Image: Nintendo.

Two New Play Control! games are being promoted to the Nintendo Selects line of discounted titles in North America. No need to remind people both appeared on the GameCube here. Pikmin 2 and Mario Power Tennis will both arrive June 20th for $19.99.

Of course, this is an especially important announcement for Pikmin 2, as it means the game will finally be available to North Americans on the Wii. The game has only been a New Play Control! special for Europe and Japan since 2009.

Mario Power Tennis and Pikmin 2 join the eight previously existing North American Nintendo Selects games Super Mario Galaxy, Mario Strikers Charged, Punch-Out!!, Super Paper Mario, Wii Sports, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Animal Crossing: City Folk, and Mario Super Sluggers. That’s a lot of Mario!

Image: Nintendo.

Nintendo is finally getting back to its roots with the 3DS and offering the world the system in purple, officially, “Midnight Purple.” Of course, purple is the same noble colour scheme that saw us through the SNES, GameBoy Advance, and GameCube.

Meanwhile, Japan is actually losing a 3DS colour. Nintendo will be phasing out launch colour Aqua Blue. Cobalt Blue has seemingly made Aqua redundant.

Also, beginning May 20th, the DSi and DSiXL are getting cheaper. The DSi drops from $150 down to $100 (or $99.99, if you prefer to have psychological games played on you). The XL is going from $170 to $130 ($129.99). Sadly, there is no more DS Lite for Nintendo to drop the price on. In my dreams, it would be $30 by now, and everyone on Earth would own at least seven.

Midnight Purple beauty shots follow.

Image: Adapted from E3 2010 Nintendo Media Event - Mr Shigeru Miyamoto demos the new Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword by popculturegeek.com under a CC-BY license.

If you’ve ever wondered why a particular console or handheld isn’t doing all that well, Mario creator and senile god Miyamoto can probably explain the problem: IT LACKS COMPELLING SOFTWARE.

Regarding Sony’s flailing and failing Vita, Miyamoto believes “it’s obviously a very hi-spec machine, and you can do lots of things with it… but I don’t really see the combination of software and hardware that really makes a very strong product.”

Of course, Sony must have missed the lesson the 3DS demonstrated just a few months before the Vita’s launch, when Nintendo’s handheld found itself in a similarly barren position. Shigeru confesses the system suffered for all the same reasons, stating “the key software was missing when we launched the hardware.”

It remains unclear how the pattern of compelling software moving hardware that has driven every successful video game system in history has only recently been noticed.

Source: Edge

Image: Mario Party 9. Nintendo.

Perpetual player-two Luigi is leading an active, independent, social, and generally well rounded life according to his Facebook profile.

About a month ago, the skinnier Mario brother reported his attendance at a pizza party that included Princess Peach, an actual female. Known forever-aloners Toad and Magikoopa were also there, so this may be a sign the trio is working together to improve their social standings.

Luigi’s also catching up with old friends. Just this past Wednesday, he hooked up with talented horse/dinosaur thing Yoshi for some tennis, who he called his “pal.”

Still, the green overall wearing plumber finds himself living a humble life in comparison to his more famous brother. Last year, Luigi congratulated Mario on 3 million fans, and his brother has since added another 2 million. Luigi, meanwhile, is stuck at under 300K likers.

Image: Super Mario World. Nintendo.

Welcome to Splode Plays, a new Let’s Play series from Splodinator.com. Watch along as Newbs and Candid Gamera plow their way through SNES classic Super Mario World.

In this, our final episode, our noble team finally finishes Special World and experiences Mario World’s famous pallet swap.

Image: The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures box art. Nintendo.

The series so far: The Definitive 50 GameCube Games.

Three truly original Zelda games ultimately came to the GameCube. We’ll get to the controversial Wind Waker and the long delayed Twilight Princess, but today, we’re talking about the frantic, chaotic, and gleeful multiplayer action of Four Swords Adventures.

Four Swords stands alongside Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles as one of the two big games designed to promote GameCube-GBA connectivity by requiring it for multiplayer.

Although Four Swords supports single-player through a standard GameCube controller, the game only truly shines when players hop through the awkward link cable hoops and gather as a group to battle their ways through Hyrule.

Adventures‘ gameplay is based on, but vastly expands, the Four Swords mode of the GBA port of Link to the Past.

Each player takes command of one of four Links, on a quest to take down the evil sorcerer Vaati and the nefarious Shadow Link, as well as rescue the six shrine maidens and Princess Zelda.

The game plays something like a multiplayer Link to the Past, with players being put through overworld adventuring, dungeon puzzle-solving, and boss battling. Players are generally expected to stick together to progress, but can explore small areas and rooms on their own, on the GBA screen.

Cooperation is demanded to get anywhere in the game, but inevitably, collisions will happen, and players will turn on one another. This is where things get really awesome. Four Swords enables players to pick-on, hassle, knock-down, and generally be belligerent to one another, resulting in continuous hilarity.

In addition to the main mode of Four Swords, a chaotic battle mode known as Shadow Battle is also available.

The Japanese release of Four Swords Adventures includes a third mode known as Navi Trackers, in which the players are tasked with finding member’s of Tetra’s piratical crew from Wind Waker. The mode includes voice acting, yes, in a Zelda game, which probably explains why it didn’t make it to the west.

Sure, Four Swords Adventures doesn’t live up to the grandeur of its single player brothers, but it still contains some of the biggest fun to be found on the GameCube.

Believe it or not, every major Zelda game released up to the end of the GameCube’s life is playable on the system in some form. In addition to its own three entries in the series, the GameCube can also play all GameBoy, GameBoy Color, and GameBoy Advance Zeldas through the GameBoy Player, including the GBA port of Link to the Past.

Thanks to the Wind Waker pre-order bonus disc, Ocarina of Time, and the long sought-after Master Quest, are available. Finally, the Zelda Promotional Disc, which came bundled with GameCubes for a time, and could also be acquired through other promotions, includes Ocarina again, Majora’s Mask, and the NES Zeldas.

Image: Super Mario World. Nintendo.

Welcome to Splode Plays, a new Let’s Play series from Splodinator.com. Watch along as Newbs and Candid Gamera plow their way through SNES classic Super Mario World.

In this edition, our intrepid team fights on in their noble question through Special World, the most special-est world of Mario’s wacky worlds.

Famed Canadian video game developer Silicon Knights went Nintendo exclusive in 2000, and ended up making two of the GameCube’s finest mature rated games. There was the mind-bending Eternal Darkness, which I assure, we’ll get to on this list, and the artful remake of PlayStation classic Metal Gear Solid, known as The Twin Snakes.

The Twin Snakes retains and magnifies all that made MGS a classic. “Tactical Espionage Action” doesn’t begin to describe the raw charm, utter absurdity, and mesmerizing storytelling contained within.

Solid Snake’s mission sounds straight-forward enough: infiltrate a nuclear weapons facility operated by terrorist threat FOXHOUND, neutralize the enemy, and rescue a couple of hostages, but playing the game reveals countless layers of plot complexity and characterization I would hate to spoil here.

Game design remains relatively faithful to the PlayStation original, with environment layout and enemy locations staying virtually unchanged, although many objects, like lockers and fire extinguishers are added. Gameplay, on the other hand, sees a deeper revision, with many elements from Metal Gear Solid 2 being added. In particular, a first person view allows the player to target enemies in a fashion similar to FPS games, whether that’s an improvement or not is up for debate.

As much as levels and layouts matter to the stealth action of Metal Gear Solid, it’s probably the preposterous flair for storytelling from creator Hideo Kojima that is best known. And while the original contained plenty of drama, the remake really ramps up the insanity with copious cutscenes involving impossible action comprised of Matrix-style bullet time and moves no one could hope to pull off in-game. Konami actually brought in a film director to remake the cutscenes of the original game in his own outlandish style.

Voice acting is also redone for superior sound quality, mostly by the original cast. Voice talents from game actor legends David Hayter and Jennifer Hale included.

Of course, the original Metal Gear Solid profoundly changed gaming through its innovations in story telling and stealth action gameplay. Obviously, its remake could not hope to achieve such seismic influence. Rather, it brings that classic game into the modern era with thoughtful tweaks and improvements, allowing those who missed the original a new point of entry to the series, and old fans a chance to relive the magic.

By the way, Silicon Knights ended their exclusivity deal with Nintendo in 2004. This was followed by a promising, but ultimately disappointing partnership with Microsoft that eventually led to Too Human coming to the 360. That game had originally been in the works for the PS1, and later the GameCube.

Don’t have time to listen to the entire Radio Splode podcast? Not a “podcast person”? Splodinator has you covered. Highlights of the weekly Radio Splode podcast are now available in video form.

This clip comes from Radio Splode Episode 28: Franchises That Need to Die.

Check out the full episode here or directly on iTunes here.

Imagine the possibilities.

Listen via iTunes – Download Directly

Newbs, Weskimo, sulci, and MerrGe are all here to get in-depth and hard-hitting with a review of GameTrailers’ “Top 10 Franchises that Should Die,” followed by a few suggestions of our own.

We’re already planning a sequel to this one about franchises that need to come back. Hit us up with your suggestions in the comments section below, or on Facebook or Twitter.

The series so far: The Definitive 50 GameCube Games.

Three sizes of official memory cards were eventually released for the Cube by Nintendo: the Memory Card 59, 251, and 1019. Early on though, only the 59 was available, and was small enough to be filled by just a few games, depending on their save file sizes.

To give memory deficient gamers a break, Nintendo actually included a specially stickered Memory Card 59 with copies of Animal Crossing. The game’s save took up the whole card.

Animal Crossing defies classification. It’s a sandbox game, city simulator, messaging service, and retro collection rolled into one.

The game begins with the player selecting a few options for his or her character before becoming a new resident in a town populated by big-headed humanoid animals.

You’re stuck with a sizable loan from resident salesman and crook Tom Nook for your new house, and after that, the game is whatever you want it to be.

Players are free to wander the game’s patchwork of trees, lakes, beaches, and housing in search of, well, things to do.

Tools can be acquired to dig for treasures, collectibles, and home decorations. The game includes a number of natural history relics the can be discovered and used to populate a local museum, for example. Or the player can work to acquire alternate clothing for his or her avatar. Many objects that serve no obvious purpose work best as simple home decorations.

Should the player be especially motivated to pay off Tom Nook and expand his or her house, fruit can be mined from trees and sold to help pay down the crushing debt. Additional trees, carefully laid down for maximum yield or not, may be planted and regularly harvested from.

Communications can be made directly or through letter writing to the town’s many animal residents, as well as the other human residents, should the player’s family choose to move in.

Perhaps most exciting, a number of classic NES games may be acquired in game, and played. This includes titles like Balloon Fight, Excitebike, Wario’s Woods, and Punch-Out!!

Animal Crossing began as an N64 title, and was even released as one in Japan. The game we in the west eventually got is actually an up-port of that version, which explains the somewhat simplistic graphical style. Not that I’m complaining, the appearance of the game is smartly stylized for a cartoonish look that fits with the laid-back gameplay and nostalgic atmosphere.

Animal Crossing can be explored at the players own pace. It’s up to you if you want to focus on making in-game friends or collecting everything that there is to be found. It’s not a complex puzzle to be pulled apart and mined for accomplishments. Animal Crossing is an experience.

It’s something a person can go back to and play regularly or only occasionally.

Thanks to changes that occur as the Cube’s internal clock ticks on, life goes forward within the game and among its residents even without player participation.

By the way, Nintendo had long promised an SD card adapter for the GameCube, but it only ever came to Japan. And the Memory Card 1019? Yeah, they can easily be corrupted when used in the Wii, so don’t trust them. Stick with 59s and 251s.

Don’t have time to listen to the entire Radio Splode podcast? Not a “podcast person”? Splodinator has you covered. Video highlights of the weekly Radio Splode podcast are now available in video form.

This clip comes from Radio Splode Episode 27: Mario Goes On and Gamers Go Off.

Check out the full episode here or directly on iTunes here.

Imagine the possibilities.

Listen via iTunes – Download Directly

MerrGe, sulci, Newbs and Weskimo are all together again for another thrilling episode of Radio Splode! Join the team this week for the latest on Mario’s various exploits and a stack of Wii U news.

Relevant Articles:

New Super Mario Bros. 2, 3DS, this August – boom!
Pikmin 3, Mario Wii U confirmed for E3 2012
Rayman Legends Wii U trailer leaks, leaves as many questions as answers
Kittens on punching notice following Wii play session

Image: Xenoblade Chronicles box art. Monolith Soft/Nintendo.

Wii’s graphical inferiority to its current-gen rivals is still setting off angry fanboy rants. Nintendo has demonstrated that after 6 years, it’s still the troll master.

Chris “Warcraft” Kluwe, punter for the Minnesota Vikings and writer for Game Informer, recently exclaimed “Xenoblade Chronicles makes me want to punch a kitten” following a play-through of the game he otherwise adored.

Chris claims Xenoblade “could have been this generation’s Final Fantasy VII,” that it had him “absorbed” in a way he hasn’t experienced since the SNES era. But of course, there’s something far more important than gameplay, and that’s life-ruining last-gen graphics. I’ll let Christ explain:

I for one am sick and tired of it. I’m tired of Nintendo having these awesome franchises and brilliant developers and shafting them with an absolute garbage can of a system. I’m tired of seeing Mario relegated to kitschy ideas because there’s no horsepower under the Wii’s hood; I’m tired of seeing Link fighting through the Temple of Brown Textures and Jagged Edges; I’m tired of seeing games like Xenoblade Chronicles, games with a world vision that dwarfs the imagination and fills the mind with awe-inspiring jaw dropitude, get thrown under the bus by Nintendo insisting on Grandma Waggle Party IV as its core demographic.

Rant Chris, rant! I wonder if Chris would be willing to go back and play the best games of last generation, or even those of the SNES era he seems so enamoured with, and tell us how he feels about those. Or even modern games on portables and smartphones, with their less-than-360 graphical prowess. Could this guy possibly stand any of it, or would we need to put all furry creatures in hiding?

Image: Ubisoft.

Rayman has another 2D sidescroller coming out, this one destined for Wii U at least, but probably other systems as well. As with so much of what comes from or through Ubisoft, a trailer for the game has actually leaked, and it provides a few Wii U answers, but prompts plenty of questions as well.

First off, just watch the Rayman Legends trailer.

What this shows us:

• This game is gorgeous, deal with it Wii U naysayers.
• Near field communication, it’s real.
• The Wii U name is likely sticking around.

What I’m even more confused about:

• What is that cable coming out of the Wii U tablet???
• Just what kind of touch is that touch screen?
• What’s that black square on the underside of the tablet?

The series so far: The Definitive 50 GameCube Games.

I’ve mentioned before that a few Mario characters were lent out during the GameCube era to support certain sports titles. Nintendo also dispatched Link, from The Legend of Zelda, to supply a little extra hype for another third party game, Soul Calibur II. His inclusion did more than push sales, Link’s presence is awesome enough to make the Cube’s version SCII the one to get.

Soul Calibur II is the third game in the long running Soul series which started out in arcades and the PlayStation in the mid 90s, and is arguably its peak.

The game eschews the standard flat plane of older fighters, and yet avoids completely free movement in the third dimension as well, allowing players to move around one another, but keeping them restrained enough to be constantly engaged.

The title features a whopping 23 character roster made up of some of the most gruesome dudes and charming ladies in game history.

On the guy’s side, the bo staff wielding Kilik is fun and easy to control, while the grisly Nightmare’s slow moving attacks are especially devastating. For some real amusement though, check out the twisted and contaminated Necrid, the suicidal Yoshimitsu, or the sado-masochistic Voldo.

Not to be outdone, the ladies counter with halberd swinging Seung Mina, snake sword whipping Ivy, and competent sword wielders like Cassandra and Xianghua. For serious players, the, umm, mesmerizing Taki, with her dangerous dual kodachi may be the best pick.

The variety goes even deeper than that though, as each character has a number of weapons to select from that differ in quality and ability.

Of course, the stand out among all the characters is the previously mentioned Link. He may not wind up as a go-to for many players, but his moves are so wonderfully reminiscent of Zelda history that he’s hard not to love. The magic is especially apparent when you see the Hylian wielding weapons like the bow, boomerang, Master Sword, Megaton Hammer, Bug-Catching Net, and even Cane of Byrna. Link could have been a lazy inclusion and still netted plenty of attention for Namco, but they went all out to include items even many long-time Zelda fans may not remember.

All of these characters can be put to the test through the numerous modes that the game offers. There’s the usual Arcade, VS Battle, Survival, and Training modes, but the game really shines with Team Battle mode, and especially Weapon Master Mode.

In Weapon Master, the player fights his or her way through a series of branching levels comprised of varying settings and requirements. Rewards include experience points and money, the latter of which is vital for purchasing game unlockables like art, costumes, videos, and, most importantly, weapons. It’s a the ideal alternative for fighting game fans who may sometimes lack opponents, or just feel like chilling with the game on their own.

A number of characters, stages, weapons, and extra modes are also unlocked by playing through the many modes of the game or simply advancing in Weapon Master.

Image: New Super Mario Bros. 2. Nintendo.

Update: At its latest investors briefing, Nintendo confirmed that New Super Mario Bros. 2 will be available in both physical and digital download form. This comes as part of a larger push that will see some Nintendo published 3DS and Wii U games made available in both formats.

You heard it here last. That’s right folks, the long known about and totally expected 2D (gameplay) 3D (polygonal) 3D (stereoscopic) 3DS Mario game has been officially announced. It will be the latest entry in the massive selling “New” line. Incredibly, the game will be out in Japan and North America in the rapidly approaching month of August.

Little else is known about the game right now. Only a handful of screenshots have been shown and no video has been released. The raccoon power-up is back, so expect plenty of tails. Perhaps most exciting, that flight gauge thing from Mario 3 is making its return.

Everything else is speculation fused with confusion.

What does the game’s title mean? Why is the third “New” game getting slapped with a “2″? Does the Wii game only count as a spin-off?

What’s especially perplexing about this announcement is that it comes just shortly after Nintendo revealed a new 2D Mario will be unveiled at E3 for Wii U and registered the domain Super Mario 4.

Okay, I got it. My pet theory is that Nintendo will seek to differentiate the two 2D Mario lines by keeping the “New” games on handhelds from now on, and give the console games more varied names like “Super Mario 4.” Eh? Eh?

I don’t know. Maybe the domain registration was in preparation for the inevitable New Super Mario Bros. 4, due out on the 5DS sometime next decade.

Source: IGN