It’s not very often anyone hears anything from the guys at Rare, but every so often their Scribes mailbag is answered with answers varied and revealing. On the subject of what games now could appearing from the Rare back catalogue now that all of the Donkey Kong County games have been released, will games like Diddy Kong Racing with their inherent copyright problems (fixed in the DS version with character swaps) ever appear? More inside

In a new interview Shigeru Miyamoto has spoken out how he believes that the future of indie games may be outside his home country and take off in America. "I think America has always been better at creating unique products,” the legendary figure said. The reference is to Wii Ware and how he believes that while both Japan and America will have a fair amount of games on the service, the most intriguing ones will come from America. More inside

With investor conference calls the flavour of the month it’s 2K Sport’s turn. Usually 2K doesn’t have much to do with Nintendo, but with Nintendo’s resurgence in the market lately, 2K has something to discuss this time. Top Spin 3 is heading to the Wii this year and sadly it looks like it’s going to lacking in features compared to its PS3/Xbox 360 counter parts. While it’s not all bad, Top Spin 3 on the Wii, like many a port, is going for the simple experience as well as the hard core. More inside

The Formula 1 racing licence has for the last few years been in Sony’s control and due to that, F1 games have been exclusive to their consoles. But with Codemasters recently acquiring the licence the next game will appearing on many consoles. The game is set for to be made available, when it’s actually finished, to all major home consoles, handheld consoles and the PC. The game is being prepared now by Codemasters and will use the EGO Engine that drove DiRT and will drive GRID. More on the F1 games as they happen.

Thanks to our friends at Electronic Arts Australia we have a giveaway for our members. The prizes are one copy of Ninja Reflex for the Wii and one copy for the DS. Ninja Reflex puts your reflexes and reaction times to the test in head to head competition. Be the best Ninja you can be and defeat those evil pirates. Entry to the competition is simple, and the method awaits you inside. Competition closes the 18th of May. Details inside

EA’s “skate.” franchise is heading to the Wii and Nintendo DS, with the Wii version to be one of the first 3rd Party games that supports the Wii Balance Board. The DS version is also set to have some of the best graphics that the console has ever put out. For those who missed it, “skate.” hit the PS3 and Xbox 360 last year and shook up the skateboarding genre on consoles, even forced Activision into revitalising what they are doing with the Tony Hawk Franchise. More inside

Call of Duty 3 hit the Wii during the launch however, the fourth iteration in the game missed all but the PS3 and Xbox 360. However with Treyarch in the helm of the next game (they take turns with the original Call of Duty Developers, Infinity Ward). The game will be making its return to Wii, as well as the PC, Wii, Nintendo DS, PS2, PS3 and Xbox 360. Also while not confirmed, it’s rumoured that the story, despite moving to Modern Times in CoD4 will return to World War II, but will have more focus on the Pacific Campaign of the war rather than the well-worn Western European angle.

Activision has today confirmed in its end of year financial conference call that the Tony Hawk franchise will be taking a year break, no doubt to work on that “re-invigorating” of the franchise the company has planned. But you Tony Hawk fans won’t be left totally in the dark, as the Nintendo DS will received another iteration of the game this year, ironically as the DS versions have been the only ones to impress in the last few years. The game on the DS is said to use “new technology not yet seen on the DS”.

Is there trouble across the pond? Nintendo Australia has been celebrating some great times lately, but it seems its New Zealand counterpart isn’t doing as well. Nintendo have never really found success in NZ, some even calling the country Sonyland. It seems that delays and stock issues for the Wii, Mario Kart Wii and now Wii Fit have been adding up. More inside

This year's Hanabi Festival has continued into its second week, complete with the next batch of previously Japanes exclusive games. This time four games hit the Virtual Console and on four different systems to boot. First is Puyo Puyo 2 from the Megadrive for 900 Points, on Hudsons two consoles are Break In for 700 Points and the controversial and just a little bit gay Cho Aniki for 900 Wii Points. Last but certainly not least is the Arcade Neo Geo classic Metal Slug for again 900 Points. Metal Slug is not new to the Wii though, it previously joined in on the fun in the Metal Slug Collection.

In the recently released rendition of “Iwata Asks”, several interesting pieces of information have been revealed by fan favourite Shigeru Miyamoto. Specific highlights include but are not limited to Miyamoto’s confession for love of the FPS genre, among other very intriguing comments about THAT game we all know and love. The latest Iwata Asks can be found here.

Whilst Nintendo has yet to confirm, we’ve be able to confirm through our usual 'sources' (so we're 99.9% sure) the release date for Super Smash Bros Brawl in Australia. The release date is set for June 26th, one day before Europe. This means Brawl has finally gotten its release date 60 days after the launch of the game in the US and by the time the game actually gets here, it will have been a 3 month, 18 day delay. When signs of the Brawl delay first surfaced no one thought that Nintendo Australia/Europe would delay Brawl, one of the biggest games of the year so badly. Guess we were wrong.

Sierra has today announced the official Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor game will hit stores a mere week after the movie hits theatres later this year. The third person adventure game promises lots of fighting and shoot outs as you navigate Rick O’Connel and his son Alex through ancient Chinese catacombs to take on the Dragon Emperor. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is being developed by Eurocom Studios for Wii and PS2 and by A2M for Nintendo DS.

DreamWorks will not be renewing its five year game deal with Activision when it expires in 2010. Activision will continue to develop licensed games for the movie studio until then, with its final game scheduled to be Shrek Goes Forth. THQ will then publish “Master Mind” in 2010 as a one shot deal for the company, with the developer of games after that still undecided.

Brain Training spawned a thousand knock offs, Nintendogs the same and now the next Nintendo success story in Wii Fit is now getting the same treatment, with EA under their new Freestyle creating a fitness game for a more “western” style of audience. Speaking during a recent showcase EA Sport’s Peter Moore has said "We're watching very closely what the Wii Fit board does," but the “EA Fit” game which will use the balance board will have a greater focus on strenuous fun. More inside

Forbes has published a list of the 40 wealthiest people in Japan and guess who is sitting pretty at the top of the pile? None other than former Nintendo chairman Hiroshi Yamauchi whose net worth soared US$3 billion in the past year for a total of US$7.8 billion. The ex-Pres is no doubt sitting on the top of the heap thanks to a huge windfall on the back of the success of the Wii and Nintendo DS. More inside

In case you missed the billboards, shopping centre tours, or TV ads, you'll be happy to know that Wii Fit hits Australian stores today. If you're picking it up make sure you read our guide to get it cheaper. Also heading to stores today is EA's Boom Blox, arriving a mere two days after the US (Nintendo take notes). Produced by Steven Spielberg himself, Boom Blox takes you through levels of physics based puzzles and is a ton of fun. Look for a review of Boom Blox and Wii Fit soon.

Nintendo has let loose the anticipated Nintendo Channel for America, the channel which allows you to read up about games, Virtual Console game titles, watch trailers and developer interviews as well download DS demos. You can also review games you have played more than an hour of and give other Nintendo fans your opinion on the game. More inside

Highlights: As anticipated the Grand Theft due has knocked off Mario Kart Wii from the top of the Charts, for those playing at home with other consoles the 360 version of the game pipped the PS3 version. With Multiplayer fun on Mario Kart it seems more people were intent on picking up another controller with the Wii Play bundle popping up in the charts. The rest of the charts are littered with the usual suspects but nothing too special. More inside

Forget GTAIV or Dark Sector, the real scourge hitting our shelves is Wii Fit. The program has been reported to call a healthy and active ten-year-old girl overweight when she tried out the game. The girl of course was devastated and the family had a hard time convincing her otherwise. While the family is going to complain, it should be noted that BMI is calculated differently for children and only a general guide overall as it is adults and as Shiggy says, it is only a game.