CVG has put up a new interview with Kirby Triple Deluxe director Shinya Kumazaki and Nintendo director Yurie Hattori. As you would expect, most of the discussion pertains to the upcoming 3DS game, but there’s also some interesting comments about HAL’s relationship with Nintendo.

For Shinya and Kumazki’s full comments, head past the break.

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More: HAL Laboratory, interview, Kirby Triple Deluxe, Shinya Kumazaki, top, Yurie Hattori

More: Japan, Konami, New LovePlus+

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With the shutdown of the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection in May, games that previously carried the WFC logo appear to be getting a reprint. This will remove any indication of the once available functionality as well as a modified ESRB rating logo to reflect the lack of online.

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More: boxart, Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection

Today’s screenshot gives us a look at tether recovery! Sakurai had the following to say alongside the picture:

Tether recovery? Yes, you can! And from even longer range than before. Multiple fighters can latch on–who actually grabs hold is determined by the same rules as the standard ledge grab.

More: Masahiro Sakurai, Miiverse, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, top

More: Activision, High Voltage Software, The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Nintendo must sure like McDonalds. After teaming up with the fast food restaurant to bring Mario toys to Japan and the UK, Pokemon X/Y toys are now coming to the United States. This new Happy Meal licensing deal includes a card and one of 12 toys from a selection including Pikachu, Venusaur, Charizard, Blastoise, Mewtwo, Chespin, Fennekin, Froakie, Helioptile, Pancham, Xerneas, and Yveltal.

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More: McDonalds, Pokemon X, Pokemon Y

ON THIS EPISODE: Some extensive talk about the Mario Kart series and why each entry isn’t just a copy-paste of the last permeates our first segment, plus some brief talk about Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate Deluxe Edition and Mario Golf’s demo squeeze in later on.

PLUS: Listener mail is our last segment of the day, in which we discuss what Wii games are good for tiny baby kids, how we feel about Nintendo’s season pass for Mario Golf: World Tour (and their DLC in general), and why Skyward Sword gets so much hate.

This Week’s Podcast Crew: Austin, Jack, and Laura

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More: highlight, Mario Golf: World Tour, Mario Kart

During the week of April 14, Japan experienced its lowest gaming hardware sales in five years. Information provided by Media Create states that the downturn can be attributed to sluggish sales of Nintendo and PlayStation consoles.

The 3DS, for instance, dropped to 19,943 for the week, which Media Create believes could be related to Nintendo’s “monthly recommended software campaign”. This began on April 26. Consumers may have been hesitant to hold off on making a 3DS purchase until the campaign kicked off.

Media Create also has some insight into the low sales of other platforms. According to the sales tracker, this may have been due to new releases being unable to sell more than a combined total of 50,000 copies during the week.

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More: Japan, Media Create, sales

Secrets of Raetikon is being considered for Wii U, developer Broken Rules has said.

The studio’s Felix Bohatsch wrote in a Reddit AMA:

We are talking about a Wii U port. Secrets of Raetikon uses the same tech base as Chasing Aurora: our own in-house engine Ginkgo. This means porting it to Wii U should be rather straight forward.

Elsewhere in the Reddit AMA, Bohatsch discussed why Broken Rules decided to bring the Wii U launch title Chasing Aurora to Nintendo’s console:

We had a local multiplayer prototype that was really fun. At that time Nintendo told us about the Wii U and if we were interested to develop for it. As Nintendo is still strongly pushing local multiplayer, we thought that’s a perfect match. Also who turns down an offer to be a launch title on a console, right?

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More: Felix Bohatsch, indie, Secrets of Raetikon