A patent filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office today tells the tale of an edutainment-laden future for Nintendo, reports Siliconera. According to the patent, the console maker's next property (properties?) may feature a mess of different learning tools aimed at young children, defined in the patent as, "toddlers and pre-kindergartners, and/or people with disabilities." The various ideas presented within the patent range from matching animal sounds with animal pictures to lessons in daily chores to building your first laser gun. Alright -- fine -- we made up that last one.Littered throughout the images included with the patent are a couple of familiar Nintendo characters (Mario and Pikachu), though, according to Siliconera, the report specifically mentions "television and/or licensed cartoon characters like Pikachu, Dora the Explorer, and Bob the Builder." Though this patent may have been filed, we want to remind you that none of these plans are by any means final and for all anyone knows, could be nothing more than what they are now -- ideas. One thing is for sure, no matter what happens, we all now know that Nintendo believes children to wear totally badass future shoes. Check out the gallery below for an extensive visual tour of what may very well be the next step Nintendo takes.
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In Touch Ruminations, former DS and Wii Fanboy Lead David Hinkle talks about whatever he feels like. He's a jerk like that. This week, he talks about Nintendo of Europe's one-two punch of Punch-Out!! news and what it means to him. The opinions expressed here belong to the author and don't necessarily reflect those of Joystiq, Weblogs Inc. or its affiliates.I actually had to change this week's column at the last second. I had this whole other column planned, then Nintendo of Europe had to go and drop a big old bomb on us earlier today. So now, I'm going to talk about Punch-Out!! and all of the confirmed info and what I think about it. Sorry.

Continue reading Touch Ruminations: Punch Drunk

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Nintendo brings word that its Wii Play software has sold over 10 million units in the United States. When combined with the 12.7 million Wiimotes sold individually, that's a whole lot of people waggling together in living rooms and old folks' homes.Nintendo's EVP of Sales & Marketing Cammie Dunaway says, "Even if you believe people are buying Wii Play solely for the controller ..." No, that's not what anybody with more than 512MB under their hood believes. People are buying the controller solely for Wii Play. We're sure it looks lovely to see Wii Play at the top of the NPD's software sales list month after month, but we all know that's based on a fabrication of what's the real star in that product bundle. Of course, all of this is debatable.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

A press release went out that is almost ready to burst at the seams with all of the Punch-Out!! info it contains. First of all, the game will support up to 2 players through Head-to-Head mode, which is pretty self-explanatory. Mac's trainer Doc Louis has been confirmed to make a return, along with a few fighters, including Glass Joe, King Hippo, Don Flaminco, and Von Kaiser, with a total of 13 opponents making their way into the game. We also know the game will feature three different circuits: Minor, Major, and World, presumably each with their own boxers to challenge. Source - NoE product page for Punch-Out!! Source - Punch-Out!! press release from NoE[Via Go Nintendo]Permalink | Email this | Comments