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The latest Japanese hardware sales from Famitsu are as follows:

Mario & Luigi Brothership Connie concept art

Nintendo and Acquire have shared concept art for Mario & Luigi: Brothership’s Connie, who initially had a human-like design.

We have a look at the concept art for the character above. Art director Hitomi Furuta said in an interview published today that the design changed once the team “settled on the motifs of outlets and electric plugs, and the ideas of an outlet-like face and a plug design that looks like a hat fit right into that world.”

Mario & Luigi Brothership Mario concept art

As part of a new Nintendo interview, we’re able to get some insight into the early days of Mario & Luigi: Brothership’s development and how Acquire initially pursued an “edgier, more rugged Mario”.

Nintendo wasn’t quite on board with that idea. According to art director Hitomi Furuta, the company felt Acquire should go with a look that fans would resonate with. Producer Akira Otani said Nintendo “wanted Acquire to have their own unique style, we also wanted them to preserve what defines Mario.”

Below is the relevant discussion with Furuta, Otani, and director Haruyuki Ohashi:

Nintendo has opened up about finally bringing back the Mario & Luigi series with an original installment after nearly a decade, which happened with Brothership.

Producer Akira Otani revealed in a just-published interview that there were various discussions about continuing the franchise following Paper Jam, but “needed to aim for something new that would keep up with hardware advancements while maintaining the appeal of the classic Mario & Luigi games.” After not being able to accomplish this, Nintendo “thought it might not be possible to make any more games in the series and considered giving up.” But after reaching out to Acquire, things progressed from there and that led to Mario & Luigi: Brothership.

The Hundred Line Last Defense Academy limited edition release date

The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy was just given a release date, news about a limited edition, and more.

The game launches on April 24, 2025. XSEED is now confirmed to be publishing, and plans to ship a limited edition. The limited edition includes an art book featuring work from fan-favorite artists Rui Komatsuzaki and Shimadoriru, a CD soundtrack with 10 songs from the game’s original score, an acrylic diorama featuring the main cast, a metal Last Defense Academy pin, a lenticular art card, a printed copy of an original The Hundred Line short novel, and 15 character art cards.

Nintendo PlayStation SNES CD Final Fantasy 7

If there’s one prominent thing we know about the history of gaming, it’s the partnership that nearly happened between Nintendo and Sony for a SNES add-on capable of playing Super Discs, a type of CD-ROM. Despite the two sides coming extremely close to an agreement, Nintendo pulled out at the last second. Sony would then go on to form its PlayStation brand while Nintendo teamed up with Philips for a short period.

Former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden reflected on that bit of history in a recent interview. He said that Ken Kutaragi, who was an engineer and later became Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO, was left “proverbially standing at the altar” due to Nintendo’s decision.

It’s been a little while since the last Tetris 99 Maximus Cup, but a special one is in store for NES Tetris.

Tetris itself celebrated its 40th anniversary this year. In honor of the event, the Tetris 99 43rd Maximus Cup will be held with a NES Tetris theme.

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Nintendo Switch 2 Joy-Con leak

A new leak is making the rounds that may give us a look at the design for the Nintendo Switch 2 Joy-Con.

A video with the shots was posted to the Chinese video sharing website Bilibili. We get a look at a few different things, including snapping off the Joy-Con (at the beginning here, which is blurred, making things hard to see) instead of the current sliding mechanism.

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MySims Cozy Bundle review

System: Switch
Release date: November 19, 2024
Developer: EA
Publisher: EA


When is a “cozy” game not, in fact, a cozy game? EA’s surprise re-release of the Wii-era MySims games for Nintendo Switch is a curious case of historical revisionism, given that both the original game and its follow-up MySims: Kingdom both pre-date the term by at least a decade. Nevertheless, the original games’ twee 2000’s aesthetic and alleged cozy credentials have merited a quick and dirty remaster job for the Nintendo’s hybrid. Nostalgic pull aside, the awkward holdovers that come with Wii Remote controls, and stiff competition within the genre dull the franchise’s grand re-appearance.

Zelda design Echoes of Wisdom

The developers of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom have opened up about designing Zelda for the game, which was a “difficult” challenge for the team.

We’re able to get insight from co-director Tomomi Sano and series producer Eiji Aonuma here. There were a few things that Nintendo and Grezzo needed to balance. For one thing, they couldn’t make Zelda too cute. They also couldn’t make her stand out given her fugitive status, but they also didn’t want her to look too much like a fugitive. Finally, Zelda is a princess at the end of the day, so that’s something the team also needed to keep in mind. 


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