NINTENDO Wii AND Wii U

Those who have not followed the Mario Party series in recent years could be forgiven for dismissing its 9th console entry as yet another attempt to milk an aging franchise. Hell, even as someone who's been mini-gaming around the Mushroom Kingdom since it required being tethered to an N64, I had trouble mustering enthusiasm for the latest sequel. Allowing that big "9" on the box to mislead you, however, would be a mistake on the level of hiring Bowser as a babysitter. You see, Mario Party 9 -- the series' first entry in nearly five years -- feels surprisingly more like a thoughtful reboot than a phoned-in rehash. While not ...

Ubisoft has officially revealed the first real details on Assassin's Creed 3. First of all, in addition to Xbox 360, PS3 and PC, the game is headed to the Wii U. The new protagonist is named Ratohnhaké:ton and is "of Native American and English heritage." He has also adopted the name Connor, much to the relief of copy editors everywhere. As reported, the game does take place during the American Revolution and "spans the Revolutionary War, taking gamers from the vibrant, untamed frontier to bustling colonial towns and the intense, chaotic battlefields where George Washington's ...

Nintendo issued a fairly terse press release earlier today, announcing that it has prevailed in a US patent lawsuit for the "third consecutive time this year." That particular case concerned Nintendo's Wii Balance Board accessory and Wii Fit and Wii Fit Plus software, which a company called IA Labs said infringed on one of its patents (No. 7,121,982); a claim that was dismissed by the Maryland District Court judge in the case. IA Labs was also more or less dismissed as a company by Nintendo's senior vice president of legal and general counsel Rick Flamm, who said that "we vigorously defend patent lawsuits when we firmly believe that ...

Another gem unearthed from the Nintendo Direct event: Project Zero 2 (known as Fatal Frame 2 in the states) is headed to the Wii in Europe. We don't have many other details, the press release states rather simply that, along with Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir, Project Zero 2: Wii Edition "will be coming to Europe." The remake was announced for Japan back in 2010. The release doesn't specify whether the game will see a North American release as well. Spirit Camera, a Fatal Frame spinoff, has already been confirmed for North America, so ...

XSEED Games Announces The Last Story Exclusively for Wii Highly Anticipated Wii-exclusive Action RPG to be Released for the North American Market Torrance, Calif., (February 22, 2012) – XSEED Games, an independent-minded publisher, today announced a partnership with Nintendo that will bring The Last Story™ to North America, exclusively for Wii™. Developed by legendary creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, and his studio, MISTWALKER, in conjunction with Nintendo, The Last Story has players taking charge of a band of mercenaries and journeying with them into a sprawling cinematic adventure. ...

Starting tomorrow, you'll be able to Just Dance to one of the early most ubiquitous dance tracks for the early '90s ... and three other songs. Snap's "The Power" will be available for the Xbox version of Just Dance 3 tomorrow, Jan. 31, along with Bollywood's "Katti Kalandal", Love Letter's "Why Oh Why" and Sweat Invaders' "Skin to Skin," all of which we're sure are totally energetic. Each track sells for 240 MSP ($3) each. They'll be released for the Wii version the next day, Feb. 1, at a comparatively cheap 250 Wii Points ($2.50). ...

Unless you go through the '80s-style "becoming super cool" montage, the other app stores won't respect you. Nintendo seems to be in this mindset, as a source has stated that it's creating an app store for its upcoming Wii U controller that goes "far beyond" the online stores the company currently provides for its DSi and Wii consoles. According to The Daily, the new gaming system, which is set to launch in the second half of 2012, will be able to use apps that operate on the controller itself, much like iOS and Android-based tablets. In other ...

What's that, Link? You say your progress in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword has been halted by a game-breaking sequence of events? And that I must deliver expository text because you're unable to speak? Alright then. Nintendo's corrective strategy for Skyward Sword, which will strike you as unorthodox and elaborate compared to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 patching procedures, is to release a full Wii Channel. It will repair (or effectively patch) save files created after the glitch has occurred. According to an announcement from Japan, the ...

Now you can watch Future Publishing and Nintendo's "NintendoTV" without having to buy a European Wii or 3DS. The show has been relaunched, and with that relaunch comes a fancy new YouTube embed, so you can see footage of big new Nintendo games, coverage of launch events, and other such fun stuff ... right here, in this post! Watch it yourself to see how it compares to the "Nintendo Week" available through North American Wiis, and the "Nintendo Show 3D" you can watch through the 3DS eShop. Alternately, marvel at the existence of three different Nintendo-produced ...