Mike Sholars
Kotaku Australia
Toronto, ON, Canada
Contact Mike
Discover and connect with journalists and influencers around the world, save time on email research, monitor the news, and more.
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Past articles by Mike:
Pokémon Scientists Have A Very Hard Job
The first thing every player sees when starting a new game of Pokémon Red or Blue is the pixelated image of a scientist named Professor Oak. Oak welcomes you to the world of Pokémon, inviting you to study and understand these creatures alongside him in his quest for knowledge. → Read More
Wario Isn’t Evil, He’s Honest
Wario is pitched as one of the evil villains of Nintendo franchises, but Wario's actually the most honest character Nintendo has ever made. → Read More
Luigi Lives Life On Hard Mode
Luigi is the most exceptional, brave, and loyal character Nintendo has ever created. Because despite knowing all too well what others think of him, he carries on regardless. → Read More
Luigi Lives Life On Hard Mode
Luigi is the most exceptional, brave, and loyal character Nintendo has ever created. Because despite knowing all too well what others think of him, he → Read More
Wario Isn't Evil, He's Honest
Mario was back for another adventure. But this time, it was personal. Hiroji Kiyotake, the director of 1992’s Game Boy hit Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins, wanted to pursue the idea that this time Mario wouldn’t be fighting to help or save someone else. Hence: Wario, Mario’s greed-and-crime-focused rival. → Read More
Wario Isn’t Evil, He’s Honest
Mario was back for another adventure. But this time, it was personal. Hiroji Kiyotake, the director of 1992’s Game Boy hit Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins, wanted to pursue the idea that this time Mario wouldn’t be fighting to help or save someone else. Hence: Wario, Mario’s greed-and-crime-focused... → Read More
You're Toad, Not Mario. And That's OK
For as long as Mario, Luigi, Bowser, and Princess Peach have existed, another group of characters have been waiting in the wings, ready to let players → Read More
You're Toad, Not Mario. And That's OK
For as long as Mario, Luigi, Bowser, and Princess Peach have existed, another group of characters have been waiting in the wings, ready to let players know about whose princess is in which castle. The Toads have always been there, and they have always been overlooked. But Toads can be heroes. → Read More
Yoshi Devolved From Babysitter to Baby
Yoshi, upon its debut, was a bright green agent of change in the Mario franchise. In its first appearance, it bursts from an egg, growing from newborn to adult in the blink of an eye. Yet for a character so tied to the concept of change and evolution, Yoshi has found itself creatively and conceptually frozen in time for over two decades. It’s maybe time he evolved. → Read More
Yoshi Devolved From Babysitter to Baby
Yoshi, upon its debut, was a bright green agent of change in the Mario franchise. In its first appearance, it bursts from an egg, growing from newborn → Read More
What's Great About Bowser
How do you evolve a franchise with an almost-static main character? You look to his antagonist: Bowser, King of the Koopas. Also known by his objectively superior Japanese name: Great Demon King Koopa. → Read More
Princess Peach Floated So Rosalina Could Fly
35 years on, Princess Peach’s lot is somehow still primarily about being kidnapped and rescued. But is there hope on the horizon? And might it have taken the introduction of—gasp—a second female regular into the cast to bring in the changes? → Read More
It's Okay To Love 'Bad' Art
The further I get from my childhood, the closer I come to articulating what I miss about it. Through the confusing fog of nostalgia, it’s easy to mix up what you thought you loved, with what you actually loved. I don’t miss being a kid—I’m both taller and funnier as an adult—but I do covet the endless enthusiasm I once brought to anything new. I miss how I would love imperfect things before I… → Read More
It's OK To Love 'Bad' Art
The further I get from my childhood, the closer I come to articulating what I miss about it. Through the confusing fog of nostalgia, it’s easy to mix up what you thought you loved, with what you actually loved. I don’t miss being a kid — I’m both taller and... → Read More
The Origami King Showed Me I've Been Wrong About Paper Mario
When you find art you truly love, it doesn’t leave you. Its lessons and rhythms, its shapes and sounds, start to take up space in your mind while you’re away. You know it, you understand it, and if it’s the kind of art that gets a sequel, you just might... → Read More
The Games That Make Me Feel Free
These games let me reshape the world in a way that feels as kind as reality is cruel. → Read More
Embracing The Beautiful Nonsense Of The Final Fantasy VII Spinoffs
This year has not been great for my mental health. But I recently thought I could just push those vibes away, even just briefly, to dunk on Tetsuya Nomura, the creative visionary of Final Fantasy VII and a man who never met a story he couldn’t convolute.... → Read More
Embracing the Beautiful Nonsense of the Final Fantasy VII Spinoffs
Tetsuya Nomura, the creative visionary of Final Fantasy VII, is a man who never met a story he couldn’t convolute. → Read More
Pokémon Scientists Have A Very Hard Job
The first thing every player sees when starting a new game of Pokémon Red or Blue is the pixelated image of a scientist named Professor Oak. Oak welcomes you to the world of Pokémon, inviting you to study and understand these creatures alongside him in his quest for knowledge. → Read More
What Your Least Favorite Final Fantasy Says About You
The Final Fantasy franchise has been many things to many people in the decades since the series debuted in 1987: a card game, an energy drink, and no less than three unpopular motion pictures. But the nucleus of the entire multimedia universe has been the 15 core games in the series. → Read More