The Tendo Project – Daily Nintendo News

It's been nearly a decade since Kirby starred in his own proper console game, but the wait will finally be over this holiday season with Kirby's Epic Yarn on the Wii. Revealed just a few weeks ago at Nintendo's E3 keynote, the newest Kirby adventure goes back to its roots, with some classic side-scrolling action and some of the most achingly adorable visuals around.

Ars recently spent some hands-on time with the new Kirby and, as it turns out, this is the kind of game you can't play without a big smile on your face.

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Considering that Rare has been out of commission with Nintendo properties for some time (Banjo-Kazooie, which defected over to Microsoft when the company bought the British developer, doesn't count), the possibility of resurrecting Donkey Kong Country for a current-generation console seemed slim. However, in one of the few big surprises of the show—if you can call it a surprise, since rumors of a revival had been circulating around the 'Net the week prior—Nintendo unveiled a new Wii adventure for Donkey and company at its press conference. We couldn't be more excited about this; DKC just seems primed for a new installment, particularly given the dearth of good first-party platformers that don't star Mario on Nintendo's home console.

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It's official: StarFox 64 is going to be re-released as a 3DS title. It's unclear what exactly will be added—Shigeru Miyamoto said he was still talking to the teams behind the game to explore what can be updated—but we were able to play the first few sections of the game at E3. Yes, the 3D effect adds some extra punch to the experience.

The Arwing flew and spun around the level, and lining up shots was made easier by the illusion of depth. The ships that attack from behind also seemed to exist in the physical space behind the plane, and flying around and in between the obstacles was thrilling. The game looks much improved from the Nintendo 64 days, and it was confirmed that this is in fact a retail product in active development.

Unfortunately, images of either game were verboten: the system was quickly turned off when I took out my camera

We were also able to play a two-stage demo of Pilotwings Resort, a new title in the series that takes place on Wuhu Islanding, the setting of Wii Sports Resort. The first level has the player flying the rocket belt and popping balloons around the island, while the second puts you behind the stick of a plane to fly through the loops. Neither section was very hard, but both put the 3D effect to good use, and they also looked good when the slider was used to play in 2D.

We couldn't get a confirmation of any release time details of either game, other than a promise that the system will be flush with great titles upon release, whether or not these particular games make it in time. 3D effects need to add to the gameplay instead of feeling tacked on, and both of these titles were improved by the effect.

On the other hand, this is like most Nintendo news: fans of the games will be ecstatic, and skeptics will cry foul over the company once again dipping into its vast store of previous hits. My vote? I landed my rocket belt on the platform used for sword fighting in Wii Sports Resort. That's a pretty good day.

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The second major keynote of the E3 show is Nintendo's.

This keynote is set to start at 9am PDT on June 15 (see it in your local timezone) and we'll be keeping you informed with our live reporting. You can sign up below for an e-mail reminder that will inform you shortly before we begin.

What do we hope to see? Perhaps the use of the Wii Vitality sensor in an actual game, what's coming down the line in Nintendo's array of franchises, and of course the first look at the Nintendo 3DS handheld. Nintendo always has a few surprises in store, so this is one you won't want to miss.

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Nintendo is still making gobs of money, but now it seems the gobs are slightly smaller. The company has announced that its annual group net profit was "only" 228.64 billion yen, or about $2.43 billion, for the fiscal year that just ended. The fiscal year before that saw Nintendo's group net profit at 279.09 billion yen, or about $2.99 billion.

What happened? The Nintendo Wii saw a price drop from $250 to $200 in North America, and demand for systems and games is down year over year. Both the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS have had amazing runs in terms of units sold, but that momentum is impossible to sustain forever. A strong yen is also partly to blame for the economic slip, as Nintendo reportedly earns 80 percent of its profits outside of Japan.

The company is expected to show off the next iteration of the DS line with the upcoming Nintendo 3DS at E3 this year, and of course Super Mario Galaxy 2 is on the horizon; Mario games continue to be strong draws on Nintendo's hardware. A new, black bundle that includes Wii Sports Resort and the Motion Plus peripheral are also days away from launching in the United States.

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2010 is shaping up to be a big year for fans of the Wii, in no small part due to the fact that we're finally getting another entry into the Super Mario Galaxy series. With the game's May 23 release date fast approaching, many fans have been wondering just what kinds of delight Nintendo has in store for them. As it turns out, there's quite a lot to look forward to with the game.

A number of journalists got to travel to Nintendo's Redwood City headquarters for some hands-on time with the game. Based on what they got to experience and have now shared with the rest of the Web, it sounds like Mario Galaxy 2 is going to be even better than we expected.

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