Earlier today, Nico Nico held an announcement broadcast for its annual “Nico Nico Chokaigi” convention. The show was highlighted by an appearance from none other than Shigeru Miyamoto.

Miyamoto announced that Nintendo intends to act as the “Super Special Sponsor” this year. It’s a bit unclear as to what this entails – though perhaps it’s a sign that Nintendo has something special in store for fans.

Nico Nico Chokaigi will take place on April 27 and April 28.

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The nominees are in for this year’s Game Developer Choice Awards. You can find the full lineup below.

Game of the Year
Gone Home (The Fullbright Company)
Grand Theft Auto V (Rockstar North/Rockstar Games)
The Last Of Us (Naughty Dog/Sony)
Super Mario 3D World (Nintendo EAD Tokyo/Nintendo)
Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics/Square Enix)

Honorable Mentions: The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (Nintendo EAD/Nintendo), Papers, Please (Lucas Pope), The Stanley Parable (Galactic Cafe), Tearaway (Media Molecule/Sony).

Innovation Award
DEVICE 6 (Simogo)
Gone Home (The Fullbright Company)
Papers, Please (Lucas Pope)
Tearaway (Media Molecule/Sony)
The Stanley Parable (Galactic Cafe)

Honorable Mentions: Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons (Starbreeze/505 Games), Candy Box (Aniwey), Kerbal Space Program (Squad), The Last Of Us (Naughty Dog/Sony), Proteus (Ed Key/David Kanaga).

Best Debut
Blue Manchu (Card Hunter)
The Fullbright Company (Gone Home)
Galactic Cafe (The Stanley Parable)
Squad (Kerbal Space Program)
Undead Labs (State Of Decay)

Honorable Mentions: Facepalm Games (The Swapper), Frogmind Games (Badland), Grinding Gear Games (Path Of Exile), Suspicious Developments (Gunpoint), Warner Bros. Games Montreal (Batman: Arkham Origins).

Best Design
Grand Theft Auto V (Rockstar North/Rockstar Games)
The Last Of Us (Naughty Dog/Sony)
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (Nintendo EAD/Nintendo)
Super Mario 3D World (Nintendo EAD Tokyo/Nintendo)
Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics/Square Enix)

Honorable Mentions: DOTA 2 (Valve) Pokemon X & Y (Game Freak/Nintendo), Rogue Legacy (Cellar Door Games), The Stanley Parable (Galactic Cafe), SteamWorld Dig (Image & Form), TowerFall (Matt Thorson/Miniboss/Alec Holowka).

Best Handheld/Mobile Game
DEVICE 6 (Simogo)
Fire Emblem: Awakening (Intelligent Systems/Nintendo)
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (Nintendo EAD/Nintendo)
Ridiculous Fishing (Vlambeer)
Tearaway (Media Molecule/Sony)

Honorable Mentions: Animal Crossing: New Leaf (Nintendo EAD/Nintendo), 868-HACK (Michael Brough), Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon (Next Level Games/Nintendo), Plants Vs. Zombies 2 (PopCap/Electronic Arts), The Room Two (Fireproof Games), SteamWorld Dig (Image & Form).

Best Visual Art
BioShock Infinite (Irrational Games/2K Games)
DmC (Ninja Theory/Capcom)
The Last Of Us (Naughty Dog/Sony)
Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch (Level 5/Namco Bandai)
Tearaway (Media Molecule/Sony)

Honorable Mentions: Don’t Starve (Klei Entertaintment), Grand Theft Auto V (Rockstar North/Rockstar Games), Papers, Please (Lucas Pope), Puppeteer (SCE Japan/Sony), Ryse: Son Of Rome (Crytek/Microsoft), Wonderful 101 (Platinum Games/Nintendo).

Best Narrative
Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons (Starbreeze/505 Games)
Gone Home (The Fullbright Company)
The Last Of Us (Naughty Dog/Sony)
Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics/Square Enix)
The Stanley Parable (Galactic Cafe)

Honorable Mentions: Attack Of The Friday Monsters (Millennium Kitchen/Level 5), BioShock Infinite (Irrational Games/2K Games), The Cave (DoubleFine Games), Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch (Level 5/Namco Bandai), Shadowrun Returns (Harebrained Schemes).

Best Audio
BioShock Infinite (Irrational Games/2K Games),
Forza Motorsport 5 (Turn 10 Studios/Microsoft Games)
Grand Theft Auto V (Rockstar North/Rockstar Games)
Saints Row IV (Volition/Deep Silver)
Tearaway (Media Molecule/Sony)

Honorable Mentions: Animal Crossing: New Leaf (Nintendo EAD/Nintendo), Battlefield 4 (DICE/Electronic Arts), Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft), Gone Home (The Fullbright Company), Metro: Last Light (4A Games/Deep Silver).

Best Downloadable Game
Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons (Starbreeze/505 Games)
Gone Home (The Fullbright Company)
Papers, Please (Lucas Pope)
Resogun (Housemarque/Sony)
The Stanley Parable (Galactic Cafe)

Honorable Mentions: Guacamelee (DrinkBox Studios), Gunpoint (Suspicious Developments), State Of Decay (Undead Labs), SteamWorld Dig (Image & Form), TowerFall (Matt Thorson/Miniboss/Alec Holowka), The Wolf Among Us (Telltale Games).

Best Technology
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
Grand Theft Auto V (Rockstar North/Rockstar Games)
The Last Of Us (Naughty Dog/Sony)
Killzone: Shadow Fall (Guerrilla Games/Sony)
Tearaway (Media Molecule/Sony)

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More: Chibi-Robo! Photo Finder, demo

Disclaimer for all study-based posts: This is not meant to be taken as positive or negative, nor is it wholly conclusive. It’s an intriguing set of data with which you can do what you please– not a moral conclusion in and of itself.

Researchers at something called the “Nottingham Trent University International Gaming Research Unit” have gathered data leading to an interesting observation: A portion of gamers experience minor visual/aural alterations to reality after playing games for an extended period of time, presumably 4+ hours straight. These alterations are called similar to hallucinations but not entirely the same thing.

The study covered 483 gamers and “656 experiences” that were gathered via online forums, and did not include a psychological profile of players. Researchers say that, after playing for long periods of time, some gamers continued to “see” (in a non-literal sense, of course) elements of the game that in some cases prevented them from sleeping or caused strange behavior. The professor of psychology at Nottingham Trent admitted that the study was not necessarily representative of gaming as a whole, but finds it interesting nonetheless.

Read more about the study over at Gamespot.

Inazuma Eleven may not be destined for North America after all. The listing, which was discovered just a few days ago, has now been quietly removed. Perhaps the original entry was a mistake?

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3DS topped all gaming hardware in 2013 as the best-selling device in the UK. PS4 won out in the consoles race, but Nintendo’s portable ended up out-performing other systems overall. New releases and the launch of the 2DS boosted the handheld’s sales, MCV reports in its latest digital edition.

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Next week, “Comic Koubou” will be hitting the 3DS eShop. It’s a manga-creation app packed with plenty of functionality and features.

Here’s what we know about Comic Koubou as of now:

– Free panel division
– Includes basic tools for speech and text bubbles
– Vertical and horizontal text placement
– Pens, brushes, and tones
– Supports layers (up to 5 simultaneously)
– Copy/paste functions
– Redo function
– Save creations in JPEG format to the 3DS SD memory card
– Doesn’t support 3D
– Pages have a maximum size setting of 896 x 896 pixel
– Out on January 15
– 800 yen

Screenshots from Comic Koubou can be found above.

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Intelligent System has moved into its own, dedicated building. In the past, the maker of Fire Emblem, Advance Wars, and other prominent properties was located at the Kyoto Research Institute, one of Nintendo’s R&D locations in Kyoto.

Intelligent Systems’ move was completed in October. The new property can be found right near Nintendo’s primary building.

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This week’s Japanese eShop update is as follows:

3DS

Downloadable Titles
Dokopon Choice Zettai Zetsumei Denjarasuji-san Vol 1. 1-10-kan Pack – 4,200 yen
Dokopon Choice Amai Akuma ga Warau Love is the Devil 1-6-kan Pack – 2,520 yen
Dokopon Choice Ky? Koi o Hajimemasu 1-15-kan Pack – 6,300 yen
Boulder Dash-XL 3D – 500 yen
Beast Saga Saiky? Gekitotsu Colosseum (retail title) – 5,040 yen
Pika Pika Nurse Monogatari 2 (retail title) – 5,040 yen
Wan Nyan D?butsu By?in 2 (retail title) – 5,040 yen
Hoshi no Kirby: Triple Deluxe (Kirby Triple Deluxe, retail title) – 4,800 yen (from 1/11)
Dasshutsu Adventure Akumu no Shinigami Ressha DEMO – FREE
Swords & Darkness DEMO – FREE
Gekiyaba Runner (2 Fast 4 Gnomz) DEMO – FREE
Wakedasu DEMO – FREE

Virtual Console
Ganbare Goemon 2 (Famicom) – 500 yen

Wii U

Virtual Console
Final Fantasy III (Famicom) – 500 yen

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Renegade Kid will permanently reduce the price of Bomb Monkey on the 3DS eShop next week, the studio has confirmed.

Co-founder Jools Watsham announced via a tweet that the cost will drop from $4.99 to $2.99. The new price will go live on January 16.

Watsham’s tweet reads:

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