Marvelous. Brilliant. One-of-a-kind. Just like the original Donkey Kong.

This week we get a trio of completely unrelated games. Get indigestion with the new WiiWare Major League Eating: The Game, bug out with Donkey Kong 3, or go commando with Ninja Commando.

My pick has to be Donkey Kong 3.  I loved this arcade game and it’s a measly 500 points.  What do you think of the games this week?  And why do some publishers insist on putting “The Game” in their game’s title?

[Full descriptions after the jump.]

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A Redmond source e-mailed Infendo Tuesday with a tip about one of those E3 surprises Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime mentioned on GameTrailers TV earlier this year.

Here is the tip, as sent to Infendo:

“I had my friend at Nintendo check around for any mention of big games, and per their investigation, the new game announcement is Donkey Kong Country, in 2D! Yes, it is going back to its SNES roots. This … will expand one of their popular franchises, as they mentioned several months ago.”

The source did not specify which console the supposed game is being developed for, but seemed to indicate Wii as the primary suspect. As always, file this under the “rumor” category until E3.

Taken a few months back at the Computer Game Museum in Berlin, Germany.

sweetness…

Look at those graphics!  Hard to believe it’s on Wii, right?  Well, that’s because it isn’t.

Donkey Kong made his debut as a monster truck on Saturday, December 8, at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Fans in attendance had no idea they were about to see the unveiling of the newest truck on the Monster Jam circuit.  Before the event, the Donkey Kong truck was hidden in a huge barrel and was revealed at the opening of the show by busting out of the barrel to the delight of the screaming crowd. Fans, both young and old, went bananas as the 10,000 pound monster truck tore up the track. 

Anyone representing Infendo Nation in attendance?

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It may be doing business in stylish new places and selling consoles to fresh new faces, but Mario, Zelda and Metroid still run the show at Nintendo. Over the last year, fans have been treated to proper new titles from each of Nintendo’s three elite franchises, not to mention an additional handheld Zelda.

The last time this happened? Try 199-never.

But as great as it’s been, it is also representative of a trend that needs to change. Mario, Link and Samus can only carry the company so far, as recent disappointments have proven. So why not look to your bench, Nintendo? You’ve got other great players dying to get time on the field.

From my humble estimation, these are the five franchises most capable of an innovative “revolution” and an immediate contribution on Wii.

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If it has achieved anything, the recently released Donkey Kong: Barrel Blast has proven Nintendo-produced Wii software is certainly not immune from negative criticism.

Dave Rudden of GamePro called Donkey Kong’s latest outing “offensive to all senses” and warned its “rancid nature…is likely to give you acid reflux.” IGN’s Mark Bozon bluntly called it a “waste of a game,” and Alex Navarro of GameSpot claimed it is nothing more than a “fifth-rate Mario Kart clone” with “frustrating AI and (a) total lack of personality.”

To say this game has received atrocious reviews would be an understatement. But while most critics have accurately honed in on the problems crippling Barrel Blast, they have been unnecessarily harsh with their criticisms. Despite the abundance of areas in which Barrel Blast whole-heartedly disappoints, there are some enjoyable qualities to be found within the game.

Not many, but some.

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Infendo Newsletter editor, Chris, reviews the recent documentary The King Of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters

I live in a fairly unknown town in the Midwest. When a movie, such as The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, gets such a limited release, it would probably not be showing anywhere near my town. So surprised I was to find that for one weekend only, a theater nearby would be showing this movie. I jumped at the chance to see it. I drove downtown to the oldest theater in my town (it only has one screen). At 1:45 pm, the red curtain was drawn and the movie started to an audience of only three people, myself included.

The movie starts out profiling the history of classing video games, the competition of high scores, and the champion of it all - Billy Mitchell. From a young age, Mitchell has set many classic gaming records, including the first ever perfect Pac-Man game. At the beginning of the movie, he held the record for the highest score in Donkey Kong. Mitchell, who owns his own brand of hot sauce, is considered the best gamer of our time.
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Contest alert! If you don’t have DS yet, and love Donkey Kong, then I suggest you break out your digital camera and start shooting some sweet locations where the crazy ape can hang out. Why? Because that’s the contest, and the best eight photos win a DS Lite and DS Jungle Climber.

SmugMug has the deets:

Nintendo and SmugMug.com are inviting fans of all stripes to submit creative and unique images of Donkey Kong climbing to the top of the coolest or most unusual places — from mountains to buildings to otherworldly monuments. Whether you’re drawing and scanning an original picture or digitally altering an existing one, the sky’s the limit … or is it? Whatever the setting might be, just make sure to format your image as a JPEG [no larger than 12MB] and feature the high-climbing Donkey Kong in “peak” form.

The due date is October 1, and I’d love to see some of Infendo Nation’s entries make the cut.