Despite launching only a month ago, the Nintendo 3DS slipped into second place in the Japanese weekly Media Create rankings. The PSP beat the 3DS by a margin of about 15,000 units. While the PSP has a very strong following in Japan, it’s a little surprising to see Nintendo’s new flagship handheld get beaten. According to Japanese news site Inside Games, the 3DS has only sold around 836,000 units so far.

A lack of strong launch titles could be what’s holding the 3DS back. I can’t speak for the Japanese, but personally there’s nothing in the 3DS’ current list of titles that grabs my eye. If there was new Mario or Zelda game, then things might be different. Also the recent disaster in Japan could also be a factor. I doubt you’d be rushing out to buy a new gaming device if your home just got destroyed by an earthquake/tsunami. What’s telling is that only one 3DS title, Pro Baseball Famista 2011, made it into the top 10 for the week of March 28.

[via Joystiq]

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Let’s be honest, Nintendo pretty much blew its load last year. We usually see sequels to beloved Nintendo franchises evenly distributed throughout a console’s life cycle. For whatever reason (the 3DS launch perhaps?) Nintendo decided to do it in six months.

So now that we’ve had our fix of Kirby, Samus, Donkey Kong, and Mario; what’s left before we throw our “dusty Wiis” into the proverbial closet for good? Well aside from the obvious answer – The Last Story. Nintendo of America recently registered a domain for Mistwalker’s Wii RPG. While that’s a far cry from an official announcement for a Western release, I’ll take it.

Don’t burn us again Nintendo; I’m still bitter about Disaster: Day of Crisis and Fatal Frame IV.

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Hudson was founded in 1973 by Yuji and Hiroshi Kudo. The company went on to produce hit series such as Mario Party, Adventure Island and, of course, Bomberman. While Konami acquired a  majority share of Hudson Soft in 2005, it wasn’t until last week that the merger was complete and Hudson became a fully absorbed entity. The developer left with these parting words via Twitter.

“Dear Hudson fans. Thanks for your support for all these years! We’ll be closing our account tomorrow. Please follow our titles @Konami”

To bid them a fond farewell, Hudson’s SNES title Super Bonk landed on Nintendo’s Virtual Console this morning.

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Are you a fan of  No More Heroes? Well, in that case it might excite you to know that Suda 51 is definitely interested in producing a sequel to No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle. During the Grasstream earthquake relief event where Frog Minutes, Grasshopper Manufacture’s new iOS charity title, Suda 51 spoke about the possibility of a third game.

The Grasshopper CEO said that while “it won’t happen soon, [he'd] like to do it at some point”. Series character designer, Yusuke Kozaki, added that he’s created so many characters that didn’t make the final cut in the first two games, that there are enough left over for another two No More Heroes titles.

Well, that’s not exactly the best of news for those of us yearning for more Travis Touchdown. If you really need your fix, an HD version of the original game has recently been re-released under the title No More Heroes: Heroes’ Paradise. As of now its only available in Japan but should be gearing up for a Western release shortly.

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Here’s the new trailer for Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D. The trailer features Jill Valentine and Albert Wesker out in full force, battling several of the enemy types from Resident Evil 4. The game is looking absolutely fantastic, and its hard to believe something that pretty is coming out on a handheld.

Yet, I’m not entirely sold. Don’t get me wrong, the Mercenaries modes in Resident Evil 4 and 5 were a lot of fun. However, until now these bonuses have provided little more than a diversion to be offered alongside excellent standalone campaigns. Hopefully Capcom can fully flesh out the experience by the time the game joins the growing 3DS library.

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With only two WiiWare demos and a couple of two buck DSiWare titles, this week’s update is a bit on the scant side. While that might not be the most exciting thing in the world, perhaps that is Nintendo’s intention. With the North American 3DS launch underway, Nintendo would probably rather you spent your money on a new portable than convert it into moon bucks for downloadable titles.

If you’re fortunate enough to already have got your hands on Nintendo’s newest portable, let us know what you think in the comments below. If not, this week’s update awaits you after the break.

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Good morning internets! It’s Monday, Monday, gotta download on Monday. Everybody lookin’ forward to the Wii games. Party, and party, and yeah! Party, and party, and yeah! Fun, fun, fun, fun, lookin’ forward to the Wii games.

Virtual Console

• Natsume Championship Wrestling [SNES] (Natsume Inc, 1-4 players, 800 Wii Points)

WiiWare

• Arcade Essentials (Nordcurrent, 1 player, 500 Wii Points)
• Dive: The Medes Islands Secret [demo version] (Cosmonaut Games, 1 player, 0 Wii Points; full version available for 1,000 Wii Points)

Nintendo DSiWare

• G.G Series D-TANK (Genterprise Inc, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
• Shapo (Tik Games, LLC, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)

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It’s Monday and that means another offering on Nintendo’s downloadable services. Usually we see more interesting titles hitting WiiWare while things like clocks and card games wind up on the DSi, but this week’s update bucks that trend. PopCap’s well-known tower defense title Plants vs. Zombies is now available on DSiWare. I suppose they need to do something to keep people interested in the DSi with the 3DS looming on the horizon.

Hit the jump for the rest of this week’s games.

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The Bit.Trip series began nearly two years ago on Nintendo’s WiiWare service with a little title called Bit.Trip BEAT – a colourful and trippy take on Atari’s hit classic Pong. Little did I know it, but that title that I so hesitantly purchased would soon introduce me to one of my favourite series of all time.

In the twilight hours of my time with the series it became apparent to me that this epic finale has been a long time in the planning.

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Can somebody please announce Kingdom Hearts 3?  Between the ending of Kingdom Hearts 2, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, and Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, there’s enough evidence of a third official game to fill several books.  I can’t decide if the developers are being coy or if we’re in for another Half-Life 2: Episode Three.  In the meantime Square-Enix found a way to keep fans busy in the form of a DS release of Kingdom Hearts re: Coded, which originally came out for mobile phones.  The game’s phone origins cause it to translate weakly onto the DS and re: Coded seems more like filler than the previous handheld Kingdom Hearts games.

Phones don’t necessarily lend themselves to the most involving stories, just as God of War: Betrayal was scaled down from God of War: Chains of Olympus, and trying to bring re: Coded back up to DS caliber is where the game immediately stumbles.  The story chronicles Jiminy Cricket, whose journal has been digitized and found to be corrupted by “bugs”, the primary antagonists.  Mickey creates a virtual representation of Sora, who must travel through the journal, essentially living through a slightly modified version of the original Kingdom Hearts.

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It’s Monday and that means another smattering of downloadable games on your respective current-generation Nintendo console of choice. My top pick for this week is Bomberman Hero for the N64…despite the fact that it doesn’t have a multiplayer mode. That may be a deal breaker for some, but I really remember having fun with this one back in the day.

The rest of this week’s games await you after the break.

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So I’ve always been more of a PSP guy, but I’ve been a Zelda fan for waaaay longer. These new Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D screens are absolutely beautiful and really have me second guessing myself on which next-gen handheld I’m going to pick up.

Like pretty much everyone who ever touched an N64, Ocarina of Time was my jam back in the day. I have a feeling that Nintendo is going to sell a lot portables to nostalgic fans that they didn’t even know they wanted a 3DS. Seriously, if they remake Majora’s Mask its done…give all my moneys to Nintendo.

Hit the jump for the full gallery.

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