The sequel to Super Mario Galaxy drops the hub world in favor of a more traditional map.

Shigeru Miyamoto has confirmed that Super Mario Galaxy 2 will feature a traditional world map instead of a 3D hub world. The concept of the hub world was first introduced in Super Mario 64, with Peach's Castle serving as the hub. In Super Mario Galaxy, Rosalina's Station was the hub world to many of its levels.

Mario's creator comments on the subject of art, education, and games.

At a recent BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Arts) ceremony in which Shigeru Miyamoto was honored with its fellowship award, he chatted with the Associated Press about the event. The designer first expressed his desire to bring consoles and handheld into schools and turn them into educational tools.

Nintendo provides a smaller helping of digital gaming this week, but dishes out one of the biggest downloadable games of the year so far.

This week in Nintendo Downloads we have six new titles across the Wii and DS, including five for DSiWare, and one for WiiWare.

The only WiiWare release is the hotly anticipated title Cave Story. This Nicalis-developed game is a side-scrolling, Metroid-style platformer with RPG elements. ... Read more...

Nintendo's handheld expands its reach into every part of Japanese life yet again.

Nikkei reports that McDonald's will begin using Nintendo's DS system as a training tool for part-time employees in Japan. The fast food chain plans to leverage the Japanese public's existing familiarity with the device to cut training time in half.

The training software will be called "eSmart",... Read more...

Mario's latest knocks Wii Fit off of the throne.

The weekly Japanese sales report published by ASCII Media Works lists New Super Mario Bros. Wii as selling 35,580 copies, right behind number-one seller Pokemon Ranger: Path of Light. What's notable about this sales tally is that it officially makes New Super Mario Bros. Wii the best-selling Wii title in Japan to date.

The upcoming Konami title will likely be the first on the market to use the super-sized DS card.

Konami Japan has announced that Tokemeki Memorial: Girl's Side 3rd Story, another entry in the venerable visual novel series, will be one of the first DS titles to use a 4-Gigabit (512-Megabyte) DS card.

Level 5's Ni no Kuni is also set to use a 4-Gigabit card, and may very well ship before 3rd Story's summer date, but it's unclear if the game will actually hit its scheduled spring release.

The Regginator admits that Nintendo looks to third parties for mature content, but also encourages consumers to buy the mature games out there.

Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime recently spoke to MTV about a very hot topic, namely the availability of "mature" games on Nintendo platforms.

While reiterating the importance of offering a wide range of entertainment options and the importance of third-party success on Nintendo... Read more...

The NOA President gives his thoughts on the competition, third-party support, and the future of Nintendo's hardware.

In an interview with Industry Gamers, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aimé gave his opinion on many industry-related topics.

On the subject of how Nintendo plans to attract third-party support at a time when many developers are seemingly reducing Wii development budgets, Reggie said,... Read more...

The team behind Fire Emblem is now releasing educational titles.

Intelligent Systems will be releasing new DSiWare apps in Japan later this week. They are educational titles aimed to develop memory and language skills.

The first of these titles is "Write and Memorize: English Vocabulary Notebook". The title lets the player create their own flash cards and use them to practice their English and Japanese words.

CEO drops the news via his Twitter account.

In a Twitter post, Level 5 CEO Akihiro Hino has confirmed that the company, known around the world for the Professor Layton series, will be announcing a new title in April. He explained that "it will become an extremely anticipated title" once it is announced.

A recent Level 5 trademark, while... Read more...

MotionPlus Gladiators, vampire hunters and mini-golf highlight this week's downloads.

Nintendo has updated their downloadable services with seven new games this week. WiiWare receives two titles this week. First is Rage of the Gladiator by Ghostfire Games. Princed at 1000 Wii Points ($10), Rage of the Gladiator is a MotionPlus enhanced brawler in which the players battle against some... Read more...

The world's most helpful green block makes its return in the latest Mario adventure.

Recently on an episode of Game Trailers TV, Nintendo's Bill Trinen said that Super Mario Galaxy 2 will feature Super Guide, the help system that was used in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. The system revolves around a computerized avatar taking control of the player and finishing a particularly tough level on their behalf.

Sakamoto states that nothing is in the works, but those that want the game should speak out.

In an interview with Kotaku, Nintendo producer Yoshio Sakamoto stated that no new Kid Icarus title was in development for Wii, but stated that any fans who would like to see such a game should speak up.

The franchise, which hasn't been seen since a Game Boy sequel to the original NES title in... Read more...

Sakamoto discusses the research that went into a potential 2D Metroid game on DS.

In an interview with Joystiq, Nintendo's Yoshio Sakamoto states that Nintendo has looked into putting a 2D Metroid game on the DS, stating that he can't say the idea for the game never existed. The rumored game, which was coyly mentioned briefly in 2007's Metroid Prime 3: Corruption on a computer... Read more...

Three Wii titles show up this week, but none of them can claim the top spot.

The NPD Group released its results for February 2010 this past week, showing New Super Mario Bros. Wii as the second best-selling title of the month with 555,600 copies sold. Also in the top ten are Ubisoft's Just Dance at number four with 314,300 copies sold, and Wii Sports Resort at number five with 272,800 copies sold.

Get ready to craft up a storm this fall.

Today, Majesco announced the latest title in the "Mama" series on DS, Crafting Mama. The game, which has players creating a wide variety of crafts using stylus controls, will be available in fall 2010.

The game boasts 40 unique crafts, ranging from patchwork quilts and birdhouses to earrings... Read more...

Momotaro and One Piece join the already successful line-up.

It was only last month that Nintendo launched their "“Everyone’s Recommendation Selection"” budget lineup of games, which consisted of quality titles being released at budget prices. Many thought it would be a one- time thing, but Nintendo has surprised us once again by announcing that two new titles that are about to join the line-up come April.

The once Wii-exclusive Lord of the Rings title will make an appearance on the PlayStation 3 and use the PlayStation Move.

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced that The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest will no longer be Wii exclusive. The motion-based title will also be making an appearance on the PlayStation 3, using the recently unveiled PlayStation Move motion controller. Aragorn's Quest will also see release on the PlayStation 2, the PlayStation Portable, and the DS.

The Nintendo of America President discusses new hardware, high definition gaming, and Netflix.

Forbes Online recently interviewed Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime about recent Nintendo news and the future of the company.

When asked about the motion control alternatives Nintendo's competitors will soon be releasing, Reggie was confident in stating that the company has been... Read more...

The team returns to marathon gaming, with mystery being the theme this time around.

Right after the success of their first gaming marathon, the Zelda Marathon last November, which earned the team over $3,000 for charity, the Penguins of the Desert have announced their second charity gaming marathon. Titled "The Mystery Marathon," the team will once again play through as many games as possible in the set amount of time.