Gamers spending more time streaming video to their consoles, Nielsen finds originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Dec 2011 06:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Nielsen  | Email this | Comments

Know what could save you from that inevitable bout of holiday travel-induced rage? Free WiFi on your 3DS, that’s what. Let’s be real, you and a few million others are about to be stuck waiting on a tarmac somewhere or suffocating in a boarding area throng of weary travelers. So, if you’ve got Nintendo’s latest portable handy, you’ll at least have a free internet connection to latch onto, courtesy of Boingo. The company’s recently announced an agreement with the Big N to make its service free of charge to users across 42 of our nation’s airports. You’ll be able to take advantage of the gratis goods once your console receives a scheduled firmware update, due to roll out today. Now if that doesn’t get you in a festive spirit, you’re probably just a mean, green ‘ol Grinch — or a PSP owner.

Continue reading Nintendo, Boingo bring free airport WiFi to 3DS, commuter rage to slightly dip

Nintendo, Boingo bring free airport WiFi to 3DS, commuter rage to slightly dip originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Dec 2011 04:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Sadly we weren’t able to get our hands-on the new console that’s going to come along with the Wii U controller. Every operational unit is clad in shimmering Lucite and locked away. But, from what we can see peering through the glass it’s more or less a curvaceous Wii. It’s a little bit chubbier, maybe a hint taller, but the design is much the same: glossy white and a big disc slot. Nintendo definitely isn’t giving up on physical distribution for this round. All that we can see beyond that is a power button, a reset button, a red sync button, and a little flip-down door much like on the Wii. What’s behind the door? Memory cards? More buttons? Magic? Feel free to speculate wildly in comments.

Zach Honig contributed to this report.

Nintendo Wii U console eyes-on originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Jun 2011 14:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Continue reading Live from Nintendo’s E3 2011 keynote!

Live from Nintendo’s E3 2011 keynote! originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Jun 2011 11:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

It seems like there was a time, not that long ago, where we saw another new hand-crafted portable console every week, each one smaller and more impressive than those before. Those days are, sadly, gone and, whether you want to blame the short attention span of today’s youth or simply conclude that everyone’s too busy playing Angry Birds, it’s a sad fact. Modder Ashen is bucking the trend, creating what he calls the GameCube Fusion. It’s a hand-built portable GameCube that plays (hopefully legally acquired) titles from SD card via both WiiKey and Gecko, offering full controls on-board plus an external controller port, all kept cool by a laptop-sourced fan that sounds powerful enough to make the thing hover, F-Zero-style. It’s far smaller than 2009′s NCube, but the omission of a battery pack means it won’t be traveling far. For those who want to know more, every detail will be revealed in the 12 minute video embedded just below — if you can keep focused that long.

Continue reading GameCube Fusion portable brings Wii aesthetics, GBA design to Nintendo’s boxiest console (video)

GameCube Fusion portable brings Wii aesthetics, GBA design to Nintendo’s boxiest console (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 May 2011 09:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Mod Retro  | Email this | Comments

Nintendo’s been denying rumors of a new home console for nearly as long as we can remember, but every so often those crafty execs slip — accidentally or intentionally letting us know that exciting things are in the works. Well, last we heard from Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, a stereoscopic 3D console was on the table, but Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime just swept that notion under the rug. “We’ve not said publicly what the next thing for us will be in the home console space, but based on what we’ve learned on 3-D, likely, that won’t be it,” he told CNN, prompting a legion of 3DTV owners to imagine that their favorite Nintendo characters cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. Why would Nintendo dismiss 3D for home gaming on the very same day that its 3D handheld set a sales record? Simply put, the company doesn’t think the glasses-free 3DTV market is ready for such applications. Ah well — guess we’ll just have to settle for a Wii HD, then.

Nintendo teases next gaming console, says it probably won’t be 3D originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 01:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Joystiq  |  CNN  | Email this | Comments

You’ve read our Nintendo 3DS review, where we found it to be a generally fun but still somewhat flawed handheld gaming experience. Now it’s been released to the world, and to the willing hands of Triforce Johnson, and we’re left wondering what all of you think. We’re also hearing scattered word of a supposed “Black Screen of Death,” where the system indicates “An error has occurred” while playing a variety of games and has to be rebooted. We saw no such glitches in our testing, but what about you?

View Poll

3DS owners reporting sporadic ‘Black Screen of Death,’ how is yours treating you? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Mar 2011 11:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink VG24/7  |  Go Nintendo  | Email this | Comments

See that greenish blue thing up there? That might look like this greenish blue thing over here that we reviewed a few weeks back, but actually they’re not the same. No, sir. This thing up there is the genuine, guaranteed, red-blooded American version, ready to tear a $250 hole in your gaming budget and make you go all googly-eyed for 3D. Naturally there isn’t an awful lot different here compared to the Japanese version we already looked at, but we have had the opportunity to spend a good bit more quality time with this one than with the other one. Plus, being able to read all the manuals doesn’t hurt.

What you’ll find below is a full review of the American console including more game impressions, more in depth battery life tests, a dazzling demo of the thing’s augmented reality gameplay, and some surpring performance results with good ‘ol DS carts. So, join us, if you would, for a rather more in depth exploration of this, the next dimension in handheld console gaming.

Continue reading Nintendo 3DS review

Nintendo 3DS review originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Mar 2011 14:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

The 3DS is not Nintendo’s first foray into the world of 3D gaming. In fact, it’s not even the company’s second. First up was a 3D headset for the good ‘ol Famicom (NES in the US), but that never saw American shores and it wasn’t anything more fancy than a set of active shutter glasses anyway — the same sort HDTV manufacturers are trying to sell you today. However, the company’s second 3D offering did make it to the US, where it landed with a spectacular thud.

It was the Virtual Boy, a 32-bit portable console powered by six whole AA batteries and remembered by many for its ability to inspire more headaches than excitement in the gamers who tried it. It was released in the US in August of 1995 for $180 and was discontinued less than a year later. With the 3DS sitting now in back rooms of videogame and electronics stores nation-wide, waiting to spring into availability on March 27th, we thought this would be a good time to look back and give the Virtual Boy the full review it has always deserved but has never received.

Continue reading Nintendo Virtual Boy review

Nintendo Virtual Boy review originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Mar 2011 10:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments