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Old-school Sega dev Hirokazu Yasuhara starts work at Nintendo
Hirokazu Yasuhara, co-creator of Sonic the Hedgehog, has begun working at Nintendo Software Technology in Redmond, Washington, Gamasutra reports. Yasuhara worked at Sega from 1988 until switching to 2K Sports in 2000, Naughty Dog in 2002 (senior game designer for the Jak & Daxter and Uncharted franchises) and finally Namco Bandai, which he left last month.Nintendo Software Technology generally develops DS and DSiWare titles, having worked on Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem and Metroid Prime Hunters.
Get the DSi XL in blue or pink this holiday
With the 3DS not doing as well as Nintendo would like, and with a pressing need to get the device in as many hands as possible before the Vita hits, it's issuing two new holiday bundles of ... the DSi XL. On November 6, you'll be able to get Nintendo's oversized handheld in new Midnight Blue or Metallic Rose colors, each with a copy of Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem, for the normal DSi XL price of $169.99. That's the same price as the 3DS, by the way. So, basically, these bundles are excellent competition for the new system.%Gallery-137457%
Dead Space 2 holds off FIFA to stay atop UK charts
Dead Space 2 became 2011's first repeat #1 in weekly UK software sales last week, according to Chart-Track, as it beat out a resurgent FIFA 11 (which began the year at #1) to stay atop the charts in its second week at retail. The week's new releases failed to crack the top ten, however, as the latest Mario vs. Donkey Kong (DS) and Mario Sports Mix (Wii) debuted at #11 and #12, respectively. (The only other new entry to make the top 40 was The Sims 3: Outdoor Living Stuff expansion.) Back in the top ten, LittleBigPlanet 2 floated down two spots during the week to #5, while the surprising Art Academy (DS) stayed in attendance, graduating up to #8 (from #9 the previous week). What are the chances Just Dance 2 finally ran out of moves? Check out the complete top ten list after the break.
Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem! review: Good things, small packages
By now, you'd think Super Mario would know better. Like Captain Kirk and Mitch Buchanan before him, any woman he romances is destined for danger. A kinder man would quit the dating scene altogether, maybe take up a hobby, and take comfort in knowing that he has spared some beautiful stranger the peril of knowing him. Not this guy. It's like he's got a hero complex or something. And so, in Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem!, there's Mario taking Pauline out of hiding for a romantic day at the Mini-Land amusement park, and there's Donkey Kong, right on schedule, snatching her away. Even though "mayhem" is not exactly the right word for the low-key puzzle game that ensues (and the exclamation point is just gratuitous), Mario's latest handheld adventure is nevertheless an appealing, though minor, entry in his canon. %Gallery-95771%
Visual overload: Nintendo's E3 DS lineup
If, at any point in the last week, you forgot about the existing DS platform due to all the news about the 3DS, you've made a serious error, and you owe the Nintendo DS an apology. Nintendo brought a diverse selection of first-party (and sorta-first-party, in the case of Dragon Quest IX) DS games to E3, and we've collected trailers and artwork for the whole set. Included after the break is Professor Layton and the Unwound Future. It might be a little ... puzzling, but Nintendo brought two Professor Layton games to E3 (which means, by the way, that this was the best E3 of all time) -- this one, number 3 in the series, for the original DS, and Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracle, which is number 5, for 3DS.
