Perhaps suddenly aware that 2011 is nearly finished and that it is literally out of new games to sell for the near future, Nintendo has gone ahead and pushed out release dates for a number of first quarter 3DS and Wii titles in order to replenish the anticipation coffers among the fan base. Yes, new Wii games are coming! Excitement?

Well, you should be excited, because the sure-to-be insane Rhythm Heaven Fever releases on February 13th for the delightfully budget price of $29.99. Later that month, PokePark 2: Wonders Beyond drops on the 27th. Depending on your fondness for PokeParking, that's either great, or a non-event, but perhaps you'll be a bit more tantalized by the March 11th release of Mario Party 9, which is, of course, the ninth Mario Party.

But let's say you've already put your Wii away and don't plan on dusting the old girl off any time soon--no worries! There's always the 3DS to keep you busy. While the Q1 3DS lineup is far heavier on third party releases than Nintendo published titles--Metal Gear Solid 3D Snake Eater, Resident Evil: Revelations, and Tales of the Abyss chief among them--Nintendo does plan to bring out Kid Icarus: Uprising on March 23rd.

Also releasing in the first quarter of next year is the much-talked-about Circle Pad Pro, which adds a second analog stick and additional shoulder buttons to a handheld that for some reason lacked those things to begin with. The peripheral launches on February 7th for the price of $19.99. Interestingly, the item is yet another GameStop exclusive, joining the recently announced North American release of Xenoblade Chronicles (which arrives in April). I don't know if this is good news, terrible news, or barely news at all. I just...don't...know...

Thus ends our tri-monthly communique on Nintendo release dates. We'll see you again in March.

Perhaps suddenly aware that 2011 is nearly finished and that it is literally out of new games to sell for the near future, Nintendo has gone ahead and pushed out release dates for a number of first quarter 3DS and Wii titles in order to replenish the anticipation coffers among the fan base. Yes, new Wii games are coming! Excitement?

Well, you should be excited, because the sure-to-be insane Rhythm Heaven Fever releases on February 13th for the delightfully budget price of $29.99. Later that month, PokePark 2: Wonders Beyond drops on the 27th. Depending on your fondness for PokeParking, that's either great, or a non-event, but perhaps you'll be a bit more tantalized by the March 11th release of Mario Party 9, which is, of course, the ninth Mario Party.

But let's say you've already put your Wii away and don't plan on dusting the old girl off any time soon--no worries! There's always the 3DS to keep you busy. While the Q1 3DS lineup is far heavier on third party releases than Nintendo published titles--Metal Gear Solid 3D Snake Eater, Resident Evil: Revelations, and Tales of the Abyss chief among them--Nintendo does plan to bring out Kid Icarus: Uprising on March 23rd.

Also releasing in the first quarter of next year is the much-talked-about Circle Pad Pro, which adds a second analog stick and additional shoulder buttons to a handheld that for some reason lacked those things to begin with. The peripheral launches on February 7th for the price of $19.99. Interestingly, the item is yet another GameStop exclusive, joining the recently announced North American release of Xenoblade Chronicles (which arrives in April). I don't know if this is good news, terrible news, or barely news at all. I just...don't...know...

Thus ends our tri-monthly communique on Nintendo release dates. We'll see you again in March.

A new Pokepark, it's about time.

Can't wait for the new rhythum heaven

30 bucks for rhythm heaven? Hell yeah!

I will buy a Wii for Rhythm Heaven (and other games).

I wish Rhythm Heaven Fever was a 3ds game (or DS again i guess)

Rhythm Heaven will be bought now.

Gotta buy a wii now.

so have they announced if the circle pad is compatable with kid icarus?

WHERE'S MY FIRE EMBLEM, DAMN IT!?

How is that Kid Icarus game not out yet?

I like budget prices. Rhythm Heaven, I will get along with you shortly.

Sweet! Rhythm Heaven coming soon

Super excited fir Xenoblade, and probs will pick up Rythem Heaven for 20 or 30 since I never got the DS version!

Not really feeling any of those games except for Xenoblade. It is curious as to why they are releasing the thumb stick add-on now. Is there anything stateside that can even take advantage of it? Seems odd without Monster Hunter and stranger yet with it being a Gamestop exclusive.

@Video_Game_King said:

WHERE'S MY FIRE EMBLEM, DAMN IT!?

Patience, my liege.

30 dollars. No excuses. Not even, 'I don't have a Wii'!

So the 3DS "launch window" is a year now? Huh...

@TehFlan:

Near 18 months worth of patience?

@Enigma777 said:

So the 3DS "launch window" is a year now? Huh...

This is all I clicked on this story for. I thought Icarus was canceled at this point.

CIRCLE PAD PRO GET!

Or not. It still looks totally ridiculous.

I bought a 3DS a few days ago. I like the system, it's really neat and the battery isn't as bad as everyone said it was, but I refuse to ever purchase that ridiculous circle pad peripheral.

What a terrible and dumb monstrosity.

@Video_Game_King: I prefer to not think about it. :/

CAN WE SEE THE RETURN OF THE NINTENDOWNLOAD EXPRESS????

I just...don't.......know.

Hilarious!

@msavo said:

I bought a 3DS a few days ago. I like the system, it's really neat and the battery isn't as bad as everyone said it was, but I refuse to ever purchase that ridiculous circle pad peripheral.

I think Nintendo really did the 3DS a disservice by having it default to max brightness and having power save mode off when you get it new. At 3/5, the screen brightness looks basically no different and you get at least an hour more battery life, if not more. Nintendo should've gotten in front of all that battery life talk and explained to people all the ways you can conserve battery life with the system, because I honestly think it would've made a difference in how that system is perceived.

Also: anyone who buys the Circle Pad Pro is a fucking prick. Please die in a fire.

YES!!!!!!!! NEW RHYTHM HEAVEN YO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

$30?! $30!

This is all starting to sound too good to be true.

@msavo said:

I bought a 3DS a few days ago. I like the system, it's really neat and the battery isn't as bad as everyone said it was, but I refuse to ever purchase that ridiculous circle pad peripheral.

I also got it recently (got the white 3DS + Mario 3D Land bundle cause, yeah, that black Zelda one looks cool and all but I've already played through OoT 4 times, I'd rather have a new game for my new system) and I also noticed the battery life not being terrible. I played 3D Land with full 3D on, brightness setting of 3, battery saving mode, no wireless and headphones on and was surprised to find the battery gauge still being full after a 3 hour session. Pretty sure it took almost 10 hours to drain the batteries, something I can totally deal with.

Though I DID consider the Nyko battery life enhancers just because they're only 20 bucks or so but I'll have to wait until they release a circle pad pro compatible one. Already excited to see what this Megadrive 32X CD-type monstrosity will look like.

So is just the add-on an exclusive, or are all the bundles going to be too? 
I'm cool with Gamestop, but I sometimes get stuff off Amazon too.

WHY NO ANIMAL CROSSING?

Aww man, a Tales game for the 3DS?

Damn... now I might just have to get one. Though at some retailers I've seen them for 130$, which is certainly no 250$, so maybe it'll be worth it.

But just smell a hardware revision around the corner. I think I can wait until E3 to find out.

RHYTHM HEAVEN TO PURGE MY SOUL

I'm keen to get a 3DS again mostly thanks to Super Mario 3DS, but I've waited this long; may as well wait for the inevitable hardware revision. The circle pad add-on has made me leery.

@Ezekeilpurger said:

Gotta buy a wii now.

Buy used, there's tons of them

If Guitar Hero was still a thing they could bolt a few more on there... >_< "INTERNS, MORE NUBS."

The 8-4 Play folks call this the "frankenstick" for a reason. Granted that reason is they like to be dicks, but still. Part of me does respect Sony's decision to say "fuck it" and stick with one PSP nub. Stay in that corner and watch the paint dry, there's a good chap.

Yay metal gear

Mario Party 9 TNT next year, please.

Thank God there's no upcoming 3DS I want that I could fathom actually needing that horrible add-on. On the downside of things, when the fuck are they gonna release Animal Crossing? My girlfriend seems to think it's my fault she doesn't know when it's coming out.

@zerdune said:

Mario Party 9 TNT next year, please.

@iAmJohn said:

Also: anyone who buys the Circle Pad Pro is a fucking prick. Please die in a fire.

no

@byterunner said:

@iAmJohn said:

Also: anyone who buys the Circle Pad Pro is a fucking prick. Please die in a fire.

no

Yes. >:(

@iAmJohn said:

@byterunner said:

@iAmJohn said:

Also: anyone who buys the Circle Pad Pro is a fucking prick. Please die in a fire.

no

Yes. >:(

no

@supermonkey122 said:

@iAmJohn said:

@byterunner said:

@iAmJohn said:

Also: anyone who buys the Circle Pad Pro is a fucking prick. Please die in a fire.

no

Yes. >:(

no

Still yes.

@iAmJohn said:

@supermonkey122 said:

@iAmJohn said:

@byterunner said:

@iAmJohn said:

Also: anyone who buys the Circle Pad Pro is a fucking prick. Please die in a fire.

no

Yes. >:(

no

Still yes.

I'm buying one. HAH.

That fucking circle pad.....uhhhg

Circle pad is so damn ugly...but I'm still planning on buying a 3DS next week.

I feel that Nintendo is slowly starting to you realize that the gaming-market is changing. Casual-gaming today is not just sports games and minigame collections but rather easy-to-access FPS games and other games that would be classified as "hardcore" games four years ago. Hope they got it before it's too late.