Pokémon fans in Japan who buy the game early will get cool swag with upcoming 3DS title.

With the release of Super Pokémon Scramble in Japan, early adopters will have the chance to receive special bonus gifts with the purchase of the software at select stores. This three piece set of items includes, a Pikachu paper craft toy, a Super Pokémon Scramble codes that unlock four Pokémon... Read more...

The newest iteration of the hardware will arrive either this month or next.

Nintendo will be sending out the next generation of Wii U development kits either this month or next. This news comes from comments Sega Europe's Gary Dunn made to Eurogamer.

As was reported earlier this week, the kits that developers have been working on are underclocked, and Nintendo deemed the... Read more...

An animation on the official websites demonstrates the button-press gaming.

The upcoming Wii version of Rhythm Heaven is a one to two-player game.

An animation on Nintendo's recently updated Japanese website shows a game that is played just by pressing the "A" button in time with the beat, much like the Game Boy Advance iteration of the game. The two-player mode is not shown.

Nintendo is thinking about what they could do for people who don't connect Wii U to the Internet.

Nintendo is talking internally about applying changes to Wii U software using updates received on the Nintendo 3DS, says Satoru Iwata.

Since the 3DS is a portable device, with StreetPass and SpotPass, it is possible to interact and transmit changes to Wii U without a user specifically doing... Read more...

Colorful systems are associated with children while white has the broadest appeal.

The Wii and Wii U are both white because Nintendo determined that a simple aesthetic appeals to more ages. In an E3 interview with Game Informer, Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto explained, "We found over the years when we included a lot of different colors in our hardware is people would kind of point to that and use it to paint us as more kid-oriented."

Completing a survey nets you chapters 4 and 5 of Tales of Monkey Island.

Telltale Games is offering chapters 4 and 5 of their episodic WiiWare game, Tales of Monkey Island, for free after completing a survey on their site.

Players interested in the offer must answer the questions, which Telltale expects to take 5 to 10 minutes. At the end, players must give their own... Read more...

Games on the early hardware were not graphically up to standard to show at E3.

Developers were working with underclocked Wii U development kits prior to E3. The hardware that they were using to develop until recently was underpowered compared to the expected final Wii U specifications.

A report from a Wii U white paper produced by Hit Detection, a consulting company founded... Read more...

The cat dog's out of the bag.

Solatorobo, the CyberConnect2-developed action RPG for the DS, is seeing a North American release this year.

The game was published by Namco Bandai in Japan, and Nintendo of Europe is bringing it over to PAL regions on July 1. However, neither Namco Bandai nor Nintendo of America will be the North American publisher.

Face punching coming to the 3D handheld next week.

Double Dragon will hit the Japanese Virtual Console on the Nintendo 3DS next week. 

This news comes from a recent update on the Official Nintendo website in Japan, which lists the title as being published by Arc System Works with a price tag of 400 yen. Japanese 3DS owners will be able to purchase the game starting on June 22.

The eShop receives its first official update, while the Wii sees two new games and a demo. 

With the opening of the eShop last week, Nintendo has decided to move Nintendo Download to Thursdays. That means from now on, the Wii Shop Channel, DSiWare Store, and Nintendo eShop will all update on Thursdays, with new titles going live at 9 a.m. Pacific time on the same day.

This week's update brings a slew of new titles, including Mega Man 5 for Virtual Console and Donkey Kong for the Nintendo eShop.

Also, Miyamoto sees the series and game like it was Twin Peaks.

Here are some translated notes from the latest Iwata Asks on The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D:

- Back when they first started making it they didn't know how big a game they would be able to make with the memory constraints. Miyamoto reveals that while they were validating it, he had a worst... Read more...

The latest update to the 3DS firmware is listed by Nintendo as a "stability" patch.

Nintendo has released an update to the 3DS firmware that, among other "stability" fixes, corrects the Ridge Racer 3D freezing bug that they introduced in the eShop update last Monday.The newest version, 2.1.0, also includes unspecified "minor adjustments to enhance user experience."

3DS systems... Read more...

Mario's party finally hops online.

In the latest issue of Famitsu, the magazine reported that the Japanese version of Itadaki Street Wii, known as Fortune Street in North America, will feature online play over Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.

The game features country-wide online battles only, meaning a newcomer to the series will not be able to challenge a veteran player from the Japan, where the series has been available for years. 

Kathy Beth Terry and Rebecca Black party to Just Dance in Katy Perry's "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" music video.

Earlier this year it was confirmed that Ubisoft would be sponsoring Katy Perry's California Dreams Tour, which has already swept through Europe and will arrive in North America this summer. Now they have taken their promotion to a whole new level in Katy Perry's new music video for her current single, "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.).

Check out the new The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D commercial that includes Williams, his daughter, and an epic beard.

Nintendo UK unveiled a new television ad for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D featuring Hollywood actor Robin Williams and his daughter Zelda.

Robin Williams, famous for his roles in Mrs. Doubtfire and Good Morning Vietnam, has been a fan of the Zelda series since he played the first game on the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1987. His daughter, Zelda Rae Williams, is named after Princess Zelda. 

Nintendo remain confident about their manufacture and launch estimates.

Nintendo's global president, Satoru Iwata, is confident that there will be no significant manufacturing issues that will affect their business, and they are confident in their estimates for the launch timeline. 

He gave the example of a boom in smartphones affecting LCD production as something... Read more...

The Wii U is a dedicated gaming system.

The Wii U will not have the ability to play DVD or Blu-ray discs.

Iwata explained in an Investor's Q&A that since many people already have devices for watching movies, it was not worth the added cost of licensing the technologies for inclusion in the Wii U. 

So you'll have to keep your DVD player in your living room just a while longer.

Online could be very different for Wii U.

Satoru Iwata, Nintendo Global President, says that a flexible online strategy is essential moving forward, and working with social networks cannot be discounted.

Nintendo's past online infrastructure has been something that is fixed, but this is not good for developers, who cannot realise their... Read more...

It is not expected that consumers will want to buy a second controller.

Nintendo's current plans are to work on games that use a single Wii U controller only. This is partly due to cost, as a game that used two controllers would have to add enough value for it to be worthwhile for the consumer to justify buying another unit. 

In the Investor's Q&A following... Read more...

Is the Wii U more powerful than other current generation consoles?

Developers are claiming that the Wii U has 50% more processing power the other current generation consoles on the market. Arvind Bhatiaaa, an analyst with Sterne Agee remarked that, "Some of the developers we spoke to indicated to us that the console will have 50% more processing power compared to the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360."