Urban Trial Freestyle is coming to the 3DS eShop, Tate Multimedia S.A has announced. The game is due out in early 2013.

Players can expect an action bike racer containing five 3D urban environments, each with contorted terrain and ramps, background animations, and moving objects. The game also contains different game modes, leaderboards, rider and bike customization, and trophies. And unsurprisingly, stunts are a big part of the title.

Look forward to more information about Urban Trial Freestyle soon.

The following downloadable games will be available in North America on December 13:

Zombie Skape (DSiWare) – $1.99 / 200 points
Rytmik World Music (DSiWare) – $7.99 / 800 points
Chuck E. Cheese’s Alien Defense Force (DSiWare) – $4.99 / 500 points
Gardenscapes (3DS Download) – $7.99

Based on the number of titles here, this could be the full lineup for December 13. We may get a Wii VC or WiiWare title, but that’s about all, I imagine.

Nintendo of America will be joining NOE in tomorrow’s Nintendo Direct activities. Both divisions will be streaming broadcasts tomorrow… and at the same time apparently.

“Catch a new #NintendoDirectNA tomorrow at 9AM PT for more info on upcoming #WiiU and Nintendo #3DS games!”

Tune in to this page (or Nintendo Everything!) for a stream of the event.

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Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has opened up on a few different Wii U topics. He addressed the console’s day-one update – which won’t be built-in for awhile – some of the harsh reviews the console received, Miiverse’s launch issues, the company’s learning curve with online, and Nintendo TVii.

All of Reggie’s comments are posted below.

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This week’s Famitsu review scores are as follows:

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Wii U Edition (Wii U) – 9/10/9/9
Mass Effect 3: Special Edition (Wii U) – 9/10/8/9
Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 2012 Definitive Edition (PSV) – 9/8/9/9
FIFA World Class Soccer (Wii U) – 9/10/8/8
Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (Wii U) – 9/9/8/9
Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge (Wii U) – 9/9/8/9
Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 2012 Definitive Edition (PS3) – 9/9/8/8
Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper (Wii U) – 9/8/8/9
ZombiU (Wii U) – 9/8/9/8
Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 2012 Definitive Edition (PSP) – 8/8/8/9
Inazuma Eleven GO 2 (3DS) – 8/8/8/9
Romance of the Three Kingdoms XII (PS3/Wii U) – 8/8/7/7
Port Royale 3 (PS3/360) – 7/7/8/7
Toriko: Gourmet Monsters! (3DS) – 8/7/7/7
Spy Hunter (3DS/PSV) – 7/7/7/7
Baka and Test to Shoukanju Portable (PSP) – 6/6/5/6
Kawaii Kitten 3D (3DS) – 6/5/5/6

Starting today, UK Wii owners can experience Amazon’s digital movie and TV service Lovefilm directly on their console.

A Wii U version is also on the way. There’s an app pre-installed on the console, but it isn’t functional at the moment. Nintendo says that it will be “coming soon”, but a specific date hasn’t been announced.

Nintendo UK MD Shelly Pearce said:

“We are thrilled to be partnering with LoveFilm to offer Wii owners and soon Wii U owners on-demand film and TV content to enjoy. LoveFilm has a proven track record of success and innovation in film distribution and is a very welcome addition.”

Source

Nintendo of Europe president Satoru Shibata will be hosting a new Nintendo Direct tomorrow. The presentation will focus on upcoming games for the 3DS and Wii U. Fans can look forward to news about titles for the rest of 2012 as well as releases coming in “the first months of 2013.”

The presentation is set for 5 PM GMT / 12 PM EST / 9 AM PST.

Thus far, corresponding Nintendo Directs have not been announced for North America or Japan.

Source: Nintendo PR

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Seasoned Mario players may complain about the lack of challenging and iconic moments in the ‘New Super Mario Bros. series, but the latest entry may have that magic hidden away behind optional “sidequests”.

Author: Austin

A couple of months ago I wrote an article called “What has happened to 2D Mario games? (And how to “fix” them!)”, calling on Nintendo to return the sidescrolling plumber to his magical roots with one simple change; not by copying that which made older titles great, but simply by increasing the difficulty, thereby forcing you to spend more time with the game and form stronger memories of individual levels. Sounds pretty simple, right?

Well, despite my high hopes for the game, it appeared as though New Super Mario Bros. U was still the same old New Super Mario Bros. (the irony of which is not lost). Which isn’t to say it’s bad– after all, Nintendo always nails the technicalities of platforming to perfection– but simply that it’s still not as memorable as entries like World and 3. Going into the game, this is what I was expecting, and I was more than fine to play through another good-not-great Mario title with solid platforming and a few standout moments. Instead of just going through it willy-nilly though, I decided to take the approach that I would complete the game as I went, which is to say that I would gather all three “Star” coins in every level of a world before moving onto the next.

The consequence of this is that the game is no longer good– it’s great! If you read not past this point and you’re a seasoned Mario player, please consider following in my footsteps and playing to completion. You will likely enjoy it a whole lot more. If you want to hear more of why this works, read on!

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I almost can’t get over how peculiar the Wii Mini looks. And I still don’t know why it exists!

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