Tag: Best of 2023
Talking Point Along With Joy-Con Drift, What Does Nintendo Have To 'Fix' With 'Switch 2'?
Reset Switch
Switch, eh? You think it's had its final bookend game and then another all-timer comes along to extend the library. Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom looked like the perfect finale for an extraordinary console that kicked off with Breath of the Wild, but then Nintendo goes and puts out the best 2D Mario in 30 years with Super Mario Wonder...
Feature 'The Art Of Nintendo Power' Exhibit - A Guided Tour
"The whole mission is to share the work"
Have you ever seen an original Contra up close? What about an original Mario Kart? For Stephan Reese, organizer and showrunner for the non-profit Interactive Art Collection (and a Senior Producer at video game developer Bungie when he’s not busy doing that), it’s his life’s mission that you might have...
Feature Game Boy Color - A Quarter Century Of Colour Nintendo Handhelds
GBC memories
It's now 25 years since Game Boy Color launched, and for many of us in the West, it was on this system that we first caught and traded Pocket Monsters with pals back in 1998. Backwards compatible with the entire Game Boy library, the Game Boy Color refined the DMG and the smaller Game Boy Pocket with its sharp little colour screen...
Feature A Look Inside Seattle's Real-Life Animal Crossing Aquarium
Seattle creatures
Eager to compare Critterpedias, Caitlin Johnson recently headed down to Seattle Aquarium to check out its new Nintendo collaboration... If you ever wanted to have Animal Crossing’s long-time museum curator Blathers teach you about marine life in reality, now is your chance. Nintendo and the Seattle Aquarium announced last month...
Soapbox FOMO Nearly Ruined Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom For Me
Too much background noise?
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Ollie looks back on how Tears of the Kingdom's launch hype on social media may have affected his own enjoyment of the game... On May 12th, 2023, I, like countless other...
Feature 'Rugrats' Dev's Mission To Make NES-Style Games "That Should Have Existed"
"I want people to feel like they're a 10-year-old kid again"
While sauntering through the Seattle Convention Center at this year's PAX West, we saw hundreds of developers showing off their biggest, flashiest games to the enthusiastic crowds — many of which had already been announced and were highly anticipated by fans. However, in a tucked-away...
Feature "I Don't Want To Copy" - Paying Homage To Childhood RPGs With Sea Of Stars
"We just make the games that we want to make"
Back when Sea of Stars — Sabotage's follow-up to its hit genre-bending platformer The Messenger — was unveiled to the world in 2020, there was a sparkle in many an RPG fans' eyes. The game's stunning SNES-style aesthetic, the combo-centric turn-based combat, and the beautiful music, brought forth...
Soapbox Red Dead Redemption Ignited My Enduring Love Of The Old West
"We die alone, but we live among men"
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Ollie describes how Rockstar Games' seminal Western influenced his love for the American Frontier... Growing up, I knew what kind of genres I was interested...
Memory Pak Making Contact With The "Ungoogleable" Game I Couldn't Quite Remember
What's that one with the plumber and the mushrooms again?
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, Jim is reflecting on a years-long dilemma he faced over an oft-forgotten DS game, and wonders how we deal with "video...
Soapbox Charles Martinet Made Gaming's Greatest Accident A Real Character
Star power
[video: Ryan met Charles. Good times! Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Gavin reflects on how Charles Martinet helped craft a character that, somehow, isn't the most irritating stereotype imaginable... How many times...
Feature Pikmin Bloom Devs On The Joy Of "Human Connection" And The Absence Of Bulborbs
"Our Pikmin aren’t going to die"
While having a strong and deservingly passionate fanbase, it's fair to wonder if the Pikmin series has ever received the commercial success it deserves. Yet, Shigeru Miyamoto-san and Nintendo continue to nurture these little fellas and let them bloom however they like. The Nintendo Switch has just given us the...
Feature Meet The Virtual Boy Fan Making New Tech And Games For Nintendo's Console Curio
"I thought, 'Hey, I can probably do that'"
As the reputed black sheep of the Nintendo console family, one might think 1995’s Virtual Boy to be the last piece of hardware capable of garnering an enthusiast following today. Discontinued after less than a year on the market and never released in Europe, the elusive red-and-black headset is remembered...
Feature What Video Game Consultants Actually Do, And Why ‘Kit & Krysta’ Are Doing It
Never A Minute consultants assess our killer game idea
I have an idea for a video game. Actually, I’ve been making it for about six months now. My video game is a rhythm-based game. It’s also an American football game. To play it, you choose between plays, just like any sports game … but your play only succeeds if you push the buttons in...
Feature The Rise Of 'Scam Games' And 'Keyword Bingo' Firms Flooding Switch eShop
Sea of low-quality
It's difficult now to remember a time when the Switch eShop wasn't rammed with low-cost, low-quality games making it laborious to find the great new releases amongst all the dross. What began as an immaculately clean, functional store back in 2017 quickly ballooned and before long Nintendo was inundated with software submissions...
Feature Digital Doppelgangers - Home Vs. Handheld Adaptations In The 2000s
To Urbz is human
When I was working on my MFA in Game Design, I referenced Urbz: Sims in the City in a meeting with my thesis advisor, and he asked if I had played the console or the handheld version. I was confident that I’d played the console version growing up. I could recall the memory quite clearly—sitting against a study pillow on my...
Soapbox These Everyday Items Trigger Me Now, And I Blame Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom
Tears of life
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Evan explores the life-ruining properties of TOTK... It happened in Yellowstone National Park. Removed from society, cruelly separated from cell phone service, I’d embarked,...
Feature Meet The 'Arzette' Dev Salvaging The Zelda CD-i Games' "Genuine Potential"
"I didn’t make this game as a joke"
The year is 1991. 'Video games' — plastic, square-shaped cartridges that millions of people blow into every day — grip early-adopting proselytizers. Yet they don’t know their precious cartridge’s days are numbered. A mighty company from Kyoto rules the industry today, but a new laser-based challenger is...
Memory Pak Secret Of Mana's Dazzling World Of Colour Opened My Eyes
You're looking a bit green
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, Secret of Mana turns 30 years old in Japan, and to celebrate this seminal action RPG's anniversary, Alana is reminiscing about how the game's use of...
Feature How Amateur Scholars Are Translating Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom's Secret Language
The quick brown deer jumped over the lazy owl
Some people can't help but translate things. We see languages, and we want to decipher them, like the people who climb Mount Everest just because it's there. The languages in games like FEZ, Titan Souls, Heaven's Vault, 7 Days To End With You, and Noita, invite the player to try to crack them to reveal m
Soapbox Fortnite On Switch Is Five Years Old, And I Have No Idea What It Is Anymore
Was that Ariana Grande shooting Spider-Man?
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 returns to Fortnite to celebrate the Switch port's fifth anniversary, and he's not sure what he's dropped into... When Fortnite first made the jump...
Breaking out into 3D
Following up on one of the most beloved entries in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise is no easy task, but for the ex-Sonic Mania devs at Evening Star, it was a simple case of leaning into their considerable ambition and diving headfirst into the world of 3D. Announced earlier this year during a Nintendo Direct presentation, the...
Feature From Banjo To Mario - Grant Kirkhope Talks Big Huge Troubles And Composing For Massive IPs
Part Two: "How the f*** am I going to write music for a Mario game!?"
Last week, in celebration of Banjo-Kazooie's 25th anniversary, we published the first part of our career-spanning interview with Mr. Grant Kirkhope, composer extraordinaire and the man responsible for some of our favourite music ever, video game or otherwise. Part One covered his...
Soapbox Switch Is Only A Classic Or Two From Being The Perfect PlayStation History Lesson
No Vita necessary
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Ethan ruminates on how, over time, Switch has become an excellent teaching tool for Sony neophytes... Here’s a truth diehard proponents of the console wars won’t readily...
Feature How Super Mario World Became An Award-Winning Book Of Verse
“Super Mario World has one of my most difficult experiences wound through its code"
Most of us have some childhood memory of games – be it Pokémon Blue, Tetris, or Super Mario Bros. When we dust off those old consoles, the games often trigger memories of our lives outside the screen too. In his heart-wrenching series of poems, If All the World...
Feature Donkey Kong Cymru: The Extremely Brief History Of Welshness In Nintendo Games
Hiraeth of Hyrule
It’s a uniquely Welsh experience. I’ve never been Scottish, or Irish, or Latvian, but those that have inform me when you tell someone where you’re from, the response typically isn’t “What’s that?”. For the Welsh, that basic icebreaker question from anyone outside the UK usually prompts a deep breath and, regardless...
Soapbox How Zelda's Bad Economy Made Weapon Degradation Great Again
Inflation can be fixed with rotting swords!
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Kate examines how Nintendo learned economic lessons from past Zelda games in Tears of the Kingdom... Much like me, Hyrule has always been bad with...
Feature From Bon Jovi To Banjo - Grant Kirkhope On The "Complete Fluke" Of His Rare Musical Journey
Part One: Mr. Banjongles
Grant Kirkhope is an interviewer's dream, and not just because he's responsible for some all-time great video game soundtracks. He’s great company — frank, funny, and loquacious. We spoke to him most recently for our Nintendo Life VGM Fest back in 2021 and only ended up publishing a small fraction of our chat in our...
Soapbox Stardew Valley Was Surprisingly Good Prep For Living With My Partner IRL
Sow long, distance
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Kevin remembers how Stardew Valley kept the spark alive and prepped him for living with his partner... Relationships can be hard. And when you add in long distance, that...
Feature The One Thing Wii Did Much Better Than Switch
Point taken
The Sensor Bar. Flimsy little plastic box with the world's longest, spindliest cable. An irritation to every Wii owner who has ever had to move their console. What was it good for? There's not a lot to the Sensor Bar. A little device that emits some infrared light. If the Wii Remote is pointed at one, it recognises that's where the TV...
Feature That Time Nintendo Played God To Sell Pikmin To Gardeners
A bloomin' marvellous bit of marketing
Do you ever do something knowing full well that future you will thank yourself for it? Like booking the week off after a festival, saving a couple of slices of Domino’s for the next morning, or not going to Milton Keynes? That smug satisfaction that comes with mastering the art of foresight is, I believe, one...
Soapbox A Love Letter To My Favourite New Character In Zelda: TOTK
You have my full support
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 wants to spread the love for a certain Hylian in need of support... Before getting my hands on The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom for the first time, I had a...
Soapbox It's Time For A Zelda 1 Remake, Please
Or a 'temporal localisation', if you like
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, as TOTK anticipation increases to dangerous levels, Gavin explores why it's time for Nintendo to go back to a very specific well... Look, I'm all for...
Feature 8-Bit Wolf - Remembering The NES Game Teaching Kids To Conquer Wall Street
It’s all about bucks, kid
When you think back to being in middle school, staying up all night with your friends playing video games, what games are you playing? Is it Mass Effect? Maybe some iteration of Smash or Mario Kart? The big one when I was that age was Street Fighter II in all its iterations. But there's another game that brings back the...
Soapbox Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom Straight Up Fails In Just One Respect: Accessibility
In 2023, we should expect better from Nintendo
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has been a critical and commercial success, garnering glowing reviews across the board (including from this her
Feature A Visit To '84 Hashi', Tokyo's Secret Nintendo Staff Bar Now Open To You
Eiji Aonuma? “Drinking buddy.” Shigeru Miyamoto?...
There’s no shortage of fascinating Nintendo-related places to visit in Tokyo. You could explore shops for boxed Famicom games, sit down and eat a Kirby burger, or play Punch-Out!! in its original cabinet at a retro arcade. Yet one attraction was hidden from Nintendo diehards for years. A...
Soapbox 15 Years Ago, The Action Replay Ruined Pokémon For Me
Infinite Master Balls. Maxed out stats. Walking through walls.
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Ethan remembers a time when he flew too close to the sun... This is the power fantasy eight-year-old me dreamed of when I slotted an...
Soapbox Why I Love Deepnest, Hollow Knight's Most Divisive Area
Deeply in love
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 thinks back on a divisive part of a beloved game as she peers into the middle distance, rocking back and forth, mumbling 'Silksong, Silksong, Silkso—'... I'm a pretty...
Feature Nintendo Players UK - A Decade Of The UK's Biggest Nintendo Fan Community
Celebrating 10 years of meetups this August
In the gaming industry, Nintendo sets itself apart not just with the quality of its games and its evergreen catalogue of classic characters, but also a focus on community. Whether through software that brings people of all ages together, hardware features like StreetPass, or the local multiplayer...
Feature Which Zelda Game Has The Best Ganondorf? Every Design Ranked By You
From Ganondorf to Ganondoof
We've all had the weekend to sit and stew over the final pre-launch trailer for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (meaning, watching it another 100+ times) and it is fair to say that we are pretty jazzed for this game now. We're excited to see the changes made to Breath of the Wild's Hyrule, Link's new abilities,...
Soapbox Why Aren't There More Books About Games?
Seeking the novels of tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Michelle reads an incredible novel about games, and argues that books and games should get on the same page... Two kids pore over Super...
Back Page Are Mario's Power-Up Mushrooms Suitable For Vegetarians?
Soul food
In the magazine business, the Back Page is where you'd find all the weird goofs that we couldn't fit in anywhere else. Some may call it "filler"; we prefer "a whole page to make terrible jokes that are tangentially related to the content of the mag". We don't have pages on the internet, but we still love terrible jokes — so welcome to...
Soapbox 1080° Snowboarding Is The Coolest Nintendo Ever Got
Work your body, w-work your body
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, on its 25th birthday, Gavin recalls an atypical Nintendo first-party game where the only goofy thing is your stance choice in the lodge at the start... Tuesday...
Feature Samus' Suits, Ranked - Every Metroid Box Art Suit Design, From Worst To Best
"Honey, where's my super suit?"
Metroid's protagonist, Samus Aran, has a rather unique privilege in the world of Nintendo. Unlike characters like Mario, Link, and Kirby, all of whom retain the same general look across their respective franchises (okay, Link is a little more varied than the other two, but still), Samus' basic design can be altered...
Soapbox I Scoffed At Switch Lite, Then I Backpacked Through South East Asia
Travelling Lite
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Rory details how Nintendo's smallest Switch finally won him over... “Yes sir, it’s definitely a sleeper train. Don’t worry.” The lady at the ticket office chuckled to...
Feature The Real Songs That Inspired Iconic Nintendo Music
And a few non-Nintendo ones for good measure
Have you ever been listening to music, enjoying yourself, and then BAM, suddenly you hear the first four notes of a song from a video game — and then you have that song stuck in your head for the rest of the day? Well, that's not always a coincidence. Many musical composers take heavy inspiration from...
Feature 25 Stardew Valley Secrets And Easter Eggs You Might Not Have Known About
More like ConfidentialApe
Fancy yourself a Stardew Valley nerd? Do you feel like you know the game inside and out? We're here to challenge that, with 25 niche and surprising things that you may (or may not) already know about the game! 25 Things You Didn't Know About Stardew Valley: Rarecrow references The Rarecrows, which as rare scarecrows...
"We actually don’t like to talk about Worldless as a Metroidvania"
Fans of 2D platformers in the Metroidvania mould aren't exactly lacking for excellent examples of the genre. It feels like every other game launching at the moment is either a roguelite deckbuilder or an explorative action platformer. It's a brave developer who dips a toe into this...
Soapbox If You're Not Playing LEGO Fortnite, You're Missing One Of The Best Survival Games
One of this year's biggest surprises
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Kate delves into a new addition to a f2p indie minnow called 'Fortnite' that turns out to be one of 2023's best surprises... I've been playing Fortnite for the...
Soapbox Donkey Konga Introduced Me To One Of My Favourite Songs Ever
A mighty impression
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Donkey Konga in Japan, Ollie recounts how the game introduced him to a song that remains one of his all-time favourites... I used to love...
Soapbox This Year, The Game Awards Failed The Industry
Please Wrap It Up
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Zion speaks about his feelings after attending The Game Awards 2023, and why the show needs to do better at celebrating game developers. When you first hear the name of the...
