Today is a special day indeed! Mr. Balance Board takes some time from his busy schedule to give NWR readers a special message!

Two titles from Nintendo see off the Wii-kly Update, with Nintendo Downloads on the horizon.

Two titles come to the Wii Shop Channel this week, with one for the Virtual Console and one for WiiWare, but both from Nintendo. This also marks the last of week of the Wii-kly Update, as next week kicks off the inclusion of DSiWare. The feature will now be titled Nintendo Downloads.

Bonsai Barber,... Read more...

The company's shareholders have voted overwhelmingly in favor of the Square Enix buyout.

During a shareholder meeting, shareholders voted whether or not to allow Square Enix to take over Eidos for $117 Million. Over 85 percent of voters voted in favor of the corporate takeover.

Eidos will suspend its shares on April 21st and will be delisted from the London Stock Exchange the very... Read more...

Nintendo plans to release a new type of DS game card that works on all DS models, but will take advantage of DSi's hardware features.

Masato Kuwahara, the project leader of the DSi hardware group, confirmed that Nintendo is planning "Nintendo DSi enhanced game cards." These new types of game cards will be playable on all models of the DS. However, if these game cards are played on a DSi, players will be able to enjoy DSi hardware specific features, such as creating textures from photographs that are taken by the DSi camera.

The past two weeks contained games from the Final Fantasy, Pokémon, and Grand Theft Auto series. Also, Guitar Hero gets some Hendrix, Queen, and more while Rock Band gets songs from the Who, James Brown, and many more.

After a week of vacation, we've got two weeks of games for you, and it was a packed two weeks.

On Wii, there's everything from a remake of a classic adventure game (Ubisoft's Broken Swords: Shadow of the Templars) to the latest Kororinpa game. There's also a new installment of Pro Evolution Soccer, a Wii version of Rune Factory, and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time, which is also on DS.

The CEO of Level 5 confirmed that the company is localizing Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box.

Yesterday at GDC, Akihiro Hino, the president and CEO of Level 5, spoke at the session entitled "Level-5’s Techniques to Producing a Hit Game." At the beginning of his speech, Hino showed a list of all the games that Level 5 released; the second game having an official English translation of Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box.

Arcade games are now available on Virtual Console! The launch slate contains four classics from Namco Bandai and Tecmo.

One of the surprising announcements that came out of Iwata's keynote at GDC 2009 was the addition of Virtual Console Arcade, which adds arcade games to the ever-expanding list of platforms available through Wii. The first games, available today, are from Namco Bandai and Tecmo.

Gaplus,... Read more...

The second game in the Nintendo boxing franchise is coming to Virtual Console in advance of its Wii sequel's May release.

According to IGN, the 1994 Super Nintendo sequel to the NES' Punch-Out!!, Super Punch-Out!!, is hitting Virtual Console next week. This isn't too unexpected in the light of the franchise's upcoming return this May with the release of Punch-Out!! on the Wii, developed by Next Level Games.

The... Read more...

The latest Punch-Out!! trailer from GDC 2009 shows off gameplay, iconic music, Disco Kid, and the classic training sequence.

Originally an exclusive to the Nintendo Channel, the latest trailer for Punch-Out!! is shown here.

The trailer contains gameplay footage that shows off four different boxers: Glass Joe, Von Kaiser, King Hippo, and newcomer Disco Kid. It also shows the heroic Little Mac going through training with series staple Doc Louis. Little Mac is also seen in his trademark pink jumpsuit from the original NES classic.

Nintendo also released a couple trailers that show off the hardware and software of the DSi. Check them out here.

Included in Nintendo's 2009 Game Developer's Conference press kit were two DSi B-Rolls. B-Rolls are given out to press so that portions of them can be edited in to video productions.

That said, we thought we might as well present them to everyone in their entirety. The first features lustful pans of the hardware itself. The second includes shots of people enjoying DSi software. Enjoy!

We give you a guided tour of the newest addition to the Wii's featureset, the SD Card Menu.

Today at GDC 2009, Nintendo of America's Bill Trinen introduced the Wii SD Card Menu. This menu appears after applying the latest Wii firmware update (available now), and appears as an icon in the bottom-left of the screen right next to the Wii button.

This new menu allows you to load games... Read more...

Nintendo released the first official trailer for the next DS Zelda game today!

Nintendo included the official trailer for the upcoming DS game, The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, in their GDC 2009 press kit. It is embedded below.

The trailer features the train traveling gameplay as well as some classic Zelda-style dungeon action. It includes many stylus oriented puzzles, just like Phantom Hourglass.

Chris Redfield shoots ahead of Mario & Luigi

The power of the Biohazard (Resident Evil) brand was really felt these past few weeks; it affected the software chart and even the hardware sales.

The sales of Capcom’s Resident Evil 5 may explain a surge in sales of PlayStation games as a whole.

The positive reception and strong sales of the long-awaited action game even rolled over onto the Xbox 360 version, which currently sits at the 12th position.

Target confirms the offer via DSi product listing. UPDATED! Added details on Australian DSi offer.

A recent Target.com listing confirms that DSi owners will receive 1000 free DSi points upon their first visit to the DSi Shop. In Japan, Nintendo offered the same promotion.

The official Target.com listing description is available below.

The Nintendo DSi is a high-powered handheld... Read more...

Hudson dominates the week by bringing two Virtual Console titles and one game for WiiWare.

This week's Virtual Console and WiiWare brings three new titles to the Wii Shop Channel, all from Hudson. Two TurboGrafx-16 games will grace the Virtual Console while a single brand new title has been added to WiiWare.

Pop'Em Drop'Em SAMEGAME is this week's solo WiiWare title. Up to four players... Read more...

Yuke's digital distribution division brings a follow-up to the DS puzzle game.

Akinai Games, Yuke's recently formed digital distribution division, announced NEVES Plus, a follow-up to their DS title that was released in 2007. NEVES Plus is a puzzle game that involves tangram-style puzzles, and trying to fit various pieces into a silhouette to complete the puzzle.

NEVES... Read more...

Studios Big Huge Games, Heavy Iron, and Incinerator are all on the chopping block.

As a result of a $191 million loss last quarter, THQ recently revealed that in order to cut cost they will be closing developer Big Huge Games within 60 days unless another company purchases the studio. Big Huge Games is known for their work on the Rise of Nations series and Catan for Xbox Live Arcade.... Read more...

The acquisition of 19,990 shares of D3 will cost Namco Bandai $12.55 million, giving them controlling share of the company.

Last month, Namco Bandai made an aggressive bid to purchase D3 Publisher. Yesterday, the deal was completed when Namco Bandai purchased 19,990 shares of D3 at 62,000 yen ($628) a share, giving Namco Bandai 95% ownership of the company.

D3 Publisher is known for their Simple Series line of budget... Read more...

Punch-Out!! and Rhythm Paradise headline the DS and Wii launch lists from now until June.

Nintendo has pulled back the curtain on the full second quarter European software release line-ups for Wii and DS, dating a handful of much-anticipated first party titles for the first time in the process.

May is set to be a big month for Nintendo, as Punch-Out!! for Wii and Rhythm Paradise (a.k.a. Rhythm Heaven/Rhythm Tengoku Gold, May 1) join the already scheduled Pokémon Platinum (May 22) on the first party launch list.

Summer Games II for the Commodore 64 makes its debut alongside a trippy beat.

This week's Virtual Console and WiiWare features yet another week of only two releases, with one for either service.

Retro visuals and gameplay make a return to WiiWare with the awaited BIT.TRIP BEAT from Aksys Games. Players will use the Wii Remote to bounce 8-bit beats with up-to-four players... Read more...