The changes in the controller are numourous with the main addition being the dual analogue sticks which now adorn the front of the controller. No more slider pads, full clickable analogue sticks. Hooray.

More things of note include a ‘square’ on the face of the controller under the D-Pad which may be the Near Field Contact (NFC) point on the controller.

The start and select buttons have moved to the right of the screen and there is now also a square button on the right of the battery light with no marking. The two cables at the top appear to be a Nintendo DSi/3DS charger cable and the one on the right is the developers lead to the dev unit.

The Wii U logo is also on the front face of the controller now and is all grey.

So new analogue sticks? Good? What about that position of them above the face buttons?

Look at you. You sexy beast.

The 'old' design.

The game would have involved each of the franchises stars doing what they do best, Samus on the ground blasting space pirates, Fox in the air shooting down scumbags. There would have been moments off crossover as well with Fox taking to the ground and piloting Samsus’ ship.

However while this rumour does come from the same guy who broke the news about the Smash Bros. clone, PlayStation All-Stars late last year he does say that this one is clearly a rumour whereas with All-Stars he had proof.

However don’t get your hopes up/pitchforks ready as the game might not even exist, might never have existed or could have just been some notes on a napkin of a Retro Studios employee.

What do you say? A Metroid and Star Fox crossover, surely not?

3DS Virtual Console

Kirby’s Dream Land 2 (Game Boy, Nintendo, $6.00AU) You can’t go wrong with Kirby and with Kirby on the Game Boy, you couldn’t go wrong either. Both of the Dream Land titles are quite solid. Kirby however remains pink and squishy as before.

3DS Original Software

Bird Mania 3D (Teyon, $3.00) A endless challenge title in the vein of Machine Gun Jetpack and Tiny Wings. Don’t think because it’s cheap it’s bad either, this is a great little game.

3DS Demo

Rayman Origins – The game was delayed a while back but it’ll be in stores next month. So if you haven’t picked up the game yet on all the other consoles i’ts on, you might want to try the demo out to see if it’s up your alley. That and to see if the 3DS port is any good.

Anything for you then?

E.X. Troopers tells the tale of Bren Turner who is a member of the academy on the snow planet of EDN-3rd. Naturally you’re going be stuck smack bang into middle of a war with Akrid Aliens.

The game is being produced by the name behind the Monster Hunter series so it has a good pedigree, hopefully though we’ll see this one outside of Japan as it looks quite good. Who doesn’t jet packs, mecha and big guns?

EA Sports says the game will have a myriad of new features. Complete Dribbling will allow you to dance around the soccer ball and face your opponent. First Touch Control will apparently make the initial control of the ball different and influenced by the stats of your player and AI players are getting a boost in the brain department when trying to score a goal.

So what about the Wii U? EA Sports has nothing to say about that version yet and like most things, Wii U is probably being saved for E3. 3DS and Wii owners shouldn’t feel left out with this news though, you’re getting the game too.

It’s the same trailer was released prior to the Japanese release of the game some months ago but now it is in English. Except for Jeff Bridges, who isn’t really Jeff Bridges at all.

The game is out in Europe in July, expect a release date for Australia within a couple weeks of that. Hopefully.

Funilly enough too the press release about the game doesn’t mention Nobunaga’s Ambition at all just that the game takes place in Ransei and that “players will encounter a variety of Pokémon, as well as Warriors and Warlords inspired by the Japanese feudal era.”

Probably better than people asking what the heck is a Nobunaga.

So today, we thought it would be nice if we could sit down and share our GameCube memories. The games, both good and bad, the times spent playing multiplayer, the times alone, the console, the accessories and if you’re inclined just how it was to be a Nintendo gamer at the time.

Since I’m asking you to share, I will share my favourite time with the GameCube. It was actually a couple of times and it might surprise you, but it was for a few features we did for the site. ‘We’ being my school friends and myself. We called them ‘Game Testing Parties’, testing out the multiplayer abilities of Super Smash Bros Melee, Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3, take runs in Sonic Adventure 2: Battle and ‘test’ the multiplayer factor in these titles. It was crude, but this was 2002. Livestreams didn’t exist and YouTube didn’t even exist.

Look at that TV… how far we've come.

I had some great times and apart from playing Melee with my friends on these occasions, I didn’t get many other chances to play Melee with a full compliment of players, so many hours of that game were played. I’m sure others played more but being in high school and having no responsibility meant hours and hours of game time. If only life offered so much free time now. Speaking of school, we actually did one of these ‘events’ during a school sports carnival, we skipped school to play Melee. Good times.

So now you know mine, I do have tons of memories with the GameCube but this one sticks out the most. Let us hear yours!

We’ll have another GameCube feature out shortly celebrating the GameCube’s legacy and the next episode of the Vookcast with be a GameCube filled love fest.

The 46 block update for Mario Kart 7 is now live in the eShop worldwide. You’ll need it if you want to play Mario Kart 7 online again and now you can feel free to choose Wuhu Mountain Loop without cheaters ruining your day.

There was also another Nintendo 3DS firmware update released today so if you can’t get the eShop that will be why, there are no visible changes for the update but it most likely has something to do with the Mario Kart 7 patch.

Official notes from Nintendo Japan say that extreme shortcuts on both Wuhu Island Loop and Wuhu Mountain Loop (or Maka Wuhu for the American players) have been patched along with GBA Bowser Castle 1. They also apologise for making you have to download the update. However the update only fixes the glitches in online play.

A brave new world for Nintendo, patches. Will we live to regret this? Let us know how you go with the patch!

Nintendo says that Pokémon Dream Radar and Pokédex 3D Pro will be out later this year before the release of Pokemon Black and White 2 on the Nintendo DS.

Pokemon Dream Radar is much like Face Raiders but with Pokemon. Once you’ve caught them in the augmented reality you can transfer them to Pokemon Black and White 2. Pokedex 3D Pro, well, it’s the pro version of the free Pokedex 3D. It comes with all 600+ Pokemon unlocked with their stats able to be viewed easily.

So no certain date yet, but at least they’re coming.