Nintendo of America’s former president, Reggie Fils-Aimè, has described how a request for “an obscene amount of support” from Amazon during the Wii and DS era ultimately led to the withdrawal of both systems from sale on the site.
Speaking at the NYU Game Centre lecture series (thanks, Eurogamer), File-Aimé states that an Amazon executive spoke with him to request enough financial support so that the company could undercut the likes of Walmart on price.
Fils-Aimé rejected the request outright, with Nintendo of America completely withdrawing both the Wii and DS from sale on Amazon. Here’s what he had to say:
“At that time, just in the Americas, I was selling ten million Wiis, DS’ a year. We’re driving a lot of revenue. We had a lot of scale. And, at the time, Amazon was looking to get bigger into the video game space. Amazon’s mentality back then was that they wanted to have the lowest price out in the marketplace, even lower than Walmart.
“One of their executives called me… Well, it was a conversation that got to me after it had progressed through all of the levels of my sales organisation, and essentially what Amazon wanted is an obscene amount of support – financial support – so they could have the lowest price and beat Walmart. I literally said to the executive, ‘You know that’s illegal? I can’t do that’. You know you get silence on the other end, and it’s like: ‘Well, but this is what I want.’
“And literally… Literally, we stopped selling to Amazon, and it’s because I wasn’t going to do something illegal. I wasn’t going to do something that would put at risk the relationship we have with our other retailers. But it also set the stage to say, ‘look, you’re not going to push me around. This is the way we do business’. And so, that’s how, over time, you build respect.”
“Jump forward a number of years, we’re getting ready to launch the Switch. We wanted every retailer to participate with us and go big, and Amazon was right there at the table. Supported the launch exceptionally well. But it was based on mutually beneficial approach that led to that type of strong business result.”
Pretty cool to hear Reggie being so assertive, right? The executive was a huge presence at Nintendo during his time at the company, ultimately retiring in 2019 during the height of the Switch. His successor, Doug Bowser, took over as president until 2025, after which he was then succeeded by current president Devon Pritchard.
What do you make of Reggie’s story here? Share your thoughts with a comment down below.
Pokémon Pokopia and Pokémon Champions launched nearly two months and one month ago, respectively, so today we’re revisiting our reader-ranked list of Pokémon spin-off games to see where they’ve both settled in.
Remember, you can influence the real-time ranking even now by giving any of the games below a User Rating. Enjoy!
If there’s any franchise that’s no stranger to a spin-off or two, it’s Pokémon. The inherent appeal of the little Pocket Monsters makes the series ripe for all kinds of genres and video games. Name a genre, and Pokémon has most likely done it.
But, dear readers, what’s the very best Pokémon spin-off? That’s what we’re here to find out!… Why else would you be here?
Though some of Pokémon Friends‘ puzzles can be fun, even the best ones begin to grow stale after only a few hours, as they’re so quick to complete and pop up so often, which dampened our enthusiasm for unlocking Mudkip and Jirachi plushies to decorate our rooms.
Unfortunately, we have no desire to boot up Pokémon Friends daily for a few quick puzzles like how we rip packs in TCG Pocket, leaving us with the sense that this puzzle package will fade into the background with other casual Pokémon spin-offs, forgotten until the next Presents announcing a handful more overpriced puzzle packs. A shame.
Other than the odd camera-darkening problem, we actually like Pokémon Smile. It isn’t going to give Smash Bros. a run for its money or anything like that, but it isn’t trying to: it’s a light-hearted, free way of trying to inject a little fun into an otherwise mundane task.
Just bear in mind that it can be a little harsh when it comes to judging your brushing, and so you need to prepare your child for the reality that they won’t be catching a Pokémon every time they play. Essentially, it’s a fun little app to use to help get your kids into brushing their teeth, but little more than that.
For the first Pokémon game to be released on the DS, Pokémon Dash was something a little bit different. Using the stylus to control and race with Pikachu was a novel idea, but given the creativity of other DS games at the time, it soon became outdated.
It’s also a little bit too short for what it is, and it takes only a handful of hours to complete all of the races. As a result, this is often considered one of the weaker Pokémon spin-offs. On a console that already has plenty of other games (mainline and side), this one isn’t worth dashing for.
Pokémon Rumble Rush was charming and it could be fun if you like collecting things. Pokémon fans like that, right?
However, the awkward map feature and the requirement of refining ore to get gears to boost the Pokémon meant it was sometimes a needlessly frustrating grind, and with the inclusion of a two-week deadline between area swaps, there was unwelcome added pressure thrown into the mix.
This free-to-play Pokémon outing didn’t set the world on fire, then — which meant the service shut down in July 2020, just a year after launching on iOS — but the truly dedicated fans who followed the Rumble series enjoyed it all the same.
In the ’90s and 2000s, everyone wanted to be friends with Pikachu, and what better way than talking to him through a microphone and having him act out all of your requests? Sadly, Hey You, Pikachu! is infamous for all of the wrong reasons.
At first glance, using the microphone seems like a technical marvel, but in practice, the game just doesn’t work properly. With limited gameplay, Hey You, Pikachu! is more of a curio than something you should seek out and play. Still, it might appeal to the kids, and we are fans of weird, little-supported periphrals.
The core mechanics of online competitive battles remain as solid as a Steelix in Pokémon Champions. Predicting whether your opponent will switch out their Whimsicott, protect with their Mega Charizard Y, or try to catch you off guard with a powerful, offensive attack creates mind games as addictive and intense as ever.
The ease with which you can now train Pokémon has us hopeful that Champions will, much like Scarlet & Violet before it, evolve into a more complete, comprehensive experience. But as it stands at launch, the convoluted monetisation, disappointing performance, and inexplicable bugs make this another lacklustre Pokémon experience to add to the pile.
My Pokémon Ranch was chock full of missed potential. There’s no question it was an ideal game for young, fledgling Pokémaniacs to freely watch and interact with cuddly Pokémon of all shapes and sizes while looking forward to new toys and Pokémon daily. As long as you kept your expectations in check, you may have found yourself charmed by this goofy WiiWare title.
A few seriously misguided storage-related decisions — such as no interface to conveniently organise all the Pokémon you have stored — compounded its problems, though.
Learn With Pokémon: Typing Adventure is an unexpectedly entertaining entry to the long list of Pokémon spin-offs. While it may not teach you how to type, you will learn how to quickly spell MIENSHAO or how to tell apart a Marill from an Azurill from a distance — utterly essential life skills, if you ask us.
This game is fun and challenging for both Typing Rookies and Master Typists alike; even so, it shouldn’t be considered a must-buy, even for hardcore fans. Still, if you were in the market for a sturdy little Bluetooth keyboard and you also liked Pokémon, this was a solid purchase.
Pokémon Masters EX is a bit of a megahit now, with many Pokémon fans turning in for their dailies, events, and new characters. In fact, we’d say it’s one of the most well-realised Pokémon mobile titles to date – especially in terms of presentation.
Partnering up with classic Pokémon characters is fun, and the game has only improved since its original release in 2019 (as Pokémon Masters). There are loot boxes galore, of course, but in terms of mobile outings for the franchise, this is one of the better ones.
As a free-to-play downloadable Switch game, Pokémon Café ReMix is rather pleasant. The art style and designs are charming (especially when you recruit them and they get their uniforms), and the dishes you prepare are clever; the Fluffy Eevee Pancakes and Cheesy Rowley Pizza look particularly appetising. We think we’ll just skip straight to dessert, thanks.
The microtransactions aren’t massively intrusive, the energy system isn’t too debilitating, and the stages aren’t Candy Crush Saga-style efforts where it’ll take you 70 goes to get lucky enough to eventually clear them.
Pokémon Café won’t keep you engaged forever, but it’s a nice little distraction. Now, an espresso macchiato, por favore.
Swapping a microphone for the Nintendo e-Reader (at least in the US and Japan – the peripheral never launched in Europe), Pokémon Channel is an odd mixture of life-sim, tamagotchi-style pet-carer, and minigame collection.
It was pretty darn cute, plus you got a free Jirachi in Ruby & Sapphire. But there’s just nothing to do. Wake up, watch TV, play with Pikachu — that’s basically it. The idea of taking care of Pokémon is ripe for a decent game, and Pokémon Channel felt like a missed opportunity.
But hey, watching the weather with Pikachu isn’t that bad, and there are lots of collectibles to keep the youngest Poké Trainers entertained.
Pokémon: Magikarp Jump is a fascinating package. It has great style, but it severely lacks in gameplay. It feels like the epitome of a generic mobile title with a Pokémon twist, which is somewhat unfortunate. With no gameplay other than feeding the fish and playing ‘Whose stat is bigger?’, there’s just unfortunately so little to the game.
It’s definitely something fun to play on the bus or the train to kill time, but it just lacks the depth that we’ve come to expect from the other Pokémon mobile titles. While it’s easy to recommend having it on your mobile device, it’s hard to recommend paying for microtransactions.
Pokémon Quest is a fun little time waster that will satisfy your collect ’em all urges if you’ve exhausted everything the mainline Switch Pokémons have to offer.
You will have to splash some cash if you want to get the most out of it, but it’s far from a money sink. You can get everything you need in a single purchase, or unlock most of it slowly by playing for free — it’s one of the most generous ‘freemium’ systems out there.
Overall, Quest is a great jumping-off point for new fans of the series, and the cutesy art style just might win over veterans. No harm in giving it a shot.
Pokémon Rumble U is straightforward fun that’s a far cry away from the main Pokémon titles, but it does pair some key strategic elements of the series with the button bashing – though there are definitely moments where there’s too much going on to keep real track of, which does lead to more reliance on the latter than the former.
Despite its short length, there’s lots to go back to when you consider the hundreds of Pokémon to collect and challenges to beat. It’s not essential by any means, but it’s a fairly decent multiplayer game.
If you plan to embark on this new adventure (which takes place between the events of Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade), according to the official Nintendo eShop listing, an estimated 59.7GB of space is required for the digital version. It will set you back £59.99 / $69.99.
A standalone listing for The Order of Giants DLC says this add-on content is estimated to require 4.4GB of free space. This is an all-new story chapter that takes Indy to the ancient streets of Rome, “where forgotten catacombs twist into something far more sinister”, and is priced at £17.99 / $19.99.
Both the game and DLC include pre-order bonuses. For the main game, you can get a Travelling Suit Outfit and Lion Tamer Whip as seen in The Last Crusade, and in the DLC you’ll get Indy’s iconic Temple of Doom outfit. If you would prefer a physical version of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, as we’ve previously mentioned, a full cart edition has been confirmed.
Indy’s latest adventure launches on 12th May 2026 for Switch 2. To find out more, check out our preview. We’ve also had a chat with MachineGames Creative Director Axel Torvenius.
Will you be downloading this one from the Nintendo eShop? Let us know in the comments.
Four months into 2026, and it feels like things aren’t going to be slowing down anytime soon, does it? It also means that it’s time for eShop Selects once again, and we’re looking back at April 2026, a time where many of us have been Living the Dream.
Now, despite what we just said, this month has been a little quieter. But the sun is finally starting to make more of an appearance — just in-between the April showers. Perfect time for games, then?
So, let’s go through the best of this past month, then shall we? Here are the rules: our writers and contributors vote for their top three eShop games we reviewed (and scored at least a 7/10) that launched in April 2026 on the eShop for Switch 1 and/or Switch 2. We’ll then tally up the votes and the three games with the highest number of votes will make up the top three.
Honourable Mentions
It’s been a much steadier month as we approach the summer season of announcements and reveals. We wanted to give a quick shoutout to Darwin’s Paradox and Moomintroll: Winter’s Warmth, which we didn’t have a chance to review, and inKONBINI — we will have a review of that one soon.
But even a quieter month gave us seven games that met the score threshold. One of these is getting a physical release later in the year, but the rest are available on the eShop only, so now’s the time to download if you want to squeeze some gaming in before Yoshi, Rhythm Heaven, and Splatoon eat up the summer.
Before we get to the top three, here are the four that just missed out:
After a handful of delays, Mouse: P.I. For Hire proves its more than just a fresh take on the rubber hose art style. A noir-esquel bomber shooter where everything looks like it’s from a 1920s cartoon, Mouse: P.I. For Hire brings challenge and charm in spades.
It might not come out of the gates swinging, but within a few hours, you’ll find yourself utterly hooked by the tone, the shooting, and the exploration. Fumi relish in the mix of styles and genres and run with the puns to make one of the most unique-looking shooters we’ve played in some time.
In fact, Mouse: P.I. For Hire is our highest-scoring game of the month at a 9/10, and it manages third place from our staff vote.
Please note that some external links on this page are affiliate links, which means if you click them and make a purchase we may receive a small percentage of the sale. Please read our FTC Disclosure for more information.
Sigono are four-for-four on heartbreaking narratives that’ll make you sob more than once. And OPUS: Prism Peak might be the the best of the bunch.
The central relationship between Eugene and Ren is the carrot that keeps you going. Using your camera, you’ll take photos to solve problems and help the residents of the Dusklands, while also confronting Eugene’s past — both good and bad. It’s a truly beautiful game, and we can’t wait until it truly shines once it receives a performance patch on Switch 1 & 2.
poncle could probably just coast on the success of Vampire Survivors for the rest of time and we’d be happy. But nope, the developer just had to release a blobber-style spin-off, complete with roguelike and deckbuilding mechanics. Oh no.
Vampire Crawlers is yet another moreish timesink, a game that is so determined to get you to break its systems so you can demolish waves and waves of enemies. The formula translates from Survivors perfectly, and now you’re trawling through cards and skills instead of relying on pick-ups to do the work for you.
Vampire Crawlers is our eShop Selects game of the month, and we scored it an 8/10 on the Switch. But it’s also available on Switch 2 as well. Congrats to poncle for another fantastic game!
Do you agree with our ranking? Tell us about your favourite eShop releases of last month by voting in our poll and sharing your thoughts in the comments.
What’s your favourite April 2026 eShop game from our picks? (141 votes)
Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors (Switch 2)48%
How we decide our eShop Selects top three: As we reach the end of every month, the Nintendo Life staff vote on their favourite titles from a list of games selected by the editorial team. To qualify for this list, these games must have been released as a digital-only Nintendo Switch eShop title in that particular month, and must have been reviewed on Nintendo Life; we select the qualifying games based on their review scores.
Staff are then asked to vote for three games that they think deserve to sit right at the very top of that list; first choice gets three points, second choice gets two points, and third choice gets one point. These votes are then tallied to create a top-three list, with the overall winner taking that month’s top prize.
Is everybody ready for another edition of Box Art Brawl? Oh, go on then!
With The Mysterious Book on our minds, we took a look at Yoshi’s Universal Gravitationlast time, and it was another pretty close-run competition at the top. North America crashed out of the race with 14% of the vote, leaving Japan and Europe to fight over the remainder. It was ultimately the horizontal Japanese design that took it, though, claiming 46% of the vote while Europe received 41%.
This week, with all the recent talk of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth on Switch 2, we’ve been thinking an awful lot about those adorable little Chocobo. So yes, it felt only right that we matched up a pair of covers from the DS’ Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales.
This delightful little release launched in 2007 and saw us navigating a magical book to take down Darkmaster Bebuzzu. There’s card-based combat, there’s an adorable art style, there’s microgames — come on, what’s not to like?
With Europe and Japan opting for the same design, we have just two covers to choose between this week. Let’s see them, shall we?
The North American design sells Chocobo Tales as the Paper Mario game time forgot. It’s all really rather sweet, with its picture-book aesthetic, bright colours and impressive number of sprites. There’s perhaps a little too much going on at an initial glance, but it sure does feel like one of those covers that grows on you the more you look at it.
If only that central Chocobo was a little bigger, eh?
Oh, now that’s bigger! The European and Japanese designs throw all of North America’s detail out the window and opt for a big, eye-catching Chocobo instead. It’s certainly more simplistic, and the bright yellow backdrop stands out from the crowd, but is it actually a case of ‘less is more’?
Which region got the best Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales box art? (1,359 votes)
North America71%
Europe / Japan29%
Thank you for voting! We’ll see you next week for another edition of Box Art Brawl!
The famous fictional spy James Bond will embark on a new mission later this month. Although it’s been shaken by a delay on the Switch 2, the latest round of previews for other platforms still has us excited.
If you haven’t already seen it, we’ve got a full debrief about 007: First Light from our colleagues at Push Square – describing the PlayStation 5 version as a “systems-driven interpretation of what it means to be 007”.
And here’s what other sites had to say:
IGN: “It’s been many years since the last proper 007 game, and the larger Bond franchise seems to be in a state of reassessment. And that certainly puts IO Interactive’s latest in a great position to deliver an exciting new Bond game cleverly. With 007: First Light’s character-first approach to delivering a fully realized Bond adventure, it’s so far got the charm, wit, and raw energy to make this spy thriller one to keep an eye on as its May release fast approaches.”
PC Gamer: “On the surface, Bond might seem a natural fit for IO: all glitz and gadgets that make it feel like barely a skip away from the world of Hitman. But what I saw had me feeling that the studio has not leaned into its strengths, trading the absurd clockwork worlds of Agent 47 for a more tightly choreographed, linear, and “cinematic” game that IO has never been all that good at. The last time it tried was Hitman: Absolution.”
VGC: “What you need to understand, of course, is that this is a different version of Bond – Gibson clearly eyes the other holders of the role, and the version from the books, but does his own thing. I think he has the right mix of cool detachment and smug self-assurance to make the role sing, though.”
Polygon: “I had one big problem with the preview: Bond himself. Although I was inhabiting a very James Bond world and playing in a very James Bond way, at no point did I really feel that the character I was playingwas James Bond. As played by Patrick Gibson, he was too young, too eager, and far too chatty, narrating his own actions in theclassic manner of the contemporary AAA protagonist. He just didn’t have the cool — or, as Bond would probably call it, thesang froid…Perhaps this is an inherent risk of choosing to tell an origin story, when the character has yet to assume his trademark cynicism and worldliness, or refine his hard edge…Perhaps the character will ease into his own skin over the course of the game. But for now, I’m unconvinced. What’s a James Bond game without a convincing James Bond? And if the answer is “just a very good stealth action game,” will that be enough?”
CGM Online: “I can think of no studio better for this. It nailed the experience and the tone, and used its expertise in a way that feels fresh, engaging and fun. The team knows what it is doing and has gone all out to build a game that is unmistakably James Bond while feeling like a natural evolution for the studio.”
The Sixth Axis: “007: First Light goes far beyond being a pleasant surprise for me. You can certainly see where IO Interactive has adapted key aspects from Hitman, but it’s been done with such a deft touch, using them as highlight moments that fit with a different kind of covert action star. You should put this straight to the top of your wish list.”
So these are the final previews! As you can see, there is a mix of opinions in there about Bond’s new mission and how the character is depicted. 007 First Light is out 27th May 2026 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. It will be followed by a Switch 2 release “later this summer”.
Will you be checking this new James Bond game out when it eventually shows up on the Switch 2? Let us know in the comments.
Around the 35-hour mark, I finally rolled credits on Pokémon Pokopia. As anyone who’s made it to the end will tell you, it’s a bittersweet experience. I watched those closing animations play out with a tear in my eye, thinking about how far I’d come, how much my Ditto had grown, and how much my towns had evolved since I first set foot in them. Then the game reloaded, and I was immediately met with a harsh truth: my Withered Wasteland looked terrible.
Walkways consisted of every material I could lay my hands on at the time, houses were nothing more than a one-block-high rectangle with a door slapped on the front, and habitats seemed to be strewn all over the place as if built by a man who was only focused on raising the damn humidity of the area with no thought for the future.
The worst part? Every other biome was the same. I don’t want to discuss the amount of Volcanic Ash I found peppered on the floor in Rocky Ridges, and the number of half-built bridges, leading to nowhere in Bleak Beach put me to shame.
Truthfully, I had a small breakdown. How on earth can I have spent almost a day-and-a-half in this damn game and everything still looks so naff? But then I took a deep breath, spent a few minutes unlocking that final Ditto ability, and saw my save for what it really is: a beautiful mess.
Much like the release of Animal Crossing: New Horizons back in 2020, Pokopia’s launch flooded my social media feeds with pristine towns and spectacular builds within hours of the game being out. Heck, I was still trying to hunt down a physical copy, and Instagram was already showcasing someone’s fully-decorated Poké spa complete with fog, or tree fruit farm with water pump and conveyor belt fruit delivery system.
As ever, trying to play the cute little creative game quickly reminded me of just how inept I am at building anything remotely aesthetic without a step-by-step video tutorial, so any hope of doing that five times went out the window the second I saw the true scope of Pokopia.
But still, it’s a sobering experience. Nobody wants to watch TikToks of a streamer’s eight-floor mansion only to return to their Withered Wasteland homestead and find a depressed Charmander staring at a wall from its solitary wooden stool.
It’s not so much that I had designed things badly, but rather that I rarely had the patience to see an idea through to the end. Those Bleak Beach bridges are a prime example. There’s an area immediately on the right as you leave the Pokémon Center that clearly used to be a hotspot for walkways over the water. Examining the ground, you can see the remnants of bridge supports, and you can even map them over the water to the nearby islands.
Image: Nintendo Life
I started building a new foot traffic system as I helped Mosslax and Peakychu with the area’s main quest, but my interest must have waned after I had run out of my first stack of bricks, because what I envisaged as a Venetian postcard currently looks more akin to a series of stone diving boards, jutting out into the ocean.
The game is far too big for me to even think about cleaning up an entire area at once, so I changed my mindset and started focusing on micro-projects, where I could tend to something specific and leave the big picture for another day. I put in the foundations of a little picnic area in Withered Wasteland one day, mapped out a garden in Sparkling Skylands the next. The areas themselves still look shoddy and rough around the edges, but suddenly, little pockets were starting to take shape.
Perhaps it was me coming to terms with my own creative ineptitude, but the more I did this, the more I convinced myself that this is the point of Pokopia. These lands were never meant for replica castles, arcades, or a 1:1 model of an Empire Star Destroyer, they were meant to be a hodgepodge of ideas, gloriously imperfect.
It’s not to suggest that anyone who has flattened a biome and rebuilt it from the ground up is playing the game “wrong” — I have big ambitions for the middle areas of each town, and remain extremely envious of anyone who’s already been able to enact them — but there’s something about a story of creatures desperately trying to rebuild a civilisation they don’t fully understand that makes me think things are supposed to be messy.
Image: Nintendo Life
I mean, take a look at your Ditto. As adorable as that little guy is, do you think there’s a single grain of town planning or feng shui understanding behind that vacant expression? I’m too indecisive to decide where a landmark building should go, for crying out loud, what hope does a sentient blob have?
And so, I’m embracing the mess. I still dream of carefully orchestrated living arrangements, complete with plant-covered exteriors and considered walkway placements, but I’m taking some time to focus on smaller projects first. Uniform pavements and houses more than one block high can wait until another time. I’ve got an impromptu bonfire area to plan.
Have you managed to tidy up your Pokopia towns yet, or are they looking just as messy as when you arrived? Let us know in the comments.
Nintendo Life’s resident horror fanatic, when he’s not knee-deep in Resident Evil and Silent Hill lore, Ollie likes to dive into a good horror book while nursing a lovely cup of tea. He also enjoys long walks and listens to everything from TOOL to Chuck Berry.
Madrid is one of my favourite cities, overflowing with architectural intrigue, delightful cultural experiences, and brimming with the kind of sunlight that makes you feel like basking outside in the park with a handheld and a cool drink.
While the city is known for many things, one of its remarkable (and largely unsung) features is its game shops. On a recent holiday, I had the pleasure of visiting three superlative examples of the retro game store.
As digital storefronts attempt to muck up the gears of what I and so many game enthusiasts adore most about the physical sensation of shopping for games, these Madrid-based independent stores work around the clock to bottle the magic. More than anything, they represent the joy of our gaming community at large, demonstrating the connective tissue that physical games and accessories can create.
Next time you find yourself in ‘la ciudad del abrazo’, stop in and show these shops some love.
C/Arenal,8 1ª Planta Local 18, C. Comercial Arenal 8 28013
My first impression of Chollo Games was being unable to find it. It’s located on the second story of an unassuming commercial building just a few streets away from the bustling Puerta del Sol. Once I managed to work my way up the stairs and through a few winding hallways decked with glass and emerald wood, I was treated to one of the best game stores I’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting.
Chollo doesn’t look like much at first. Its packed shelves of games, consoles, and figurines might not wow you relative to any other retro shop in a major city upon an initial glance. However, digging into the store’s selection reveals its true beauty.
On top of a stellar selection of games from every retro console you can imagine (including a particularly impressive set of complete-in-box SNES and Super Famicom titles), Chollo is also home to a well-curated CD soundtrack section. Most of the albums for sale are from JRPGs, with a refreshing amount of Squaresoft titles. Better yet, Chollo’s CD prices beat eBay in nearly every comparison I did. It made picking up the Black Mages and Seiken Densetsu 3 tracks I’d been looking to add to my collection a no-brainer.
Chollo has consoles, posters, and cool figurines, too, but the other truly noteworthy element of the store’s sale catalogue is its wide variety of rare licensed accessories and merchandise from the Famicom era. I saw Famicom wristwatches and branded reading glasses for the first time ever in the wild while perusing Chollo’s hallowed shelves. It was an unexpected joy, especially considering I hadn’t even been able to find licensed merch of this quality in Japan.
The icing on the proverbial cake is that Chollo’s vibe is entirely unique, carrying the frosted glass and painted wood aesthetic of its building’s hallways into the store itself. It almost reminds me of an avant-garde museum in the way its design blends both the utilitarian display of its wares with artistic flare. It’s but another reason Chollo is Madrid’s all-around best store.
La Tienda De Videojuegos (which translates, simply, to “The Videogame Shop”) is located a few miles north of the hustle and bustle of Madrid’s city centre, close to the elegant neighbourhood of Chamberí. The train trip is more than worth it; La Tienda boasts the most polished section of rare games and retro consoles in the city, with a particularly impressive Game & Watch section whose plated sides gleam beautifully out of luminous glass cases at all who have the pleasure of passing by.
Of course, such quality comes at a price. That’s why I recommend treating La Tienda like Chollo games’ aloof rich uncle. It’s more of a museum, reminiscent of some of Tokyo’s game stores that have become more like well-guarded troves of artifacts than merchandise one might actually feel comfortable purchasing.
Still, even if you aren’t looking for the cream of the crop when it comes to console purchases, La Tienda has plenty to offer. Its neon signs done up in fetching pixel art might be just the thing to tie your entire gaming setup together. It also has a number of newer Switch titles on offer for fair prices. In this way, La Tienda functions as both a viable option for modern gamers and a retro enthusiast window shopper’s dream.
After making the trip up to La Tienda to have a look around its rows of glorious treasures, you’d be foolish not to enjoy the rest of what Chamberí has to offer. The stately neighbourhood is home to multiple striking galleries and museums (my favourite being the transport museum, located in the disused Andén 0 Metro station).
Image: Jonny Malks
However, the best activity in town is completely free; there’s nothing better than a stroll around the residential streets encircling La Tienda. Its plazas and gorgeous, tree-lined avenues sing with the soul of the city itself.
Kaoto (which is sometimes called “Kaoto Store” on navigation maps) is nestled in the heart of Madrid’s mini-mecca for game stores, otaku hubs, and comic shops. In this case, the city’s take on a Japanese media alley clustered around Calle de la Luna provides a perfect backdrop for Kaoto’s grungy brilliance.
At first blush, the store is cluttered, its poorly-lit corners playing host to the types of shaders on display in N64’s Perfect Dark. However, venturing into those corners allows collectors the pleasure of witnessing a truly unique compilation of grails amidst the stacks of one of Madrid’s best-kept video game secrets.
While Kaoto’s stock might not be as glitzy as La Tienda’s or as accessible as Chollo’s, its rarity and quirkiness more than make up for these shortcomings. While I was there, I was treated to my first complete Atari Lynx collection I’ve ever seen in the wild, in addition to some truly wonderful and esoteric Zelda collectibles that need to be seen to be believed.
Among these were limited editions of every Nintendo console out there, including an odd, red GameCube (a colourway whose existence I would have doubted until that very moment). These types of revelations are what represent Kaoto at its core. It’s a store for collectors who are okay with doing a little bit of digging to make it to the promised land.
Unfortunately, the required archaeology doesn’t do anything to defray the cost of Kaoto’s wares. In the main direct comparison I was able to complete, the same Black Mages album I bought for €20 at Chollo games was €35 at Kaoto. I found this pattern to be somewhat representative of the store’s pricing in some cursory internet searches on other items, as well.
That said, the customer service at the store is top-notch, and it’s still well worth a visit. While you’re there, check out the rest of the otaku sites around Calle de la Luna. If you’re the kind of person who enjoys reading Nintendo Life (like me!), I think you’ll be very happy with the trip.
While this isn’t a game store, I’d be remiss if I didn’t make a quick reference here to the OXO Video Game Museum.
It boasts a strong collection of retro consoles that you can play to your heart’s content, in addition to some interesting historical delves. I spent a whole afternoon in the museum’s neon-flooded halls during my vacation, and I honestly wish I had had the full day. The gift shop is a great place to stock up on Nintendo plushies, in particular.
¡Chao!
Image: Damien McFerran / Nintendo Life
Bouncing between retro game stores has quickly become my favourite way to enjoy a new city. I hope this guide can encourage you to do the same. Thanks for riding along with me on our journey across Madrid. If you ever find yourself amidst its sun-drenched streets, I highly encourage you to honour the hubs of gaming mentioned here with your patronage.
And give me a ring when you’re inside! I’ve been itching to get my hands on Nintendo’s rare line of Tetris and Mario Bros promotional watches that came out in the early 90s. I’m hoping Chollo Games might be able to cut me a deal. Or maybe La Tienda de Videojuegos has them in one of its glass displays. It’s also possible they’re under piles of magazines and cards in Kaoto. Possibilities await!
Image: Jonny Malks
Let us know below if you have any other gaming recommendations in Madrid!
Please note that some external links on this page are affiliate links, which means if you click them and make a purchase we may receive a small percentage of the sale. Please read our FTC Disclosure for more information.
Well, it’s been a slightly quieter week, mostly likely due to the fact that it’s Golden Week over in Japan, so many folks will be taking a much-needed break. Still, there have been some interesting stories, so let’s go through a few of them here.
Well, the day has finally arrived. After weeks of trying, I managed to secure my copy of Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream earlier this week and intend to start it properly on the train back to my parents’ this evening. This might be a pit from which I never leave (the Tomodachi obsession, not my parents’ house).
Wish me luck, folks.
Gonçalo Lopes, Contributor
I have been avoiding resuming the SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance DLC for a while now (difficulty is through the roof!) so I hope to get back to it this weekend. Goro Majima DLC is out on Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds and I want to at least give him a spin. I should have completed Pragmata by now but have been tackling the training mission for resources and upgrades. May have to dip into DLC for Diana’s dance animations. I also got the strange urge to replay After Burner Climax… (where did I store my PS3 anyway!?)
Game of the week is Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. I know, bit of a cheat, it is but the demo. I am quite enjoying the Switch 2 conversion and will hopefully wrap up both initial chapters before Monday comes up.
Gavin Lane, Editor
With Indy incoming and Pragmata in the chamber, I’m making my way through Pentiment as briskly as possible without missing anything. The writing is just fantastic – I want to talk to every single person in every chapter, but it’s taking a while to jog through Tassing with my apprentice and find them all.
Beyond that… no, there’s nothing beyond that. I’m all about Pentiment until it’s over. Have a good one, folks.
Mai Ladyman, Video Producer
I’ll be honest, I’ve mostly been trying out demos this week, but boy did they not disappoint! One in particular was the demo for Call of the Elder Gods, which is the sequel to Call of the Sea. I utterly adored the first game and although its sequel has been on my radar for quite some time, I never thought there would be a demo.
Straight off the bat, I know I’m really going to enjoy the full game when it comes out this month as the demo was filled with some fun puzzles and creepy vibes. I might have to replay the first game to keep me going!
Alana Hagues, Deputy Editor
I haven’t done one of these in a while! Sorry! Things have been busy in our household. But games have very much been a thing.
In the past week alone, I’ve beaten Yakuza: Like A Dragon (which is excellent, pls come to Switch 2) along with a co-op run of Pragmata with my partner; he did most of the work, I was just the platforming… I wouldn’t say queen, but I did the challenges and trickier sections.
Now I’ve moved onto Blasphemous II, which I’ve been promising to beat for a long time. So far, it’s really good! I miss the tone of the first game but the movement and combat is much smoother. Then I’ll be hopping into MIO: Memories in Orbit, then perhaps Constance. Just knocking out those Metroidvanias before our new addition arrives at the end of the month.
Have a good one!
Kate Gray, Contributor
I abandoned Pokopia SO HARD as soon as Tomodachi Life came out, but I feel like I’m reaching a point in Tomodachi Life where I’ve seen most of it. I got credits, which I didn’t expect to be a thing in a game like that! I’m really hoping they do an update or some DLC to add more content. I’m trying to keep my expectations low, as it’s certainly not as popular as Animal Crossing, but the fact that they’ve lined up a lot of seasonal content is promising — it means they’re maybe expecting to support it for a while?
Other than that, I’m making my way through DK Bananza, and trying my hardest to git gud at Slay the Spire 2. No new games this weekend!
Ollie Reynolds, Reviews Editor
I’m playing a lot of Alien: Isolation again recently in light of the recent teaser trailer for the sequel. Unfortunately, however, I’m sorry to say that I’m playing on PS5, not Switch. The input lag on the latter is just too noticeable for me, despite the impressive visuals and performance.
Ooh, and I also really want to try inKONBINI: One Store, Many Stories. We do have a review in the works as we speak, but it just looks so delightful, I think I’m going to just have faith and dive right in.
Those are our plans for the coming weekend. Now it’s your turn to tell us yours, so make sure to get busy with our poll, and let us know all about your weekend gaming plans in the comments!
