Despite an apparent holiday in the Great White North, the news train rolls in the rest of the world.

Satoru Iwata Will Not Attend E3

Although his presence will likely be felt during the Digital Event, Satoru Iwata will not be attending E3 in his capacity as Nintendo president and CEO of Nintendo of America.

In a statement issues to IGN, Nintendo advised that "Mr. Iwata’s focus in this period will be on other areas of our business that require his presence in Japan". Reportedly, Iwata will be monitoring the reaction to E3 announcements and in contact with the team in Los Angeles.

This will be the second straight year that Iwata has not attended E3 in person, after missing last year's show due to illness. It does not preclude his appearance in the Digital Event video or by satellite at events such as the Nintendo World Championships.

European eShop Preparing For Yarn And Paper

This Thursday, Europeans will get to feel like pants again.

2010's Kirby's Epic Yarn will launch on the eShop for €14.99 / £13.49 for the first week of sale, before settling into standard Wii pricing of €19.99 / £17.99. Paper Mario for N64 will also launch on Virtual Console at €9.99 / £8.99, but European players should be advised that this is the 50hz version of the game.

The other headlining release is Ronimo Games's Swords and Soldiers II, which will launch day and date with the NA release. The massively enhanced sequel to the WiiWare hit will cost €18.99 / £16.99. Surprisingly, there are no 3DS releases for Europe aside from the demo for Adventure Bar Story.

Natsume Begins eShop Sale In Preparation For Thursday

On the North American eShop, Natsume is holding a Memorial Day sale and the Thursday dance card is filling up nicely.

Natsume's sale sees the following discounts:

• Gabrielle's Ghostly Groove Mini and Reel Fishing 3D Paradise Mini $1.99 (from $3.99)
• Gabrielle's Ghostly Groove 3D, Hometown Story, Harvest Moon: Tale of Two Towns, Yumi's Odd Odyssey and Reel Fishing 3D Paradise $9.99 (from $19.99)
• Harvest Moon: 3D: A New Beginning $19.99 (from $29.99)

From the unverified department:

Atlus public relations representative John Hardin may have inadvertently confirmed Legend of Legacy will be coming West. After an appearance on the SMT fan podcast SLink.fm in which he referred to the game as announced, he sent a Tweet today listing all of Atlus's portable RPGs for 2015 in which he refers to an "un"announced 3DS game.

@werezompire @AtlusUSA COEx2 Etrian MD EO2U Stella Glow "un"announced 3DS DeSu2RB Dungeon Travelers 2 Lost Dim P4DAN (maybe only 6 3DS?)

— Johnny JRPGSeed (@JohnLHardin) May 18, 2015