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The Battle of Hoth: Video Games’ Thirty Year War

For the numerous corpses of rebel infantry and snowtroopers littered about the frozen tundra, amidst the hollowed-out, smoldering wrecks of AT-AT walkers and snowspeeders, the war is over. For the rest of us, it rages on still, an icy mess of tow cables and tauntauns. There looks to be no end in sight to this …

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‘Yoshi’s Woolly World’ is a light, fluffy reminder of the SNES classic

Whether or not you consider Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island a part of the core Mario series, it’s hard to argue that Yoshi himself didn’t make a big splash in his first time out as the hero. Yoshi’s Island has stood the test of time and is regarded by many as one of the all-time platformer greats, placing the former sidekick firmly in Nintendo’s stable of mascots.

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Nintendo Makes More Plans for Mobile Gaming

If you can’t beat them, join them. That seems to be the lesson Nintendo is taking to heart as it gets ready to enter the wild world of mobile gaming. Now, you might be saying to yourself, “What are you talking about? Nintendo practically invented mobile gaming!” And you would be right. From the Game …

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‘Super Mario Maker’ levels will soon be available on ‘Super Smash Bros.’

It is impossible to ignore the universal praise Super Mario Maker has received so far. In my review of the game, I said that Super Mario Maker is just the start of something greater. I figured Nintendo would roll out sequels in the future and I was assuming they would tie it into other franchise such as …

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Mega Man movie on the way, although we are cautiously optimistic

In 1987, Capcom released the original Mega Man. It was well-received by both gamers and critics, but it was not much of a financial success. Over the course of the next year, however, Mega Man 2 was developed as a labour of love by Keiji Inafune and it became a worldwide hit and a defining …

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Brick by Brick, The House Mario Built: Revisiting ‘Super Mario 64’

The Nintendo 64 was in heavy demand upon its release in 1996. Time Magazine called it “that rare and glorious middle-class Cabbage Patch-doll frenzy.” Nintendo’s third home video game console (nicknamed N64) was launched with two games outside of Japan: Pilotwings 64, and Super Mario 64, arguably one of the greatest video games to date, and …

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Brick by Brick, The House Mario Built: The Super NES Days

There are about eight Mario adventures that could easily be listed within the lexicon of the greatest games ever made, and Super Mario World and Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island, released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System sit on that list. Super Mario World helped define the 16-bit era, transforming the classic Mario formula into …

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Mario player, not ‘Mario Maker’

Now right off the bat I want to state that I’m not against the idea of Nintendo developing a game-creating experience, and it’s very possible my opinion will not be shared by most, if any, of the rest of the staff here, but after months of watching videos, E3 Treehouse play sessions, and the crazy-awesome finale to …

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Multiplayer Magic or Madness?: Nintendo’s E3 Surprises

I remember playing The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition on my 3DS back in 2011 and simultaneously texting some friends eagerly looking for a time to get together so we could tackle the game together as it was truly meant to be played.  I remember even more vividly my disappointment when I saw that …

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China lifts 15 year ban on game consoles

After nearly 15 years of restricting the manufacturing and sales of video game consoles, China has lifted a ban on foreign and domestic gaming companies. At long last Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo will be able to sell anywhere in the country. Previously, regulators confined consoles to the Shanghai Free Trade Zone. Last year, China had …

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Brick by Brick, The House Mario Built: The NES Days

The Nintendo Entertainment system was released in 1985 and retailed for $199 in the U.S.. The standard package included an 8-bit graphics console and two classic game controllers. Other bundles featured the NES Zapper along with the supported NES game Duck Hunt. If you were one of the luckier kids, your parents shelled out a …

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Who’s Really Winning the Console Wars?

As regular listeners to our gaming podcast Open Source will attest, the ongoing rivalry between Sony and Microsoft is oft-discussed. John perhaps said it best in last week’s episode – competition is good for the industry; without it, companies become complacent and lazy, and innovation dries up. As consumers, there’s nothing worse than one side …

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Love at first sight: ‘Unravel’ and ‘Yoshi’s Woolly World’

Let’s admit that as gamers we’re all a bit superficial. I mean, nothing attracts the attention of the gaming world like some good old-fashioned eye candy, right? Visuals seem to be the main focus of every single console generation, dating all the way back to George Plimpton touting the Intellivision’s “realistic” graphical superiority in baseball or golf over Atari’s 2600, …

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A Tribute to Satoru Iwata: Rest in Peace, Iwata-San

“Although many believe that technology automatically enables more realistic expression, I believe that is just not correct.”-Satoru Iwata I rarely write obituaries about famous people — because while I admire what many people have done in their careers, I feel it is somewhat disingenuous to write about someone at such a tragic time when I …

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Ranking Nintendo’s Consoles #2: Nintendo Entertainment System

Nintendo Entertainment System (1985) The Japanese video game giant Nintendo emerged as a global leader in the video game industry when it unveiled the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985. The NES went on to become the best-selling gaming console of its time and thirty years later, the NES still play a major influence on the …

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Ranking Nintendo’s Consoles #3: Nintendo 64

Nintendo 64 (1996) The Nintendo 64 is probably Nintendo’s most polarizing console released to date. Ask someone about it, and they’ll most likely rank it with the best consoles ever released, or way down at the bottom of the list with the likes of the Virtual Boy and the N-Gage. Some simply couldn’t get past …

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Ranking Nintendo’s Consoles #4: Gamecube

GameCube (2001) Charm can go a long ways. Just ask the average-looking person dating someone out of their league, or the not-so-smart guy at work who somehow got the promotion you know you’d be more qualified for. Nintendo’s Gamecube may have lacked some of the more obvious desirable video game console traits, but it more …

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Ranking Nintendo’s Consoles #5: 3DS / New 3DS XL

3DS / New 3DS XL (2011) The surest way to make a system’s greatness apparent isn’t hardware specs or a sleek, smooth design; it’s games, plain and simple. I bought the Wii U and 3DS at the same time, around the time the former released. Yet for all the dazzling HD tech behind the latest …

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