These new kiosks will be outfitted with touch screens and cameras. Users can use the fairly standard touch interface to learn more about Nintendo's titles, recommendations, sales figures and whatnot or they can wave a DS or Wii title in front of the kiosk's camera and have it play that game's trailer.

There are two types of kiosks: counter top type and floor type.

Two of the kiosks will be rolled out in Tokyo, one in Osaka and one in Kawasaki.

Having taken a look at detailed market data, Broadpoint AmTech analyst Ben Schachter says that "core" game sales in the US (which according to their numbers are all PS3 and 360 sales excluding music titles) are up 17% over the past six months.

Keep it up, kids!

Blame for the overall decline in the market, then, is placed squarely at the feet of the new/casual crowd, with music game sales down 52% and Nintendo sales down 11%.

These arbitrary divisions seem a little off to us - I play both Rock Band and Borderlands - but hey, when you take millions upon millions of consumers into account (especially those whose collection only includes Rock Band, Mario Kart and Wii Sports), it probably averages out.

Core Game Sales Up 17% in Last 6 Months, says Analyst [Industry Gamers]

Folder sets and bookmarks with Toad & Friends, Mario & Friends and Bowser themes will hit Club Nintendo members in the pocket for 250 coins. Greeting card sets for Nintendogs and Mario & Luigi are a also available for any Thank You Note needs you may have, a pricier 300 coins.

Club Nintendo [Official Site]

It's easy to make light of a horror game when you've only got screenshots and the odd video to go by. AJ testified that Calling has some genuinely scary moments during her preview of the game, so chances are I'll stop laughing the moment the game starts. Then I will play until the first scary bit, take the game out, and play something with stuffed animals in it.

His latest project is the Nintendo Wii SUPREME, for which he wants the equivalent of US$483,883. The console contains 2,500 grams (88 oz.) of solid 22ct gold and the front buttons house 78 x 0.25 ct flawless diamonds. The total of all 78 diamonds is 19.5 karats.

The total value of the gold and the two diamonds is considerably less than what Stuart Hughes is asking. What's more, you'll have to play your SUPREME Wii with a NORMAL Wii Remote.

Let's say that the gold is US$1,000 an ounce for a total of about $88,185. And the diamonds are about, say, between $1,200 and $1,500 a karat for a total of somewhere between $23,400 and $29,250 for the diamonds. Both bring the grand total to approximately $117,435 — not including the price of a Nintendo Wii and labor. Stuart Hughes site says that it takes six months to make one of these things. Stuart Hughes' time is very valuable. Six months will cost you, give or take, $365,565.

Only three of these will be made. You can buy it online, too. Go ahead, do it.

Stuart Hughes [Official Site, Thanks Kal!]

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories tells a very different version of the first Silent Hill game, chronicling writer and father Harry Mason's horrific search for his missing daughter Cheryl. Having unfortunately lost her in the town of Silent Hill after a car crash, Harry takes to the streets, sewers and dilapidated haunts of the accursed town to recover her. In Shattered Memories, Harry is equipped with some new tricks, including a multi-functional cell phone that acts as his map, camera and a source for many of the clues that flesh out the re-imagining's story. Developers Climax Studios also have a new trick up their sleeves, the psychological profiling of the player throughout the game, offering a personalized experience during each playthrough.

And in Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, Harry is more lover than fighter. The game features none of the traditionally awkward combat for which the series is somewhat infamous, favoring frantic escapes over clunky confrontations. Including Cheryl, there are plenty of things missing from this Silent Hill. Will longtime fans miss the series' trademarks? Or is Shattered Memories a cool, refreshing update to a franchise in need of a new perspective?

Loved
A Retelling, Not A Remake: Shattered Memories is thankfully more than just a warmed over version of Silent Hill, tacking on Wii Remote controls and updated graphics. It is a very different account of the events following Cheryl Mason's disappearance. Trying to fit the game's storyline within the canon of the rest of the Silent Hill universe is an exercise in futility, an exercise that will likely cease at the game's conclusion. Climax Studios was smart not to offer an obvious, cleaned up rehash, giving the Silent Hill fan something to pick apart and appreciate as a side story to the series.

Profiling: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is peppered with interactive intermissions in the form of therapy sessions with the unusual Dr. K, a psychologist who has the player perform a battery of tests. You know, the kind where there are no right answers. The player's responses to each test will substantially change the characters, the settings, and the flow of the adventure, even the screeching beasts that hunt Harry Mason in Silent Hill's otherworld. The options for changing one's Silent Hill experience and its endings are less cryptic than in previous games, making the story worth revisiting, worth experimenting with. While this Silent Hill may be the shortest of the bunch—my first playthrough lasted somewhere around six hours—it is designed with replays in mind, chances to change the world while having one's head examined. Oh, and did I mention that Shattered Memories spins one of the more interesting yarns of the series, capably delivered with smart symbolism? Because it does that too.

Silent Hill On Ice: As much as I enjoy the rusty, bloodstained, throbbing otherworld of Silent Hills past, it's well worn territory. Shattered Memories doesn't recycle those familiar nightmarish environments, instead choosing to establish its own alternate world, one claustrophobic and frozen. Granted, it's nowhere near as frightening or visually stunning, but Shattered Memories deserves credit for doing its own thing.

Smart Use Of Wii Controls: The Wii Remote acts as a pretty good flashlight, a fact not lost on most Wii developers, including Climax. Illuminating one's way around the town of Silent Hill is satisfying, as is the act of using the remote as your disembodied hand while searching for clues. With shooting and hand-to-hand combat abstracted from the Shattered Memories experience, the games simplified control scheme makes one appreciate not having to deal with previously awkward mechanics.

Hated
Running Down A Dream: As interesting as Silent Hill: Shattered Memories' chase scenes—Nightmares, the game calls them—would have been as a complement to more traditional monster encounters, the game unfortunately relies on them as the only action sequences you'll experience throughout the game. It's fairly repetitive, expectation setting stuff. Normally, you'll explore, find keys, hunt down messages, open doors, but when the town of Silent Hill freezes over, just... run! The Silent Hill series' combat has never been that much "fun," mind you, but replacing all of it with running toward blue markers and shaking off leathery demons with Wii Remote thrusts isn't any more enjoyable. Worse, the sense of tension elsewhere in the game is practically non-existent, thanks to the clear division between action moments and exploration moments.

Losing My Bearings: The game may feature solid use of Wii Remote controls, but the motion controlled camera-flashlight combo can be disorienting, especially when hopping down from ledges during Nightmares. The GPS-style map system on Harry's phone is less useful than any previous Silent Hill in-game map and painful to manipulate during portions of the game. Finally, one moment in the game drops the player into a nearly pure black abyss, an exasperating search for radio static.

Quality Assurance: A pair of bugs, one involving falling through the world and into blackness, the other turning Harry into a disembodied arm holding a cell phone, less than a complete human—making the game unplayable and forcing a reload—happened to me during my first playthrough. Not outlandishly frustrating, since the game lets the player save at any point on Harry's cell phone, but bothersome nonetheless. The game also experiences some slowdown when Harry opens doors, which is more frustrating, especially during panic-filled chase scenes.

Perhaps appropriately, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories left me torn. On the one hand, I was appreciative of Climax Studios' effort to bring something new to the series, blazing a potential new path for future Silent Hill adventures, where the same environments and aged mechanics needn't be revisited. And, better, Shattered Memories doles out a well-told, fairly blunt story, somewhat atypical for the series. Straightforward though the tale may be, sequences and allusions throughout that may seem like storytelling stumbles gel later on, giving the player something to ponder after the game's surprising conclusion.

But as with pretty much every Silent Hill game beyond Silent Hill 3, I was left somewhat disappointed. I personally enjoy the horrific creations that populate the rustier, bloodier underbelly of Silent Hill. And I like confounding, abstract puzzles. And I like bizarre boss fights, disturbing monster design, mood-setting music and hallucinogenic fear. Shattered Memories doesn't have any of that; the scares are few, the monsters nearly nonexistent and the Akira Yamaoka composed soundtrack... well, I barely remember any of it.

It may not appeal to the Silent Hill fan in me, one who's been regularly disappointed since 2003, but at least this re-imagining shatters expectations.

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories was developed by Climax Studios and published by Konami for the Wii on December 8. Retails for $49.99 USD. PlayStation 2 and PSP versions are due later for $29.99 USD. A copy of the game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Played game to completion on Wii. Experienced a second, different playthrough until about the halfway mark.

Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ.

Sooprise, sooprise, "households with kids ages 6-12 represent the 'sweet spot' for these products," writes Nielsen on its blog. Also, these households tend to be wealthier, with incomes above $70,000. But lest you think this is strictly a suburban whitebread consumer template, Hispanics and Asians were most likely, among ethnicities, to pick up this type of game, too.

What is interesting to me is the console breakdown of video game movie buyers. The PlayStation 3 is the clear leader, followed by the PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360. The Wii? A distant fourth.

This is probably attributable to the first three consoles outnumbering the Wii for development of video game adaptations. But as Nielsen started this by painting the picture of a comfortable, dual-income family with kids younger than 12 in the house, and with most major film adaptations going to all consoles, the Wii turning up so low is kind of a surprise.

Movie-based Video Games and the Households that Buy Them [Nielsen Blog]

That makes it five platforms for the game - including the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 versions we already knew about. A news release says Hasbro and developer High Moon Studios will be cooperating on the prequel's story, which will establish much of the Autobots' and Decepticons' stories before their arrival on Earth. Hasbro's Aaron Archer, senior design director, said the game's story will be "used as canon for future storylines in a way we could have only dreamed of a few years ago."

And, of course, the visual appeal will be in tooling around the metallic homeworld of both factions, and meeting and greeting iconic Transformers characters in their native forms.

As for the game itself, an Activision representative said it will feature online competitive and cooperative multiplayer modes. It will also be broken down into two campaigns, one Autobot and one Decepticon. "For the first time in a TRANSFORMERS title, fans will be able to play the game with their friends through team-based online co-op, or go head to head in a variety of intense, online multiplayer game modes," the Activision release said.

The first clip is of alternate playable character Shinobu getting her slice on. The second is of one of the first baddies in the game, Skelter. Lastly, get a look at some of the mini-games (including the super-cute cat weight loss program) in a montage clip.

Given the nature of No More Heroes, I'm not sure whether my altered perspective detracted from my experience or enhanced it. I'm going to go with enhanced because as I read over my notes from that meeting all I see are good things written around giant smiling cats I don't remember drawing. It must've stuck some kind of chord.

The thing I feel bad about, though, is not knowing how to say "stress fracture" in Japanese. Suda 51 was kind enough to inquire why I was limping at the end of the appointment and the best I could do was "It's a little broken." Which I think freaked him out because either something is broken or it isn't right?

What Is It?
No More Heroes 2 is the sequel to Wii game No More Heroes in which players take the role of Travis Touchdown and go about laser-swording various enemies to death for cash and stuff. The third person action adventure game is broken up quite nicely with some motorcycle segments and 2D mini-games. The major appeal comes from the game's insane brand of mature humor, which targets a very niche and dedicated audience of Wii owners.

In NMH2, Travis is dragged back into a tournament-style chain of fights once again as part of a revenge quest. Many character favorites from the first game return and you actually get to play as other characters besides Travis, like the sexy Shinobu.

What We Saw
I shared a playthrough appointment with some journos from 1UP where we passed the controller around for a series of mini games, a section in Travis's apartment, part of a Shinobu level and the first level of the game where Travis fights Skelter, brother to some dude you killed in the first game (which I confess I never beat).

How Far Along Is It?
Near final. The game is due out January 27th.

What Needs Improvement?
If You Can't Stand The Crazy, Get Out Of The Game: No More Heroes 2, like its predecessor, is weird, violent and totally proud of both. The narrative is bizarre, the action is gory and the mix of gameplay types between story missions and side missions can leave you reeling. Do not ride this ride if you have a heart condition, a poor sense of humor or a weak grasp of Suda 51's brand of insanity.

Camera Is A Little Bit Too Crazy: I noticed during Shinobu's level that the camera would sometimes have trouble keeping up with her during sharp turns in narrow corridors. Shinobu seems to move a lot faster than Travis, so I could see this becoming a real problem if you're racing through the level, slicing up a storm.

It's No Longer "Open" World: If you liked the open world of the previous game (although some people found it small), you're going to be disappointed to hear that NMH2 sticks to a map system instead. The map system marks where story and side missions are in town and when you select one, you teleport there. To me, it didn't make the world feel small or anything (and given my drugged state, I actually really appreciate the hand-holding with regards to knowing where the next story mission is), but I can think of a few people who wanted more open world, not less.

Shinobu's High Heels: Just watching her sprint in those thigh-high puppies made me want to cry, imagining my poor ankle going through the same motions.

What Should Stay The Same?

Still Endearingly Crass (And Violent): "Tone it down" is not in Suda 51's vocabulary — not even in its Japanese equivalent meaning. From the fourth-wall-breaking narration where Sophie dismisses the need to catch the audience up on the plot of the first game to chopping off people's heads in slow motion with buckets of blood flecking the screen, NMH2 is every bit as inappropriate and violent as the first game. And I don't think the fans would want it any other way.

Still Pretty Easy To Pick Up: There are some updates to gameplay that make bosses more complicated to beat and the training gym mini-games are notoriously difficult. But other than that, it's not hard to master the sword fighting moves or the procedure for charging up your weapon. Newcomers won't be lost.

Fashion Statements Are An Option: You can take Tavis clothes shopping and customize a great deal about his outfit — right down to some shades straight out of the 80s. But what I found really cool is how developer Grasshopper Manufacture gave a nod to Japanese fans by holding a shirt design contest. You can find the winning entries on the racks at the clothing store.

OMG Kitty~! My favorite thing next to the anime video game you can play in Travis's apartment is Travis's cat, Jean. At the end of the first game, she appears to have let herself go and is now a big ball of cat blubber. A mini-game lets you train her with "cat exercises" and arrange her diet so that she loses weight over time. The cat exercises were pretty hilarious — one of them involves Travis hoisting her up over his head, which probably benefits his weight loss more than hers. So adorable! And probably the reason I drew giant smiling cats all over my notes.

Final Thoughts
Now that my ankle is mostly better and I no longer am under the effects of painkillers, I realize how ridiculous the cat thing is. My cat would kick my ass if I tried to lift her over my head under the pretense of trying to make her lose weight.

Also, here's some news you can use:
—There are about 10 hours of gameplay total (side missions and all).
—No save data from the first game carries over or has any impact on the game.
—It doesn't use Wii MotionPlus.
—The motorcycle returns in some side missions.
—Suda 51 had nothing to say either about the ports of the first game to the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360, or about his ongoing project with EA.

[Note from Kotaku: The following excerpts are from a series of interviews published in A Casual Revolution, a new book that chronicles and studies modern styles of gaming, challenging the notions of "casual" and "hardcore," and examining how and why gamers play what they play]

Type 2: These are the stories of players who used to intensely play video games and now have switched to more casual video games.

Survey response from a 40-year-old female player.

Q: Have your game-playing habits changed over the years?

A: I used to only play RPGs like Guild Wars but you can start and stop casual games easier during the day.

Survey response from a 42-year-old female player.

Q: Have your game-playing habits changed over the years?

A: Started with text-only adventure games, moved toward RPG video-games & simulations, most recently I stick with time management-type casual games.

Survey response from a 29-year-old female player.

Q: Have your game-playing habits changed over the years?

A: I no longer play shoot 'em ups or beat 'em ups or two-player games with my sister on the Amiga. I've less patience with poor games and am less inclined to persevere. My shelf's full of games I've bought then never even bothered to play, or those I've only played for an hour then given up. At least with casual games the free trial makes that less likely. I've always played casual games, even before they were called that though (Tetris, pinball, card games, Nuclear War, Rockstar Ate My Hamster, they were all casual) and I've always played traditional games too.

Survey response from a 38-year-old male player.

Q: Have your game-playing habits changed over the years?

A: As I grew up and had more obligations my time and patience became limited towards investing in epic games. Though I still love the idea of playing epics like Civilization or Warlords or SimCity, the time required is just more than I can provide. Every so often I try to get a game going only to be pulled off it by various obligations and [I find] it difficult to return.

Survey response from a 30-year-old female player.

Q: Have your game-playing habits changed over the years?

A: Having a baby really changed my game playing habits. When she needs my attention the game must stop. This is why World of Warcraft has been hard to play as of late.

Survey response from a 43-year-old female player.

Q: Have your game-playing habits changed over the years?

A: I've been an active computer gamer since 1989. I've always loved the adventure games. But as I've grown older, got married, had kids, I find it hard to concentrate too long and get too involved in an adventure game, since the time that I spend on the computer is so inconsistent. A casual game is now perfect for me ... it helps me to relax and ‘‘stimulate the gray matter.'' I love them!

Players Discovering Casual Games
Type 3: These are stories of players who have discovered video games through casual games.

Phone interview with the father in a Wii-playing family, the parents in their early thirties with two twin girls aged three and a half.

Q: You compared the Wii to Parcheesi?

A: We don't play Parcheesi [Sorry!/Ludo] with the kids, because it is too complicated for them-they are only three and a half years old. With the Wii, on the other hand, the way that you do something and see a reaction on the screen, the way you tilt the controller and see something on the screen-that is something different. You cannot give them PlayStation controllers; those are a little too advanced with too many buttons. With the Wii, we can see on the kids that it just works for them, they can use that immediately. We play the Wii with friends, at social events. We have also played it with the in-laws who are both around sixty. They play it eagerly, and they ask if we shouldn't play the game one more time.

Q: Do you personally play other computer or video games?

A: Ah yes. I have started playing Call of Duty, and I used to play Counter-Strike a lot. I am into first-person shooters, we have a clan, and so on. But nothing related to the Wii.

Q: You haven't tried converting your wife or family to computer/videogames?

A: Not to traditional computer games. I know they don't like those, so it hasn't come up. We play the Settlers board game with the in-laws. The computer is not so good for something like that where it becomes strategic and you play for several hours. When I was a child, we played Parcheesi and chess, or perhaps Pong. That could be played with the family.

Q: What Wii games do you play?

A: Mostly Wii Sports and Wii Fit. We have bought some others, but we don't play them. We just held a summer barbecue with eighteen guests. Everybody was playing the hula hoop on Wii Fit. We bring out the Wii at social gatherings and when friends come over.

Phone interview with a player of downloadable casual games in her fifties.

Q: Have you played board games or card games?

A: Lots. Checkers, Nine Men's Morris, and lots of card games.

Q: And Solitaire games?

A: Yes. Playing casual games actually feels similar to playing Solitaire. You are totally relaxed, you cannot concentrate on anything else, but at the same time you can be thinking about other things in the back of your mind. I often play when I face a difficult problem. In my company I face various tasks that are hard to get started with. I already have the knowledge I need, so I play a game rather than go read a lot of books. Then the solutions come. It is like the game brings out a lot of tacit knowledge, as if the problem solving in the game maintains that skill, and that is a skill I need.

Q: How were you introduced to casual games?

A: My 75-year-old friend introduced me to Zuma and Collapse, the predecessor to Zuma. It was after I had handed in my PhD thesis, so my brain was completely offline. Then she invited me over for dinner and told me she had something interesting to show me. She also had a computer Mahjong game that was very beautiful and exciting, I really liked that. Later I have begun to buy them myself, because they are not that expensive.

Q: How do you feel about difficult games? Is it a problem to be stuck on a level?

A: Level twelve of Zuma is really fast. I think I gave up after fifty attempts. Zuma has a game mode called Gauntlet where you can practice different levels, so I switched to that and practiced becoming faster. That helped, but I was still too slow. It was important for me to finish the game-I believe that is important in life, to finish things, no matter what. I like competing with myself, to see development and progress. ‘‘No matter what,'' is really the point for me. I googled for solutions and found a site with a cheat code to make Zuma slower. It worked!!! For me, that was even more satisfying that beating the game on its own terms: to modify the game to fit my own limitations and capacities.

Survey response from a 52-year-old female player.

Q: Have your game-playing habits changed over the years?

A: Until I discovered casual games on the computer I used to spend a lot of time with traditional crossword puzzle books and other puzzle-based paper-based activities.

Survey response from a 49-year-old female player.

Q: Have your game-playing habits changed over the years?

A: I play more now that they have made games to suit women. Not the fighting, killing, kicking ... etc. games.

Survey response from a 29-year-old female player.

Q: Have your game-playing habits changed over the years?

A: I only discovered ‘casual games' about a year and a half ago. Of all things, my Mom had bought Insaniquarium and a puzzle type one (I want to say Penguin Puzzle, but I don't remember the name for sure) for my son for Christmas. Regardless, after the entire family got hooked on Insaniquarium, I ended up checking out the website of the company that put it out, and things went from there. Before ‘casual games' entered the house, I'd gotten to the point where I mostly played MMORPGs-EverQuest, at the time, though I usually ended up giving new ones a try as they came out. That, and Sims 2. But like I said above, ‘normal' computer games don't come out all that often. At least, not ones I was interested in. With the whole new world of casual games that can be downloaded and tried in just a few minutes, it let me have a much wider variety of games to play, so that I now have something to play no matter what my mood is and what I want to do.

For more on A Casual Revolution, go to the book's official site or purchase it here.

As of December 13, the Wii has sold 9,048,012 units since it went on sale in Japan, while the PS3 has sold 4,020,563. The PS3 experienced a significant spike in sales this year. In December 2008, Enterbrain tallied 2.6 million PS3 units sold in Japan. The Wii sold 7.5 million.

Wii title New Super Mario Bros. Wii continues to give a 1up to software sales, moving 1.4 million copies in its first 11 days on sale. As previously posted, the game is the fastest selling Wii title to date.

販売台数Wiiは900万台、PS3は400万台を突破！ 気になるアレは大台達成！ - ファミ通.com [Famitsu]

2010 may get off to a slower start—and we may only get to sample the next Legend of Zelda game for the Wii with our eyes, not our hands—but with a new Metroid, a new Mario and Epic Mickey coming, the rest of the year may be remembered as one with too many good Wii games. Or at least one with variety, interesting third-party support and the year that the Wii Vitality Sensor was released to rave reviews and mind-blowing sales.

At the very least, we expect these important Wii games (and Wii Remote add-ons) to make 2010 a better year for Nintendo's platform than the previous one. Let's begin...

Note: We'll be looking at every platform's currently announced and estimated 2010 slate over the course of the rest of the week—and much much more.

Metroid: Other M
Nintendo and Team Ninja give the Wii its first all-original Metroid game and the freshest since 2007's Metroid Prime 3, blending side-scrolling action with first-person adventuring. Or is that side-scrolling adventuring and first-person action? It's penciled in for a 2010 release.
Epic Mickey
Warren Spector's dark, spectacular looking adventure could give the Wii the finest Mickey Mouse game since Castle of Illusion, no small feat.
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Nintendo turns around a proper Mario sequel with surprising speed, promising a more challenging galactic Mario adventure, now with more Yoshi and a tentative 2010 release date.
Red Steel 2
The Wii MotionPlus may get its "killer app," with Ubisoft's first-person shooter/slasher combining old west aesthetic with ninja killing. Red Steel 2 should lead a longer list of mature-targeted "core" titles in '10.
Sin & Punishment 2
Cult favorite Treasure churns out a sequel to the Nintendo 64 classic shooter, a title aimed squarely at the hardcore fan. Will the Wii audience respond? They better, or they truly deserve punishment.
Arc Rise Fantasia
The Wii gets a dose of traditional fantasy turn-based RPG action, courtesy of Luminous Arc developers imageepoch, a relatively young studio with a solid pedigree.
Cave Story
The highly anticipated WiiWare version of the freeware PC adventure game was supposed to have been released by now, but we hope the remake will actually make it's way to the Wii Shopping Channel in 2010.
Endless Ocean: Blue World
The sequel to Nintendo's serene underwater adventure hits in the first quarter of 2010, far away from the Nintendo titles we expect to make a much bigger splash.
Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon
Post-apocalyptic, yes, but Tri-Crescendo's role-playing game does not feature much in the way of zombies or nuclear wastelands. Instead, expect adventure, puzzle solving and the use of your Wii Remote as a flashlight.
Gladiator A.D.
High-Voltage, developer of first-person shooter The Conduit, tries its hand at an ancient Roman fighting game. The developer knows how to get peak performance out of the Wii, keeping Gladiator A.D. on our radar.
LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
It's LEGO plus Harry Potter plus Wii. We expect this LEGO adventure game to be like its ancestors: good, but now with more Quidditch.
Line Attack Heroes
Frankly, we're not sure what Nintendo's plans for Line Attack Heroes are, since the company has been silent about it since E3. Maybe the publisher is working a new name for the multiplayer action game. Or at least we hope.
Monado: Beginning of the World
Monolith Soft's original role-playing game will likely hit North America before the developer's Disaster: Day of Crisis. With Baten Kaitos and Xenosaga under their belts, Monado should be on the radar of any Wii owning RPG fan.
Monster Hunter Tri
Capcom tries to wrangle monster hunting success in the West with the release of the newest Monster Hunter, the action adventure hit that will give you a reason to dust off your Wii Speak microphone.
No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle
Grasshopper Manufacture sends Travis Touchdown back out to the field for the follow up to the quirky, bloody No More Heroes. Improvements abound, hopefully with Wii MotionPlus support included.
Span Smasher
Like Line Attack Heroes, Nintendo has been mum on Span Smasher since E3. Players will control the titular Smasher and smash things, a smashing concept from developers Artoon.
Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars
Capcom's arcade fighting game comes to the Wii, with a slightly different cast of characters from animation company Tatsunoko and fighting game experts Capcom. The 3D meets 2D brawler features a more simplified fighting system and a potpourri of contestants.
The Grinder
High Voltage software's other Wii game planned for 2010 puts tons of enemies on screen, then lets the player kill them. With guns.
Tower of Shadow
This gorgeous looking puzzle-platformer should be coming to WiiWare sooner before later. Keep an eye out for it.
Super Monkey Ball: Step & Roll
Sega puts the Wii Balance Board to banana grabbing use, asking great balance and patience of Wii owners' calves to help guide Mimi, Baby, AiAi and GonGon to monkey ball rolling safety.
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
Sega brings its many characters together from franchises as unique as Shenmue, Sonic the Hedgehog and Samba de Amigo, then puts then in karts. They race.
Wii Vitality Sensor
We're not sure what to make of Nintendo's Wii Vitality Sensor add-on, but the E3 announced device could open up new gameplay opportunities for Wii games. That, or we'll have something new into which we can stick our fingers. And that's great!

"The Only Elite Xbox 360 that has been microwaved," boasts the advertisement by artist Kenny Irwin. I'd love to see someone zap theirs just to spite the claim. Anyway, Irwin says half of the proceeds from this auction will go to the Council on American-Islamic Relations of California, which I bet never thought it'd be the beneficiary of a sale of melted consumer electronics.

Irwin's bio, according to the eBay listing:

Kenny Irwin art comes in many unique forms from using bic ball point pens to draw with to weaving xmas lights into textiles to microwaving everyday retail products into other worldly creatures and building giant robots out of your junk and much much more. Kenny Irwin art is endorsed and featured by AVAM [American Visionary Art Museum] and is the talk of the town and the talk of the world. Owning a Kenny Irwin original means owning something everyone talks about. From the internationally renowned dOvetastic Microwave Theater comes this state of the "art" work of art worthy of a place in the Guggenheim Museum sign and dated by Artist Kenny Irwin. Comes with free stylish display stand. Your item is guaranteed to have been microwaved or your money back. Remember, microwaving food is for morons. Price is non-negotiable. Buyer shall receive an object of microwave modern art.

CAIR of California is also listed as the 25 percent recipient of the proceeds from a nuked Wii, going for $5,988. It got the same treatment, microwaving, eyeball-affixing, the works. Speaking of works, these don't.

Microwaved Elite White Xbox 360 and Microwaved Nintendo Wii Mutant Gaming Machine [eBay via Hot Blooded Gaming]

As far as I am concerned, there is nothing near as festive as monkeys. There isn't one holiday that couldn't be enhanced by an injection of these lovable primates. You may hate monkeys, and that's okay too, because it's the holiday season, and we have enough love for everyone, even repulsive monkey haters.

According to updated figures from the NPD Group, as reported by IndustryGamers, Nintendo is set to dominate software sales here in the States. It's presence in the top ten bestselling games of the year (through November) give the company six of the top ten spots, with five Wii games and one Nintendo DS contributing more than 13.5 million sales so far this year.

It's mostly what you'd expect—Wii Fit, Mario Kart Wii, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Pokemon Platinum, Wii Play, Wii Sports Resort. And Nintendo will have to settle for second behind Modern Warfare 2. But we won't be surprised to see this list change, maybe including one more Nintendo game, by end of year.

NPD: Top 10 Games Through November Reveal Nintendo Dominance [IndustryGamers]

The problem with interjecting a video game between two previously released titles is we can pretty much assume the new title ends with a total memory wipe. Unless Ubisoft decides to release a new version of Warrior Within with references to Forgotten Sands, that'll probably be the case. We can't have the Prince simply deciding not to use the natural powers he'll be using in Forgotten Sands, can we?

After the events in The Sands of Time, the Prince goes to visit his brother's kingdom, only to find it besieged by the forces of evil. Using the powers of the Sands to save the kingdom from annihilation kicks off an adventure in which the Prince will learn what Spider-Man already knows; with great power comes great responsibility.

Expect epic moments, tons of acrobatics, and refined combat, all rendered lovingly in the Anvil game engine.

The game is being developed for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC, PSP, Nintendo Wii, and DS, with the last three featuring a different gaming experience than the more powerful platforms. Expect more details on what that means as we inch closer to the game's May 2010 release.

Be sure to check out the game's reveal trailer, which premeired this weekend during the Spike TV VGA Awards.

Despite a strong showing across all three of Nintendo's downloadable game services, the Virtual Console comes out on top this week, with one of the greatest action games for the Nintendo Entertainment System finally making it onto the Wii. I'm talking about Sunsoft's Blaster Master (500 Wii points). On one hand, it's the story of a brave adventurer travelling through the mutant-infested tunnels beneath the earth's crust in Sophia the 3rd, an armored attack vehicle of unknown origin. On the other, it's a game about a kid looking for his missing frog, Fred. It's one of my favorite video games of all time, eclipsing even Interplay's Earthworm Jim 2 (800 points), also hitting the VC this week.

DSiWare is a close second this week, with titles like Littlest Pet Shop (800 DSi points), Bejeweled Twist (500 points), Yummy Yummy Cooking Jam (500 points), and Gameloft's Miami nightlife simulator Miami Nights (800 points) making up the inclusion of another silly Master of Illusion: Express title.

Not that this week's WiiWare offerings are particularly bad. I'm just not all that familiar with racer Stunt Cars (800 points), petri dish shooter Diatomic (800 points), Natsume's puzzler Moki Moki (800 points), and Rubik's Puzzle Galaxy: RUSH (600 points), so my excitement is held in check by my unfortunate ignorance.

Check out the full descriptions below and see if there's anything worth your while. Other than Blaster Master, of course. That's a given.

Virtual Console

Blaster Master™
Original platform: NES™
Publisher: Sunsoft
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) - Mild Fantasy Violence
Price: 500 Wii Points™
Description: The New York sewers were never like this. You've fallen down a hidden manhole into a world of creatures so terrifying they'd scare the rats away. You can panic and perish, or blast your way through an endless maze of tunnels in search of secret passages to your escape. Masters of the Caverns lay waiting - prehistoric creatures so powerful and gigantic they literally fill your screen. Load your arsenal and get ready for Blaster Master.

Earthworm Jim 2™
Original platform: SEGA Genesis
Publisher: Interplay
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) - Cartoon Violence
Price: 800 Wii Points
Description: Superhero annelid Jim and his new sidekick, Snott, are back for an off-the-wall sequel in Earthworm Jim 2. Containing more action than your standard platformer from the Genesis era, each stage has a different style and mission, drawing on game play from different genres, including mazes, trivia contests and arcade-style levels. The game also features music composed by Tommy Tallarico. Do you have what it takes to rescue the Princess?

Nintendo DSiWare

LITTLEST PET SHOP
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 800 Nintendo DSi Points™
Description: Experience your favorite LITTLEST PET SHOP pets in a whole new way on your Nintendo DSi system. Play catch with your pets and their favorite toys, dress them up in adorable new accessories and keep them happy by brushing and feeding them. You can even throw a little dance party for your pets and help them rock out to cool songs.

Miami Nights
Publisher: Gameloft
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: T (Teen) - Comic Mischief, Mild Suggestive Themes, Tobacco Reference, Use of Alcohol
Price: 800 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: You won't find a more complete life simulation than Miami Nights: Life in the Spotlight. Begin by designing your avatar with an unbelievable level of customizable physical detail. But it's not your physique that counts. Instead, your life choices and your everyday behavior will influence more than 40 attributes that will make you a unique, progressive individual. The city of Miami is presented to you with no fewer than 30 places to explore. Plus, you'll be able to customize your entire home and interact with your environment in many ways. The most important part of the game play lies in how you interact with other characters. They will be the ones who'll help you achieve your goals. You'll be able to establish and break off different types of relationships with them. It's up to you to act like a bad guy or sweet girl, make friends or enemies, and choose the best way - honest or otherwise - to make your dreams become a reality.

Bejeweled Twist™
Publisher: PopCap Games
Players: 1-2
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Spin, match, explode - it's a brilliant new way to play. Spin and match explosive gems for shockwaves of fun in this quick-play version of the award-winning PopCap game. Rotate jewels to set up electrifying combos, outwit obstacles like Locks and Bombs, and create high-voltage Flame and Lightning gems. Play the intensely fun Classic mode or take on a friend in the exclusive Nintendo DS Battle mode. No matter how you play, you'll find endless ways to win.

Yummy Yummy Cooking Jam
Publisher: Virtual Toys
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) - Comic Mischief
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Have you ever asked yourself what it would feel like to be among the stoves of the best restaurants in the world? Do you want to become the best chef there is, preparing scrumptious dishes? Jump right in and enter the world of Yummy Yummy and its mixture of flavors and aromas. In Yummy Yummy, you'll have to satisfy the hunger of the most diverse, colorful set of diners: vampires, extraterrestrials, mafia thugs, Vikings and more. Prepare hot dogs, hamburgers, pizzas and Mexican burritos as quickly as you can before your customers get tired of waiting and decide to leave the restaurant without giving you a good tip. Roll up your sleeves, don your chef's hat and have a great time.

Master of Illusion™ Express: Matchmaker
Publisher: Nintendo
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 200 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Master of Illusion Express titles feature mind-boggling magic tricks that you can perform with your Nintendo DSi system. Learn the illusions, practice up and amaze your friends. Master of Illusion Express: Matchmaker includes two tricks that use your Nintendo DSi system to reveal information about others. Use the Photo Diagnosis trick and stun others by taking two simple photos to pinpoint their exact age. Or have the Matchmaker trick show that another person has favorite dates or favorite foods that are similar to yours. Who knows? You could even land a date or make a new friend.

WiiWare

Stunt Cars™
Publisher: Icon Games Entertainment
Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 800 Wii Points
Description: Stunt Cars takes place on elevated racetracks with very little to stop players from accidentally driving off the side. Turbo can be used to make a car go faster, but it can only be used for a limited amount of time in each race. As you progress through the game's four championship cups, you'll unlock special features such as driver achievement awards.

Diatomic
Publisher: Grendel Games
Players: 1-2
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) - Mild Fantasy Violence
Price: 800 Wii Points
Description: Diatomic is a fast retro-arcade action game that takes place inside a set of petri dishes. The safe confines of your petri dish are about to be invaded by nine different diatomic creatures that seek to destroy you. Armed with your shield, tail, strategic intelligence and good reflexes, you stand a good chance of defeating the overwhelming odds. You must stay alive during 65 hectic stages spread over five chapters. The high score list shows what kind of player you are. Playing defensively and gaining an all-out defensive high score is harder to pull off than gaining an all-out offensive high score.

Moki Moki™
Publisher: Natsume Inc.
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) - Comic Mischief
Price: 800 Wii Points
Description: It's a mind-bending, gravity-defying puzzler. The Moki are being devoured by the voracious Gromblins, and it's up to you to guide the hapless little guys to safety. Bend, twist and rotate the environment to herd the Moki through a series of brain-teasing puzzles. Along the way, you'll have to contend with deadly pitfalls, spinning blades and shifting gravity. Roll Moki down ramps, grab them with hooks and blast them with jets to guide them safely to the portals. Challenge your skills in 100 unique levels.

Rubik's Puzzle Galaxy: RUSH
Publisher: Two Tribes
Players: 1-2
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 600 Wii Points
Description: Rubik's Puzzle Galaxy: RUSH is a 3-D puzzle game with more than 70 challenging levels. Players need to guide Cubes to color-coded exit points. Using the Wii Remote™ controller's intuitive controls, players herd the colored cubes along by using Conveyer Belts, Warps, Stop Signs, Directional Signs and Splits. RUSH also includes the original Rubik's Cube as a bonus. Players can attempt to solve one of the four different-sized Cubes alone, compete against a second player or learn how to solve the classic Rubik's Cube.