On a sunny New York street, Spider-Man is eavesdropping on a pair of nannies. One confesses she’s new to the job and terribly out of her depth. The other offers up some advice: Keep the baby alive. Keep it clean. Use petroleum jelly when changing diapers. The first nanny is …
Read More »Why Nintendo Kept Super Mario Bros. Wonder's New Mario Under Wraps
For nearly 30 years, actor Charles Martinet was the voice of Nintendo’s most iconic character: Mario. He also lent vocals to Luigi, Wario, and others. When Nintendo confirmed in August that Martinet had essentially retired from that role, fans became fixated on who would voice the “mama mia”s in the …
Read More »'Super Mario Bros. Wonder' Is the Face of Nintendo's Transformation
Nintendo is having a very good year. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was a record-breaking success; Switch sales continue to climb even in the console’s sixth year. In February, the company opened Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios in California. All of this, though, looks small compared …
Read More »'Starfield' Dev Bethesda Just Lost One of Its Most Important Executives
Peter Hines, one of the leading executives behind Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and Starfield, is leaving developer Bethesda after 24 years at the company. Hines, who was most recently head of publishing and senior vice president at the developer, said the decision wasn’t easy but that the time was now right, …
Read More »Unity CEO John Riccitiello Steps Down After Pricing Blowup
Unity president and CEO John Riccitiello is retiring from the company, as well as from his role as chairman and a member of the company board of directors, effective immediately. The company has appointed James Whitehurst as interim chief executive officer. Riccitiello is expected to “advise Unity to ensure a …
Read More »Former Ubisoft Execs Detained as Part of Harassment Investigation
Police in France have taken five former Ubisoft employees, including vice president of editorial and creative services Tommy Francois and chief creative officer Serge Hascoët, into custody following a long investigation into moral and sexual harassment at the Assassin’s Creed creator. By Wednesday, the five had been taken into custody …
Read More »The Biggest Revelations From the Microsoft Xbox Leaks
In what’s being cited as the biggest leak in the company’s history, Microsoft revealed a massive amount of information about forthcoming Xbox refreshes, next-gen systems, and more after uploading a series of unredacted documents to a court website as part of the ongoing Federal Trade Commission v. Microsoft case. The …
Read More »Can 'Monster Hunter Now' Pull Niantic Out of Its Slump?
On his walk toward Niantic’s office in the Bay Area one day, senior producer Sakae Osumi noticed everyone staring up. There was an eclipse happening, as good a reason as any to tilt back and gaze into the sky, but Osumi had another thought: What if a team working on …
Read More »Mario Will Never Be the Same Again
Longtime Mario voice actor Charles Martinet will no longer voice the beloved plumber, but his role with the franchise isn’t quite over. In a video released this week, Martinet and Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto explained that the actor will essentially become a mascot—continuing to meet fans at events worldwide, beginning …
Read More »'Super Mario Bros. Wonder' Is What Happens When Devs Have Time to Play
Here’s something you don’t hear often in game development: When the team behind Super Mario Bros. Wonder was in the prototyping stage of the game, it had no due date. “I wanted to prevent people from saying, ‘We won’t make that deadline, so that’s why we didn’t do it—we can’t …
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