Author Profile
Alan is a feature writer who has contributed to Kotaku, Nintendo Life and other prominent gaming sites. He has a background in psychology research, the science of creativity, and over 30 years of Nintendo gaming behind him.
Feature 5 Observations From Playing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate With Bill Trinen
"I keep thinking I’m Lucas"
As a journalist, sometimes you’re handed what I’ll hesitantly describe as “unfair” deadlines. In those moments, you learn the massive value of a single hour. Ask me where all the spare outlets in the depths of the Los Angeles convention centre are. I’m a borderline cartographer for shortcuts through...
Hands On Things Are Hotting Up In The Kitchen Thanks To Overcooked 2
Are you a professional cook?
Anyone who has played Ghost Town Games’ indie darling Overcooked is sure to harbour a love-hate feeling for the little cooking simulator. It’s a game where you must work together inside a kitchen to piece together meals for needy customers. The only problem is you are timed, you bump into each other a lot,...
Hands On Starlink Scratches That Star Fox Itch, But We're Not Sure Who It's For
Getting to grips with Ubisoft's space shooter at Comic-Con 2018
Starlink: Battle for Atlas is a homage to the sci-fi games of right this very second. Or, you could also choose to see Starlink as mostly a rip-off. Or instead, maybe as a really cute entry point into planet spelunking spaceship genre. After some hands-on time with the game at the San...
Feature Chronicling The Legend Of Zelda With Dark Horse Comics
Editor Patrick Thorpe on working with Nintendo
When it comes to breaking down world-building and exploring lore, few games offer as much character and exposition as the wonderful world of The Legend of Zelda. Thanks to a fruitful ongoing collaboration with Nintendo, North American comics/book publisher Dark Horse Comics has been producing all manner...
Soapbox The Best Changes For Smash Bros. Ultimate Are The Ones We Didn’t Ask For
We all want a lot from a new Smash
Soapbox features enable our individual writers to voice their own opinions on hot topics, opinions that may not necessarily be the voice of the site. This time, contributing writer Alan Lopez breaks down some of the key changes that are being made to the new Smash Bros and how they'll fundamentally change how we...
Feature Here's What Pro Players Want From Super Smash Bros On Switch
Making the proper leap to eSports
If you’re a casual Super Smash Bros. player like most of us, it can be pretty interesting to see how the Smash Bros. franchise operates from the vantage point of the best players in the world. Yes, the announcement of Super Smash Bros. on Nintendo Switch is still fresh in our minds, but that’s more than enough...
First Impressions Hell in a Handbasket - DOOM on Nintendo Switch
Big, dumb, and lots of fun
Now, with the Bethesda published 2016 iteration coming to the Nintendo Switch later this year, DOOM can be small and dumb, while still having its trademark 'BFG'. We got our chance to try out id Software’s upcoming port of its DOOM franchise reboot at a Bethesda event earlier this month; look, we know what questions you...
Feature Re-acquainting Ourselves With an Old Ally in Metroid: Samus Returns
"It's time"
When it came to time for questions during our hands-on demo with Metroid: Samus Returns for the Nintendo 3DS, the very first thing we asked was, “Why now?” That's because, one deviation aside, Samus Aran has been out of the public spotlight for seven years - it's been a whole decade if you trace her absence back to the beloved...
First Impressions Getting Into a Spin With Sonic Mania
With more than a dash of retro in the formula
When you remake something creative from the past, who is your audience, exactly? We ask because if you were to stray too far from the source material, you run the risk of alienating the impassioned people who most identify with the original. But on the other hand, if you stick too close to the old...
First Impressions Teaming Up in Splatoon 2's Salmon Run Co-Op Mode
It's a fishy business
If you’ve played the Splatoon 2 Testfire, a timed, online trial mode where Nintendo Switch owners got their first hands-on with this anticipated shooter sequel, then you already know that Splatoon 2 looks and feels rather like the original game. In fact, the ways in which Splatoon 2 differs are less in the aesthetics and...
Feature What Happens When you Play Breath of the Wild as a Multiplayer Game?
Adventuring together
In this article Nintendo Life regular Alan Lopez gives an account of his attempt to play The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild with his partner, as real life didn't suit his desire for diving into the lengthy adventure on his own. I've always gotten a chill before I started something I knew was going to be really great. I...
Gallery A Look at the Quirky Delights of the Play Nintendo Family Lounge at San Diego Comic-Con
Including the Nintendo Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition
San Diego Comic-Con is now getting into full swing, and in addition to a Splatoon-centric booth inside the show Nintendo is hosting its Play Nintendo Family Lounge nearby in the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina (333 W. Harbor Dr.). It's open to the public (no expo pass required) and...
Hands On Painting a Clearer Picture of Paper Mario: Color Splash
"This is more of an adventure game"
There was an elephant in the room inside of Nintendo's off-site Comic-Con Nintendo Play Lounge. Not to be confused with a small stage shaped like an oversized Nintendo 3DS console, or the mammoth, room-sized inflatable Kirby set up to greet guests, this elephant took the shape of a video game kiosk. The game was...
Hands On Embracing Freedom in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Where even the smallest details can surprise Zelda veterans
In our third and final hands on preview of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild from E3, Alan Lopez breaks down what makes it a unique new direction for the series. Links to our previous write-ups by Morgan Sleeper and Mitch Vogel can be found at the end. To really understand the...
Soapbox Why Websites Don’t Need to Give a Game a Review Score (and Probably Shouldn’t)
Alan Lopez puts forward the case for ditching scores
Editor's Note: In this article Alan shares his personal views in response to a similar Soapbox by our YouTube man Alex, in which Mr Olney (he of the "hello there lovely people" intro) shared his views on why reviews should have scores. When Alan wrote this counter-piece and sent it to me I thought...
"I'm kind of a Nintendo geek"
From now until the start of the new year we're going to be republishing some of what we feel are our best features of 2015. Hopefully this will offer the chance for newer readers to catch up on content they might have missed and allow long-time fans to reacquaint themselves with features they enjoyed the first time...
Feature The Poor Career Choice of Super Smash Bros. Professionals
"A game like this can't survive forever with no institutional support"
From now until the start of the new year we're going to be republishing some of what we feel are our best features of 2015. Hopefully this will offer the chance for newer readers to catch up on content they might have missed and allow long-time fans to reacquaint themselves with...
Talking Point Nintendo's Dismissal of Chris Pranger Highlights Issues With Company Culture
"I've failed you. I've failed me."
If I were fired from making games at Nintendo, I would feel cataclysmically heartbroken in such a way that I might never recover. This is the imagined story I have just now constructed in my head, but for former Nintendo localization editor Chris Pranger, this heartache is more than a pained hypothetical. Pranger...
"I want to get the tone, the mood, the mystical elements right"
Marked by dreamlike brushstrokes and an uncanny mind for fan service, Orioto's artwork is the type to stick with you after you've seen it. For years, this Paris-based digital artist has created moving portraits of a who's-who in the fictional gaming sphere: Link, Ryu, Sonic, and many...
Interview Warren Spector Discusses Game Choices, Development Leadership and Shigeru Miyamoto
"I'm a Link to the Past guy. It's maybe my favorite game."
If you only began telling Warren Spector's history by the time he joined the game company Origin in 1989, you will have glossed over a career that already included professional film critiques, his time producing tabletop games for the ubiquitous Steve Jackson Games, and a thesis about Warner...
First Impressions Getting Into the Fold With Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam
A crossover aiming for the funny bone
The world has seen its fair share of monumental crossovers: DC vs. Marvel, Jetsons meets the Flintstones. And now, Mario meets Mario in a game of the same genre but technically in another universe because one is made of paper and, uh… The specifics of how this all happens in the story likely doesn't matter,...
First Impressions Our Maiden Flight In Star Fox Zero Prompts Mixed Emotions
You okay over there, Fox?
One of our men on the E3 floor, Alan Lopez, had a first run on Star Fox Zero in a short session. We'll aim to have a longer playthrough - to tackle the GamePad control scheme, in particular - in a separate media session later this week. When I got to the Star Fox Zero kiosk inside the Nintendo media room, the Nintendo rep...
Interview Lilian "Milktea" Chen Talks Smash Bros., Sexism and a Brighter Future
"Strides regarding social inclusion in Smash can be seen for themselves"
An inescapable reality within the eSports world, regardless of the game in question, is the stark contrast between male and female participants. Whatever the culprit, the stories of many female professionals are often squashed, missed or, even worse, stunted before they even...
Rumour Code Digging With amiibo Raises Potential for a Future of Pokémon Cards and Mii Fighters
The door has been opened
While there are many opinions regarding the ongoing challenges of successfully collecting amiibo, the continually expanding range - there'll even be a Chibi-Robo figurine - suggests that it's a major part of Nintendo's plans. The possibilities for expansion are certainly vast. Clues to Nintendo's intentions can be found in...
