Having trouble loading Nintendo's latest eShop game? We might have a solution.

So you bought Sakura Samurai despite my lukewarm review and it won't load? That sucks.

But seriously, I ran into the same issue when I was reviewing the game. I booted the game and it would just start with a black screen with "Loading..." spazzing out in the bottom right-hand corner of the system. It effectively froze my system, as the only way to restart is to hold the power button down and do a hard reset.

When I asked our Nintendo representatives about this issue, they had no idea. Fortunately, I was running out of SD card space at the same time, so I bought a new SD card, replacing the one that came with the system. After moving the files over to the new bigger SD card, Sakura Samurai worked fine.

Why do you strive to be very best?

I recently found my SoulSilver version and decided it was time for me to set out on yet another adventure to become the best trainer. As I booted up the game, erased what data was on there (shedding a tear for some of my old friends) my roommate asked me something.

“Why do you even play Pokémon? I don’t see the appeal of it.”

I stopped for a moment. I didn’t quite know how to answer that. 

“It’s not about the story,” my friend answered, “it’s about something else. It’s about the world.”

Here's a look at some of the awesome posters available.

Back before the poster sets on Club Nintendo jumped up in point price, I ordered myself three of the sets - the Mario, Zelda and Zelda 25th Anniversary collections. It wasn't too long before I found myself with nine brand new posters - three featuring Mario and six featuring scenes from several Zelda games. "These are too good to gunk up with blu-tack or skewer with drawing pins", I thought. Framing was the only option. All of the posters are extremely nice, and had I the funding and the available wall-estate I would have had every single one of them framed. Instead, I had to choose between my three favorites. Surprisingly, the same style of gold frame seemed to match the artwork for all three that I chose. I apologize in advance for the angled photography, but with the windows and light source positioning it was the best I could do without direct camera-flash flare on the glass frames.

Math is hard.

So I'm trying to get this all straight.There's a rumor out there that says the Wii U will be 2x as powerful as the Xbox 360.There's another rumor that says the Xbox "720" will be 6x as powerful as the Xbox 360.That same second rumor says the Xbox "720" will yield 20% (or 1.2x) greater performance than the Wii U.

Using the Xbox 360's "power" as a base of 100 that means:

Reason #1: Because it promises to be like the first few games.

I know Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD isn't confirmed for a Nintendo console (yet), but my younger skateboarder-wannabe 12-year-old self doesn't care. This game is likely one of my most anticipated games of the year.

Now, with all the mockery over Tony Hawk: Ride and the repetitiveness of the franchise over the past few years, you might think that that is a incredulous statement. However, go look back at the first three games in the series. Even the Game Boy Advance versions and the totally borked Nintendo 64 versions of the game were well received! Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 on the PlayStation garnered a 98 average on Metacritic. My personal favorite, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 received a 97 (PS2), 93 (Xbox), and 91 (GameCube) aggregate score, including a 9.0 from both reviewers at Nintendo World Report.

As usual, the Platinum reward is pretty pimp.

I'm usually pretty hard on Club Nintendo's "rewards," although that attitude has eased up since I've been able to get actual games with my coins. But their Platinum rewards are usually awesome: the Mario hat, that Mario 'n' Friends figure, and now these cool SMB-themed pins. Technically, you can take the pins off the boxes and, you know, pin them to other things, but I really like how they look in their case, especially given the different ways the boxes can be arranged.

When in their original arrangement, there's a nice little picture of Mario riding a flagpole on the side.

A review of Fangamer's awesome new drinking utensil.

For my birthday present last Boxing Day, my girlfriend ordered me a new coffee mug from Fangamer, a site dedicated to selling cool gaming swag made by fans for fans. Today it finally arrived!

Behold the Pipe Mug, a perfect talking piece for Mario-fanatic-coffee-addicts like myself.

Not quite knowing what to expect as I opened the package, I was greeted by a very stylish gift box. I love the logo made from Mario pipes, adorned with tiny features such as Piranha Plants, brick blocks, and even Mario's fist punching out the top. The top of the box describes the mug as the original Warp Mug.

A look at the free Mario bonuses that EB gave out.

Last year, EB games in Australia gave out free Mario hats to those who preordered Mario Kart 7, and Tanooki ear hats for preorders of Super Mario 3D Land. While my 3DS is US region and I had both games imported, I was recently able to score one of each of the bonuses due to a leftover supply at one of my local stores.

As Nick reported at the time, these hats were not officially licensed merchandise, however the quality on both is surprisingly nice. They're made from a very plush polyester that's soft to touch, and the stitching, particularly on the M logo, is just as nice as some official stuff I've seen in stores.

Because we love you too after all!

The Japanese got a brand new piece of stationery through Swapnote/Nintendo Letter Box, thanks to a New Years message that was sent out to users. While it might seem you won't be able to get it, that isn't exactly the case. By sending a message with this stationery, North American/European players will get it unlocked in their version of the application.

This is where we step in to help! We have a Japanese code for you available, which you are completely free to add so that we can send you the stationery. This code might also be used in the future for contests through Swapnote/Nintendo Letter Box to win a small prize. The friendcode is 1590-4901-5293. Be sure to shoot me a message with your code or leave it here in the comments section below.

Santa Claus has been keeping tabs on the kids' wishlists this year!

These holidays, I happen to have had the unique opportunity to chat with Santa Claus and get his personal opinion on what's in and popular this year. Don't ask how, it's a secret to everybody.

Jolly old Saint Nick has been more than happy to disclose some of the intricate details about the gift requests that have been made to him from all the kids lucky enough to be on his Nice List. Now, since I'm on the illustrious NWR staff and all, I thought it'd be a good idea to take note of the frequency in which Nintendo stuff is on the kiddies' wishlists. We already knew the outcome, due to the overwhelming awesomeness that is Nintendo, but here it is, straight from the kids' mouths.