Your weekly Nintendo news roundup

While Sony and Microsoft grabbed the headlines with concave machinery, viral marketing campaigns, E3 schedule trickery and music television; Nintendo had a weeklong nap, (I imagine that Iwata enjoyed a relaxing scented bath, while Reggie hurt many, many people) resulting in a week of wholeheartedly unexciting franchise-flinging from the third-parties which, coupled with the inevitable cancellation of ECTS, left a sour taste in the mouth. With E3 looming, one would hope that Nintendo were deep underground, forging weaponry and ammunition for their cause. If Shigsy is seen to be cosplaying for the second year in a row, I think their absence this week will be entirely justified.

Capcom kicked off the proceedings, revealing that two more games were to be added to the Viewtiful Joe roster, with traditional Joe 2D scrap em'-up Scratch! Viewtiful Joe on its way to the Nintendo DS, while Smash Bros-style fighter Viewtiful Joe: VFX Battle is GameCube bound. The former promises the same thrills and spills that the console iterations play host to, with the added flair of touch-screen interaction, while the latter pits the stars of the franchise against each other in the beat-em' up mould. Interestingly, VFX Battle asks the player to replicate the attitude of a big chunk of the industry, and rewards style over substance. Thankfully, it appears that the Viewtiful Joe franchise doesn't make up that number. I also presume that the addition of exclamation marks to the Nintendo DS title adds considerable appeal.

Vivendi, meanwhile, are having a stab Mario Kart's considerable slice of the arcade-racer market, by throwing irritating scumbag Crash Bandicoot and cohorts into vehicles for what must be the fortieth time. That's not all. You can leap out of your automobile and fuse cars together, or something. "We're thrilled to give Crash Bandicoot fans another hilarious adventure with the irrepressible marsupial," said Ian Wilkinson. For reezy. Nintendo DS and GameCube, folks.

Friday was fairly uneventful, one would presume that the industry were too busy gorging on crunchies, with Nintendo picking up gongs for advertising at the MCV Industry Excellence Awards, which was a little unsettling, to say the least. My appreciation for phallic symbols bursting through brick walls clearly differentiates in quantity to the rest of the world. The addition of colour to the Nintendo DS clearly aroused the attention of the Japanese public as the Nintendo DS shot back up the hardware charts, while Catch! Touch! Yoshi! was the little representation that Nintendo received in the Japanese software chart, claiming third. I would suggest that the exclamation marks were crucial in this success.

Sunday brought news of British trade show ECTS' cancellation, following the example of Game Stars Live, which had been cancelled the week prior. While no official reasoning was offered, it seems a lack of interest and subsequently attendance was the problem at hand. Which is a crying shame. We fansite 'journalists' thrive when adorning a cotton band around our neck. It's like we're real people all over again. Nintendo's attempt to lighten the mood was almost entirely unsuccessful, as they once again insisted on throwing their most treasured franchises into environments that they simply shouldn't be any where near, never mind within. The product of this madness: Metroid Pinball for the Nintendo DS. I highly doubt that Samus Aran would prioritise a game of pinball over her usual duties.

Hudson's recent fiscal troubles were ailed on Wednesday, when Konami bought enough shares to become the majority shareholder, which loosely translates to a big cash injection on the part of the latter, and subsequently, more Bomberman. Electronic Arts chose Wednesday to unleash an onslaught of fact sheets upon us innocent journies; being an overwhelmingly weak assortment of individuals, we suffered countless losses. The meanies released some tidbits regarding the impending train wreck that is From Russia With Love, and revealed their plans to pillage old-school Bond with Sean Connery on board. I have no doubt that they will use the geriatric as a device for their wrongdoings.

They also unveiled plans to get their Harry Potter "on", touting lore of "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", a video game accompaniment for the fourth novel, appearing on both the GameCube and the Nintendo DS. Expect your usual third-person fare from the Boy Who Lived. Meanwhile, Need For Speed: Most Wanted is set to hit both the GameCube and the Nintendo DS � think Underground with a few cop cars chucked into the mix. Last but not least for the week, Activision unveiled their plans to give each of the Fantastic Four their own soundtrack in the game of the film, with greasy-haired emo rockers Taking Back Sunday providing the sound track for Mr. Fantastic, among others.

That's all for this week, I hope you've enjoyed our time together. Same time next week?

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