A temporarily free, wacky photo-based fighter arrives on DSiWare, Phoenix Wright serves justice on WiiWare, and Virtual Console content is once again non-existent.

This week the Nintendo Downloads update features some very unique games, as well as the return of some beloved franchises. On DSiWare, Nintendo's Photo Dojo leads the lineup. Using the DSi's cameras, players take pictures of themselves and other players in different fighting poses and use them for their playable character in this simple but wacky fighting game. You can even use the DSi's microphone to record yells and sound effects.

The former NWR Site Director is set to helm one of the most revered magazines in gaming.

The latest Weekend Confirmed podcast on Shacknews.com features former NWR Director Billy Berghammer, and he dropped a little bombshell at the end of the show. Billy will soon be taking over as Editor-in-Chief at the recently revitalized EGM (Electronic Gaming Monthly).

For those following at... Read more...

While Nintendo's sales and profits have both declined since last year's report, total DS sales are now greater than total Game Boy sales.

Nintendo's recent fiscal report for the year ending March 31, 2009 holds some interesting data. Notably, sales of the DS series, including the DSi and DSi XL, came to 12.29 million units in the Americas and broke the annual hardware unit sales record. Worldwide DS sales were 27.11 million units this fiscal year, bringing the total units sold to 128.89 million units.

Nintendo's president sees piracy as a serious problem, but 3D gaming as no health problem at all.

Nintendo President Satoru Iwata has stated that the upcoming Nintendo 3DS portable system will have enhanced anti-piracy features. When asked what the features might be, he declined comment since he didn't want to give pirates any ideas.

One of the primary issues Iwata raised is what he feels... Read more...

Iwata explains the purpose of "My First Super Mario Galaxy 2", a DVD bundled with the game in Japan and Europe.

Super Mario Galaxy was not as big in Japan as it was overseas, as only one-eighth of its lifetime sales came from that particular market. To try and change that and avoid the possibility of the game's sales performing below the original, Nintendo has decided to bundle the game with a DVD entitled "My First Super Mario Galaxy 2" in both Japan and Europe.

Nintendo's lead designer Shigeru Miyamoto expresses his thoughts on online play.

In an interview with Edge, Shigeru Miyamoto commented on Nintendo's current online model. He expressed that Nintendo needs to decide whether to keep their online services free or to implement an online subscription mode.

“Probably the other thing that we are desperate to realise is the... Read more...

Sequel to the highly-successful Wii-exclusive due out soon.

Just Dance was only released late last year and Ubisoft has already begun working on a Wii sequel.

Having already sold 3 million copies worldwide, with one million of those coming from the United Kingdom, Ubisoft has already started promoting the game through a talent competition, in aims of finding three choreographers in the United States, France and United Kingdom, all of which are to be featured in the upcoming sequel

Dragon Quest returns to the summit of the charts, followed by some old favorites that saw large increases this past week.

Golden Week is always one of the larger chart weeks in Japan, due largely to many companies releasing some of their blockbuster hits just before the holiday begins. This year was certainly no exception, as it saw five new games debut in the top 10, all of which managed to start off with sales of at least 24,000 units.

More party, less Mario.

At Nintendo's recent financial briefing, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata revealed a new title, Wii Party. According to Iwata, Nintendo is developing Wii Party "with the aim to make it a marquee party game for Wii".

The development goal of Wii Party was to create a party title that Iwata... Read more...

Along with this reached milestone, Nintendo's Wii now has 79 million-seller games.

Regardless of the sales drop that occurred for both the Wii and DS this year, Nintendo's Wii console now has 79 million sellers on the platform. Including third party titles, the sales figure grew from the last fiscal year (which was 54 million sellers).

Wii Sports Resort was the year's biggest... Read more...

The next installment in the Harvest Moon series makes it way to DS, featuring a new town and a new cast of characters.

Natsume announced a new DS entry in the Harvest Moon series called Harvest Moon: Grand Bazaar.

The game will feature new characters and there is no confirmation about any old characters making a return. This game takes place in Zephyr Town, which used to have a bustling bazaar but is now a ghost town. Players will work toward reviving the bazaar back to its worldly grandeur and prosperity.

The green-suited plumber is returning for the second round.

Luigi will be returning as a playable character in Super Mario Galaxy 2, according to Nintendo's Super Mario Galaxy 2 YouTube Transmissions.

The past transmissions have showed off different aspects of gameplay, but the eighth entry reveals Luigi as another playable character.

It is unknown whether or not he will assume his role as the reward for collecting all the stars, or if players will be able to choose him from the start.

Virtual Console sees no releases today, while DSiWare gets the most releases with five titles.

This week sees an oddball selection of titles for Nintendo's downloadable services. The Virtual Console didn't receive a title this week. WiiWare, however, did receive two titles. The first of these is Zombie Panic in Wonderland by Akaoni Studio, an action shooting game taking place in a fairy tale... Read more...

PROPE's quirky platformer will be released in North America courtesy of XSEED.

XSEED Games has announced that they have secured the North American publishing rights for PROPE's Wii and DS title "Ivy the Kiwi?".

The title is a 2D platformer in which players take on the role of a baby kiwi named Ivy. Ivy will search for his mother in fairytale book inspired worlds. Using... Read more...

Due to the platform's size limitations, Team Meat was forced to cut content from the game.

In the official development blog for Super Meat Boy, developer Edmund McMillen confirmed that the WiiWare version of the game will have content cut due to the service's limitations.

McMillen explained to a reader that "We are running into file size issues on the Wii (meaning we will have to cut... Read more...

Wii Sports Resort and Wii MotionPlus are now bundled with every Wii, in the color of your choice.

Today Nintendo Announced that the Black Wii will be launching on May 9, complete with Wii Sports Resort and Wii MotionPlus. The same bundle will be available with the classic white Wii system as well. Both colors will cost $199.99.

This black Wii bundle has been available in Europe and Japan previously, but this is the first time any new color scheme for the Wii console has been made available in North America.

Another relatively slow week in Japan as New Super Mario Bros. Wii is bumped into the runner-up spot.

Nintendo has been dominating the Japanese sales charts of late, and while that may still be true for the week ending April 25, this week they were prevented from claiming the top spot again. If it had not been for Square Enix, New Super Mario Bros. Wii would have made a third straight week atop the charts.

The Punch-Out!! developers are building Cybertron Adventures from the ground up.

Next Level Games (Punch-Out!!, Mario Strikers Charged) are working on Transformers: Cybertron Adventures, which is being made exclusively for Wii.

Like past Transformers game, players can play through an Autobot and a Decepticon story in the campaign mode. Cybertron Adventures will feature a similar storyline as the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 version, which will be called Transformers: War for Cybertron.

The Halo creators inked a 10-year deal with Activision with the stipulation that they'll retain the ownership of the franchise.

Activision announced that they have signed a 10-year publishing deal with Bungie, the former Microsoft-owned studio who created the Halo franchise.

The new property, which will hit all major platforms, is an "action game universe."

Despite the deal, Bungie will remain independent and own the rights to the new franchise. The specifics of the deal were not revealed, but Activision only holds exclusive rights to this specific property.

Watch the Legends from Sega's upcoming Tournament of Legends for Wii.

Sega has released the first in a series of videos showing the Legends from the 3D dueling game, Tournament of Legends.

This trailer introduces the Gladiator, Marcus Antonius, Hero of Rome and the Minotaur, and BraveHoof, The Defender of Nature. Marcus Antonius and BraveHoof are two of the mythological fighters you will be able to play against in 3D Weapon and Magic Duels.