Nintendo

IEEE Spectrum’s Tekla S. Perry spoke to Fitbit founders James Park and Eric Friedman, as well as designers and engineers to get the complete story on how the company’s first clip-on fitness tracker — inspired by the Nintendo Wii’s motion-tracking capabilities — came to be.

Instead of opting for a third-party lighting accessory to improve the original Game Boy’s screen, modder James Channel replaced it entirely with a compact CRT salvaged from a video intercom.

Many sticks of hot glue later the Game Boy (or is it now a Game Man?) finally has a glowing screen but runs for just over two minutes on four AA batteries.

With no big movies or The Legend of Zelda games this quarter, Nintendo’s gross profits have fallen by 45 percent compared to the same period last year.

Sales of Nintendo Switch hardware, now in its eighth year since launch, have also “decreased significantly year-on-year” — and we may not see a notable improvement until the company announces its highly anticipated next-gen console sometime in 2025.

Ahead of a new batch of Pokémon Horizons episodes debuting on August 9th, Netflix has dropped a new trailer for San Diego Comic-Con teasing just how much more intense the series’ battles are about to get.

The original collection featured buttons from the NES and Famicom’s gamepads, but it’s now expanding to include buttons and joysticks from the Super Nintendo, Super Famicom, N64, and GameCube.

The retro keychains don’t actually work as controllers, but could be excellent fidget toys. Unfortunately, they’ll only be randomly available in gashapon machines at Nintendo stores in Japan, as well as Tokyo’s Narita airport.

Hardware hackers Wesk Mods and YveltalGriffin created the Nintendo Kawaii by trimming the console’s motherboard and adding custom PCBs.

Games are loaded on a microSD card, but the Kawaii is fully functional and includes video and GameCube controller connections though a dock. Its creators plan to sell copies of their custom shell, but warn this is a mod requiring very advanced skills.

The game that helped launch the original Xbox has been reimagined for the 26-year-old 8-bit GBC.

You can play two completed levels of Halo: Combat Devolved in your browser, or by downloading a copy of the game for handhelds like the Analogue Pocket or emulators such as Delta on the iPhone. The game includes a drivable Warthog, weapons from the original, and the Covenant.

Based on the game’s first trailer, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed developer AHeartfulofGames seems to have nailed the Mutant Mayhem visual style.

Disappointingly, Mutants Unleashed only supports two players. It’s out for PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, and PCs on October 18th.

You probably never heard of the Legend of Starfy series, but it’s not your fault — for some reason Nintendo never released the adorable aquatic platforming games outside of Japan. But now you can rectify that, as the first three GBA titles in the series are available for Switch Online subscribers.

That’s according to YouTuber Taki Udon who’s been teasing the mod they’ve created for months and today shared a proof-of-concept video demonstrating a Switch Lite with a much improved OLED display.

There’s no word on availability, but with a confirmed price tag under $50 and an upgrade process that’s described as, “very easy,” we’re very tempted.

Before Games Done Quick became the premier video game speedrunning event, there was the Nintendo World Championship. On July 18th, Nintendo is bringing that countrywide contest to the comfort of our living rooms with the Nintendo World Championship: NES Edition. Players will be able to compete in over 150 brand new speed contests across a ton of Nintendo classics both online and locally.

Nintendo has just released an extremely creepy 15-second trailer for a game called Emio. The trailer features grainy footage of a person in a trenchcoat wearing a paper bag decorated with an unsettling rictus grin. There’s no other information other than the cryptic hashtag #whoisemio. Whoever he is, the creepypasta loving 12-year-olds in your life are gonna love this.

On July 9th, basketball will arrive in Nintendo Switch Sports. The free update will include online and local 2v2 play with motion controls. And for local play, you’ll get a 3-point shoot out mode and a five streak battle game that has you and your friends shoot it out to see who can score five baskets first.

A year after Nintendo Japan announced it would stop repairing the Wii U when its supply of parts ran out, the company confirmed this week its Japanese support teams are no longer able to fix the 12-year-old console, as spotted by Nintendo Life.

After Nintendo shuttered the console’s online play in April, this week’s announcement feels like the Wii U’s final death blow.

Nintendo’s July collection of classic games coming to NES Online includes Golf, programmed by the company’s former CEO, Satoru Iwata, who passed in 2015.

Shortly after the Switch’s debut a copy of Golf was discovered as an Easter Egg on the console, which some assumed to be a tribute to the late CEO, but finding and playing the game is now much easier.

After debuting The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, a game where Princess Zelda finally gets to save Link, Nintendo teased an upcoming Switch Lite with a swanky gold finish.

The back of the console features the Hylian crest, and when released on September 26th, it will include a 12-month Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack membership.