Tending crops and wrangling Pikmin.

Did someone say, "biggest Wii U title of the fall?" Oh, you did? Why, yes, Pikmin 3 is going to be available this week! Along with Harvest Moon, Kirby's Dream Land 2 and Cloudberry Kingdom! Nintendo is stepping up their game once again and putting the hurt on your wallet, and I've never been happier about it. Let's be honest here, a week of ramen won't kill you, but another week without Pikmin just might.

Japan gets to hunt all the cool monsters...

Monster Hunter Frontier G is being ported to the Wii U. Frontier G is an online-only version of Monster Hunter 2 with additional content added.

The game's service will become available in Japan on December 11 for Wii U, and players will be able to take part in a free beta test for a week before the game releases.

Quality Assurance taking longer than anticipated.

Rune Factory 4 is delayed yet again, with a fall release anticipated. XSEED, the company behind its English localization, announced the news on their Facebook page.

The game was originally released in Japan over a year ago to rave reviews and high sales. The North American version was set for a mid-July release, but was pushed back to August.

Gotta catch this ball!

UPDATED: The Poké Ball bonus has also been confirmed for Australia, when you pre-order through EB Games.

United Kingdom trainers that pre-order Pokémon X or Pokémon Y through GAME retailers will receive a Poké Ball game card case with their purchase. Gamers who have already pre-ordered the game through the store will also receive the bonus.

Update: Nintendo's official listing has changed the date to TBD.

Update: Nintendo changed the listing to TBD, so it will not be coming out next week. 

Art Academy: SketchPad is set to hit the Wii U eShop next week on August 7 in North America.

The newest entry in the Art Academy series, SketchPad aims to be a "robust art application that anyone can enjoy." The application allows users to create artwork using the touchscreen on the GamePad and share their creations through Miiverse. 

The Dark Knight will be running solo on the Wii U.

The recently announced online mode for the upcoming Batman: Arkham Origins will not be available in the Wii U version of the game, according to a Warner Bros. representative.

The mode will allow players to work together to hunt down opponents, and has been confirmed for all other versions of the game.

Success in the handheld space makes up for the new home console's woes.

Nintendo posted a net profit of 8.62 billion yen ($87.8 million/£57.7 million) for the second quarter of 2013 thanks to flourishing 3DS sales, in spite of the Wii U's continued struggles on the market.

According to the most recent financial report, the increased profitability of the 3DS coupled with the depreciation of the yen helped the publishing giant to record these results, allaying the negative impact of the Wii U's poor performance.

After six and a half years on the market, Wii sales figures hit nine digits.

The Nintendo Wii has sold more than 100 million units worldwide since launching on November 18, 2006.

The console achieved this hallowed milestone between April and June of this year, according to Nintendo's latest financial results; it sold 210,000 units in this period. By comparison, its successor, the Wii U, managed just 160,000 units sold during the same time frame.

Just in time for Dream Team.

Nintendo has confirmed that a black 3DS XL will be releasing in North America on August 11, the same day as Mario & Luigi: Dream Team.

Specifically, the announcement confirms recent rumors that the black 3DS XL was coming to Canadian stores.

A Planet GameCube legend and institution has passed on.

When Planet GameCube began in 1999, our founder Billy Berghammer had a little kitty named Louie that quickly became a part of the site, showing up in unboxings, working his way onto the cover of our E3 2002 DVD, and assuming the mantle of Rumors Editor. It's with a heavy heart that we at Nintendo... Read more...

Now can I show you my pokémon!?

Participating GameStop locations will be offering three shiny legendary Pokémon starting in early August.

The Pokémon and dates are as follows:

Players will be able to get two of the new two-piece Swap Force characters, and a series 3 version of an old favorite.

Activision is including two of its new Swap Force characters, Blast Zone and Wash Buckler, when players spring for the starter pack of this fall's upcoming Skylanders SWAP Force.

The starter pack will also include a series three version of an old favorite, Stealth Elf, and the physical portal that players place the figures onto in order to use the corresponding characters within the game.

Get ready to dig!

Swedish developer Image & Form’s latest game, SteamWorld Dig, is headed to the 3DS eShop simultaneously in Europe, North America, and Australia on August 8.

“We finished development of SteamWorld Dig in the end of June. It has since passed Nintendo's lotcheck and is ready for release,” said Brjann Sigurgeirsson, CEO of Image & Form.

A game where fruits and vegetables fight against meats and cheeses.

Organic Panic, a new game from Last Limb Games, will be coming to the Wii U if their current Kickstarter campaign is a success.

The game is a physics based platformer, featuring destructible environments, much like the Worms series. The playable characters are various fruits and vegetables, each... Read more...

How much should you expect to pay for Nintendo's October Wii U games?

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD is currently listed for $49.99 on Amazon while Wii Party U is listed for $39.99.

While the prices could change between now and both games' October releases, generally Amazon's price listings have been accurate. For example, Game & Wario's $40 price point was revealed on Amazon and other retailers' sites before Nintendo confirmed it.

It's back on like Donkey Kong.

Precursor Games has relaunched their Kickstarter campaign for Shadow of the Eternals, with a goal of $750,000. This is after Precursor Games halted their crowdfunding campaign just last month.

It has also been announced that David Hayter will be providing the voice for Paul Becker in the game, and there is an added stretch goal to bring the game to the Playstation 4.

Kadokawa Games' president gives the much requested update to the fans.

Prope's Rodea the Sky Soldier is still coming to the Wii and Nintendo 3DS. This was announced by Kadokawa's company president Yoshimi Yasuda in an interview with 4gamer.

The reason why Kadokawa Games remained so silent on the title, according to Yasuda, is that media simply lost interest in the... Read more...

Defending whales and completing quizzes... all in a day's work for Phoenix Wright.

A brand new case, a sequence of quiz games, and some extra costumes have been unveiled as downloadable content for Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies.

The new case, "Special Chapter: Turnabout Return," sees the titular Phoenix Wright defending a orca whale and its pirate-dressed trainer... Read more...

Indie developers outside of Japan can still apply.

Indie developers based in Japan cannot apply to develop applications for the Wii U at this time.

Despite the growing industry support for indie developers across the board, a Nintendo form on the GDC (Game Developers Conference) 2013 website states, in English and Japanese, that Nintendo is currently not accepting applications from Japanese indie developers.

Blastin' viruses and eggplant wizards.

Sometimes after I've drifted off to sleep at night I dream of a world where every Nintendo Downloads can be like last week. Weeks filled with Earthbound and Link to the Past releases flooding the Virtual Console, and indie developers frolicking in the beautiful meadow that is the eShop. So, until that day, we'll have to be okay with light weeks in-between the big releases. Hey, at least Chain Blaster looks pretty cool!