This week on the Nintendo Download, its a kid oriented week. Balloon Kid from the original Game Boy makes its debut on on the Nintendo eShop for Nintendo 3DS.

For Wii Ware (Nintendo Wii) we have the release of Gnomz: Welcome to the world of Gnomz, an exciting new arcade fighter for the WiiWare service. Battle in 25 action-packed arenas and discover magical power-ups, flying elephants, rainbows and glowing reindeer.

Only for Nintendo DSi and Nintendo 3DS you’ll see the releases of 1950s Lawn Mower Kids and House M.D. Episode 4: Crashed.

You can also check out with your Nintendo 3DS The Legend of Zelda: Main Theme Melody on Nintendo Video

If you’re looking for some Jaws action, look no further then Jaws: Ultimate Predator, an M rated game coming for the Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo Wii from Majesco Entertainment.

The game is apparently out to get some beach going swimmers, as you simply swim around looking for victims and bite them until they turn into an explosion of blood. The game will see release at the end of November.

This week is another hefty week of releases. Battlefield 3 is out for Xbox 360 PlayStation 3 and PC. So, what platform are you picking up the game on? If you’re interested, here are the other releases come out as well.

10/25/2011
Active Life: Magical Carnival (Wii)
Back to the Future (PS3, Wii)
Battlefield 3 (360, PS3, PC)
Ben 10 Galactic Racing (3DS)
Blackwater (360)
Captain America: Super Soldier (3DS)
Centipede: Infestation (Wii, 3DS)
Country Dance 2 (Wii)
Dance Central 2 (360)
Disney Universe (360, PS3, Wii, PC)
Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi (PS3, 360)
Heavy Fire: Afghanistan (Wii, PC)
Heavy Fire: The Chosen Few (3DS)
Horses 3D (3DS)
House of the Dead Overkill – Extended Cut (PS3)
I Spy Castle (DS)
Just Dance Kids 2 (Wii, 360, PS3)
Kinect Sports Season Two (360)
Kirby’s Return to Dream Land (Wii)
Magic School Bus Oceans (DS)
Monster High: Ghoul Spirit (DS, Wii)
Pokemon Rumble Blast (3DS)
Puss in Boots (Wii, DS, 360)
Stronghold 3 (PC)
The Cursed Crusade (360, PS3)
Zoo Resort (3DS)
inviZimals: Shadow Zone (PSP)
thinkSMART Chess for Kids (DS)

A pretty big week, especially if you’re into dancing titles, you have yourself Just Dance Kids 2 as well as Dance Central 2 for Kinect. What are you getting this week?

Nintendo announced they will be bringing over the US a new Nintendo Wii console bundle loosing the Gamecube backwards support.

The new bundle includes a Black Nintendo Wii console, with a copy of New Super Mario Bros and a bonus copy of the Super Mario Galaxy soundtrack CD. The retail bundle will be available for $149.99 on North American shores. the other standard Wii bundle will still be available is the Mario Kart Wii console bundle. That bundle includes a copy of Mario Kart Wii, a racing Wii Wheel accessory and a White Nintendo Wii console all for $149.99 as well. The Mario Kart Wii bundle does still include Gamecube compatibility support as Joystiq discovered.

Via Nintendo

It appears there have been rumors popping up lately that a new Super Smash Bros Universe title will be coming to the Wii U. However, the Series Director Masahiro Sakurai has squashed all rumors of the project.

“I’m currently concentrating on one title, Kid Icarus,” he stated. “Until this wraps up, Smash Bros. will not progress. Of course, characters have not been decided at all.”

While, all hopes and dreams might’ve been crushed in terms of confirmation of existence, don’t go jumping off that bridge just yet. I’m sure Nintendo has something up their sleeves after Kid Icarus is released. We will more then likely get more details once next years E3 draws closer.

Via Destructoid

Straight from 2k Play, Nicktoons MLB is now available in stores for the Xbox 360 (Kinect support), Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS.

The Nicktoons animated all stars line up was brewing up for months as gamers were able to vote who would be in the line up on www.2kplayball.com in The Showdown, a special online video game simulation based on one of the game’s modes.

It’s fastball versus stinkball in Nicktoons MLB as SpongeBob, ZIM, Dudley Puppy, Fanboy, Chum Chum, Stimpy and a dugout full of Nicktoons compete with more than 300 players from all 30 MLB® clubs, including Matt Holliday (St. Louis Cardinals), Andre Ethier (Los Angeles Dodgers), Miguel Cabrera (Detroit Tigers), Jason Heyward (Atlanta Braves), Cliff Lee (Philadelphia Phillies), and Robinson Cano (New York Yankees). MLB® ballparks, including Fenway Park and Dodger Stadium, and out-of-this-world Nicktoons venues like Frosty Freeze Field and the Poseidome, add new meaning to the term “home field advantage.”

You’ll hear play-by-play commentary provided by Perch Perkins, anchorman for the Bikini Bottom News and IRKEN EMPIRE’s irrepressible GIR. You’ll also experience multiple gameplay modes, including Pick-up Game, Tournament, Showdown and the swing-for-the fences Distance Derby. For the first time, Xbox 360 gamers will be able to experience controller-free pitching, batting and fielding with the Kinect for Xbox 360 sensor option. Wii gamers can utilize the Wii Remote™ to bat, pitch and slide, while the optional Nunchuk controls allow for precision throwing. The game is available for Nintendo Wii/DS for $29.99 and $39.99 for Xbox 360.

Coming this holiday season, Activision has announced DreamWorks Super Star Kartz.

DreamWorks Super Star Kartz is a compilation of 14 characters from DreamWorks Animation from Shrek, Madagascar, How to Train Your Dragon and Monsters Vs. Aliens into a new kart racing game similar to that of Mario Kart. You’ll race as your favorite characters as you jump, speed, and boost your way through wild courses. Racers can put the pedal to the metal with multiple game modes including Battle, Circuit and Time Trial. You’ll have unique weaponry and tricks to beat out your opponents and your invited to bring your friends in competitive 4 player split screen co-op on consoles.

The game is rated E for Everyone and will be available this holiday season for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3Ds.

This morning, Nintendo revealed to the world that its latest Zelda adventure, The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword for Wii will land on North American shelves on November 20.

The date of course falls within the holiday time frame revealed by the company earlier in the year at E3. Upon looking over Nintendo’s announcement, it does not appear that they mention if the game will ship will the Motion-Plus accessory as all game have been since last November. Games have either launched with the Motion-Plus accessory attachment or the Wii Remote Plus with Motion Plus built into the remote.

[Nintendo]

Above is the new trailer for the newest Kinect experience, The Black Eyed Peas Experience. Much like the Michael Jackson Experience, this title will have you dancing to your hearts delight to all the Black Eyed Peas tunes. It’s coming soon for the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii. This is the second installment in the Experience series. Release date is TBD (To Be Determined).

It was revealed that Nintendo has been hacked, however, no customer information was leaked or obtained. LulzSec claimed responsibility for the attack as they post the server config file. Gamespot did some digging and reported back saying the groups Twitter account linked evidence showing a gap in the servers config file to Nintendo’s owned domains such as animal-crossing.com and chibi-robo.com. It also included information on several other Nintendo run websites.

Check out the story on Gamespot

Today Traveler’s Tales Games and Warner Bros Interactive have announced the development of Lego Harry Potter Years 5-7.  If you’re wondering, yes this will be the follow up to the previously released Lego Harry Potter years 1-4. The game looks to have a target release window of Q4 2011.

Based on the last three Harry Potter books and final four films, LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 takes players through Harry Potter’s heroic adventures in the Muggle and wizarding worlds.  From Privet Drive in Little Whinging to Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade and Hogwarts – plus new locations including Grimmauld Place, the Ministry of Magic, and Godric’s Hollow – players will encounter new faces, new challenges and new magic, preparing them for the ultimate face-off against Lord Voldemort™.

Lego Harry Potter will see release on the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, NGP (Playstation Portable 2) and Nintendo Wii, DS and 3Ds.

Nintendo announced this morning that they will be officially dropping the price of the Nintendo Wii console after a few weeks of rumors had been circulating through various retail outlets. As of May 15th, the Nintendo Wii will drop to a new price of $149.99 and will come bundled with Mario Kart Wii and Wii Wheel accessory. The new price applies to both black and white systems.

Also in today’s announcements is the reveal of the new Wii Select Program. This program will discount current Wii Titles like The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Animal Crossing: City Folk,  and Mario Super Sluggers down too $19.99 for each of them.

EA has announced Need for Speed: The Run. As you can expect, it’s the next entry in its long-running driving series Need for Speed. The Run will be released on the 3DS, PC, PS3, Wii and 360 in North America on 15th November and Europe on 17th November.

Apparently, Need for Speed: The Run will once again be set in the world of underground racing. However, the twist this time is that it will take place against the backdrop of a high-speed race across the US from San Francisco to New York.

This time, development duties are being handled by Black Box. They’re the developers that controlled the franchise from 2002 to 2008, creating seven consecutive yearly updates. Those included NFS Underground and our personal favourite: NFS Most Wanted.

“EA Black Box will spend more than two years of development time on The Run to make sure this is the most action packed and finest cinematic racing experience in NFS history,” EA said.

Intriguingly, The Run will use DICE’s new Frostbite 2.0 engine. That’s the same one that’s going to be used in upcoming FPS Battlefield 3. Criterion’s social competition service Autolog from Hot Pursuit will also be making an appearance.

Nintendo has announced that they will be launching a successor to the Wii next year. The company confirmed the console in a note published today alongside its 2011 financial statement. The system is currently known under its codename moniker “Project Cafe”. The note also states that Nintendo plans to show a playable model of the new system and announce further details during this year’s E3, which takes place on 7th-9th June.

Project Cafe is said to have high definition graphics and is apparently comparable to the PS3 and 360 in terms of raw processing power. Some estimates have even suggested that Cafe’s CPU is four times faster than that of the 360, but this is mostly speculation at the present. Another interesting rumour about the new home console is that its controller is rumoured to feature a 6.2 inch touch-screen that will stream the games played on the console.

Here’s the full (albeit brief) note from Nintendo:

April 25, 2011

To whom it may concern:

Re: Wii’s Successor System

Nintendo Co., Ltd. has decided to launch in 2012 a system to succeed Wii, which the company has sold 86.01 million units on a consolidated shipment basis between its launch in 2006 and the end of March 2011.

We will show a playable model of the new system and announce more specifications at the E3 Expo, which will be held June 7-9, 2011, in Los Angeles.

Sales of this new system have not been included in the financial forecasts announced today for the fiscal term ending March 2012.

Nintendo has been gathering a lot news lately, hasn’t it? The rumor circle continues to boil especially with all the latest information regarding the rumors of Nintendo’s newest console. Miyamoto paid a visit to London, England yesterday and spoke with Next-Gen.biz about everything concerning the rumors of this new console and even the recent release and future possibilities of the 3Ds. He also explained that the recent lack of software has only been due to the fact of Nintendo’s concentration in hardware. Miyamoto said that the company is ready to develop and release games again.

As you can expect, in this behind closed doors event; Miyamoto was questioned on the rumors regarding the console announcement and this was his statement; “Don’t ask!” he said. “Even when the Wii launched we were developing new hardware, work on 3DS had already started. It’s a matter of when we announce it.” and when pressed as to whether this announcement would be at E3 he responded with “Please wait. Be patient until we decide.”

Miyamoto also expressed interest in building a remake for the Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past on the 3Ds and his hopes for the eShop for digital download games on the Nintendo 3DS.

Check out the rest of the story on Next-gen.biz.

A release date and price has been set for the upcoming release of MDK 2 (Madonna Dates Kylie 2) port on Wii Ware. The game is set to hit the service on May 9th for 1000 Wii Points ($10). The game is being developed by Beamdog a studio co founded by long time BioWare veteran Trent Oster. If you don’t remember this is a sequel developed by BioWare to Shiny Entertainment’s MDK (Mother’s Day Kisses). An HD PC version for MDK 2 is also being developed and set to release at a later date later this year.

Via ShackNews

Forgive the excitement, but folks Mega Man X has finally hit the Virtual Console shop today! This should bring back memories for any gamer like myself in the days of the Super Nintendo. The game originally hit the SNES back in 1994 and is considered one of the classic titles of the decade at the time of the 16-bit era. Aside from that, however, here are other titles that might interest you on the Wii Shop Channel for Wii Ware and DSi Ware.

Wii Ware

My Little Baby (dtp young entertainment, 1 player, 600 Wii Points)

BIT. TRIP CORE (demo version [Aksys Games, 1-2 Players, 0 Wii Points, Full version: 600 Wii Points])

DSi Ware

GO Series Captain Sub (Gamebridge, 1 Player, 200 Nintendo DSi Points)

DoDoGo! Robo (Neko Entertainment, 1 Player, 200 Nintendo DSi Points)

Music On: Learning Piano Volume 2 (1 player, 200 Nintendo DSi Points)

With rumors circling around that the Wii console might be hitting a price drop, Nintendo took the initiative to cut one of its premiere titles. Wii Sports Resort as well as Wii Party received a price drop today going from $49.99 down to $39.99 in the States. Wi Sports Resort packs in 13 party game modes and more then 80 mini game modes. The game shows off the power of the Wii Remote with the addition of Motion Plus. Since it’s launch, Nintendo pointed that Wii Sports Resort has sold more then 10.7 million units in the United States alone.

Have a look and find out….