Former Hotel Dusk Developer Wants Series to Continue

Former Cing Vice President Rika Suzuki has expressed her desire to continue the Hotel Dusk series.

Iwata's Approval Rating Up

Satoru Iwata, the lovable (and newly re-elected) President of Nintendo, has seen his approval rating improve over 3% in the past year.

Tetris Ultimate Hitting 3DS This Fall

This year, Tetris is celebrating its 30th birthday. To commemorate the occasion, Ubisoft is creating a new Tetris game for multiple systems, the best of which is the Nintendo 3DS.

Mario Kart Memories, pt. 5 - Mario Kart DS (NDS)

This is part five of a feature on the history of Mario Kart. Let's move on to the second portable Mario Kart, and the fifth overall: Mario Kart DS.

Farewell, Nintendo WiFi Connection

As of today, Nintendo WiFi Connection is being shut down forever. It's been fun, but as the old saying goes, "all good things must eventually be shut down because they no longer make financial sense". Let's take a look back at some of the classic moments we I experienced.

Mario Kart Weekend

If there was ever a weekend to play Mario Kart, it would be all of them. But especially this weekend.

PSA: Nintendo WiFi Connection Shutting Down in Two Weeks

Happy Monday, dingleberry readers! This is a reminder that online services for Wii, DS, and DSi games will end on May 20th. That means there are only two weeks left!

Fulfilling Your Japaneeds

Nintendo is a Japanese company. I’m guessing that’s because it was founded in Japan. And, for whatever reason, many of the games created in Japan never make it to US shores. It’s a shame, really, since many of these games are excellent. Let’s have a look at a few Japanese games that never made it to the US of A.

Nintendo E3 Press Conference Liveblog!

Greetings, Nintendorks! If your stupid school or work internet filter will not let you see gaming websites, have no fear! I have placed a liveblog here to let you see the conference in its entirety starting at 10am MDT. Keep in mind that I am not the one making comments on the conference as it happens. I may or may not have linked to someone else's liveblog. It's a free country, dagnabbit! Enjoy! Don't forget your bingo card!




-benjamines

E3 Bingo 2011!!

Ok, so maybe this should have been done a little sooner, but no matter. It is here! Nintendo's press conference starts Tuesday morning at 10:00am MDT! Check it out at Nintendo's website here, or see it at the best website ever right here! While you're watching, have a nice little bingo card to see how many games you will owe me by the time the press conference is over (click on it to see it full size). Be prepared to be blown away! It's gonna be another great year to be a Nintendo fan!

-benjamines

Prontesser Lernton and the Bumground Suture

Wait, what?

Behold!  In case you haven’t had the pleasure yet, enjoy the trailer for the upcoming Professor Layton game: The Unwound Future!



Pretty sweet, eh? I think so! The game will be released on September 12th!  Go get on that crap!

3DS Pricing and Availability

Well, Nintendo released its Quarterly Earnings Report today, and while their sales are down overall from the same time last year (just like everyone else's), they also said they will announce the price and release date of the 3DS on September 29th.

E3 2010 Wrap-up, Day 4

Well, today was pretty much the last day of E3.  There was little new information, but I was able to procure a small bit of information.  Capcom was showing off a few upcoming games at the show, including Marvel vs. Capcom 3.  And who is one of the stars of the Capcom side?  Mega Man, of course!  Good enough for me!

So, it turns out I didn't do too bad on my bingo card.  If the blocks were in a different order, I might have had an extra line or two, but that's alright.  All things considered, I did alright.

Well, thanks for checking out the site these last couple of days and for enjoying E3.  It was a fantastic show!  Stay tuned during the next few days for more detailed information about the fantastic and new upcoming games!

E3 2010 Wrap-up, Day 3

Well, today at E3 there wasn't much more news, but it was still a good day, because the 3DS is still real and not a dream (although, I did dream about playing it, and it was awesome!).

As far as news, there are rumors that Nintendo is remaking the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for the 3DS.  As for now, it's merely a tech demo, but there are murmurings of its existence as a full game.  I guess we'll see.

As for the Vitality Sensor, Nintendo said that they won't be showing it at this show, because it seemed to detract from all the other great news.  But they did talk about it a little, so that's good enough for my bingo.

Speaking of bingo, it looks likely that I won't be marking any more blocks, but then again, there's no way to know for sure, since last year, some announcements came on the last day (which is tomorrow, I believe).  So we'll see.  Personally, I'm hoping for Mega Man and a new Excite game.

In any case, it's been a great show!  Stay tuned tomorrow in case there is something new!

E3 2010 Wrap-up, Day 2

Today was witness to one of the best E3 Press Conferences ever!  Nintendo dropped the 3DS bomb on us, gave us 17 metric butte-tons of new games, and then, after the show, released a list of even more games to be released within the next year or two.  It was amazing!

Sony's press conference was dumb and boring.  It consisted of Sony telling everyone else how awesome they are (despite sales numbers that indicate the contrary), and montage videos.  Lame.

In short, Nintendo has ruled E3 this year, no question.  It's a great day to be a Nintendo gamer.  (Technically, it's always a great day to be a Nintendo gamer, but you catch my drift.)

As far as Bingo goes, I'm really close on several lines.  In fact, I have three lines that only need one more block to be completed.  And although the major press conferences are over, there are still media briefings through Thursday.  So we'll see.  Heck, maybe they'll hold one of those secret meetings like last year! (Forsooth!)

Oh, and in case you were wondering about the New Mario Platformer or Pikmin blocks, there were subtle hints on the show floor and in tech demos about those games.  Nothing specific.  But it still counts.  Dangit.

So have a look.  And when you're done looking, join me in dreaming about finally getting to own a Virtual Boy-red 3DS (hopefully later this year!).

Colors for Crullers, pt. 2

This is part two of the feature about Nintendo's portable systems and their colors.  You can read part one here.

Ok, it's tomorrow (or shortly thereafter)!  Let's finish this bad boy!

So, in the summer of 2001, Nintendo came out with the next revision of the Game Boy (and quite frankly, the first major revision to the series): the Game Boy Advance.  It had a 32-bit graphics processor (upgraded from 8-bits), a large, wide, color screen, shoulder buttons, and the buttons were on the side, rather than underneath (which made it easier to hold for long-fingered freaks like myself).  The graphics chip was designed to easily add nice effects to games, such as resizing and rotating sprites.  It could also play all previous Gameboy games, essentially giving it a launch library of several hundred games.  Oh, and here's a fun fact: the GBA was actually created before the Game Boy color.  But Nintendo released the GBC first because it had better battery life and the technology was significantly cheaper at the time.

The system's first standard color was indigo with gray trim.  There were other colors as well, such as black and frosted white.  It looked really cool (most of the colors would match the upcoming Gamecube colors), and more importantly, it had some incredible games.  The high-profile launch title was Super Mario Advance, which is Super Mario Bros. 2 with enhanced graphics and some cool bonus features, like single-cart multiplayer of the original Mario Bros. game.  It also launched with F-Zero Maximum Velocity, which looked like the SNES F-Zero, but with a bunch of sweet new tracks (and really cool music, like any other F-Zero game).

Basically, it was a freakin' cool new portable game system with some insanely cool new games (many more of which would follow in the next few years).  I was working at an insanely busy Albertson's deli at the time, and the day the GBA came out, I went to the local Kmart and bought the Indigo GBA with Super Mario Advance and F-Zero.  I was literally in heaven.  I even tried to play F-Zero while I was driving home, which was probably the stupidest I have ever done in my entire life.  But I'm still alive, so it was worth it.  Besides, now I can say I drove two vehicles at once (the crappy red Taurus and the Blue Falcon).  Then, later that night, I convinced my little brother that it was a remote control for the microwave I won at my Senior All-Nighter party.  Awesome.

A year or two after that, Nintendo released a really cool revision to its new GBA lineup: The GBA SP.  It was a foldable, vertical-style GBA with a backlit screen and internal rechargeable battery.  As such, it was an amazing system, and was insanely popular.

The GBA SP also had one of the coolest special edition designs ever seen on any game system ever.  One year for the holiday season, they released a special NES edition (pictured) that was colored like an NES controller.  As you can see, the nostalgia combined with the GBA library makes it a very desirable machine.  It's probably the only Nintendo system ever released that I don't have, but wish I did.  I attempted to buy one used once, but when the kid replied to my e-mail, he said "one of my friends ruined it", which we all know translates to "I decided I wanted to keep it" and/or "my friend wanted it more, so I let him have it instead."  But no worries.  I take comfort in the fact that he will spend eternity roasting alongside the Game Boy Pocket thief. (Game Boy pick-Pocket?)

In any case, when the DS was revealed, it basically spelled out the end of the GBA's life.  But before it gave up the ghost, Nintendo gave it one final and super-sexy revision: the Game Boy Micro.  It's a tiny, super-sleek system with an ultra-bright screen.  It has (almost) everything the regular GBA has, plus it's ultra-tiny, as you can see.  And get this: Wal-Mart had these for Black Friday one year for $25.  That's right: just 4 hours of work at a minimum wage job earned me the hot, shiny GB Micro.  Awesome.  There were a few different colors (silver, black, and a cool Famicom-colored one [think gold and red]), but that's not the best part: each Micro came with 2 interchangeable faceplates, so you can change the style whenever you want.  Now that's awesome.

Even though, sadly, the GBA is no longer being made, Nintendo has more than made up for it.  The Nintendo DS is absolute proof that Nintendo is the de facto champion of portable gaming.  Obviously, Nintendo decided to keep up their tradition of making cool colored systems.  Originally, the dual screen wonder came in a silver/black combination.  As the years went on, new colors were released (black, red, blue, etc).  I remember one particular time when the Nintendo DS Blue/Mario 64 DS bundle had just come out for $150. Now that's a great deal!  Anyways, I was working as a furniture delivery person and the lady that owned the furniture store gave me $150 as a tip.  Perfect timing!  But stupid me, I stupidly decided to pay off the college books I had recently bought instead.  So stupid!  But it all worked out in the end.  You see, at the time, I was dating this crazy girl.  And for my birthday (a few months later), she bought me a DS.  Awesome!  Then I broke up with her.  Free DS!

So, a year or two later, Nintendo decided the DS needed a more modern look, so they came out with the DS Lite, which was smaller, brighter, and pretty much better all around.  And it could still play GBA games, so that's cool.  It was a very well-designed system.  It had a clear plastic shell around the colored plastic, which kept your from getting scuffs on the color, which was awesome.  I bought the sweet white one, but they also had black, pink, and eventually green, blue, rose, and few special editions.

Unfortunately, at some point, I overplayed the system so bad, the touch screen got ruined.  :(  I don't know if it was from trying to beat Trauma Center or get first on some of the insane events on Mario & Sonic at the Olympics, but it didn't matter.  The screen wouldn't register touches correctly, so it was basically impossible to play anything that used the touch screen.  Fortunately for me, having the sweetest wife in the world has its advantages!  That next birthday, I received the sweet cobalt/black DS Lite, which I still use to this day.  Hooray!

That next April (or so), Nintendo released the DSi, which, as you all know, is a DS without the GBA slot, and two cameras.  Plus, you can download original games a la Wii.  At the time, Gamestop had a really good deal, where if you traded in an old DS, you could get $70 off the DSi.  So, I found a cheap replacement touch screen on eBay, installed it in the broken White DS Lite, and boom!  DSi for cheap!  It launched in Black and Sky Blue.

Since its launch, the DSi has seen several cool colors, such as white and metallic navy, which even came with 5 free games built-in.  Now, you can get the DSi XL, which is significantly larger, plus has designer colors such as Wine Red and Leather Brown (or something like that).  And, if the Japanese colors get here (which they probably will eventually), we'll soon have everything from pink to yellow to green, among others.

So there you go.  Nintendo's history of colored portable systems.  Pretty awesome, I do declare.  And surely, we haven't seen the last of it.  In fact, let's take some guesses on 3DS colors while we're at it.  Here's my guess for launch color: brushed metal.  Or even better, since they'll probably call it the Nintendo Egg, it'll be white with green spots.  How cool would that be?  Or hey, here's a really cool idea: it's clear, with colored LEDs built-in, so you can change to color to whatever you want.  Yeah, baby!  I'm awesome!

Alright, well, I'm tired, so I'ma go pick a colored system and play some games on it.  Hoo-hah!

-benjamines

Metal-Optic?

In the last few days, several rumors have been popping up regarding a Goldeneye game for the Wii and DS.  If the rumors are to be believed, it's a remade version of the classic N64 game, with Daniel Craig as Bond instead of Pierce Brosnan.

If this is true, and if they do a good job, then it's a first-person shooter I'm actually interested in.  We'll probably find out for sure at E3.  Although, it's weird they would take Pierce Brosnan out.  I can understand it (licensing issues, probably), but it's still a little disappointing.

If this is true, they need the following things:

Regenerating Health (have you played this game since newer FPSs have come out?)

All the classic levels and weapons (although that might not work either, since Rare made them originally)

A cheat to let you keep people from picking that stinking midget Oddjob.

Either way, I'm excited to see if this is true, and how the game is.  Should be interesting.

More Sonic!

For all you hedgehog lovers out there (myself included), Sega has announced a new game for Wii and DS coming out later this year.

It’s called Sonic Colors and it’s just like it sounds.  When Sonic obtains a certain color, it gives him a certain power.  For example, cyan turns him into a laser, letting him shoot right through obstacles.

The Wii version will feature a combination of 2D and 3D gameplay, and the DS will make heavy use of the touch screen.

I know we don’t know much about it yet, but I think it looks pretty good.  Yes, 3D Sonic games have been largely terrible in the past decade, but in recent years, the Wii exclusives have outshined the other console versions.  So I’ll keep my hopes high.

Super Fun!

So, I recently reported on a rumor that the next Scribblenauts would be called Super Scribblenauts.  And while the game is not making the jump to 16-bit graphics, it turns out that rumor was true!

What does this mean for us gamers?  The game’s main new feature is the ability to combine adjectives and nouns (whereas before you only had nouns).  In the first Scribblenauts game, you could create zombies and elephants and everything in between.  In the new one, you’ll be able to make rabid, stinky plumbers, or green, fluffy, chocolate poodles.

That is all well and good, but the main problem with the first one was the controls.  The publisher has promised “upgraded controls”, but we have yet to see for sure what that means.  D-Pad controls, I hope!

-benjamines

More Big Numbers

Nintendo has revealed the 30 top-selling games for 2010 thus far.  Let’s have a peek!

As you can (probably) see, 14 of the 30 games here are for Nintendo systems.  Also, Mario Kart DS is still on top selling list, where it has been pretty much every month since it was released almost five years ago!  Also note that Pokemon SoulSilver is notably more popular than HeartGold (maybe cause boys don’t want a game with Heart in the name).

Of the non-Nintendo games, 9 are for the PS3 and 7 are for the 360.  And of those 16, the vast majority are First Person Shooters.  I guess they aren’t doing much to combat those stereotypes.

-benjamines