Check out some of the gifts and artwork handed out at TGS this year.

As with every year, Tokyo Game Show 2011 had some great free gifts handed out to anyone who waited in line and played the games. Thanks to the hot weather and the reduced air conditioning (due to power saving) the Makuhari Messe Halls were incredibly hot, making the gift of hand fans a godsend for people standing around for hours on end.

Aside from the self-cooling items, there were also some real keepers this year, I've scanned the best ones in for you all to see, as well as some of the best artwork from the biggest publishers.

How did Danny's quest for the golden 3DS Monter Hunter ticket fare?

Monster Hunter is a huge deal in Japan. I mean, HUGE! Everywhere you go, you will more than likely run into students playing in groups at a restaurant, see a business man playing on the train, or hear kids talking about it while clutching their PSPs. Nintendo is hoping to capitalize on the popularity of the series by not only bringing over an enhanced port of Monster Hunter Tri (Tri G) to the 3DS, they are also going to bring the next iteration of the series to the 3DS as well. Nintendo has also developed an add-on for the 3DS with Monster Hunter in mind, for crying out loud! There aren’t many third party titles out there that can force Nintendo to make peripherals for their systems, but Capcom’s hot title has that kind of clout.

You know you want to look...

The Tokyo Game Show just wouldn't be the same without the ridiculously good-looking booth babes and the zany cosplayers. You can rest assured that there were plenty of great-looking ladies and awesome cosplayers at this year's show for you to check out. Here are some pictures that I snapped on the show floor on the 17th and 18th. Enjoy!

Watch the 3DS news unfold live!

Nintendo is set to make some major 3DS announcements at the Nintendo 3DS Conference 2011, kicking off at 12:00pm Japan time on Tuesday (or, Monday at 11:00pm EST in North America). Watch it live below, and chat about it in the NWR chat room!

Nintendo's 3DS press conference is streaming live Tuesday in Japan. What time is that everywhere else?

Nintendo is gearing up for their 3DS press conference, which is set to go live Tuesday at 12:00 noon in Japan. While we don't know exactly what Nintendo will reveal at the conference, there are a number of possibilities to be excited about. We expect Nintendo to comment on Monster Hunter and the second circle pad add-on (which was confirmed by Famitsu last week), the release date for the DSiWare version of The Legend of Zelda: The Four Swords, but there are also some rumors of other major announcements such as a third Baten Kaitos title (read the original news story with the rumors here). 

The best marketing tactic... EVER?

Star Fox 64 3D is upon us, and I have been feeling very nostalgic about the original Star Fox 64. It was such a great game that it marked my Nintendo fandom forever. Part of that legacy comes in the form of a Nintendo Power promo video, which may be the hammiest piece of marketing ever produced.

The VHS cover looks normal enough, with promotional artwork of the game. When I first received this tape in 1997, I was under the impression that it was going to be just video footage of the game. Note that back in the day I didn't have a computer, so being able to see video game footage before the game was released was a major thing for me. I popped the videotape in, and boy, was I taken away.

Neal engages in mildly baseless speculation about Project Sora's upcoming 3DS game.

Moments ago, the second Circle Pad was confirmed by a Famitsu scan. It will be used for Monster Hunter 3G, the next portable iteration in the popular series. The Circle Pad looks like it might be tailor-made just for that game. However, it could very well be a mainstay for the system.

As a lefty, the fact that Kid Icarus: Uprising requires the Circle Pad and the stylus to play is an issue. Perhaps this awkward-looking secondary Circle Pad could be used to alleviate that issue. That could also explain why Kid Icarus: Uprising, originally rumored to be a launch title, doesn't have a set release date yet. Currently, the most recent release date was a "2012" from Europe a month after E3 2011, where it was labeled as "Holiday 2011" by Nintendo of America.