Pokémon Turns 20

It's hard to believe that it's been 20 years since the beginning of Pokémon. Twenty years ago today, February 26, 1996, Pokémon was born in Japan. And throughout all the PETA protests and outraged parents, this fanatical phenomenon has become part of the geek's culture. How many game series do you know that have spawned two dozen games to date, several TV animes, a timeless trading card game, and 20 movies? From Twitch Plays Pokémon to the Helix Fossil, Pokémon has proven to stand the test of time. And today, it was announced that there would be two new games in the series: Pokémon Moon and Pokémon Sun. I guess they ran out of colors, minerals, precious metals, letters, and greek letters to choose from. Anyways, be sure to dig up your old Game Boy, blow the dust off of your Pokémon game, and take a trip down memory lane. Or if you're part of the 99% who don't have the original, no worries! You can download it from the Nintendo eShop for your Nintendo 3DS for only $9.99! Happy training!

Nintendo To Bring Games To Smart Devices

In a shocking announcement by Nintendo, they have partnered with Japanese mobile game maker DeNA to make Nintendo games available on mobile devices. This comes from the Wall Street Journal.

“The company seems to have totally changed its mind-set, after having resisted against mobile game development, publicly complained about the low quality of content in mobile and played down its role in the game world overall,” said Serkan Toto, a Tokyo-based game consultant. “This is about the most drastic, bold shift in strategy Nintendo could have undertaken.”

Why Apple Has Better Gaming Ideas Than Nintendo...

Source: Nintendo Life

Nintendo started their new year on a bad foot. For their third straight year in a row, they've seen a decline in sales. President Satoru Iwata states that they are looking into "smart devices" and how a user might use it for gaming. Welcome to the 21st century, Nintendo! For many fans, imaginary fireworks went off in their head. Mario on an iPhone? Genius! Why buy another device when you can do the same thing on the device that you do everything else on? Especially considering that smartphones have better hardwares specs than of the 3DS and Wii U! Well, Nintendo doesn't get it yet. Even after millions of posts, tweets, and stories of how they should go mobile, they just don't get it. Let me explain. Apparently, Nintendo is actually making a mobile app for smartphones to view details about 3DS and their franchises. Because everyone's interested in that! It's not like we could go to a website for the same exact thing! Then, Nintendo denies this whole rumor and it's just a whole mess.

So, how does this convert into how Apple having better ideas than Nintendo? In recent reports, Apple is rumored to be making a fourth-generation Apple TV. Whether it's the full featured TV set, or a box, I don't know. But, this Apple TV may incorporate using iOS devices as controllers and the big TV as the display. This adds potential to GameCenter to add leaderboards and online multiplayer.

Nintendo will be providing more information on this whole app and smartphone idea tomorrow (Thursday, January 29, 2014).

So, what's your decision? On a computer, you can predict if Nintendo truly has lost their last life on the right-hand side with our poll! Also, feel free to post in the comments section about your thoughts.

The Nintendo 2DS! It's like a 3DS but with a 2!

Nintendo made a surprise announcement yesterday (along with a Wii U price cut) that they would announce a brand new system to the "3DS family". It's called the 2DS. Initially, it sounds like a joke, but it's not. This is a real thing. It doesn't fold, unlike the 3DS or DS. It's more of a Game Boy. Nintendo made the 3DS a toy. Apparently, their logic goes like this. "Folding seems too 3D-ish, so let's make it flat!" You can't fit it in your pocket (not the best strategy for StreetPasses) and Nintendo endorses a carrying bag (an extra $12.99). The 2DS in general is a great marketing tactic for making the 3DS games more accessible to the general public without a 3DS. However, a $129 price tag won't cut it for some people. Especially when they can just buy a 3DS and turn off the 3D for an extra $40 ($169). Long story short, good idea, bad outcome. This system only appeals to people under 7 (who shouldn't be exposed to 3D) and people who are just in it for the gaming. After all, nobody really uses the 3D. One final note, the 2DS has the ability to take 3D pictures, but it can't display them in 3D. Strange.

The Nintendo 2DS has a set release date for October 12, 2013 (The same day that Pokémon X & Y come out; The funny part is that there's no Z for a 3D "Z axis").