According to a new tweet from Nintendo, they plan to properly reveal three of their biggest first-party Wii U titles in a Nintendo Direct presentation before E3. "We will discuss new Smash Bros., 3D Mario game, Mario Kart and other Wii U titles in our #NintendoDirectNA before the start of E3," reads the missive, which is music to our ears since the console doesn't really have any confirmed system sellers on the horizon as yet (sorry Pikmin 3).

We'll naturally keep you posted with the date, links and on-site embed code for the presentation. There's less than a month to go until E3, so expect firm details soon. Also this.

Following Nintendo's big Wii U Direct presentation this week, we pick apart the announcements as well as discussing the Metal Gear Rising demo, Strike Suit Zero, and Ni No Kuni.

PWNCAST | Season 3: Episode 3 - Nintendo Rising, Recorded: January 24th, 2013

Parental Advisory: We've tried to keep it as conversational and informal as possible, and you should be warned that there may be a few instances of strong language.

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Will Be Playable At E3

Nintendo announced that Nintendo EAD's Tokyo Development Groups - the same teams that brought us Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2, and Super Mario 3D Land - are hard at work on both a 3D Mario title for Wii U and an instalment of the hugely popular and addictive Mario Kart franchise for the console.

Nintendo president, Satoru Iwata, noted that although there is nothing specific to revel as yet, both games will be available to play at E3 this year, possibly pointing towards a Christmas release, as they did with SM3DL and MK7 on 3DS.

Following Jon's epic brainfart regarding his ideal vision for Army of Two, we decided to have a podcast week where we simply chat about a few outlandish gaming ideas that we'd like to see, and directions we'd have some existing franchises take if anything was possible and we had the power to sculpt the future.

With that in mind, Carl delivers a concept for a really dark Mario reboot; Jon puts Metroid in a pot together with Platinum Games and Prey 2 to pitch the best bounty hunting game ever; we discuss the advantages for realising wishlists and dreams that Kickstarter is affording; we lament that the there are still so many awesome Japanese games that will never make it West (though Ni No Kuni will); Matt pleads that Dragon Age II be struck from history and instead replaced with Dragon Age: Origins II, a true sequel that directly follows on from the fantastic first game; and we look forward to a generation that sees everybody, most of all the consumer, winning.

PWNCAST | Season 2: Episode 5, Recorded: October 17th, 2012

Parental Advisory: We've tried to keep it as conversational and informal as possible, and you should be warned that there may be quite a few instances of strong language.

Picture Credit: Jose Emroca Flores

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Following the release of New Super Mario Bros. 2 on the 3DS (review incoming), Nintendo has defended their decision to iterate on the franchise rather than innovate; stating that they only release a 2D Mario game "once per platform" before looking to fresh ideas. This practice seems likely to continue... unless Miyamoto decides otherwise.

GFK Chart Track has provided Eurogamer with a list of the top ten most successful games brands in the UK from 1996 to the present day, in terms of both copies sold and revenue generated.

Drum roll please. Place your bets now.

Here we go. Will Nintendo blow us all away this time around? Frankly we'd just settle for them getting it right. Don't just tell us, Nintendo, show us. Show us a bunch of games that we can get behind and the Wii U will be the only thing on everyone's lips for the rest of this week. Show us how they make the most of the new console, how they make the console unique, and how they'll fare against the intrenched forces of MS and Sony.

Oh, and Luigi's Mansion 2 would be nice as well.

In our final look at the big three press conferences, we chat about Nintendo and, unsurprisingly, the big thing on everyone's lips is the Wii U. Will they announce features and specs? What of the console's launch lineup? Will it get a rebranding? And what of the 3DS? Nintendo have a second chance following last year's fiasco to set the record straight.

Carl

Oh those guys. Those ******* guys. After an E3 presentation last year which left me horribly disappointed it’s time for take two of the Wii U’s unveiling, but this time they have to absolutely 100% nail it. My hope is that they have used the last year to allow multiple tablet controllers to connect to a console, and perhaps even allow for streaming a game to a tablet over the internet so you can properly play on the go (you know, like the name “Project Café” implied.)

No doubt we will get a smothering of Mario-based products, Zelda will make an appearance, and we will see their attempt to make the 3DS relevant to the casual buyer market, but what I really want is for Nintendo to start being more adventurous and grab my interest in their games again. A guy can dream, eh?

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It shouldn't have worked. In fact, if one takes statistics into account and appraises the situation from a purely numerical perspective, it didn't. But somehow Nintendo's little purple box of wonders has left an indelible mark on hearts across the globe. It was the little console that, in the end, sadly couldn't. But for the faithful, for those who took the rather inexplicable plunge and sampled it's delights, there was nothing else we'd rather have been playing on.

Looking at Nintendo's practices now - with their last two consoles built and sold on hardware gimmicks and promises rather than stacks of excellent software - the GameCube defies all logic. Indeed, it seemed to defy logic back in May 2002 as well, launching without the ability to play audio CDs or DVDs (instead plumping for the laughably cute mini optical discs), abandoning the N64's trident controller in favour of a dual-analogue approach, there was no backwards compatibility, and it looked ridiculous. It even had a carry-handle!

But it also had some of the best games of its generation.

Nintendo have announced that everyone's favourite plumber will be returning to the 3DS this summer, alongside his perennially unsung brother Luigi, in New Super Mario Bros. 2. The upcoming side-scroller is set for release this August.

Nintendo talisman and industry legend, Shigeru Miyamoto has reportedly suggested that Nintendo may well unveil an incarnation of Mario bound for Wii U at this year's E3.

Super Mario 3D Land director Koichi Hayashida has suggested that hardware changes, and the unique capabilities for which new tech allows, are what help to drive forward existing IPs such as Mario. Hayashida suggested that generational steps allowed developers to explore new combinations of familiar mechanics with "something special" made possible by new hardware.

It would appear that a new Super Mario title is on the horizon for the 3DS, as Nintendo president Satoru Iwata announced that a new 2D game featuring the moustachioed mascot would be arriving in "the next fiscal year".

Michel Ancel, the man behind Rayman, responded to a suggestion that Miyamoto's famous Mario series might have heavily influenced the French platformer with a resounding negative.

PETA, following the emergence of their spoof-game Super Tanooki Skin 2 earlier this week, have stated that their lumping together of Mario and animal brutality was all just a bit of tongue-in-cheek fun to help raise the awareness of the real-life tanuki's plight.

Normally, when someone objects to video games, it's because of extreme violence or sexual content - you know, worthwhile ventures. PETA, on the other hand, must have been pretty bored in the office yesterday, because they've gone and targeted a fat plumber whose only real crime is to enjoy dressing up in onesies.

Apparently, according to PETA, the Tanooki Suit promotes the notion that wearing fur is worthy of a thumbs up. No, I'm not kidding. They're denouncing Mario on the grounds that he might prove to be a fashion trend-setter.

Carl and I had a chat the other day about video game composers, with an eye towards creating a list of the best for one of our Tuesday top ten lists. We have since realised the impossibility of that task. There are simply too many outstanding soundtracks out there, in too many different styles, from the sweeping, majestic scores of Final Fantasy to the tense, discord of Dead Space. Could composers with one fantastically scored game to their name outmuscle those with a consistently strong track record, if lacking an triple-A stunner? And what of the difference in styles between East and West? Could we sub-divide by genre?

Every previous list we looked over had glaring omissions. Every time we thought we'd reached a conclusion, another name was remembered. We were utterly stumped.

But one name was always a shoe-in...

SEGA's Takashi Iizuka has poured water on the fiery possibility of a Mario-Sonic crossover outside of overblown sporting events according to an interview between Iizuka-san and Nintendo Power.

Following on from our pleasingly rather successful Twitter competition parties towards the end of last year, we thought we'd shake it up a little bit and try out a similar thing over on our Facebook page TONIGHT. With that in mind we're going to be holding something of a classic gaming night and offering participants to win a bunch of retro-flavoured goodies from t-shirts to rebooted games and rounding things off with a chance to win a handheld console stuffed with SEGA goodness.

Head on over to the Facebook page and hit the like button, make sure your mini-feed is primed and ready, because we're going to be settling in for a nostalgic night of retrotastic reminiscing. As usual though, it'll be BYOB.

Facebook is an altogether different beast to Twitter, but we'll be running things pretty similarly to last time. Every hour, on the hour, Dealspwn will be putting forth a rather broad question designed to spark off a little bit of debate on our wall. Some are a little bit left-field, others might well reignite old rivalries, and all you have to do to stuff your name into the hat is to comment on the competition post. We'll be sparking discussions throughout the night, but you'll know which posts are the important ones as we'll present them like so:

6pm - COMPETITION ROUND 1: If Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter ever got into a bar-room brawl, who'd win?

Make sure your name is on the list and you'll be in with a chance. Here's how the night's going to run, with the general hourly themes regimented below and the relevant prizes in parenthesis:

• 6pm – Street Fighter (Blanka T-shirts)
• 7pm – Worms (Worms: Battle Islands)
• 8pm – Zombies (Zombie T-shirts)
• 9pm – Old School Arcade (Space Invaders T-shirts)
• 10pm – Mario (Super Mario All-Stars 25th Anniversary Ed.)
• 11pm – SEGA (SEGA Ultimate Portable Console)

Just get involved on the competition thread and you'll be in with a chance.

There will be seven winners every round, to be chosen at random and, to add a little bit of incentive, because the prizes for each round are different this time, entrants can participate in all six mini prize draws.

As suggested above, we'll be sparking off mini debates on the main wall throughout the evening too and we actively encourage you to fire off any questions or start some heated old-school debate in the discussions tab as well.

A few house rules:

• One entry per account per question. You’re welcome to compete in all of the question contests and post multiple times as part of the discussion, but you'll only be permitted one entry into each hourly prize draw.
• UK entrants only.
• We’ll be popping messages through to the lucky winners so watch your inboxes!

Put it in your diaries now!

Mates. Buds. Compadres. Amigos.

Bros.

Videogames have taken a stab at true love, but when it comes right down to it, there's no deeper connection than two best mates who look out for each other through thick and thin. Allow me, therefore, to take you through ten of the greatest Bromance stories ever told.

10: Mario and Bowser [Every Damn Mario Game]

Conventional logic dictates that this pair should be the deadliest of enemies, but nothing could be further from the truth. Every time Mario needs some more disposable income or some time away from the missus, Bowser's always happy to hook him up with a princess kidnapping and go through the motions. In an awesome display of taking one for the team, Mario was also willing to go deep inside the digestive tract of his erstwhile foe to save the world... which is quite frankly further than even the tightest of bros are willing to go. Even on a stag night.

9: Shepard and Garrus [Mass Effect]

When Commander Shepard is forced to go off the books and recruit a crack team of surly ne'er-do-wells to save the universe, there's one Turian that he knows that he can rely on time and time again. Garrus always has his back. Whether he's doling out sage advice or devastating sniper cover fire, this is one partnership that survived two games and will hopefully make it into the third.

8: Ghost and Roach [Modern Warfare 2]

This is a classic example of a budding bromance that was cruelly cut short. It took a .44 magnum round and several cans of petrol to drag these two apart, even after the steadfast Ghost heroically dragged his comrade in arms out of a deadly firefight and was pivotal in securing each and every objective that Task Force 141 threw at them.

A tragic  end to a solid bromance that was forged- and severed- by fire.