Gaming

Nintendo’s Talking Flower got a small price cut

• Nintendo's Talking Flower drops from $34.99 to $29.99.
• The toy announces the hour and comments on the temperature.
• No microphone or internet; based on Super Mario Bros. Wonder.

Nintendo's Talking Flower, a novelty toy based on the chatty character from Super Mario Bros. Wonder, has received a modest price reduction at both Amazon and Walmart. The toy originally launched at $34.99 but is now available for $29.99, a saving of roughly 14 per cent. It is…

Talking Point: New Ocarina = New amiibo? Nintendo Needs To Make These Zelda Figurines

• Ocarina of Time remake likely to bring new Zelda amiibo in the 40th anniversary year.
• One Zelda amiibo, Mineru's Construct, is already confirmed for September.
• Author lists wishlist figures like King Zora, Ruto and the Sages.

With a remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time due later in the year, coinciding with the series' 40th anniversary, this Nintendo Life opinion piece speculates that Nintendo will release new Zelda amiibo to accompany it. The author draws a parallel with the recent Super Mario…

Handheld gaming PCs are cooked

This PC Gamer article, headlined “Handheld gaming PCs are cooked”, appears to argue a viewpoint about the state of the handheld gaming PC market, a category that includes devices such as the Steam Deck, Asus ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion Go. However, the text supplied here contains only…

Engadget review recap: Steam Machine, Samsung Music Studio 7, Oura Ring 5 and more

• Valve's Steam Machine deemed underpowered and too expensive despite a good idea.
• Samsung Music Studio 7 shines as a $1,000 stereo pair.
• Oura Ring 5, HP OmniBook Ultra 14 and Alienware OLED all praised.

Engadget has published its latest review recap, gathering together recent verdicts on a spread of new consumer technology spanning gaming hardware, audio, wearables, laptops and displays. The roundup matters as a quick guide for buyers, with the headline item being Valve's much-anticipated Steam Machine console, which the site…

Obsidian game director reacts to people “spouting off” about the studio and how it’s not what it “used to be”

• Obsidian Entertainment director dismissed public criticism of the studio's direction, arguing core leadership and talent remain unchanged despite industry perception
• Microsoft's Xbox layoffs cut roughly 25% of Obsidian's workforce and shifted the studio toward Fallout projects, resulting in cancelled games including an Avowed sequel

A director at Obsidian Entertainment has shared their thoughts about the "extremely difficult week" at the studio, stressing how hard it's been to see "a bunch of cold take artists coming out of the woodwork" and "spouting off" about "what Obsidian is or what it isn't". Read more

League Classic might sound fun, but as a 15-year League of Legends veteran, I’m here to tell you: You want this less than you think

• Riot Games announced League of Legends Classic, a throwback experience that has generated community interest
• A 15-year veteran argues nostalgia is obscuring the reality of older game eras, which featured severe balance problems and poor design decisions

Opinion | Take those rose-tinted glasses off for a second

Nintendo officially ending a Mario Kart is a terrible sign for millions of gamers

• Mario Kart Tour shuts down permanently on 29 September 2025.
• The mobile game, launched in 2019, will become completely unplayable.
• A rare case of an in-house Nintendo title vanishing entirely.

Nintendo has confirmed that Mario Kart Tour, the mobile-only entry in the long-running racing series, will be switched off permanently on 29 September, after which it will become entirely unplayable. The article argues this matters because Nintendo games are unusually treated as permanent cultural objects, and the shutdown…

Assassin’s Creed remake made a huge mistake cutting the best part of Black Flag

• Black Flag remake Resynced cuts the original's modern-day Abstergo storyline.
• The writer says this removes the game's sharpest satire.
• Ubisoft may have cut it as it now resembles Abstergo.

A Polygon writer argues that Ubisoft's new remake, Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, undermines the 2013 original by removing its present-day storyline. While praising the remake's respectful gameplay touch-ups — from naval battles to island treasure hunting — the author contends that stripping out the modern-day sequences leaves…

Black Flag Resynced’s tough combat reminds me of a very unexpected other Assassin’s Creed game

• Black Flag Resynced features demanding parry-and-dodge combat that modernises the original whilst keeping its hitbox-based roots
• The hidden blade execution system remains satisfying, and the overall combat difficulty now rivals or exceeds other Assassin's Creed entries including Unity

Now Playing | Close enough – welcome back, Assassin's Creed Unity

Rhythm-based Nintendo Switch game as quiet gaming week rounded up

• Nintendo Life's weekend feature recaps a quiet gaming week.
• Original Switch sales to end in Europe from 2027 over battery laws.
• Rhythm Heaven Groove sold nearly 400,000 copies in Japan.

Nintendo Life's regular "What Are You Playing This Weekend?" feature (11th July) rounds up a relatively quiet week in gaming, noting that the wider industry is still adjusting to recent moves by Sony and Microsoft. Alongside the light-hearted commentary, the piece flags several notable Nintendo developments before the…