This week’s North American Nintendo Downloads are as follows:

Wii U Retail

Mario Kart 8 (available May 30)

Wii U Download

Ittle Dew
Gravity Badgers
Luv Me Buddies Wonderland

Wii U Virtual Console

Klonoa: Empire of Dreams

3DS Virtual Console

Mega Man Xtreme 2

New Nintendo eShop Cards

$10 Nintendo eShop Cards including Photos with Mario – There’s a new way to have fun with your favorite Mushroom Kingdom characters. A special-edition series of $10 Nintendo eShop Cards lets you use your Nintendo 3DS system to play and pose with Mario, Princess Peach or a Goomba using character cards and the Photos with Mario application, at no additional cost. Not only do you get $10 to spend on downloadable games in the Nintendo eShop on both Nintendo 3DS or Wii U, but you also get a cool way to create fun photos on your Nintendo 3DS system. Choose your favorite character (or collect all three!) exclusively at Target retail stores. For details, visit http://www.nintendo.com/photoswithmario.

Nintendo Promotion

Get a free download code for a select Wii U game from Club Nintendo when you register Mario Kart 8 – Register Mario Kart 8 between May 30 at 12 a.m. ET and July 31 at 11:59 p.m. PT to get a free download code for one of the following Wii U games: New Super Mario Bros. U, Pikmin 3, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD and Wii Party U. For full promotion details, visit http://club2.nintendo.com/mario-kart8-promo.

Nintendo eShop Sale

Get up to 33 percent off Pushmo and Crashmo – See where it all started before the Pushmo World game comes out for the Wii U console. From May 28 at 9 a.m. PT to June 13 at 8:59 a.m. PT, the Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS is offering the first two games, Pushmo and Crashmo, at up to 33 percent off their regular prices. For details, visit http://www.nintendo.com/eshop/offers.

Price Reduction

LEGO The Hobbit – $39.99 (was $49.99) starting June 2

Source: Nintendo PR

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REDMOND, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–3 … 2 … 1 … GO! Whether playing with family members in the living room, fellow students in the dorm, coworkers in an office or even online with friends around the world, there is nothing that elicits the same fun, camaraderie and healthy competition like a rousing round of Mario Kart. The Mario Kart series is one of the most recognizable and loved video game series of all time. Tomorrow, Mario Kart 8 will race into stores nationwide and the Nintendo eShop on Wii U, bringing with it anti-gravity racing that finds players speeding upside down and along walls using karts and motorbikes, a variety of single- and multiplayer features and stunning high-definition graphics that make every detail pop off the screen.

“Ever since the launch of the original Super Mario Kart game on the Super NES more than 20 years ago, the words ‘Mario Kart’ have come to represent the gold standard for unpredictable and competitive racing fun,” said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “Mario Kart 8 is an experience only available on Wii U, and the anti-gravity racing makes it unlike anything the series has seen before.”

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In Japan, Nintendo has obtained a new trademark for “Delta Emerald”. The company filed for the name on May 2, though it was only published for all to see today.

When you think of “Delta Emerald”, Pokemon Emerald is something that comes to mind. Interestingly enough, that title was released as part of the same set of games as Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire.

Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire remakes were announced for the 3DS very recently. Could Nintendo also have plans to bring out “Pokemon Delta Emerald” at some point as well?

Source

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In a recent interview with Nintendo Life, Goodbye Galaxy Games talked about the biggest enhancements coming to Tappingo 2:

Zoom mode is probably the biggest new feature. People thought the tiles on the big grid were too small. So being able to zoom in is a really nice feature to have.

Other than that there are many little ones, like for example if you look at the screenshot you can see all lines now have outlines. This makes a individual line better visible in a group of the same colour and also stand out a bit more against the background colour.

I also put in double tapping to retract a line, so players won’t accidentally retract a line causing a chain reaction.

Danny and me also worked really hard on the user interface, made it more dynamic and animated. And just lots and lots of other little things!

Check out the full interview here

More: Goodbye Galaxy Games, Tappingo 2

It’s officially launched in Japan but that hasn’t stopped Nintendo UK promoting Mario Kart 8! The first video features The Brett Domino Trio and isn’t exactly what you’d expect from a normal Nintendo promo.

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So this is a collaboration I don’t think anybody expected. Nintendo are partnering with car manufacturer Mercedes Benz to bring a GLA class model into Mario Kart 8 through free DLC. At present it’s only for Japan but this is interesting because it confirms that the infrastructure for DLC has been built into the game and could potentially be used again in the future. If that’s not bonkers enough for you, Mercedes Benz Japan has released a 30 second ad of the partnership.

Update: Nintendo UK have commented to CVG on the possibility of a Western release:

“The announcement this time was made by Mercedes-Benz Japan regarding their collaboration in Japan with NCL. As for the information relating to the distribution of the GLA kart for MK8 outside Japan, we will be able to announce in the near future.”

Source, Source 2

More: DLC, Mario Kart 8, Merecedes

Japanese rhythm game Taiko no Tatsujin Don to Katsu no Jikuu got a new TV spot, check it out below!

More: Bandai Namco, Taiko no Tatsujin Don to Katsu no Jikuu

Our first look at Ike since his reveal! Sakurai explains how his Eruption attack will work:

You can charge up Ike’s Eruption attack by holding the button down, but remember to release it right before it fully charges to avoid recoil damage. Let go of the button at the moment the sword shines!

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