Nintendo

When Mike Mika's young daughter asked if she could play Donkey Kong as a girl and save Mario, he did what any awesome geek dad would do. He stayed up late, hacking Donkey Kong and turning the gender tables on the game.

Mika's Donkey Kong: Pauline Edition lets Mario's girlfriend Pauline (Pauline was around before Princess Peach came along) rescue the hapless Mario from the giant angry gorilla. His daughter was used to playing Super Mario Bros. 2 as Princess Toadstool. She didn't understand why Donkey Kong wouldn't let her do the same. Dad came to the rescue.… Read more

Nintendo's Wii U could benefit from a price reduction, a Ubisoft executive director says.

Speaking to Edge-Online in an interview published yesterday, Alain Corre said that his company "always" likes to see a hardware company cut the price of a console.

"We always want the hardware to be at a low price because we want as many fans as possible to afford to buy our games, so that's for sure," he said in response to a question asking if he'd like to see Nintendo cut the price of its console. Corre is Ubisoft'… Read more

Selling or trading in your older used electronics for some fast cash is quick and convenient. You don't have to deal with pesky eBay fees, or haggle over the final sales price with a stranger on Craiglist. Sites like Amazon Trade-In, eBay Instant Sale, and Gazelle all make it easy to send in a used item. You mark the condition of your item, ship it off, let the company inspect it, and wait for the cash to show up in your PayPal or Amazon account. I rounded up five trade-in sites here if you're interested in reading more … Read more

Sony PlayStation 4 The current hot topic in console gaming, the just-announced PlayStation 4, is still largely an enigma. We don't know how much the PS4 will cost, when it's being released (beyond "holiday 2013"), or even what it looks like.

For now, it's still the next-gen hardware to beat, and what little we do know sounds impressive, with an entirely new system architecture based on an X86 AMD CPU/GPU that should make the PS4 easier to develop for and more flexible (and, frankly, more PC-like).

But 2013 will take the traditional three-way console … Read more

Nintendo's Wii Mini is on its way to the U.K.

The company announced today that it'll start selling the smaller Wii on March 22. It did not divulge any price details. Nintendo unveiled the Wii Mini last year, and at the time said that the $100 device would be available only in Canada.

The Wii Mini, which is a smaller, redesigned version of Nintendo's original Wii, allows gamers to play over 1,200 Wii titles. However, the console does not support backward compatibility with GameCube games. The original Wii, on the other hand, supports GameCube titles. … Read more

Nintendo's Wii U had a rough January, CNET has learned.

Nintendo sold only 57,000 Wii U units in the U.S. in January, a person familiar with NPD's game industry sales data has confirmed to CNET. The leading console maker during the period, Microsoft, sold 281,000 units in January.

Gamasutra was first to report that Wii U sales were sluggish in January. That publication's source said only that January sales were "well under" 100,000 units.

The Wii U's trouble in January stands in stark contrast to its predecessor, the Wii. In … Read more

Over the years you may have accumulated a lot of old video game consoles and, naturally, getting rid of them is not an option. After all, you've spent so much time with your beloved console. Like an old friend, full of memories and adventures, it's hard to let go.

Or maybe you're a collector who likes to play older games every now and then for the nostalgia. I'm in both camps. And unfortunately my television is not equipped with enough inputs to have all my game systems connected at once and ready to play at a moment's notice.

There is a solution to this problem! … Read more

Google's Street View is now available to Wii U owners in Japan.

Nintendo announced the availability of Street View in its eShop today. The application can be downloaded to the Wii U for free and works on both the GamePad and the television through the console.

On the GamePad, Street View provides a full 360-degree view of the world's streets. While holding the GamePad, users can move it up, down, left, and right to see different views. In addition, the app will display Street View images on the television. If users decide to look at Street View on … Read more

The Wii U's troubles attracting gamers won't be solved by a price cut, Nintendo chief Satoru Iwata argues.

Speaking to reporters in Tokyo yesterday, Iwata acknowledged that Wii U sales disappointed last year, but he didn't necessarily feel that dropping the price of the $299 basic set or the $349 deluxe set would do the company much good.

"We are already offering it at a good price," Iwata said, according to the Associated Press.

Nintendo yesterday announced its earnings for the nine-month period that ended December 31. Although it was able to turn a slight … Read more