Word out of Nintendo’s Australian Media Summit this morning is that both Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Metroid: Other M will arrive much sooner that expected. How much sooner? Nintendo is saying “mid year,” which in inudstry speak could mean anything from June all the way to end of August, or even September.

Still, this is much, much earlier than I think anyone who’s anyone expected. The bad news, for Zelda fans at least, is that there was no mention of Zelda. That release date, teased by Iwata and others as later this year, seems like it’s slipped a bit, especially given the fact these two powerhouse titles will drop in the middle of 2010. Maybe Zelda arrives for the holidays?

Expect more information and a more official launch date later today, when Nintendo’s North American media event kicks off on the West Coast.

WARNING: CONTAINS EXPLICIT LYRICS

This is probably the coolest RAP-N.E.S. music cross over. You can relive the entire adventure of the Legend of Zelda through this little quirky video.

[Via The Adventure Of]

I was playing around with the awesome Twitter Venn today and really realized that Wii is an awesome name.  For the other systems, there are just so many variations on their names.  I can think of at least six different ways to write PlayStation 3 and just as many for Xbox 360, but for Wii it’s always just “Wii”.  In an age where your Google ranking can make a huge difference, Nintendo gets it.

According to UGO:

15. Actraiser, Bloodpool
14. Pilotwings, Jetpack
13. NBA Jam, Super Dunk
12. Super Castlevania 4, Gold Level
11. Star Fox, Giant Face
10. Final Fight, Take that, Car
9.  Turtles in Time, Wild West
8. Super Mario Kart, Lightning Bolt
7. Chrono Trigger, Back to the Future
6. Super Mario World, Yoshi!
5. Final Fantasy II, Tellah Dies
4. Out of this World, Alien Tank
3. Super Mario RPG, Bowser Joins the Team
2. Zelda: A Link to the Past, First Time in Dark World
1. Super Metroid, Samus Saved

Agree? Disagree? What are your favorite SNES moments?

I was playing Pokémon recently killing the time between classes on Fire Red. During a break I was going through the Pokédex entries comparing Pokémon when I was looking at Venonat and Butterfree. Then I began to notice some similarities between Venonat and Butterfree:

Antennae, Separate hands and feet, Big red eyes, Mouth, Similar color.

That’s when it made me think that Maybe Butterfree and Venonat were designed at the same time and Carterpie, Metapod, and Venomoth came later. (more…)

You heard me. This is an RPG disguised as a scuba diving simulator. And for $30, out tomorrow, it’s worth your consideration. Anyone buying?

Kotaku previewed Red Steel 2 this week. Without sticking his neck out, here’s what editor Brian Crecente had to say:

The game’s controls take a bit of getting used to, but once you come to grips with the fact that your motions are essentially triggers for the animation on the screen, like a fancy button push, the game becomes a lot more fun… Its combination of broad and precise motion, its colorful aesthetic, come together to deliver an experience far more fun than the original Red Steel.

Disclosure: I won’t bat an eyelash at this game if it doesn’t get raving reviews. Red Steel 2 arrives Mar 23.

The big release this week is the budget title sequel to Endless Ocean for Wii. I think it’s the first WiiSpeak game Nintendo has released since Animal Crossing came out over a year ago. On the downloadable side of things, GhostSlayer sounds interesting as its the first WiiWare game I know of that uses MotionPlus. Of note: there are no Virtual Console games at all this week! That must mean every single game for it has been released .. not!

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My friend sent me this video today telling me “It’s on like Donkey Kong!” Strangely enough I have never ever seen this video before.

According the description on the youtube channel, “Donkey Kong has escaped from the circus. He is on the lam, and Mario and Pauline, portrayed here as Mario’s “niece”, are chasing the ape. As with the original game, Donkey Kong will often grab Pauline and Mario has to save her. (It must be noted that Pauline’s portrayal as Mario’s niece is an original Ruby-Spears concept. It is not a part of Nintendo’s official canon.)

I have never seen this video, have any of you ever watched this or seen it?