More: Activision, Call of Duty, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Infinity Ward, Treyarch

Activision will kick off the first Call of Duty: Ghosts Double XP Weekend this weekend, a notice on the official website confirms.

The event will begin on Friday at 1 PM ET / 10 AM PT. It’ll run until November 11 at 1 PM ET / 10 AM PST.

In order to participate, players simple need to play Call of Duty: Ghosts multiplayer this weekend.

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Which platform do Japanese gamers want the next Dragon Quest on? Popular Japanese IT magazine Weekly ASCII sought answers to this very question, and decided to ask its readers for input.

The publication shared the following results after holding a poll:

PS4: 62%
Wii U: 8%
iPhone: 8%
PC: 5%
Tablets 3%
Android Smartphones: 3%
Xbox One: 1%
SH-01F Dragon Quest: 1%
Other: 9%

It’s important to note that there was no specific option for the 3DS, PlayStation 3, or PlayStation Vita. I imagine that would have impacted the results quite a bit had they been included.

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Flipper, Ace Mathician, and Color Commando developer Goodbye Galaxy Games has shared new details about its first effort for the 3DS eShop.

“Tappingo” is a new puzzle game for the digital store. It has players solving pixel art puzzles by making numbered blocks extend into lines. The lines continue on until they hit something, making things more difficult. You’ll need to use other blocks and lines to stop the line at the correct length for the best results.

Tappingo will include 100 puzzles, small and big grids, and a feature which keeps track of the time it takes you to solve a puzzle.

You can find the official Tappingo website here.

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Nintendo’s R&D expenditures are up, but sales are down. With the company adding on roughly 1,000 staffers over the past four or five years, an attendee at Nintendo’s financial results briefing Q&A asked about a possible reduction to the workforce.

This isn’t something that president Satoru Iwata is considering. Iwata pointed out the common ups and downs in the video games business, and feels that things will improve. As a result, he said, “Restructuring the workforce is not the first option we consider even when cost cutting is required.” Iwata also mentioned Nintendo is taking this approach “because we do not see a dark future for Nintendo.”

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Nintendo’s Virtual Console has been disappointing, to say the least. Releases continue to trickle out very slowly, with some weeks seeing the absence of new classic games entirely.

With any luck, the situation will improve in the future. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said during an investors Q&A briefing several days ago that the company has been unable “to take full advantage of our assets yet, so we would like to enrich our Virtual Console lineup.” Iwata added, “As the ability to digitally offer our products has given us greater flexibility in offering new propositions to our consumers, we should naturally consider these possibilities in the future.”

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Nintendo tends to maintain a much different approach to third-party publishers than Microsoft and Sony. Whereas the latter two companies sometimes look to secure an exclusive game or DLC (especially through financial means), this hasn’t been the case with the Big N.

Price wars and money-giving are two things Nintendo president Satoru Iwata is looking to avoid, which is something that could arise if the company were to adopt “the same methodology as the other manufacturers”. Instead, as recently noted by Iwata during an investors Q&A session, “We would like to take a unique approach of our own and build sustainable relationships with our third-party publishers.”

Iwata’s comments in full:

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Nintendo has several Wii U titles lined up for the holidays, including Wii Party U, Wii Sports Club, Wii Fit U, and Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games. Whereas the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are looking to appeal to core gamers, each of these aforementioned titles from the Big N would likely garner a more “casual” label. Therefore, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said during a recent investors Q&A that he and the company as a whole “wonder if the target user will actually be the same” compared to what the competition intends to offer.

Iwata did point out that the launch of new consoles brings about some benefits for Nintendo. “Though there are some who take the view that intensified competition means overseas competition will be tough for Nintendo,” Iwata said, “no matter how Nintendo does domestically, I do not necessarily see it that way.” That’s because new systems “energize the video game industry as a whole.”

You can find Iwata’s full comments about the Wii U’s end-of-year lineup, competition, and more below.

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When Nintendo unveiled the 3DS, the system’s stereoscopic 3D feature was one of its standout qualities. The functionality has seen a lesser emphasis as of late though, culminating with the launch of the 2DS last month – a system which ditches 3D entirely.

During Nintendo’s investor Q&A last week, an attendee asked if the handheld’s arrival means “Nintendo is perhaps wavering a bit on its initial plans.” The person also questioned whether the 2DS was a part of president Satoru Iwata’s original vision.

Iwata responded by mentioning that development of the 2DS “began a long time ago.” Nintendo “realized beforehand that it would be difficult to maximize the sales potential of Nintendo 3DS without an entry-level product ready in time for the release of a new Pokémon title.” Given the different price options for the 3DS, the yen’s value at the time, and ability to offer another option for the 3DS platform, Nintendo believed the 2DS was a smart move to make.

Iwata also confirmed that the 3DS and 3DS XL will stil be sold, and Nintendo is “not saying that we will abandon 3D or cease to make new propositions in 3D.”

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