microSD cards 'round the world weep.

Nintendo made several major announcements today as part of their indie games showcase, with some big timed or full exclusives.

Gotta catch 'em all... especially the party hat Pikachu!

The Pokémon Company is commemorating their 21st anniversary this week with special promotions and events for Pokémon Day. While not as flashy as last year's milestone event, fans will have plenty to do to celebrate their favorite series.

Pokémon Go has released special party hat Pikachu into the wild. From now until March 6, any caught Pikachu will keep its festive hat forever, similar to December's Santa hat Pikachu.

Interested parties should look into Japanese eShop accounts.

The Switch launch in Japan will feature the first Switch game that cannot play on a TV.

VOEZ, a port of a mobile rhythm title, will be available in the Japanese eShop on March 3; other shop releases have not been announced. A touch-based rhythm game with over 1200 songs, the game will only play in portable or tabletop modes.

An exclusive expansion will be along for the ride.

It's official: Two Tribes's RIVE is the latest title to switch out of a Wii U release.

Two Tribes announced the game would come to the Switch this year, with an exclusive expansion. The title was originally announced for Wii U and was the last game from the 2015 Nindies @ Home program to release on a Nintendo console, but the Wii U version couldn't reach a satisfactory framerate.

Don't disable the disc drive just yet.

Another Wii U indie hit will be getting a disc release soon.

Developer Thomas Happ has announced a deal with BadLand Games to create a physical version of Axiom Verge for the Wii U, as well as the PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 4. No release date has been given for the new version, which will retail for $29.99/€29.99/£24.99.

Cuts through the red tape.

All territories will be seeing some unique Nintendo-published eShop action on March 3.

Snipperclips - Cut It Out, Together has been confirmed to be coming to the Switch eShop in all territories on the system's launch day for US$19.99/€19.99/equivalent. A free demo of the title will also be available.

The final week of a two-system economy.

This week's downloads mark the end of an era, as next week we welcome a new console to the list (and they will be ALL OVER the thing). But the existing systems aren't going quietly, unless you're a 3DS owner in Europe. The Wii U has a pretty big deal with the release of forma.8, the last Nindies @ Home game to launch before the Switch. Longtime friend of the site and new NWR staffer Casey Gibson reviewed it for us, so check that out.

Also, feel free to load up on eShop cards now.

The Switch will have major indie love on opening day.

Nintendo has confirmed in a press statement that both Shin'en Multimedia's FAST RMX and Yacht Club Games's Shovel Knight will launch with the system in North America on March 3. Shovel Knight will include the Treasure Trove collection, as well... Read more...

Grab yours now before ZeldaFan1986 is gone.

Nintendo quietly added User IDs to their account system over the weekend. Users can now log on to their Nintendo Accounts at any time to claim one.

IDs must be a minimum of six characters and can be edited after you've locked in your initial choice. Better hurry and choose yours now since, as with most online systems, duplicates will not be accepted.

Step 1: Greenhouse. Step 2: ? Step 3: PROFIT!

An often-requested rare title from the Nintendo 64 will hit Virtual Console for Wii U in both North America and Europe this week.

Harvest Moon 64 will release on Thursday for standard N64 Virtual Console pricing ($9.99 in NA, €9.99/£8.99 in Europe/UK). The US version will release on both stores, and this Wii U release will be the first time the game launched in Europe.

Prepare for about ten thousand hours of level grinding.

NIS America announced a few upcoming titles at a press event this evening in Los Angeles.

In a stunning development Culdecept Revolt, the 2016 card battling game published by Nintendo in Japan, will be localized by NISA this summer. This is the first Culdecept title to release outside Japan since the Xbox 360 version came out in 2008.

A lot of role playing in the 3DS top 10.

A light January for Nintendo releases and supply issues caused a bit of a hardware slump in the January US sales survey issued by the NPD Group.

In hardware, supply constraints for the 3DS and the Wii U in the wake of the Switch announcement actually caused the NES Classic (itself supply constrained)... Read more...

A broken street date means we have new details on the Switch's operations.

A retailer inadvertently breaking street date on the Switch has resulted in a video of the system OS surfacing.

The video, first posted by a user on the NeoGAF (post 592) message boards, shows the setup process for the system and a few options.

Notably, the eShop requires a system update to function and the system appears to support full RGB output (2:25).

All the #GreatestTankBattles, but without Auston Matthews waiting at the end.

Your big game for the week in both North America and the PAL regions is Tank Troopers. The six-player local multiplayer (I find your lack of online disturbing...) tank combat game featured the Codename STEAM semi-memorial sing-along trailers, but will probably outsell Intelligent System's title when it's all said and done.

Finally, you don't have to see Takumi every time.

Fire Emblem Heroes is changing up the roster and retaining some popular launch promotions.

A new hero set called "Family Bonds" replaced the two standing pools in today's update. The new pool's 5* Focus characters are from the GBA's Sacred Stones (Eirika, Ephraim) and the Japanese-exclusive Genealogy of the Holy War (Seliph, Julia). The first Paralogues and other quests, some of which require the focus characters, have also been added.

80% of the second generation will soon be available.

The Pokédex in Pokémon Go is about to get an infusion of entries.

Niantic announced earlier today that later this week, eighty Pokémon that debuted in Pokémon Gold and Silver will be added to the available roster. This will be in addition to the baby Pokémon that debuted late last year, but will not include legendaries.

There's a lot of power in the JoyCons.

The upcoming Switch port of World of Goo will have plenty of control options.

Tomorrow Corporation, the publishers of the game, have confirmed on Twitter that a touchscreen option for tablet/tabletop mode and a pointer mode for TV play will both be available.

@MCX316 They will have both

Both versions can add on more content throughout 2017.

For the first time ever, a mainline Zelda game will offer downloadable content.

Nintendo announced today that both the Wii U and Switch versions of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will feature an "Expansion Pass" available from day 1. For US$19.99/€19.99/£17.99, the pack will unlock... Read more...

A busy weekend down at Squid Research.

New details have emerged from Squid Research regarding some of Splatoon 2's options for private battles, as well as a chance to play with its new weapons.

There will be a Global Testfire held for Splatoon 2 the weekend of March 24-26 (US time). The global demos will be one hour long and feature testing for four weapons including the Splat Duelies. Demo times are as follows (all times US Pacific or GMT -8):

Imaginators will continue to expand.

Activision is taking a year off from new Skylanders.

In their quarterly earnings call a short time ago, the company announced that there would not be a new Skylanders console game this calendar year, as has happened every year since 2011. This is aside from the Switch port of Skylanders Imaginators that will launch on March 3 with the system.