SEGA has 3 decades worth of gaming mascots under their belt and what better way to celebrate such a bright, colourful collection of beloved characters than with an innovative, unique Tennis game. While it is nothing new and regardless of the fact the competition does it better, at least the DS finally gets a competent tennis game. When compared to the other versions of the same game released on every platform except for the Atari, believe it or not, the DS version is surprisingly the most polished, enjoyable of the crew. Review inside

Although previously announced THQ has let us know that it is bringing the Rare game of Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise to the Nintendo DS later this year. The game which is based on the Xbox 360 version will feature an entirely new control scheme making use of the touch screen but also a ton of new features added just for the DS version. More inside

The Wii has reached another milestone, this time in Japan. The Wii has now sold 6 million units in less than one and a half years on the market. Enterbrain who publishes Famitsu says this is the fastest selling console since it started tracking in 1996. It’s also not just the Wii which has reason to celebrate with Wii Fit selling over 2 million copies. That’s right, one in three Wii owns now owns Wii Fit and joins Wii Play and Sports as over 2 million copies sold.

While we let you in on the secret last week, you will be happy to know that Nintendo Australia has 100% locked in June 26th as the release date for Super Smash Bros Brawl in Australia. Get ready to Brawl in Australian English (because using American English is too hard) as Brawl is an action packed fighting game that includes more moves, more levels, online battles, Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, a variety of control options, a host of playable characters, and even an adventure mode that’s a full game in itself! We promise this is the last time we make a snide comment about the Brawl release date...... maybe.

Nintendo Europe has announced the Wii Ware line up that is set to go live across Europe on May 20th. Like the Virtual Console, Wii Ware is available through the Wii Shopping Channel. If you are lucky to live in America or Europe, Nintendo Australia has yet to announce a launch date or line up for WiiWare as of yet. However, like the Virtual Console, we should hopefully get lumped into the European region for WiiWare, possibly the one only time that ever works in our favour. US Titles Defend your Castle and V.I.P Casino: Blackjack are missing, but we gain a few more. List inside.

The quality of Star Wars titles has been all over the place since the first one. Usually the closer they are released to a movie, the worse they are, although there have been a few exceptions. But all that is going to change, with LucasArts promising the there will be less Star Wars games in the future, to return a higher quality. “Star Wars is one of the greatest licenses for a video game you could have and in the past we got a little excited about that and we put out games that probably weren’t up to the quality bar that we would have liked. More inside

Activision has today announced that Pitfall Harry will be making his way to the Wii in "Pitfall: The Big Adventure"- an exclusive for the console. Dave Oxford from Activision Publishing said that "Pitfall is one of the most legendary franchises in the history of videogames, so we look forward to releasing a new version exclusively for Wii. "What could be more fun than using the Wii Remote to swing on a vine over blood thirsty crocodiles as retro-cool Pitfall Harry?!" The game contains 60 levels of rainforest, caves and swamps with full Wiimote integration. The game is due later this year.

It’s Namco Bandai’s turn to try a fitness game on the Wii, after last week EA making their intentions known. Family Trainer, however will not use the Wii Fit Balance board, but a Family Trainer mat controller. According to Namco Bandai, it “lets players get totally physical in a series of crazed challenges. “Unlike other games for the Wii which only focus on the arms, Family Trainer gets the feet involved too for total body gameplay”. Family Trainer is scheduled for release in September 2008, exclusively for Wii.

Although most of our Australian visitors aren't even able to access it, those with the Nintendo Channel may want to pay attention to this particular news piece. Updated every Monday, the Nintendo Channel allows users to download the latest DS demos to their Nintendo DS systems, although now it seems only for a limited time. Come May 18th, the Nintendo Channel will see some of it's content being pruned, including several DS demos. Which demos you ask? More inside.

The latest issue of famed American gaming magazine, GameInformer has revealed some interesting information about what we can expect from the newest iteration of the award winning Guitar Hero series.
Guitar Hero IV looks to include several new features, such as the inclusion of the (inevitable) drums, bass and vocals, as well as the ability to create a customisable rocker and guitar to rock out with. The most interesting feature though, is one that is also confirmed for the Wii version. More inside.

Collaborations seem to be the “in thing” at the moment. This time, THQ and Marvel have combined their corporate powers to bring the first Marvel Super Hero Squad game to every console, including PC. The Marvel Super Hero Squad franchise is set to be the flagship Marvel franchise for children. “We are dedicated to expanding our unmatched success story in the kid’s space and this agreement with Marvel is an excellent complement to our portfolio,” Says THQ. The game is heading our way later this year.

Although the console has been out for over 3 years, Nintendo is offering people the opportunity to brush up on their Nintendo DS skills, with Nintendogs and Animal Crossing Wild World being used in a set of beginner classes for the games. The lessons are taking place this Thursday the 15th of May at ACMI, Federation Square, so this is one is strictly for Melbournites. There will be giveaways and exclusive downloads throughout the night, so if you’re interested, be there between 6pm and 7pm.

The Corner Shop is back in business on the Nintendo DS. Connexion: Corner Shop 3 will feature “the most well-stocked store lineup to date”, says Atari, the distributors of the game here in Australia and New Zealand later this year in October. The game now also supports Wi-Fi Connection play, so with all the new shops included in the game, managing them can be easier than ever. More information about the game is inside.

Japanese Magazine CoroCoro has confirmed the next title of the Pokémon franchise in Pokémon Platinum. Platinum allegedly is the 'enhanced' version of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, like Pokémon Crystal and Emerald. No other details were announced in the magazine, so check back here for more news as it comes.

Nintendo fans have unfortunately only had one option for soccer games since the GameCube days, that of FIFA from Electronic Arts. Whilst the later FIFA games have made massive strides in gameplay, and have always featured excellent manager modes, there has always been the voice of our PS2 cousins saying the ONLY football game to play is Pro Evolution Soccer. Now Nintendo fans can finally see what the fuss is all about as Konami bring their award winning football sim to Nintendo's home console with Pro Evolution Soccer 2008; and this time, the "Evolution" in the title isn't just a nice catchphrase. More inside

It’s not very often anyone hears anything from the guys at Rare, but every so often their Scribes mailbag is answered with answers varied and revealing. On the subject of what games now could appearing from the Rare back catalogue now that all of the Donkey Kong County games have been released, will games like Diddy Kong Racing with their inherent copyright problems (fixed in the DS version with character swaps) ever appear? More inside

In a new interview Shigeru Miyamoto has spoken out how he believes that the future of indie games may be outside his home country and take off in America. "I think America has always been better at creating unique products,” the legendary figure said. The reference is to Wii Ware and how he believes that while both Japan and America will have a fair amount of games on the service, the most intriguing ones will come from America. More inside

With investor conference calls the flavour of the month it’s 2K Sport’s turn. Usually 2K doesn’t have much to do with Nintendo, but with Nintendo’s resurgence in the market lately, 2K has something to discuss this time. Top Spin 3 is heading to the Wii this year and sadly it looks like it’s going to lacking in features compared to its PS3/Xbox 360 counter parts. While it’s not all bad, Top Spin 3 on the Wii, like many a port, is going for the simple experience as well as the hard core. More inside

The Formula 1 racing licence has for the last few years been in Sony’s control and due to that, F1 games have been exclusive to their consoles. But with Codemasters recently acquiring the licence the next game will appearing on many consoles. The game is set for to be made available, when it’s actually finished, to all major home consoles, handheld consoles and the PC. The game is being prepared now by Codemasters and will use the EGO Engine that drove DiRT and will drive GRID. More on the F1 games as they happen.

Thanks to our friends at Electronic Arts Australia we have a giveaway for our members. The prizes are one copy of Ninja Reflex for the Wii and one copy for the DS. Ninja Reflex puts your reflexes and reaction times to the test in head to head competition. Be the best Ninja you can be and defeat those evil pirates. Entry to the competition is simple, and the method awaits you inside. Competition closes the 18th of May. Details inside