Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver begin their re-imagined DS walking tours tomorrow, so why not kick back today with some custom made Pikachu Peeps. All you need is yellow bunny Peeps, some edible ink pens, and a little pixie dust (as per this 2009 post from Bakerella.com!)

Issue #252, March 2010
featuring Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver (DS), Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands (Wii), Tournament of Legends (Wii)

Nintendo Power’s six-page look at Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver does not do much to impress you that the games have received wild and necessary improvements. Sure, the graphics are better than a Game Boy Color game! Sure, the sound is better! Much of the article simply rattles off the features that Gold and Silver added ten years ago… like the Steel and Dark types, a real-time clock, held items, and a daycare for breeding. Aside from WiFi play (and I assume the Global Trading Station), there is little talk of features cribbed from modern DS mega-hits Pokemon Pearl and Diamond. At this stage it would have been nice to be reassured that HeartGold and SoulSilver was going to follow that legacy rather than just be a remastered port.

But then there’s the Pokewalker.

Of course I had the Pokemon Pikachu 2 GS back in the day. A combination virtual pet and pedometer, the PP2GS recorded my steps and beamed info into my Pokemon Silver by way of the GBC’s infrared receiver. Flash forward ten years later and you’re about to see me do that all over again with the Pokewalker, a combination virtual pet and pedometer that will do the same with HeartGold and SoulSilver. Although the PP2GS was a separate purchase, Nintendo wisely has the Pokewalker bundled with every copy of HeartGold and SoulSilver. Naturally, this bumps the price up to a slightly dizzying $40.

NP describes a little of the Pokewalker’s functionality. You can transfer one of your pokemon from the DS game to the ‘walker. As you walk around in the real world, the pokemon walks along its own Route… your steps generate Watts which are then used to unlock new Routes back in HeartGold and SoulSilver (does this mean the new Johto map will have multiple new roads and shortcut paths that you’re expected to uncover with the Pokewalker?) Watts can also find items or catch pokemon on the Pokewalker itself, making it kind of like a highly-focused, miniaturized version of the Pokemon concept itself. The most important feature is that pokemon can gain levels after doing their time in your ‘walker.

Oh yes, I shall be levelling up all workday. Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver will see release on March 14. Check to see if your local store is offering the preorder bonus of a little Ho-oh or Lugia plastic figure!

Would the Kingdom Hearts fan community that orchestrated this please stand up?

Two months ago Nintendo Power opened up voting for the annual Nintendo Power Awards. As in previous years, they have separated the winners into two halves: one set chosen by the NP editorial staff and one selected by the online popular vote. Predictably, New Super Mario Bros Wii and Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks won the magazine’s Wii and DS Games of the Year, with NSBMW also taking Overall Game of the Year. But in the online poll, voters chose Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days as both DS GOTY and Overall GOTY, defeating both Mario and Zelda by a large margin. Furthermore, Kingdom Hearts swept all seven categories in which it was nominated!

Seeing that Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days was one of the most tedious DS games I played in 2009 (and I played Blue Dragon Plus!), I smell a very dedicated fan community somewhere that rose to the occasion and swamped the vote.

It’s a fair play; online fansites are powerful beasts packed with passionate voices. I just wish a more deserving game had felt the love.

Allow me to draw your attention to this huge blank space.

Not even Nintendo Power can find enough to say about Data East Arcade Classics to fill out roughly two inches of blank column space.

Are you a bad enough dude to own a crappy retro collection?

Nintendo Power has No More Heroes 2 all wrong.

They gave it a 9.0, which is a pretty shockingly high score. The cynic in me wants to say that NMH2 was the beneficiary of a +2 point bonus simply for being an M-rated, shock-filled, mature-o-fest, like the high scores awarded to The Conduit and Madworld. As much as I love No More Heroes, #2 is not better than #1 (which NP gave an 8 out of 10.) Here’s why.

Much has been said about NMH2 removing the empty, no-frills third-rate-GTA overworld. While in the original, yes the motorcycle was a giant slug and yes the city was largely empty, at least it gave us a sense that this was an actual, explorable location that added to our understanding of Travis Touchdown’s world. In NMH3, every single shop, minigame and level is selectable from a menu. This is a boring, half-assed way out of the problem. The solution is to make the city better not erase it entirely. NMH2 sacrifices immersion and believability by reducing the experience into a disconnected series of quests chosen from a menu.

Do not believe anyone who tells you the 8-bit-styled minigames “are a treat.” Nintendo Power, hilariously, claims to have spent hours playing them yet refers to them as “often fun, sometimes frustrating, and always rewarding.” Often fun? WTF? There’s a key word choice there – “often” – that should notify sensitive readers that NP does not want to admit that these minigames are confusingly explained and poorly controlled.

NP also brings up alternate playable character Shinobu and says her controls are “not as solid as I’d like.” No kidding. Shinobu’s jump might as well contain a random coin-flip generator that determines if you’re actually going to land on the platform you intended. It is terribly loose… and naturally her levels contain quite a bit of vertical scaling. So you’ll be doing a lot of vertical falling.

I love this series. The cutscenes and dialogue and characters are just as good in NMH2 as they were in NMH1. The combat is fast and fun, combining ridiculous light saber attacks with equally ridiculous wrestling drops. The bosses are bizarre and wonderful (although many seem to be purposefully cheap in order to make a metatextual point.) But the loss of the overworld, the obfuscation of the minigames, and some awful control choices (don’t even bring up the motorcycle prelude to the Ryuji boss fight!) add up to some major subtractions to this installment.

A Decade of Nintendo.

The “Best of the Decade” article (quiet, decade-counting purists!) has a great timeline featuring over 100 important games from the N64 through WiiWare. Out of 103 titles, I own 69 of them, which puts me at a pretty great fanboy rating.

According to the timeline, the biggest drought of major releases from from February 2005 to August 2005. And even then, there’s not a single non-DS title noted until November 2006. Looking at that, I’m not surprised that the gaming populace was ready for Nintendo to abandon ship and go software-only in the year prior to the Wii’s ascendance.

Also, your decade of NP Overall GOTYs is as follows:

• 2000: Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (N64)
• 2001: Super Smash Bros Melee (GameCube)
• 2002: Metroid Prime (GameCube)
• 2003: Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GameCube)
• 2004: Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (GameCube)
• 2005: Resident Evil 4 (GameCube)
• 2006: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii)
• 2007: Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
• 2008: Super Smash Bros Brawl (Wii)
• 2009: New Super Mario Bros Wii (Wii)

Yeah, I believe this letter.

Nobody in their right mind would suggest that the last decade of Sonic games was better than the last decade of Mario games. But I somehow doubt that, two months ago, a die-hard Sonic fan suddenly discovered the Wonders of Mario after reading NP’s “250 Reasons to Love Nintendo” feature… and then fired off a lame “I was wrong” letter in time for issue #252 to see print.

Download Staff Picks: Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth (WiiWare), Pilotwings (SNES), The Oregon Trail (DSiWare)

Top scoring Wii review: No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle, 9.0 (all scores out of 10)
Top scoring DS review: Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, 8.0
Lowest rated Wii review: Super Monkey Ball Step & Roll, 5.5
Lowest rated DS review: Ragnarok DS, 5.0

Also this month, Nintendo Power gave Sonic and SEGA All-Stars Racing 8.0 on Wii and 6.0 on DS, Endless Ocean: Blue World (Wii) hit 7.5, and Shiren the Wanderer (Wii) managed a 6.5.

No more dangling Remotes! – The $80 official Tatsunoko vs Capcom arcade stick controller from Mad Catz plugs into the Wii Remote instead of having it’s own wireless connectivity. What the hell man. Is the wireless tech really so cost-prohibitive that we all have to suffer with dangly loose Remotes hanging off our fighting sticks and Classic Controllers?

Whuh-oh. – When discussing the swordplay controls in the upcoming Red Steel 2, NP says “Wii Sports Resort is closer to the kind of sword control that many of us had in mind.”

Your marching orders for Second Quarter. – This spring, you’re going to get WarioWare DIY Showcase for WiiWare and you’re going to enjoy my handmade WarioWare levels I created with WarioWare DIY for DS.

Yeah, we noticed that. – NP points out that Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth for WiiWare has no save option. But according to New Super Mario Bros Wii, that’s okay because it honors the memory of classically difficult retro titles, right?

Next month in Nintendo Power… the goods on WarioWare DIY, plus a look back at Super Mario Bros 3. Plus, Red Steel 2 gets a review score of 7.0 or lower.

Still, event pokemon are considered highly prized by collectors. Even when the event is held at a ubiquitous location like GameStop. I still get random emails by poke-fans desperate for me to trade them the not-otherwise-interesting pokemon I grabbed at a 2004 Toys R Us event.

More interesting than a yellow Pichu is that the little guy can be traded forward into the upcoming Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver. With Pikachu-colored Pichu in tow, you can encounter the rare Spiky-eared Pichu.

Consumers who pre-order Pokémon HeartGold Version will receive a figure of Ho-Oh™, a Legendary Pokémon that circles the skies of the Johto region on rainbow-colored wings. Those who pre-order Pokémon SoulSilver Version will get a figure of Lugia™, a Legendary Pokémon that dwells deep in the seas and has the power to create massive storms. Ho-Oh and Lugia are featured on the packages of the Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver Version games, and these premiums will be offered at participating retailers nationwide while supplies last.

No specific stores were named, but one imagines the usual suspects will apply. Nintendo says the pre-order program will formally kick off on February 1. For Ruby/Sapphire, they did pre-order coins… and for Diamond/Pearl we received pre-order stylii… so at the least we’re moving up the pre-order coolness chain with these figures.

Nintendo also included the suggested price for these games, $39.99 each. A little pricy for a DS game, but remember that the pack includes the Pokewalker accessory. The pair of enhanced Poke-remakes arrives March 14.

If you think back to the original 2000 release of Pokemon Gold and Silver, you may recall how the games used the Game Boy’s infrared port to hook up with the Tamagotchi-esque toy, Pokemon Pikachu GS. A pedometer as well as a virtual pet, Pokemon Pikachu let you store up your steps and then beam the count (“Watts”) into Gold/Silver to buy in-game items. It was one of many unique features that Gold/Silver brought to the table, only to be unceremoniously discarded for the Game Boy Advance generation of Pokemon games.

The Pokewalker updates the pedometer concept by allowing you to transfer ANY one of your pokemon to the device. Then hook the Pokewalker to your belt and Get To Steppin’.

“By walking, players earn Watts, which are used within the Pokéwalker to encounter and catch wild Pokémon or search for hidden items, and can be transferred into Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions to unlock new routes. There are even special versions of certain Pokémon that can only be found within routes on the Pokéwalker, giving players added incentive to keep their Pokémon with them wherever they go. The Pokémon in the Pokéwalker will gain experience points as the player walks, and can even go up one level when they are transferred back into the game.”

I am chuffed as chips to know I’ll be leveling up my team all damn day.

HeartGold and SoulSilver will also allow a single pokemon to follow your onscreen character around, just as Pikachu did back in 1999’s Pokemon Yellow.

2010 is the Year of Walking Pokemon, believe it. The games are scheduled to launch March 14. My new in-office exercise regime begins March 15.

NEW POKÉWALKER ACCESSORY LETS PLAYERS BRING THE FUN OF POKÉMON WHEREVER THEY GO

Jan. 11, 2010

For more than a decade, millions of Pokémon™ fans around the world have enjoyed training their Pokémon within their video games. The March 14 release of the Pokémon™ HeartGold Version and Pokémon SoulSilver Version games lets players continue to enjoy the world of Pokémon away from their Nintendo DS™ or Nintendo DSi™ systems, taking their favorite Pokémon with them wherever they go with the new Pokéwalker™ accessory. This new accessory will come included with each copy of these games.

In Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions, players can wirelessly transfer any one of their Pokémon from one of the two games to the Pokéwalker and walk them through virtual routes as the player walks around in real life. By walking, players earn Watts, which are used within the Pokéwalker to encounter and catch wild Pokémon or search for hidden items, and can be transferred into Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions to unlock new routes. There are even special versions of certain Pokémon that can only be found within routes on the Pokéwalker, giving players added incentive to keep their Pokémon with them wherever they go. The Pokémon in the Pokéwalker will gain experience points as the player walks, and can even go up one level when they are transferred back into the game. Players also can wirelessly connect two Pokéwalkers to trade items.

Letting players return to the beloved Johto region first introduced in Pokémon Gold Version and Silver Version for the portable Game Boy™ system, Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions introduce several new enhancements for the series that enrich these timeless adventures. Created exclusively for the Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi systems, the games feature detailed graphics that spotlight the unique environments and hundreds of Pokémon that players can encounter and catch. Players can even see and interact with their favorite Pokémon outside of battle, selecting one from their team to follow behind their Trainer as they travel through the Johto region. The games also include robust touch-screen functionality, allowing for smoother control and seamless navigation by the player.

For more information about Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions, please visit www.pokemon.com. For more information about Nintendo, please visit www.nintendo.com.

Wii
Capcom, TATSUNOKO VS. CAPCOM™: ULTIMATE ALL-STARS – Jan. 26
Hudson Entertainment, Rooms: The Main Building – Spring
Nintendo, Endless Ocean: Blue World – Feb. 22
SEGA, Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing™ – March
Ubisoft, No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle – late January
Ubisoft, Red Steel 2 – Q1

WiiWare
Akaoni Studio S.L., Zombie Panic in Wonderland – Q1
Capcom, Phoenix Wright™:Ace Attorney™ – January
Capcom, Mega Man® 10 – March
Nintendo, WarioWare™ D.I.Y. Showcase – Q1

DS
Atlus U.S.A., Inc., Shin Megami Tensei®: Strange Journey™ – March 10
Capcom, Ace Attorney Investigations™: Miles Edgeworth – Feb. 16
Hudson Entertainment, Rooms: The Main Building – Spring
Nintendo, Glory of Heracles – Jan. 18
Nintendo, Pokémon HeartGold Version and Pokémon SoulSilver Version – March 14
Nintendo, WarioWare: D.I.Y. – March 28
Nintendo, America’s Test Kitchen: Let’s Get Cooking – March 28
SEGA, Sands of Destruction™ – Jan. 12
SEGA, Infinite Space™ – March
SouthPeak Games, Dementium II™ – Feb. 2
TECMO, Monster Rancher® DS – March

DSiWare
WayForward, Shantae: Risky’s Revenge – Q1

Please continue through for some key points of discussion:

The listing for Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver does not mention the Pokewalker pedometer accessory… although Joystiq already found an Amazon listing that includes it on the box art. Here’s hoping we don’t get screwed out of a pedometer on the US release.

WarioWare D.I.Y. will be an interesting beast. The DS game is the core component, allowing you to make your own WarioWare games and share them with others. The “Showcase” version listed under WiiWare will bring those custom minigames to the Wii audience.

On February 14, Nintendo will start selling blue and pink Wii Remotes, each packaged with a matching MotionPlus. And, one assumes, two matching Remote sleeves!

NINTENDO UNVEILS ITS VIDEO GAME LINEUP FOR EARLY 2010

Hand-Held Pokémon Adventures and New Wii Remote Colors are on the Way

REDMOND, Wash., Dec. 14, 2009 – Consumers nationwide continue to snap up Nintendo products for the holidays, and Nintendo is poised to carry that momentum into 2010. Dozens of games for the Wii™, Nintendo DS™ and Nintendo DSi™ systems are on the way in a wide range of categories from both Nintendo and its third-party partners.

To bring a little color to the winter months, Nintendo will release two new colors for its Wii Remote™ controller. Starting Feb. 14, the controller will come in Pink or Blue and will be bundled with a Wii MotionPlus™ accessory. Along with the current White and Black versions of the controller, now every player in four-player matches can have his or her own color.

“During the holidays, tens of millions of Americans are going to spend enjoyable hours with both Wii and Nintendo DS,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “And the enjoyment will only grow in the early weeks of 2010, whether your taste in gaming comes from exploring ocean depths, catching, training and battling Pokémon or even designing your own micro-games.”

On the Wii console, Endless Ocean™: Blue World arrives on Feb. 22 to provide players with an adventurous and educational experience, complete with underwater exploration, an adventurous storyline and Wii Speak™ compatibility. This January also sees the highly anticipated release of Tatsunoko VS. Capcom™: Ultimate All-Stars. Available exclusively on Wii, this new VS. series fighting game features global online game play for those who have access to a broadband Internet connection.

On the portable side, Nintendo’s hand-held systems will see the arrival of a number of diverse games, including the eagerly awaited Pokémon™ HeartGold Version and Pokémon™ SoulSilver Version on March 14. Pokémon HeartGold Version and Pokémon SoulSilver Version allow fans to return to the scenic Johto region first introduced in the beloved Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver games. The games have been fully enhanced with rich graphics, updated sound, new touch-screen controls and much more.

On March 28, WarioWare D.I.Y.™ lets users design their own micro-games from scratch and share them with other WarioWare D.I.Y. owners via a broadband Internet connection and Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection. Every element, such as the characters, the environment, the actions and even the purpose of the micro-game itself, can be created entirely by the player. Also on March 28, hungry gamers can dig into America’s Test Kitchen: Let’s Get Cooking, which gives family members the chance to prepare 300 different dishes together. All of the recipes and the how-to videos in the game were created by the popular public television show America’s Test Kitchen.

On Jan. 18, Glory of Heracles™ introduces U.S. role-playing fans to the popular Japanese franchise. The game is inspired by Greek mythology and written by Kazushige Nojima of Final Fantasy fame. The traditional role-playing game features an engrossing story and a robust battle system.

Below is a partial list of upcoming packaged and downloadable games for the Wii, Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi systems. Note that game titles and launch dates are subject to change.

Wii

2K Sports
Major League Baseball 2K10 – March

Activision
How To Train Your Dragon – March 23

The American Game Factory, Inc.
Build-A-Bear Workshop – Friendship Valley – March 17

Atlus U.S.A., Inc.
Shiren the Wanderer™ – Feb. 9

Capcom
TATSUNOKO VS. CAPCOM™: ULTIMATE ALL-STARS – Jan. 26

City Interactive USA
Combat Wings: The Great Battles of WWII – Feb. 16
Chicken Riot – Feb. 9

Collision Studios
City Builder – February

D3Publisher
Family Party: 30 Great Games™ Winter Fun – February

Deep Silver, Inc.
Let’s Play Ballerina – March
Let’s Play Garden – March

Disney Interactive Studios
Alice in Wonderland – March

Hudson Entertainment
Rooms: The Main Building – Spring
Calling – Spring

Konami
Walk it Out – Jan. 10
Yu Gi Oh! Duel Trancer – Q1
DanceDanceRevolution – Q1

Majesco Entertainment
Data East Arcade Classics – January
The Daring Game of Girls – February
Pizza Delivery Boy – March

Nintendo
Endless Ocean: Blue World – Feb. 22

SEGA of America
Super Monkey Ball Step & Roll™ – Feb. 9
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing™ – March

SouthPeak Games
Sled Shred™ featuring the Jamaican Bobsled Team – Feb. 1
Fast Food Panic™ – Jan. 5

Storm City Entertainment
Bermuda Triangle: Saving the Coral – February

UFO Interactive Games, Inc.
Arcade Shooter: Ilvelo – Q1
Rock Blast – Q1
Jaja’s Adventure – Q1

Ubisoft
No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle – late January
Sleepover Party – Jan. 12
Racquet Sports – March
Red Steel 2 – Q1

XSEED Games
The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces – Jan. 5
FRAGILE DREAMS: FAREWELL RUINS OF THE MOON – March 16

WiiWare™

Akaoni Studio S.L.
Zombie Panic in Wonderland – Q1

Broken Rules
And Yet It Moves – Q1

Capcom
Phoenix Wright™:Ace Attorney™ – January
Mega Man® 10 – March

Ghostfire Games
Rage of the Gladiator – Q1

Hudson Entertainment
Military Madness: Nectaris® – Q1

Nabi Studios
Toribash – Q1

Nintendo
WarioWare™ D.I.Y. Showcase – Q1

Press Play ApS
Max & the Magic Marker – Q1

Team Meat
Super Meat Boy – Q1

Nintendo DS/Nintendo DSi

2K Sports
Major League Baseball 2K10 – March

Activision
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief™ – Feb. 2
How To Train Your Dragon – March 23

Aksys Games
World Cup of Pool – Feb. 9

The American Game Factory, Inc.
Build-A-Bear Workshop – Welcome to Hugsville – March 17

Atlus U.S.A., Inc.
Shin Megami Tensei®: Strange Journey™ – March 10

Capcom Entertainment, Inc.
Ace Attorney Investigations™: Miles Edgeworth – Feb. 16

City Interactive USA
Animal Country: Life on the Farm – Feb. 16
Art of Murder – March 16

Deep Silver, Inc.
Let’s Play Flight Attendant – March
Let’s Play Ballerina – March
Let’s Play Garden – March

Disney Interactive Studios
Sonny With a Chance – Spring
Alice in Wonderland – March

GameMill Publishing
Escape the Museum – Jan. 12
Hidden Mysteries: Buckingham Palace – Feb. 9

Hudson Entertainment
Rooms: The Main Building – Spring
DECA SPORTS™ – Spring

Konami
Scene It! Twilight – Q1
Puzzle Chronicles – Jan. 10

Majesco Entertainment
Super Speed Machines – February
The Daring Game for Girls – February
Dawn of Heroes – February
ATV Revolution – March

Nintendo
Glory of Heracles – Jan. 18
Pokémon HeartGold Version and Pokémon SoulSilver Version – March 14
WarioWare: D.I.Y. – March 28
America’s Test Kitchen: Let’s Get Cooking – March 28

Natsume Inc.
Squishy Tank™ – February
Cheer We Go! ™ – March

PopCap Games
Bejeweled Twist™ – Q1

SEGA of America
Sands of Destruction™ – Jan. 12
Infinite Space™ – March
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing™ – March
Sonic Classic Collection™ – Spring

SouthPeak Games
Crime Scene™ – Feb. 1
Dementium II™ – Feb. 2
Fast Food Panic™ – Jan. 5
Sushi Go Round™ – Feb. 1
Montessori Music™ – March 1

Storm City Entertainment
Bermuda Triangle: Saving the Coral – February
Myst – February
ATV Quad Kings – March
T.A.C Heroes: The Big Red One – March

TECMO
Monster Rancher® DS – March
AGAIN™ – March

Telegames, Inc.
Puzzle Overload™ -Spring
Solitaire Overload Plus™ – Spring

THQ
Daniel X: The Ultimate Power – Jan. 12

Tomy Corporation
Lovely Lisa™ and Friends (enhanced Nintendo DSi content) – February

Ubisoft
Imagine Reporter – Jan. 20
Imagine Party Planner – Jan. 13
Imagine Sweet 16 – Feb. 10
Imagine Gymnast – March 10

XSEED Games
KORG DS-10 Plus – Jan. 19
Ragnarok™ DS – Feb. 16

Nintendo DSiWare™

EA
Downtown Texas Hold’em Poker – Q1
Surviving High School™ – Q1

Gameloft
Legends of Exidia – Q1
Let’s Golf – Q1
Real Soccer™ 2010 – Q1
Gangstar 2: Kings of L.A. – Q1

Nintendo
Trajectile™ – Jan. 4
Number Battle™ – Jan. 25
Starship Defense™ – Jan. 18
Touch Solitaire – Jan. 11
X-Scape™ – February
Link ‘n’ Launch™ – February

Subatomic Studios
Fieldrunners – Q1

WayForward
Shantae: Risky’s Revenge – Q1

Remember that Wii and Nintendo DSi feature parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about Nintendo, visit www.nintendo.com.

About Nintendo: The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii™, Nintendo DS™ and Nintendo DSi™ systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System™, Nintendo has sold more than 3.2 billion video games and more than 535 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii, Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi, as well as the Game Boy™, Game Boy Advance, Super NES™, Nintendo 64™ and Nintendo GameCube™ systems. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario™, Donkey Kong™, Metroid™, Zelda™ and Pokémon™. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, visit the company’s Web site at www.nintendo.com.

The Pokemon Rumble TCG ($10, coming early December) comes with sixteen cards and plenty of dice and token accessories, bent on simulating Rumble’s Battle Royale mode. The cards are fully compatible with the “regular” Pokemon TCG, but feature artwork done in the cute low-poly style of the Rumble WiiWare game. The thumbnail description (I haven’t seen an actual rulebook yet) makes it sound like a controlled guessing game where you wager which pokemon will survive based on how you roll the dice and what attacks are currently available.

The official Pokemon Rumble website has launched, and it currently offers a fourth code for owners of the WiiWare game. Unbelievably, the code unlocks the ultimate Gen 1 fanbait critter, Mew. The site promises more codes to come soon, including some that must be discovered by playing a matching game.

One was mentioned in the weekly Nintendo Download press release. If you buy the game and have synced your Club Nintendo account, you will get an email in about a week with a secret code. Nintendo has the details here. They don’t say exactly what the code unlocks, but there’s a picture of a Charizard. So I’m thinking Charizard. This offer expires next April.

Note that Nintendo’s info page at this writing still thinks Pokemon Rumble is only 1000 Wii Points. It’s actually 1500. I smell a last-minute price hike.

The second code can be found by watching this week’s edition of Nintendo Week via the Wii’s Nintendo Channel. Host Alison has a Rumble interview and the guest reveals the eight digit code that will net you a Blastoise. Following the trend here of Final Evolutions of Gen 1 Starters, I’m going to guess that a Venusaur will be made available through Nintendo Power or wherever.

Pokemon Rumble features the entire original cast of 150 Pokemon, but it seems plain that the hooks are there to add in the remaining 330+. It just remains to be seen how Nintendo will add those guys in and what it will cost.

Incidentally, the game is pretty much Li’l Diablo.

GAME> Pokemon Stadium (2000)
SYSTEM> Nintendo 64
SOURCE> EGM, 2000

Here’s a special two-part, two-game Aeroprotip for you: first, read the above to win the rare Surfing Pikachu in Pokemon Stadium! Then continue on after the jump to see what that Surfing Pikachu can unlock in Pokemon Yellow… and what it has to do with Excitebike!

GAME> Pokemon Yellow (1999)
SYSTEM> Game Boy
SOURCE> EGM, 2000

Issue #248, December 2009
featuring New Super Mario Bros Wii, Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (Wii), Infinite Space (DS)

Nintendo announced a flurry of new games at E3 09, but only one was slotted to be this year’s big holiday title… and that’s New Super Mario Bros Wii. Nintendo Power is quick to point out the game is no watered down party minigame collection. In fact, it’s more of a watered-up version of New Super Mario Bros on DS.

As the first console-based 2D Mario title in eighteen years, NSMBW owes everything to the NES/SNES generation. The screenshots show rolling hills, card-matching minigames, an overworld map, and the usual allotment of tubes, coins and blocks. NP stresses that the game is a fully capable single-player experience, just in case you thought the levels were best enjoyed with the 4-man multiplayer.

For those of you coming into the game from the like-minded DS game, note that NSMBW lets you keep a much larger pile of collected items like fire flowers and whatnot. However, you can no longer activate a stored item in the middle of the level; you have to use it on the map screen before a level begins.

Some nitty-gritty items: NSMBW supports both Remote alone and Remote+Nunchuk control schemes. The game seems to have inherited the tilting Remote mechanic used in Warioland: Shake It. This is the first 2D Mario game in widescreen, but NP doesn’t say what happens to those of you with old, crappy 4:3 TVs. Does it center-cut the image, or do you have to play it letterboxed? Just like in Smash Bros Brawl, the camera will zoom in and out depending on how tight the players are in the level.

The Koopa Kids return from the dead to play bosses in New Super Mario Bros Wii. All ugly seven of them. With their dorky American Instruction Manual 1990 celebrity names. There’s a good reason Nintendo has done very little with this team of sops in nearly twenty years. Bowser Jr is also in NSMBW and hopefully he kicks the Koopalings around.

Nintendo is still holding on to the previously revealed playable lineup of Mario, Luigi, Toad and Toad. And no, neither of the Toads are clad in the traditional red so the game can preserve easily identifiable colors for all the players. Mario and Luigi own red and green, so the Toads must come in blue and yellow flavors. I still say Nintendo is holding Playable Peach as a hidden ace, because how can a fan-service title like this ignore the Super Mario Bros 2 cast of Mario, Luigi, Toad and Peach? We’ll see if I’m right when the game is released next week.

Have you checked out Nintendo Week? This weekly miniature TV show starting showing up on the Wii’s Nintendo Channel in September. Clean-cut hosts Gary and Alison spend each episode going over the newest releases from all over Nintendo: Wii, DS, Virtual Console, etc.

Nintendo Power introduces the duo in this issue with a brief interview. Unfortunately, it’s not a stellar showing, as the mag basically asks the same question three times, resulting in the hosts having to say the same thing (“I’m a big [Nintendo] fan!”) three times. We do learn that Gary is currently deep into Scribblenauts and Professor Layton, while Alison likes Wii Sports and Donkey Kong Country.

I’ve caught a few of their shows and they are moderately watchable. They are far too scripted and overwritten for adult tastes (they have an odd predilection for calling the DS “the Nintendo DS System”), but kids should enjoy it. They remind me of the first wave of dopey video game shows that landed on TV when I was a kid during the NES era. Of course, I think that supposedly mature shows like X-Play are far too scripted and overwritten as well. But at least with Nintendo Week you know you’re not going to get clumsy sex jokes before each commercial break.

Nintendo might actually try to leverage Nintendo Week once in a while. The episode for the week of October 26 contained the exclusive reveal of the new WiiWare title Excitebike: World Tour.

NP’s Ultimate Zelda list manages to rank thirteen Zelda games, as well as award categories like Best Weapon and Best Overworld. Here’s their order:

• #13. Zelda II (NES, 1988)
• #12 Four Swords Adventures (GameCube, 2004)
• #11 Majora’s Mask (N64, 2000)
• #10/9 Oracle of Ages/Seasons (Game Boy, 2001)
• #8 Minish Cap (GBA, 2004)
• #7 Phantom Hourglass (DS, 2007)
• #6 Wind Waker (GameCube, 2003)
• #5 Link’s Awakening (Game Boy, 1993)
• #4 Twilight Princess (Wii, 2006)
• #3 Legend of Zelda (NES, 1987)
• #2 A Link to the Past (SNES, 1992)
• #1 Ocarina of Time (N64, 1998)

Having played only eight of those, I’m hardly in a position to rank… but I’d put Wind Waker as number one.

These (NO NAME GIVEN) credits have got to stop.

I don’t know where or how Nintendo Power solicits some of their reader mail. Every issue devotes a page to multiple readers’ responses to one specific question. This issue, it’s “Which game world do you find the most compelling?” They must collect responses through a poorly-defined form on their website, because more and more NP seems obliged to publish quotes from people who do not leave their names. Not even their fakey internet names. Which leads to not-entirely-convincing missives like this one:

I suppose it is entirely possible that one fan thinks Wuhu Island from Wii Sports Resort satisfies some mad definition of the word “compelling.” But signing it with a (NO NAME GIVEN) makes me think the writer was ashamed of his pick. Just seems to unintentionally undermine the whole thing.

Download Staff Picks: Contra Rebirth (WiiWare), Tales of Monkey Island 2 (WiiWare), Phantasy Star (Sega Master System), Puzzle League Express (DSiWare)

Top scoring Wii review: Three Wii games at 7.5 this month… WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2010, Astro Boy: The Video Game, and Harvest Moon: Animal Parade. (all scores out of 10)
Top scoring DS review: An unbelievable six DS games ranked 8.0… Phantasy Star 0, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky, Atelier Annie: Alchemists of Sera Island, Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans, Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter, and Space Invaders Extreme 2. No more complaining about low-quality DS games, okay?
Lowest rated Wii review: SimAnimals Africa, 5.0
Lowest rated DS review: Fighting Fantasy: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, 4.0

Other notable review scores this issue include DDR: Hottest Party 3 (Wii, 6.5), Nostalgia (DS, 7.0), Academy of Champions: Soccer (Wii, 6.5), Cooking Mama 3 (DS, 6.0), TMNT: Arcade Attack (DS, 4.5) and Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 (Wii, 5.5).

Frank busts a move. – You may have heard that the US release of Wii-exclusive Tatsunoko vs Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars will feature Frank West of Dead Rising, but did you know that he can wear a Mega Buster-toting Mega Man outfit in the game?

Follow the money. – Infinite Space became a DS game because director Hifumi Kouno thought his budget was not large enough for a console release. Reasonable fellow, that Hifumi.

Don’t forget your Arceus! – Polish off your legitimately collected Pokedex in Pokemon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum with a visit to Toys R Us during the week of November 7 to 15. You’ll be downloading the last pokemon of this generation, Arceus.

The DSi-specific carts are coming. – Foto Fighter, one of a half-dozen games that I have seen claim to be “the first game made specifically for the Nintendo DSi,” lets you take pictures of household objects to spawn battling monsters. Sounds cooler than it actually is… NP makes it sound like the game is only really looking for basic shapes and colors in your pictures, and the resultant poke-ripoffs look nothing like your source photo.

And this isn’t even Sonic’s first racing game. – Sonic may have been a Brawler and an Olympic champion, but he’s not joining every Mario family game just yet. Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing will feature over twenty Sega characters in their own kart racer.

But he wanted to be an interior designer. – Composer Akira Yamaoka went from the music director for the first Silent Hillto the franchise’s producer for Silent Hill 3 and 4. For the upcoming Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, he’s back to being just the composer.

Next month in Nintendo Power… with the big first-party Wii game out of the way, NP turns to the season’s big DS game, Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. Plus, celebrate as the DS turns five!