Mahjong, air hockey, dolphins, diaries and tarot cards
It's North America's turn for a bit of a catch-up with Europe in this week's Nintendo Download, but there are still a few interesting titles here that might take your fancy.
More little extras tucked away
Yesterday we brought you our First Impressions: 3DS Operating System and Built-In Software, but we weren't able to try out the machine's built-in pedometer or the StreetPass as the consoles were tethered to desks or, even worse, human beings.
Link reaches a quarter-century old
Last year, Nintendo's tubby mascot celebrated his 25th anniversary in the form of Super Mario All-Stars 25th Anniversary Edition, a collection that disappointed some in its paucity of interesting content. This year Nintendo will get a chance to wipe the slate clean and try harder, as its other ageless hero – Link – turns 25.
He likes to move it, move it
Nintendo's financial results are always a treasure trove of information – it's how we found out about Pandora's Tower and Kirby on Wii, for example – but while you may come for the announcements, you'll stay for President Iwata's opinions on the period gone by.
Says Microsoft, anyway
Last week we reported that strong Kinect sales helped Microsoft post record profit growth in the last quarter, but just how strong were those sales?
Nintendo's DS has had unprecedented success at retail, becoming the world's biggest-selling handheld and shifting millions of copies of unusual titles including Nintendogs, Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain? and the Professor Layton series. Now, however, with the 3DS on the horizon it looks like the machine's headed to pasture, with major retailers ignoring high-profile titles and diminishing store display space.
Make with the boom boom
Players jumping into Killzone 3 may recognise a few familiar voices among the 70 minutes of cutscenes that drive the story forward. Malcolm McDowell and Ray Winstone will be among the voices guiding you through the war on Helghan, and this behind the scenes video from Guerilla Games shows the motion capture process that put the actors into digital form.
Army sale
You already knew that Tumble is half-price as part of Sony's 11 for 2011 price promotion, but you may not have known that Swords and Soldiers has already had its cost cleft in two, now on the PlayStation Store in North America for just $4.99.
Demo expected before launch
Toys 'R' Us brought home an exclusive EyePet bundle a few months ago, and the critter obviously behaved itself as the company is back to bring a new exclusive bundle for upcoming title PlayStation Move Heroes.
Limited edition goodies inside
We brought you new Conduit 2 screenshots yesterday, as well as details of the multiplayer modes, and if they put you in a pre-ordering frame of mind – and you live in Australia or New Zealand – you might want to check out the game's Limited Edition.
My name is James Newton, and this is my website - a collection of my writings about
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