1up is reporting on comments from Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata, who has offered up the opinion that the four-year console cycle is a thing of the past. Instead, he says, companies should look to iterate on their hardware when an opportunity presents itself. "Launches should depend on when it can signify a major shift in entertainment, or when they have done everything possible with the current hardware. He also says that scheduling the successor to current hardware on a 4-year life cycle without paying attention to changes in the market 'appears to be too inflexible an approach to us.' This isn't to say that the company doesn't have eyes on the future. 'We need to forecast what the future will be like with the expected evolution of new technologies which are available at any given time, and try to identify the so-called 'sweet spot' of technology over the next few years,' he said."

Of all the titles in the Legend of Zelda series, some of the most-respected have been for handheld consoles. Link's Awakening, the Oracle duo, and Minish Cap all manage to combine on-the-road gaming with a certain purity of Zelda-ness. Link's most recent adventure on the small screen, Phantom Hourglass, generally continues this tradition and introduces a number of new elements to the property. Unique controls, a true sequel, and cel-shaded graphics all make Hourglass stand out from 'traditional' Zelda games, and together the whole hangs together fairly well. Read on for my impressions of this pint-sized return to Hyrule.

Via Destructoid, an article at the personal site of Douglas Crockford, a gent who worked with LucasArts during the NES days. He takes a look at the silly amount of content censored to get the game Maniac Mansion acceptable for Nintendo and the Nintendo Entertainment System. "'Well, Mommy, I'm worried! He hasn't eaten in 5 years. / YEAH, SO!!! / and he's been bringing those bodies, and he carries those bodies to the basement at night.' [sic] This was from Weird Ed's dialogue with his mother, Nurse Edna, in which Ed tries to get his mother to recognize the terrible things that have happened to his father over the past 20 years. What was Nintendo's problem with the dialogue? ... In fact, Nintendo's interpretation of the speech was that Dr. Fred was a cannibal, that he was eating the bodies. That was never our intention, so we changed Ed's speech to 'He hasn't slept in 5 years,' which helps to explain why Dr. Fred is never seen in his bedroom. But even if we had intended that Dr. Fred was a cannibal, what's the harm? He would have been one under the influence of the evil purple meteor. The game recognizes that it is bad, and your mission is to rescue him from this unhappy state. Who would be offended?"

MaryAlan writes "Wal-Mart is now selling an electronic LCD game in the kid's section that resembles a Wiimote so closely that even Wal-Mart employees can't tell them apart in a picture. But the games — made by ToyQuest out of L.A. — are complete and utter crap, to the point of being unplayable. Their only redeeming feature is that they look like the Nintendo Wii, which means Wal-Mart is relying on brand confusion to sell any of these things to unsuspecting customers. There is a gallery of photos online, so you can take a look at side-by-side pictures with a true Wiimote, down to the fake speaker on the front. "

Gamasutra has up a pair of articles discussing the numbers from this round of the console wars. One focuses on the current frontrunner, Nintendo. Their numerical superiority is highlighted by the number of million selling titles they currently have on tap. Both the DS and Wii are carrying multiple-million sellers, with the current tally for (recently released) Diamond/Pearl sitting at 12,170,000. Meanwhile, in a lengthy article, the site fully explores the impact of console sales in numerous markets and venues, with comparisons between all three consoles (and a focus on Nintendo's sales). "PlayStation 2 titles make up the bulk of software sales in the U.S. and Europe again in 2007, as they have in previous years. The Wii's 2007 numbers equal the GameCube's in 2006, but its software growth isn't yet matching its hardware's. Microsoft's Xbox 360 has benefited largely from the Xbox's demise and the PlayStation 2 sales' slow decline. Even with the PlayStation 3 hardware's current state in Europe, its software sales in Europe are relatively low."

MCV is reporting that a $99 version of the PlayStation 2, in a new and compact format, will be released next year. The new unit will incorporate the power supply into its housing, allowing Sony to manufacture the product very inexpensively. "The news will surely come as a blow to Sony rivals Nintendo and Microsoft, who have seen sales of PS2 suffer somewhat due to the introduction of Wii and Xbox 360 in recent years. PS2 this week celebrated its seventh anniversary, during which time it has sold over 120 million units worldwide. Yet this cut demonstrates Sony's belief that the system's market is far from exhausted. Last month, publisher bosses from the likes of Eidos, Ubisoft and Atari suggested to MCV that a price cut on the console could massively reinvigorate its sales figures."

The British Gaming Blog has links to articles on the official UK Wii site exploring the title Mario Galaxy . The first explores the game's origins and gives us a peek behind the scenes of the game's voice acting. The second looks at Mario's essence, and the benefits of the 'planetary gameplay'. The last is all about the sound of Mario: "This time, we recorded with an orchestra of about 50 or so members. Of course, they were not very good at first because they were playing music they'd never heard before, and they are also seeing the score for the first time. But as the day went on, their performance improved dramatically, and the process of recording each track in its final form was actually a very fast one. This surprised Miyamoto-san, who was glued to the glass wall looking at them from the other side. He was saying 'So, sound is something that really changes too!'"

After a lengthy wait and a substantial retooling, Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa has gone live. The New York Times is running a piece looking into the history of Garriott's interaction with MMOGs, while Wired had a chance to speak with the 'General' getting a better sense of what the game is about. "'It takes 30 minutes to an hour just to meet up with your friends to start playing' in most MMOs, says Richard Garriott, the new game's executive producer. In contrast, Tabula Rasa, a PC game that will be released Nov. 2, was designed to appeal to the average Joe who's probably not interested in learning what "gold farming" or "damage over time" means and just wants to amuse himself by saving the universe. It's a calculated shift designed to move beyond the hard-core gaming crowd and court the mainstream audience that has made Nintendo's Wii such a surprise success. And it isn't particularly remarkable, except that Garriott is the man largely responsible for inventing the MMO model in the first place. "

The MTV Multiplayer blog is playing host to a two-part interview with outgoing Nintendo president of marketing Perrin Kaplan. A well-respected figure in the games business, Kaplan's 'exit interview' with Stephen Totilo touches on everything from the missing September surprise to why the US doesn't have a fan club. "You know we've taken a really close look at what they're doing in Europe and what they're doing in Japan. You have to remember that, geographically, we're much bigger here and cost-wise, it is much more expensive to run a program like that. We try to do pre-sale with our retailers as often as possible. You're talking about a scale that is much larger. But we do look at the differences in markets and what consumers are liking. It's just a difference in scale." Good luck to Ms. Kaplan in her future endeavors.

Just in time for the EU launch of Metroid Prime 3, Eurogamer has a retrospective on the Metroid series well worth checking out. "The first Metroid presciently set the tone for the future of the franchise by appearing first on a struggling format and only reaching foreign shores after lengthy delays. Metroid was initially released only for the Famicom Disc System in 1986. The FDS was one of Nintendo's first attempts to monkey around with new storage methods, but its success was limited and it never made it beyond Japan. One year later, Metroid finally appeared on the plain old NES in North America and then, another year later, we pox-ridden Europlebs were deemed worthy of having a copy to call our own. Hmm. Sounds familiar."

Though there are no official announcements at the moment, Next Generation is reporting on two interesting possibilities for the future of Nintendo products. In a report filed yesterday, the site hints that Nintendo may be considering a MMOG version of Animal Crossing , to be released on the Wii console. Also exciting: the possibility of a Flash Card for the DS that would allow classic Nintendo games to be (legally) played on their handheld console. "The uncontrollable homebrew and piracy communities that use the DS rely on similar devices ... this should, in the long term, allow Nintendo to exercise some control over at least the former through the simple step of offering a path to publisher-supported content. Compared to the slightly vague WiiWare proposition, this has the possibility to revolutionise homebrew development - at least in terms of distribution and the possibility of mainstream success - but how far the notoriously controlling Japanese giant will allow that community the creative freedom it requires to flourish will only be seen in practice."

Adrian Lopez writes "Nintendo is cracking down on mod chips and copying devices with the help of the Hong Kong government. 'The Hong Kong High Court has intervened, at Nintendo's request, to help stop a global distribution operation involving game copying devices and modification chips that violate the copyrights and trademarks of Nintendo DS and Wii. On Oct. 8th, the court ordered the raid of Supreme Factory Limited facilities, through which Nintendo representatives seized more than 10,000 game copying devices and mod chips over the course of three days. The devices seized are used to copy and play Nintendo DS games offered unlawfully over the Internet, and the mod chips allow the play of pirated Wii discs or illegal copies of downloaded Nintendo games.'"

Ars Technica notes that, as more information leaks out from a recent Nintendo event, the control scheme for Smash Bros. on the Wii is now available for your examination. You're pretty much going to want to use the 'classic' controller for this one: "Holding the remote sideways like an NES controller, the d-pad is used for movement, A is used for taunting, B for guarding, the minus button for grabbing, the 1 button for special moves, the 2 button for the standard attack, and a combination of buttons for the "Smash Attack" ultimate moves." You can hear a detailed description of the control scheme in last week's 1up Yours podcast, starting at right about 13:40.

GameDaily has the NPD numbers for September, and they're impressive if only because for the first time in months Nintendo isn't dominating the top of every list. Total sales across the industry hit $1.36 billion (a 74% bump over last year), mostly fueled by Halo 3 sales. The game (across all skus) sold some 3.3 million units, while Xbox 360 platforms hit about 528,000 units sold last month. Ironically, the Wii had its second best month ever and the DS sold big numbers thanks to Phantom Hourglass. "Nintendo's Wii, despite not really having any significant new software releases, was close behind with 501K units sold. The DS handheld also did quite well, selling another 495.8K. Looking at Sony's platforms, the PS3 sold just 119.4K units, while the surging PSP sold 284.5K and the PS2 maintained healthy sales at 215K." The piece also offers up analysis from an NPD researcher, who feels Microsoft is likely to maintain some good momentum through the holidays.

The highly unique PlayStation 2 title Okami will see new life as a title for the Wii console. Boasting a beautiful visual style and a 'drawing' game mechanic that would seem to presage the Wii's motion control, it will almost certainly fit in well with the Wii's existing stable of games. Eurogamer also note that "the game lends itself rather well to the potential of Nintendo's Wiimote for control. Amaterasu's Celestial Brush - a paintbrush used in combat and for solving puzzles - is a perfect fit for the Wiimote, and so it proves, while combat will also include various "motion-controlled physical attacks"."

Last week there was a Nintendo media event giving the gaming press preview experiences for the Christmas season's games. 1up has a look at all the titles on offer, but the one that (understandably) got the most attention was Mario Galaxy for the Wii. Wired's Chris Kohler thinks Mario's bee suit might save Christmas, while MTV's Stephen Totilo has comments from an hour hands-on with the game ala Games For Lunch. From Totilo's comments: "Each planetoid presents a challenge -- squash things, collect things -- that rewards players with the creation of a new launch star. I've launched Mario to a sphere that looks like it's made of wood. A star guy of some sort is in a glass jar. I need to kill all the Goombas to free it. I can jump on their heads, but I can also do the spin move, which knocks them dizzy and sends them spinning themselves. If Mario runs into them while they spin, they die."

A combination of industry and developer observations has prompted Tech.co.uk to wonder if the Wii's overwhelming popularity is due to end sometime soon. This is based on a report from Japanese business newspaper The Nikkei, which published an article recently entitled 'Software Houses Miscalculate Audience, Demand For Wii'. "The report goes on to discuss the likelihood that many Wiis are gathering dust in owners' cupboards, citing one software house president as saying, 'People bought it out of curiosity, and it's likely a lot of them haven't used it.' Given that September saw Wii sales fall sharply in Japan for the second consecutive month, it seems reasonable to speculate that the bubble inflated by the novelty factor is starting to deflate, but writing Nintendo off at any stage is a perilous course to steer." Is this just worrying, or is there validity to this?

Ars Technica notes, from Nintendo's Fall conference earlier this week, the news that Mario Kart for the Wii is slated for Spring of next year. The game is said to involve bikes for the first time: "It is unclear whether the bikes will be mostly an aesthetic effect or if the control mechanics will differ between karts and bikes. Mario Kart: Double Dash featured a collection of different carts with different statistics, but control was more or less the same across the board ... Despite accusations that Nintendo had nothing to offer the hardcore gamer in terms of announcements at the show, the latest incarnation of the classic kart-racing series was looking sharp in its debut."

Dr. Eggman writes "As feared when it was announced that the Japanese launch was being pushed back to January 24, Nintendo has announced that Super Smash Bros. Brawl has been delayed in North America as well. 1up.com cites the new launch date as February 10th. On the bright side, however, 16-bit era fan's prayers have been answered: Sonic the Hedgehog is officially in the game."

Ars Technica notes that the official Smash Bros. Brawl site is now discussing a co-op play mode for the game. You'll now be able to team up as your favorite Nintendo characters in a vs. Computer story mode. "While the adventure mode was never really the best feature of previous Smash Brothers games, playing through with a friend will likely yield some great gameplay experiences ... Other notes on the mode include details on the camera, which will follow the first player in a way that appears similar to the handling of Sonic and Tails in Sonic 2, an overworld map which hints at a fairly lengthy adventure, the ability to create multiple teams, and five levels of difficulty ranging from easy to intense."