Thunder Blade. The system got off to a slow...
Anniversary Retro Studios Celebrates 20 Years In Gaming
Now let's have some Switch games, please
We imagine Retro Studios is one company that needs absolutely no introduction on these pages, but we're about to provide one anyway as the developer is today celebrating 20 years in the world of gaming. Yes, back in 1998, Retro Studios was born as a game development studio with Nintendo acting as a parent...
Anniversary Pokémon Yellow Turns 20 Years Old Today
Oh, the memories
Twenty years ago today, on 12th September 1998, Pokémon Yellow launched in Japan. Technically called 'Pokémon Yellow Version: Special Pikachu Edition', this game arrived on the Game Boy Color as an enhanced version of Pokémon Red and Green (known in the west as Pokémon Red and Blue). While many features of the game were...
Video Every Single Switch Game Released in Year One
No game left behind
The Switch, as it stands, is an unmitigated success both commercially and critically. Developers are flocking to release their games on the system as soon as they can, but just how many games have been released in the first year of this console's life? Short answer, 404 in Western territories. That's over 100 more than the...
Feature Nintendo Switch Year One: A Review
As Switch turns one, we look back at an incredible year
The Nintendo Switch, eh? Inaugural years don’t come much better than this. Not since the debut year of PlayStation 4 has a modern console enjoyed such a meteoric rise on all fronts. Ever increasing sales; exclusives that are both critical and commercial successes; the new wave of...
Anniversary It's Been 25 Years Since Star Fox Barrel Rolled Onto Super Nintendo
"Doesn't time FLY when you're having fun making games!"
Good old Dylan Cuthbert. He's gone on to bring so many video game delights to the world with Q-Games, but whenever he gets a chance to tweet about the original Super Nintendo Star Fox - a game he was the lead coder of - he jumps on it. It's hard to believe it's been a quarter...
Anniversary It's Been 10 Years Since Super Mario Galaxy Landed On The Wii
But do you prefer it to Super Mario Odyssey?
Time flies when you're having fun, and we're certainly having a lot of fun with the recently released Super Mario Odyssey on Switch. Of course, it is unlikely that we would have had the delights of Odyssey without the groundwork laid out before in Super Mario Galaxy which - funnily enough -...
News Sonic The Hedgehog Turns 26 Today
Happy Birthday, Blue Blur
Sonic the Hedgehog made his Mega Drive debut 26 years ago today. On June 23rd 1991, Sega's answer to Super Mario arrived on North American store shelves, with the Japanese and European releases following in July. With its incredible visuals and astonishing speed, the game was hailed as an instant classic, and went on to...
News Nintendo Of America Wishes Xbox A Happy 15th Birthday
That's nice
Unless you live under a rock you will no doubt be aware that yesterday marked the 15th anniversary of the Microsoft Xbox. Launched as a rival to the PS2 and GameCube, the system laid down the foundations for the incredibly successful Xbox 360 and the Xbox One, Microsoft's current home console. While Xbox and Sony fans are regularly at...
