Tag: Japan - Page 23
News Sega Reportedly Launching A New Pokémon Arcade Game
'Pokémon Cologalina'
It's time for our latest episode of 'why must Japan get all the cool things?', as Sega looks to be launching a new arcade game based on the Pokémon franchise. According to Arcade Heroes, Sega has unveiled 'Pokémon Cologalina', a new medal game which will have cabinets set up in arcades across Japan. If you're unaware, medal...
Random Updated Diddy Kong Render (With Fur) Spotted On Nintendo's Japanese Website
Looking good, Diddy
We've heard pretty much nothing from the Donkey Kong crew since the re-release of Tropical Freeze on the Switch in 2018, but today we've potentially got some exciting news for all of you Kong fans around the globe. Well, maybe... According to eagle-eyed DK enthusiast and Twitter user BlueCatBanjo73, Nintendo has updated the
Japanese Charts Monster Hunter Rise Leads In Another Dominant Week For Nintendo
Switch takes all top ten games
Famitsu's Japanese chart figures are now in for the week ending 11th April, revealing that Monster Hunter Rise is still doing the business. The game sold another estimated 194,327 physical copies this week, comfortably leading the way in a top ten made up exclusively of Switch games. Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s...
News After 20 Years, This Amazing Famicom Collection Is Finally Complete
1053 games, fully boxed with instructions
The Famicom was Nintendo's first smash-hit home system and spawned the NES in the west. The shared library of these systems is immense, especially by standards of the period – in Japan alone, over 1000 games were released for the console. "How long would it take someone to collect all of those games,...
Anniversary The Animal Crossing Series Is Now 20 Years Old
And we're still paying off our loans...
While Animal Crossing still feels like a relatively new Nintendo franchise, today actually marks its 20th anniversary. Yes, the series started out in Japan on 14th April 2001 as a Nintendo 64 title. While Dōbutsu no Mori (otherwise known as Animal Forest) was never released in its original form here in the...
News Lawson Will Offer New Pokémon Snap Photo Printing Services In Japan
Gotta print 'em all
If you were around during the Nintendo 64 era, you might remember special Snap Station kiosks in-store allowing you to print out your photos in Pokémon Snap. It was quite a novelty at the time. To make the upcoming Switch release New Pokémon Snap just a little bit more nostalgic, Lawson (a local convenience store chain in...
News Good Job! Is The Next Nintendo Switch Online Trial In Japan
Good job, Nintendo
If you've not had the chance to try out the Nintendo published title Good Job! yet, soon you might be in luck. Nintendo has announced the game will be offered to Switch Online subscribers in Japan and will be playable from 19th April to 25th April. These trials are typically offered in Japan first, so something will hopefully be...
Japanese Charts Monster Hunter Rise Stays Top In A Nintendo-Dominated Top Ten
Almost 1.6 million physical copies sold in two weeks
Famitsu's Japanese chart figures are now in for the week ending 4th April, revealing that Monster Hunter Rise is still comfortably leading the pack. The game sold another estimated 277,604 physical copies this week, bringing its two-week total to just under 1.6 million in Japan alone. Of course,...
News No More Heroes III Broadcast Shows New Footage And A Trilogy Box Set For Japan
Update: Get up to speed with "The Garden of Sylvia"
Update (Thu 8th Apr, 2021): The stream has been broadcast and you can check out the full archived video if you like, or watch some brand new game footage — plus a suitably Suda-style recap for No More Heroes newbies courtesy of character Sylvia Christel — via its own YouTube video. We're unable...
Video Here's An Extended Look At The Miitopia Port For Nintendo Switch
Update: English clip released
Update [Thu 8th Apr, 2021 00:30 BST]: Nintendo has finally released a translated version of this video. Here it is! Original article [Thu 25th Mar, 2021 02:00 GMT]: To remind fans Miitopia for Switch is a thing, Nintendo's Japanese YouTube channel has released a brand new video that runs for more than five minutes...
News There Are Five New Poké Lids In Kyoto
Finally, Totodile is where he belongs: the sewer
You're either here because you remember our last post about Poké Lids, and you want to see more, or you're here because you saw the headline and thought, "what the hell are Poké Lids?" Well, the latter is about to become the former, because these are Poké Lids: Poké Lids are a collaboration...
More artificial scarcity
On March 29, 2021, Bandai Candy — in partnership with Nintendo and 7-Eleven — released a collection of seven Animal Crossing figurines. Branded 'Atsumare: Dōbutsu no Mori - Tomodachi Dōru' (loosely, Animal Crossing: New Horizons - Doll Friends), the figurines can only be purchased at Nintendo Tokyo and, more...
75% fewer visitors will be allowed to enter
Super Nintendo World isn't off to the best of starts, as Universal Studios Japan announces a new visitor limit across all of its themed lands just weeks after Nintendo's area gets up and running (thanks, Kotaku). The Osaka Prefecture, where USJ is located, today posted a new single-day record of new...
News Square Enix Is Shutting Down Its Dragon Quest Card Game This July
Service will be "terminated"
Square Enix has announced it will be shutting down its free-to-play card game Dragon Quest Rivals Ace on 5th July. This will apply to all platforms, including the Nintendo Switch. As of this week, players will no longer be able to purchase Gems in-game. "Thank you for using "Dragon Quest Rivals Ace" . The service of...
Japanese Charts Huge Debut For Monster Hunter Rise Sends Switch Sales Through The Roof
1.3 million physical sales in three days
Famitsu's Japanese chart figures are now in for the week ending 28th March, revealing that Monster Hunter Rise has had a – ahem – monstrous launch in Nintendo's home region. The game sold a whopping 1,302,132 physical copies in its opening weekend, dominating the charts and leading the pack by a...
News Japan Voted On Final Fantasy's Best Games And Characters - Do You Agree With The Ranking?
Which is your favourite?
Final Fantasy is one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time, building up a hugely dedicated army of fans over the years since first launching back in the '80s. With so many games to choose from – and with so many players having their own favourite titles – there are few series that lend themselves to a...
News Super Nintendo World's Mario Kart Ride Was Built In A Game Engine, Allowing Future Patches
New characters can be added "overnight"
You know that future we all dreamt of as kids where we hoped to one day live inside a giant video game? Well, it looks like we're one step closer to that becoming a reality. As you may already know, Japan's brand new Super Nintendo World theme park – which finally opened this month after several...
Japanese Charts Mario's Still On Top As Nintendo's Dominance Continues
Switch and Switch Lite see week-on-week boost
Famitsu's Japanese chart figures are now in for the week ending 21st March, revealing that Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury is still leading the pack. With another estimated 37,396 physical copies sold, Mario's latest adventure managed to fend off Square Enix's new release, Densha de GO!! Hashirou...
News Unrailed! Is Getting A Free Nintendo Switch Online Trial In Japan Next Week
No news on a North American or European trial at this time
Game trials are easily one of the Nintendo Switch Online's biggest draws. Unlike demos – which only represent a fraction of the game – Nintendo's scheme allow you to play the entire game for free over a set period of time. We last saw it with Dead Cells in January, and now, Japan'
Games? Gone. Merch? Gone. Mario?
Nintendo has confirmed that a set of special Mario 35th-anniversary products currently available at its Tokyo store will be pulled from sale on 31st March. An awful lot has already been said about Mario's upcoming doomsday (31st March is looking set to be a pretty miserable day for Nintendo's famous plumber), but...
News CNN Covers The Super Nintendo World Opening
The Osaka theme park is now open to the public
CNN Correspondent Selina Wang visited the newly-opened Super Nintendo World to show off the theme park, as well as detailing some of its COVID policies. She even managed to get a ride on the AR Mario Kart track, "Koopa's Challenge", which is more than many visitors will get - VGC noted that the queue...
Japanese Charts Another Perfect Week For Nintendo Sees Super Mario 3D World On Top
A-Train All Aboard! scores top ten debut
Famitsu's Japanese chart figures are now in for the week ending 14th March, revealing that Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury is still top of the pile. The title continued its winning ways with another estimated 41,734 physical sales this week, down by roughly 12,000 from the previous week. It leads a top...
News Super Nintendo World Celebrates Park Launch With Grand Opening Ceremony
Shigeru Miyamoto makes an appearance
After a number of setbacks and delays tied to the pandemic, Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios in Osaka, Japan is finally open for business. Today was the grand opening, and to celebrate there was a ceremony featuring Nintendo's very own Shigeru Miyamoto. Alongside him was USJ president and CEO, J.L...
News Aerial Photos Provide Further Hope That Super Nintendo World's Donkey Kong Land Is Real
New evidence supports our suspicions
Earlier this week, a report from VGC revealed that Japan's Super Nintendo World theme park contains a mysterious locked door that appears to be a tease for a new, upcoming area. Thanks to newly-spotted aerial photographs shared online, we can now see that there's more than enough reason to believe a new area...
Random This Pikachu Caterpillar Is... A Lot To Take In
This is what happens if you use fifty Thunder Stones at once
Fun to lean on! Just don't lean too hard, or... well, you don't want to know. Just don't. Trust us. Have you ever discovered one of those strange little shops on the high street that sells nothing but K-Pop posters, keyrings of anime boys, and weirdly off-model plushes of video game...
News Yes, Someone Has Reviewed Japan's Super Nintendo World
Find out how to beat the boss, and which food is best
Japan's Super Nintendo World theme park opens this week, and although its Universal Studios Orlando sibling just got kicked back to 2025, fans will be able to visit from the 18th March. In anticipation of the park's gates opening to the public, Video Games Chronicle has published a series of...
News Japan's Super Nintendo World Has A Mysterious, Locked Donkey Kong Door
A new DK area on the way?
Just days ahead of the park's official opening, it's been discovered that Japan's Super Nintendo World contains a locked Donkey Kong door, hinting at a future park expansion. VGC reports that the mysterious door is located and 'hidden' towards the north of the park, featuring "a very DK-
Feature A Brief History Of Nintendo’s Home Hardware Add-Ons
A multi-format menagerie
Nintendo’s handheld console upgrades were so common for so long you could practically set your watch by them: the leap from Game Boy to Game Boy Color via the Pocket; the GBA’s evolution from its original battery powered form to the blazing intensity of the Micro’s beautiful screen; the more recent range of DSis, XL
News Capcom Allegedly Forced Staff To Work On-Site, Ignoring Japan's COVID Rules
Last year's internal leak seems to have frightened the execs
The global pandemic has been going on for a year in the West, but even longer in many parts of Asia, where the virus was first discovered. Like many countries, Japan - home to a number of high-profile games studios and publishers - asked workers to stay home, or at least to limit the...
Japanese Charts Super Mario 3D World Returns To Number One As Nintendo Dominates Proceedings
Entire top ten and best-selling hardware secured
Famitsu's Japanese chart figures are now in for the week ending 7th March, revealing that Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury has returned to the top of the pile. Nintendo's mega Mario rerelease sold another 53,603 physical copies this week to get that top spot, knocking last week's debut number...
News Nintendo Reminds Us The Super Mario Bros. 35 Service Will End On 31st March
Happy MAR10 Day!
It's 10th March today and that means it's officially Mario day. While there's a sale and more to celebrate Mario's 35th anniversary, unfortunately, Nintendo's Japanese customer support Twitter account has dampened the mood with yet another reminder the company will end the Super Mario Bros. 35 service on
News Nihon Falcom Is Celebrating Its 40th Anniversary With A Special Broadcast
Take a look back at its early efforts with Ys and The Legend of Heroes
Not every anniversary is always cause for celebration with companies. Nintendo was noticeably quiet during Legend of Zelda's 35th recently, but Nihon Falcom is doing things differently. A special 40th anniversary broa
News Square Enix Shows Off New Trailer For The World Ends With You: The Animation
Special screening airs later this week
Square Enix will be airing a special "UG Shibuya FES" live stream of the first episode of The World Ends With You: The Animation later this week on 14th March. Ahead of this, it's released the third trailer for the upcoming anime adaptation, which is based on the original 2007 Nintendo DS title. Here's a look...
News Final Fantasy's Chocobo Racing Might Be Making A Comeback
More trademarks surface online
Update [9th Mar 2021]: Last December, a trademark for the Final Fantasy Chocobo spin-off surfaced online. Now, according to Gematsu, Square Enix has filed trademarks for "Chocobo GP" on 26th February in Australia and Canada. Another trademark for it appeared in Europe at the start of this month. Original story [15th...
News Japan's Super Nintendo World Finally Opens This Month
News comes after Osaka lifts COVID-19 state of emergency
Universal Orlando's Super Nintendo World might not be arriving until 2025, it looks like Universal Studios Japan's park has quickly gotten back on track. After a delayed opening due to COVID-19, Osaka's state of emergency
News Japan's 35 Best-Selling Switch Games In The First Four Years, According To Famitsu
Animal Crossing is out in front
The Nintendo Switch reached its fourth anniversary earlier this week. As of 31st December 2020, the hybrid system has shifted 79.87 million units worldwide and software sales are now at 532.34 million units. Although Nintendo has already released its top ten software sales data for the financial year 2020/21, the...
News Atlus Wants To Know What Games You Want Ported To Switch
It's that time of year again
Atlus has just released its annual online survey for 2021. As usual, it asks Japanese fans a number of questions about their own personal gaming habits and more. In terms of Switch-related questions, the same one from last year about possible ports is arguably the highlight. The only difference is it's no longer a...
Japanese Charts Story Of Seasons And Bravely Default Leap Ahead Of Super Mario 3D World
Two brand new entries hit the ground running
Famitsu's Japanese chart figures are now in for the week ending 28th February, revealing that Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury has been knocked out of first place in its third week on sale. Instead, the coveted number one spot has been gobbled up by Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town this time...
News Hori Unveils Five New Animal Crossing Themed Nintendo Switch Accessories
Arriving next month
Since the release of Animal Crossing: New Horizons last March, the IP has been raking in the big bucks. Sales are through the roof and third-party accessory manufacturers are even cashing in on the latest game's success. Continuing this trend is Hori - with a brand new officially licensed line of Animal Crossing: New...
Random Ever Wanted A Pokémon-Themed Fishing Lure? Well, Now's Your Chance
Now you can fish with Kyogre and Pikachu
It's been a busy week for Pokémon fans. Last Friday's announcements of Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl and Pokém
News Some History About ILCA, The Japanese Studio Working On The Pokémon Diamond And Pearl Remakes
Game Freak's backup
During the Pokémon Presents broadcast this week, The Pokémon Company announced remakes of the Nintendo DS games, Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. While Game Freak normally handles games like this, right now, it's busy with the open-world prequel Pokémon Legends: Arceus, which is due out next year. This leaves the release of
News The Pokémon Company Reveals Top 30 Pocket Monsters, According To Japanese Twitter Poll
In celebration of 25 years
As you might have heard, it's Pokémon's 25th anniversary on 27th February (that's this weekend). In the lead up to this, The Pokémon Company ran a poll, asking Japanese trainers to vote for their favourite pocket monster via Twitter. To vote, participants were required to share any pocket monster's name in Japanese on...
Anniversary Can You Believe It? The Nintendo 3DS Is Now 10 Years Old
That went quick
It's a very special day for the Nintendo 3DS. Today is the tenth anniversary of this legendary 3D handheld system. Believe it or not, but the console was first released in Japan on 26th February 2011. This followed with the western release in Europe and North America in March of the same year. When the system first launched, it was...
Japanese Charts Super Mario 3D World Stays Top As Switch Takes Entire Top Ten
Another impressive week
Famitsu's Japanese chart figures are now in for the week ending 21st February, revealing that Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury has stayed on top for a second consecutive week. The game shifted another 97,955 physical copies during its second week on sale, keeping Momotaro Dentetsu – a title which had previously...
News Momotaro Dentetsu's 11-Week Run Atop The Japanese Charts Sets A 20-Year Record
Money train
You might not be familiar with Momotaro Dentetsu: Showa, Heisei, Reiwa mo Teiban! outside of the Japanese game charts. Having never been localised for Western release, this board-game style series is comparable to Monopoly or Fortune Street, seeing players attempt to become successful entrepreneurs. Initially produced by Hudson Soft,...
Video Get A Closer Look At Super Nintendo World's Mario Kart: Koopa's Challenge Ride
I'm gonna win historic, on the Rainbow Road!
It's been a rocky start for Super Nintendo World. We can't deny that it looks spectacular and we'd previously seen some (now removed) footage of Y
A superb opening weekend for Mario
Famitsu's Japanese chart figures are now in for the week ending 14th February, revealing that Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury has debuted at number one. The Switch re-release sold an estimated 250,000 physical copies in Japan during its opening weekend to secure the position, comfortably finding itself ahead...
News Check Out The Japan-Exclusive Games Revealed During Yesterday's Nintendo Direct
eBASEBALL, Crayon Shin-Chan and The Caligula Effect 2 were all confirmed
Last night's Nintendo Direct was full of surprises. We got confirmations of Splatoon 3, Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD, Mario Golf: Super Rush and plenty more but, like before, the Japanese present
News These Adorable Pikmin Plush Are Being Restocked In Japan
Just look at that Bulborb
In today's episode of 'Japan gets all the cool things and we're immensely jealous', Nintendo has announced that its adorable selection of Sanei Trading Pikmin plush is making a comeback. The cutesy set is available to order right now from Nintendo's official Japanese store – although worldwide shipping is sadly not...
Random Japanese Fitness Mag Discusses How To Play Ring Fit Properly
The secret is not being unfit
Oof, it's been a while since we booted up Ring Fit Adventure. Our bones have returned to their previously creaky state, and our muscles to marshmallow. But it seems like Nintendo Japan know we've been struggling, so they've just published some tips and tricks courtesy of Murata-san, from the editorial department of...

















































