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.

Step into the maelstrom of aural delights that is MSF's music.

Aside from being out on the eShop at this very moment (and pretty good, from the sounds of it), WayForward's Mighty Switch Force also has quite the soundtrack, which—not to be outdone by bubbly, fast-paced nature of the game itself—is equatable to an orchestra-sized wall of grinning electronic fun.

The album, creation of composer and all-around swell guy Jake Kaufman (whom we interviewed a couple months ago), is available on Bandcamp, where players, fans, and connoisseurs of fine music can name their own price for the collection of twenty-three tracks. If it reaches #1 on Bandcamp (currently, it sits at #2), Kaufman will release the raw source tracks for people to remix to their content—so get on it! Here's a peak at what you can expect. For the full experience, buy the album HERE right now!

Read how I unwittingly gave another guy SwapNote and other apps.

Today I met up with a friend I hadn't seen in a while in a cafe. He was carrying with him his one-week old 3DS system, complete with a Circle Pad Pro and Monster Hunter 3 (tri) G. His 3DS system menu consisted of the basic few apps that come with every system, meaning it was lacking the eShop, Nintendo Video, SpotPass TV, and all the other apps I'd been used to having for a while now. We exchanged friend codes wirelessly—there was some delay, possibly even a crash (on his side) because it seemed to take forever—but eventually we became 3DS friends.Then we swapped games for a bit while chatting; I let him have a go of my copy of Super Mario 3D Land, and snapped on the extra Slide Pad together with his Monhan. 

With Christmas just a few days away, Pedro reminisces about the great holidays he spent with Link and friends.

It is the holidays once more, and I am always filled with joy and glee whenever this great season arrives. Even if things have been hard for the whole family, I always look forward to spending time with family, partaking in the festivities and enjoying the madness of the consumerism that the holidays have unfortunately bestowed upon us. You may recall that in 2009, I wrote a blog about how I decided to help out at a GameStop store during a holiday shopping rush, and came out feeling satisfied knowing that I may have made a family's Christmas morning. I also mentioned that while I understand it is not wise to talk about one's acts of kindness, I just felt really good doing that for those people.

Three Wii games, a 3DS game, and oh man, look at that eShop list!

Nintendo released their Q1 2012 release line-up, and as is tradition, we'll all endlessly analyze it and complain about how Animal Crossing and Paper Mario aren't out yet. I'll go system by system and run down what's cool, odd, and awful.

3DS

Kid Icarus: Uprising, revealed at the same E3 press conference that the 3DS was unveiled, will be out just shy of a year after the system came out. It's about time. Sadly, that's the only Nintendo-published game hitting retail in Q1 2012.

Danny buys the Circle Pad Pro and tests it as a grip for unsupported games.

Coinciding with the release of Monster Hunter 3 (Tri) G on December 10 in Japan, Nintendo released the Circle Pad Pro, a peripheral for the Nintendo 3DS which adds an additional joystick to the handheld as well as extra shoulder buttons. The device is powered by a single AAA battery (included) and can last for up to 480 hours of gameplay. Currently, there is only one game on the market that supports it –Monster Hunter 3 (Tri) G. However, more support for the add-on is coming from a variety of developers in upcoming titles such as Resident Evil: Revelations, Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater 3D, Kingdom Hearts 3D, and Ace Combat: 3D Cross Rumble (known as Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy in North America).

Take a look at this 8-bit baby.

NES games are hard. Everyone knows this. From Castlevania to Mega Man to Contra, the 80s were a time when gamers had to knuckle down, grit their teeth and hone their skills in order to survive, or go crying home to their mothers, and that's just the way we liked them. A large part of the hardcore experience of such epic gaming was in the controller – it was simple yet functional and precise, doing everything it needed to.

There's something to be said for those pointy edges, the hard buttons that made the distinctive clacky sound, the compact rectangle, the NES controller was uncomfortable, yet perfect. Perfuncomoforect. Or something.

Check out pics of Kirby's Epic Pouch & the new Zelda 3DS!

Recently Nintendo Australia updated their Club Nintendo Catalogue with a new reward. This time, it was a small pouch that looks like it just popped right out of Kirby's Epic Yarn.

The pouch itself is rather small but has a nice feel to it and does look quite cute. Unfortunately, it doesn't really appear to be all that useful outside of perhaps carrying around some game cards or some loose coins. There are two options for storing things in the pouch, there is a main section on the front, and there is also a small zip pocket on the back.

Come play online with the Nintendo World Report community this Saturday evening.

Nintendo World Report is hosting a Wi-Fi event for Mario Kart 7 this Saturday, December 10 at 9 p.m. EST.

To participate, make sure to add Nintendo World Report's Community Codes. For Battle Mode it's 52-8882-2728-4207, and for Grand Prix it's 15-7711-2023-1792.

You can also add your individual 3DS system friend code to this forum thread and add other NWR readers and staff (make sure to tell them via personal message that you added them so they can add you back).