We try to divine what Amiibo portend about America, Europe, and Japan.

Nintendo is getting into the routine of showing investors what Amiibo are selling best in each region these days. With the figurines out in stores for more than a year, there is enough of a sample size and variety to look at each region and draw (asinine?) conclusions about what characters and series that region likes the most. Who knows: maybe the sales of certain Amiibo in regions are a predictor of future games and series.

As the NX’s silly season begins, a word of caution regarding some rumors.

This morning, several people began posting the front page of a survey from leading market research firm GfK for the NX that contained the following “in the box” for the NX:

The same rumor states that “gameplay flows between the NX handheld... Read more...

Too much, too soon.

One year ago I wrote an article here on NWR about how I got sucked into the crazy, fast paced world of Amiibo. Somehow I managed to talk myself into collecting Amiibo even though I didn’t really feel like it at the start. The promise of some of my favorite Nintendo characters in toy form proved... Read more...

Selling about as well as the game they were designed for.

We’re about a year removed from the mania over Smash Bros. Amiibo, and now Nintendo has a different problem on their hands: there are too many Amiibo for a November release. In this case, it’s Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival and their sea of boxes clogging up retail stores.

This shouldn’t... Read more...

Because all the other lists are wrong.

2015 was a special year for me. I started writing for Nintendo World Report and went back to school after a decade of working out the finances. I found a huge local Nintendo group. I got to know 2015’s Nintendo Retail Rep of the Year winner. (Congrats Pepper!) Even though I was super busy, I found... Read more...

When regular sentences won't do, try some haikus.

I’ve gotten into the habit of keeping a running tally of games I played throughout a year in a running ranked list. It ebbs and flows as I spend time away from games and play new ones, but overall, I’ve enjoyed seeing how my favorite games of the year play out from month to month. After a lot... Read more...

This soft and comfy chair is a little small but is still one of the best bean bag chairs I’ve ever sat in.

A few years back, I reviewed the Sumo Sultan, a mammoth beanbag chair from Sumo Lounge that was, back in my post-college haze, more comfortable and bigger than my own bed. The Sultan is wonderful but unwieldy if you don’t have the space. On the other hand, the Sumo Gamer, which I’ve been kicking... Read more...

Or just play one of the seven other versions you already have?

When Minecraft launches on Wii U on December 17th, it will serve as something of a victory lap for Mojang, its parent company Microsoft, and 4J Studios who have handled the console ports for the iconic exploration/crafting/digging/creating simulator. Before heading to Nintendo's embattled console,... Read more...

It seems odd that a Kingdom Hearts character is in Super Smash Bros, but work with me here.

So last week, the newest character for Super Smash Bros Wii U and 3DS was announced. This made a lot of people upset and was widely regarded as a bad, or at least questionable move. Cloud Strife - the spiky haired swordsman of Final Fantasy VII infamy – came into the Smash Bros roster like a bat... Read more...

The King Nintendo Fanboy shares his predictions for one of the most wanted Nintendo Directs.

We haven’t really heard much from Nintendo outside of press releases since the company’s Digital Event back at E3 last June. In the time that has passed, we’ve seen the loss of a great leader from within Nintendo, and have had some bad news regarding delays. Sure, there have been some fantastic games released, but the Nintendo Direct format has been in a major drought.

We know they draw, we know they're about to change. But what would bring eyeballs directly to Nintendo?

Recently, Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima announced that the Nintendo Direct videos would return from a hiatus caused by the death of his predecessor Satoru Iwata, and would do so before the end of the year. He followed up with the Wall Street Journal by stating that this year’s last Direct would be the last under the current format, with a new method to roll out next year.

How does the GameCube crown jewel hold up?

I get the itch a few times a year; you know the one. The one where you forget about the lengthy tutorials and the boring fetch quests and just get that seriously strong urge to go explore Hyrule again. In recent iterations, Zelda games are substantial undertakings; while you can breeze through Link... Read more...

Nintendo released the stats for what Amiibo are selling best in each region. We go through the lists to see what’s fresh these days.

At the new Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima’s first investor presentation, he touched on Amiibo and the best-selling ones in each region. With more than 20 million Amiibo sold worldwide, the sales rankings for each region have quite the sample size, so let’s dive in and see what these lists say about each region and character.

With Star Fox Zero delayed, can Nintendo do anything to save their holiday lineup?

Last month Nintendo revealed that their big gun this holiday, Star Fox Zero, has been delayed into 2016. That really left the company with a gaping hole in their November home console lineup, which is when they usually release their biggest game of the year. Now taking up that big holiday spot is... Read more...

The King Nintendo Fanboy shares his thoughts on the Shovel Knight expansion.

Shovel Knight was one of the games I was looking forward to most last year. As far as I'm concerned, the title delivered and it even made my list of top games for 2014. With that said, I still didn't seem to worship the game as much as my fellow staffers here on Nintendo World Report.

I was excited... Read more...

Lessons the Wii U game can learn from its predecessors.

It has been quite a while since the last, new console Legend of Zelda game was released. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword graced Nintendo Wii consoles around the world in November of 2011, and we’ve been waiting for its successor ever since. And while Nintendo lifted the lid on the Wii U’s... Read more...

There's a giant backlog of rumors and announcements for Nintendo to clear really quickly.

We’ve been getting some news recently from unexpected sources for Nintendo. Normally a tight ship, recent days have had partners revealing stuff “soon”, hackers spoiling an ungodly number of Virtual Console releases and way too much smoke about game updates. Nintendo's "honey-do list" is getting to be quite lengthy.

Niantic’s involvement is enough to get me pumped for Pokémon Go. I was deep into their first war.

“Acquiring position. Downloading latest intel pack. Welcome back.”

The words hit me like a ton of bricks. Ingress’ soothing in-game rhythms flowed over me like a massive wave of baby blankets.

“Scanner disabled; location inaccurate” is displayed on my screen. The beautiful, all-metal... Read more...

Ultra Despair Girls makes Donald wonder just where a certain class of games can end up.

At the recent Eurogamer Expo (EGX), Sony President of Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida was asked about the possibility of a successor handheld following the PlayStation Vita. Yoshida’s response was simple, yet obvious: “The climate is not healthy right now”. This statement isn’t new to anyone... Read more...

The mobile port of the 3DS title goes headlong into making you spend money

A few months ago, Neal lauded Pokémon Shuffle's ability to create an enjoyable, if time-limited, game without spending money. The CEO of The Pokémon Company, Tsunekazu Ishihara, recently gave an interview to Famitsu in which he mentioned that the 3DS version is aimed at middle schoolers, and that... Read more...