Join us Monday for racing action.

Join the Nintendo World Report community for Mario Kart 7 this Monday, June 24. The action starts at 9 p.m. Eastern/6 Pacific (1 a.m. UTC for anyone overseas). You can exchange friend codes in the Talkback below, or go stock up in our massive 3DS Friend Code thread. You can also add the Nintendo World Report Community Code, which is 15-7711-2023-1792 for Grand Prix at 150cc with All Items.

Buy specially marked Frito-Lay products to get the chance to mail away for four exclusive characters.

The Skylanders Sidekicks Frito-Lay promotion should be beginning on July 9, according to a Frito-Lay presentation.

To get Sidekicks, which are diminutive versions of existing Skylanders that appear next to your character in the game, you have to buy specially marked Frito Lay's Classic and Flavor 20-count Variety Packs, which are listed to be $6.15 in the marketing materials.

Australians are going to have to wait a little longer than their European cousins. 

Nintendo Australia has announced that the new Nintendo 3DS XL, will be launching in Australia and New Zealand on August 23, 2012.

The system will be priced at $249.95 and will be available in silver + black, red + black and blue + black. A 4GB SD card will also be included with every system providing additional space for digital downloads.

The two anticipated 3DS titles are set to launch in the first half of 2013

Both Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing were mentioned in today's European Nintendo Direct, albeit only briefly as their releases have been pushed back to early next year.

Nintendo of Europe president Satoru Shibata was apologetic for the extra wait in his announcement, but remained enthusiastic that Nintendo has delayed the games in order to provide the quality that fans expect from these two series.

The edutainment Poké-researching game gets a European release.

The previously Japan-only Pokémon typing game is set for an English release in Europe under the title Learn With Pokémon Typing Adventure.

In this DS software, players use the included Nintendo Wireless Keyboard to quickly and accurately enter in information to research over 400 critters from... Read more...

The Club Nintendo bonus is sold out.

Those still wishing to get their hands on the Australian Club Nintendo golden Nunchuk are out of luck, as the option has been removed from the list of rewards. 

Our contact at Nintendo Australia has confirmed that the special Nunchuk, designed to match the Hylian crest-emblazoned gold Wii Remote... Read more...

Bring more creations to life next month.

The popular, insane and addictive eShop game, Freakyforms: Your Creations, Alive! is getting a full retail upgrade in the form of Freakyforms Deluxe, set to release on July 28 across Europe.

The deluxe version of the game will feature an RPG mode allowing you to navigate your Formee creations through dungeons in search of chests containing new abilities, while battling other Formees and boss characters along the way.

Nintendo of America highlighted a few third-party games during their Nintendo Direct.

Nintendo of America highlighted several third-party 3DS games during the June 21 Nintendo Direct, including Skylanders Giants, Adventure Time, and Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed.

Skylanders Giants, developed by n-Space, was shown off for the first time. It looks reminiscent of... Read more...

The Wii collection is coming on September 16 to the United States.

Kirby's Dream Collection: Special Edition is coming to North America on September 16, according to Nintendo during their Nintendo Direct presentation.

The collection includes six playable games, including Kirby's Dream Land 1, 2, and 3, as well as Kirby's Adventure, Kirby Superstar, and Kirby 64. It also includes a challenge mode, and a museum that goes through Kirby's history.

Sakurai delivers a personal message after the recent Nintendo Direct.

Masahiro Sakurai, the man in charge of the next Super Smash Bros. game has released a message discussing his partnership with Namco Bandai on the game.

Masaya Kobayashi also released a message which showed his excitement to be working on the project alongside Sakurai. He went on to explain what members of his team would be working on the project

New Super Mario Bros. 2's developers will make new Coin Rush stages for the game after its release.

Nintendo announced that New Super Mario Bros. 2 will feature paid DLC after its release.

The downloadable content will contain new Coin Rush stages created by the team after the game is out. The team will use feedback given to them from players to create new stages. Since, as Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime said, they don't even know what the content will be right now, there are no firm details yet.

It's an unfortunately expected bummer.

Fire Emblem: Awakening is going to be released during 2013 in North America and Europe, as reported during the recent Nintendo Direct presentations.

Although the existance of DLC has been confirmed, it should be noted that the presentation made no note of the "Awakening" subtitle, instead just listing "Fire Emblem" by itself over a black screen.

Nintendo of America will get two Virtual Console games a week in July, including Wario Land.

Nintendo of America announced a July promotion for the eShop called 8-Bit Summer, where two new 3DS Virtual Console games will come each week, including The Legend of Zelda, Kirby's Pinball Land, and Wario Land.

The lineup, as known right now, follows:

Nintendo 3DS gets an inflation. 

The Nintendo 3DS redesign is coming to North America, Japan, and Europe, on August 19 in North America and July 28 for both other regions.

The upsized version, called the Nintendo 3DS LL in Japan, boasts a 90% larger viewing area, with a bottom screen increased to 4.88 inches wide. 

The new... Read more...

Animal Crossing gets a vague release window, but hey, Samurai Warriors Chronicles 2 gets dated!

New 3DS release dates have been revealed for upcoming titles in Japan.

Devil Summoner Soul Hackers - 8/30

Lost Heroes - 9/6

Samurai Warriors Chronicles 2 - 9/13

Culdcept - 6/28

Calciobit - 7/12

AKB48+Me - Fall 2012

E.X. Troopers - 2012

Project X Zone - 2012

Bravely Default - 2012

The 5th installment in the Layton series is coming to North America and Europe.

Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask is finally coming to North America and Europe. During the region's Nintendo Direct conferences, the 3DS Layton title was announced for a November release.

Additionally, like its predecessors, Miracle Mask will include one downloadable mission everyday for an entire year.

Other third-party demos are on their way soon.

The Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance North American demo is now available. The news came from the North American Nintendo Direct presentation.

Demos for other 3DS games, Rhythm Thief and Heroes of Ruin, are coming to the eShop soon.

Kingdom Hearts 3D was released in Japan earlier this year and is being released in North America on July 31.

The latest eShop title is a wacky take on the popular Puzloop series. 

Gyouretsu Nageloop is newest eShop title coming to the 3DS this summer in Japan.

According to Iwata during today's Nintendo Direct conference, the game can be considered a new version of Puzloop (Magnetica). However, instead of the usual colored balls present in previous installments of the series, in Nageloop you knock people out of lines by matching their colors.

The next Smash Bros. is getting some help from outside Nintendo.

Namco Bandai Games and Namco Bandai Studio will be working as developers of the next entry in the Smash Bros. series.

Masahiro Sakurai will be heading the project and will be joined by Namco employees Masaya Kobayashi, acting as producer, and Yoshito Higuchi, acting as director.

At the conclusion of the Japanese Nintendo Direct presentation, Sakurai and Kobayashi delivered personal messages regarding the collaboration.

Another week, another batch of downloadable games head to Nintendo platforms.

A Virtual Console game, two DSiWare games, two eShop titles, and a WiiWare game make up this week's Nintendo Downloads.

On the 3DS eShop, we finally get Order Up!!. Order Up!! was initially supposed to be released as a retail game, but later became a downloadable. The game mixes cooking with restaurant building. It can be downloaded now for $9.99.