NINTENDO TO MARK THE LAUNCH OF KID ICARUS: UPRISING WITH NATIONAL MULTIPLAYER TOURNAMENT

To prepare fans for the March 23 launch of Kid Icarus: Uprising for the Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo of America will host multiplayer tournaments at select GameStop stores across the United States starting March 8 and culminating in a national championship event in New York on Thursday, March 22. Three winners from each market will participate in the final round. The final national championship event at the GameStop store at Broadway and 84th Street in New York will also feature a special pre-sale opportunity, allowing consumers to purchase the game one day before it goes on sale throughout North America.

The bracket-style tournament will include regional competition at select GameStop locations in San Francisco (March 8), Orlando, Fla., (March 11), Los Angeles (March 15) and New York (March 22). Winners from each of the four markets will be eligible to win prizes including an all-expenses-paid trip to New York to participate in the national championship and a variety of exclusive Kid Icarus-themed items. Even if they are not participating in tournament play, consumers will be able to visit GameStop tournament locations to play Kid Icarus: Uprising before its nationwide launch on March 23.

[Trailer] Mario Party 9 - Euro Launch Trailer

Nintendo has uploaded two minutes worth of glorious Mario Party 9 footage for Wii. The video was created to celebrate the launch of the game in Europe, which takes place this Friday, March 2nd. Mario Party 9 is due out in North America on March 11th.

Nintendo Wii Could Begin To Recognize Your Face & Voice

New patent filings from Nintendo reveal possible features that could make the Wii gaming console even more advanced. It’s been rumored that future Wii controllers could be equipped with voice control, facial recognition and even 3D high-definition displays.
It’s uncertain if these high-tech features will be included in the Wii U when it launches later this year, but speculations and rumors are running high. Netizens have commented that the Wii U controller would have a built-in mic so it’s likely that the controller might let gamers use their voice to commands games, similar to Microsoft’s Kinect.

Nintendo Direct 2.22.2012 - Reggie Fils-Aime Presents Nintendo Updates

check out Nintendo President and COO, Reggis Fils-Aime discussing and showing off these new releases in Nintendo Direct, check out the video above

Game Gear titles head to 3DS on March 14 for ¥300 apiece

March 14 is the  day for Game Gear on Virtual Console, with a trio of titles headed to Japanese 3DS owners, Nintendo announced this morning. Sega leads the lineup with three classics: Sonic (Sonic and Tails 2), Shinobi (GG Shinobi), and Dragon Crystal. The titles will cost ¥300 ($3.75) apiece, and no word was given as to when they'd head Stateside.

Of course, Sonic Triple Trouble and Shinobi were rated by the ESRB for 3DS back in February, and we were last told that Game Gear (as well as TurboGrafx-16) games would arrive on the handheld's Virtual Console store in "late May." 

Last Story Coming To North America

The Last Story, the Wii role-playing game by Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, will finally be released in the United States this summer, Nintendo said on Wednesday.

Although Nintendo originally produced the game, which went on sale in Japan in January 2011, in collaboration with Sakaguchi’s studio Mistwalker, it has decided to let the third-party publisher Xseed release it in the U.S. Nintendo’s European division will publish Last Story in February.

The Last Story, along with Xenoblade Chronicles and Pandora’s Tower, has been the focus of a fan-driven effort to get these games released in the U.S. Nintendo of America will publish Xenoblade itselfthis April.

Nintendo Is Approaching Big Media Firms For Wii U

Adweek has published an article that states that Nintendo is courting numerous large media firms to provide content distribution partnerships for Wii U. Nintendo is apparently trying to take a leaf out of Microsoft’s book and provide gamers with a rich multimedia experience using Wii U.

According to the sites sources Nintendo executives arranged meetings with “a select number of top content companies” during this years CES. The companies included Cable networks and Web video producers. One source even said that Nintendo had begun talks with Comcast to become a cable TV distribution. Another source did conclude that “this is very preliminary, it could go nowhere.”

Square Enix Provides A Glimpse At The Kingdom Hearts 3D Box Set

Square Enix has posted the first look at all the goodies Japanese Nintendo 3DS owners will be able to get if they purchase the Kingdom Hearts 3D 10th Anniversary Box set. The special collectors edition box set which retails for ¥15,000 includes Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days and Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded, along with a protective cover and twelve post cards.

Wii U controller nearly had 3D, HD screen, Nintendo patent shows

a new patent filing shows that they very nearly did the same thing with their forthcoming Wii U console. Speaking of the Wii U's dual screen set up (witha TV and the tablet-like controller), US Patent 20120026166, filed by Nintendo on 26 September 2011, states that:"One or both the displays SD and MD may be a 3D display (eg., an autostereoscopic display) that provides stereoscopic perception of depth to a viewer." Here, SD stands for stationary display, or your regular TV set up, while MD stands for mobile display, e.g the console's tablet-sized controller. While it's unlikely that the final controller build will differ much from its non-3D prototype, there is still a strong chance that the console itself will be capable of three dimensional output to a 3D screen

Hulu Plus Is Now On Wii, Free Two Week Trial For Non Subscribers

Nintendo of America has issued a press release stating that Hulu Plus is now available on Wii in North America. Starting today, Wii owners can subscribe to Hulu Plus for $7.99 a month and instantly stream current-season hit TV shows such as Family Guy, Glee, New Girl, Vampire Diaries, The Office, The Biggest Loser and Modern Family, as well as full back seasons of hit shows like Community and Grey’s Anatomy. For the first month of launch, users who download Hulu Plus for Wii and do not already have an existing Hulu Plus account will get a two-week free trial.

Nintendo brings Mobiclip on board to help with Wii U development

Nintendo beefed up its proprietary arsenal yesterday, with the acquisition of Mobiclip -- a Paris-based video codec provider. As Gamasutra reports, the deal was actually finalized back in October, but only became public this week, when Mobiclip confirmed its new ownership on its website. The company already has a history with Nintendo, having lent a hand with video rendering and playback on the DS andGame Boy Advance. Now that it's officially under its wing, Mobiclip will reportedly collaborate with Nintendo on its forthcoming Wii U, as suggested by a recently posted job listing for a "console software engineer."

Nickelodeon Nicktoons MLB 3D Video Game For Nintendo 3DS

There’s a new Nickelodeon video game on the way, Nicktoons MLB 3D for Nintendo 3DS! The game will retail for $29.99 and is expected to arrive on March 6, 2012. The game will feature a variety of Nicktoons characters, including:

- SpongeBob SquarePants
- Invader Zim
- Ren & Stimpy
- And more!

Access Nintendo Zone from home!

The Nintendo Zone is a special gateway for your Nintendo 3DS if you happen to be in one of the thousands of special Wi-Fi hotspot locations that Nintendo has set up across the country. These hotspots are in Best Buy stores, airports, malls, and many other locations throughout the country and give gamers with a 3DS access to special content. Now, though, it’s possible to gain access to that same set of content without leaving your house.

In fact, it’s so simple it almost boggles the mind. Anyone can do it, and here’s how:

“If you set your wireless network to be named attwifi and make it unsecured, then add that network on your 3DS… you can access the Nintendo Zone from home! So whatever demos (right now it’s just Mario & Sonic), Pokémon TV show episodes, and other content they have on there is now accessible from home.” So the Nintendo Zone is not exactly set up with proprietary restrictions. It’s kind of interesting that no one figured this out sooner. Here’s a video so you can see for yourself: look at the video above

Last Light For Wii U Delayed Until 2013,

THQ has announced to investors that it’s delaying Metro: Last Light for Wii U, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC to early 2013.