Nintendo aired a brief Nintendo Direct episode this morning, making a few new announcements while reminding viewers about other, previously announced titles. The full video can be watched here. If you don’t have 28 minutes, below is a roundup of the information.

*Release dates are for North America, unless otherwise noted.

Mario & Sonic at the Winter Olympic Games 2014
Release Date: N/A
Platform: Wii U

The olympic union of Mario and Sonic is back for another olympics. This time it’s the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. New events have been added, including figure skating pairs and snowboarding slopestyle. Events will use a combination of Wii Remote Plus and GamePad controls.

This is an excerpt from the full story which was originally featured on gamrReview, read the full version here – Nintendo Direct Roundup – Sonic, Pikmin 3, Wonderful 101 and More! – Article

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US retailer cancels preorders; tells GameSpot it is waiting to “hear further” from Ubisoft about Rainbow 6: Patriots.

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow 6: Patriots has been pulled from the database of US retailer GameStop, with all existing preorders being cancelled.

Speaking to IGN, a source said that the US retailer “actively flipped a switch” to remove Rainbow 6: Patriots from its systems.

The source continued by saying that the retailer does not remove games from major publishers without official confirmation that the title has been cancelled.

A GameStop spokesperson told GameSpot that the retailer has “stopped taking reservations as we wait to hear further from Ubisoft on an official release date for Rainbow 6: Patriots.”

When asked about the possible cancellation of the title, a Ubisoft representative added that “we have nothing further to share about Rainbow 6: Patriots at this time.”

At time of writing, no other major retailer has pulled the game from its listings.

Officially, Rainbow 6: Patriots is due to be released in 2013 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC, though Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said in November 2012 that there is a “good chance” the game will be released for next-generation consoles.

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Sega reveals preorder figures for upcoming strategy game are over six the number for Shogun 2 during its “first official week.”

Total War: Rome II is the fastest preordered game in the history of the strategy series, publisher Sega announced today. According to the company’s data, more than six times the number of gamers have preordered a copy during its “first official week” than did for predecessor Total War: Shogun 2.

In addition, Sega said the $155 Total War: Rome II Collector’s Edition has seen strong preorders, with over half of the available copies already sold out in the United States. The publisher previously announced that the collector’s edition would be limited to 22,000 units.

Lastly, Sega announced that it sold more than 2 million Total War games in the past year, despite no new core installment in the series being released.

Total War: Rome II launches September 3 for PC. Downloadable content will be available for all users on launch day for free. For more on the RTS, check out GameSpot’s previous coverage.

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The Apple App Store has hit 50 billion downloads. This figure does not include re-downloads or updates. Users are also currently downloading 800 apps every second. There are also now two billion apps downloaded per month.

“Apple would like to thank our incredible customers and developers for topping 50 billion apps downloaded,” said Apple’s Eddy Cue. “The App Store completely transformed how people use their mobile devices and created a thriving app ecosystem that has paid out over nine billion dollars to developers. We’re absolutely floored to cross this milestone in less than five years.”

Developers have made more than $9 billion and Apple’s 30 percent cut all app sales have made Apple $3.9 billion. Also Brandon Ashmore, who lives in Ohio, downloaded the 50th billion app and received a $10,000 App Store Gift Card.

The App Store launched in July 2008, with just 500 apps. There are now more 850,000 apps available for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch in 155 countries.

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Developer says it could have made fourth entry in first-person shooter series but was wary of “franchise fatigue.”

Insomniac Games “seriously considered” making Resistance 4, but ultimately decided to build an all-new franchise–Fuse–in an effort to avoid “franchise fatigue.” President Ted Price revealed the news to GamesRadar, saying Resistance 3 represented a logical conclusion for the series.

“We decided to bring Resistance to a conclusion when we looked ahead and realized that Resistance 4, while possible and something we seriously considered, wasn’t going to be the right game for us at that time,” Price said. “We wanted to do something new.”

“One of the aspects of building franchises, and sticking with them for a long time is that even the team can get franchise fatigue. We had been pushing hard with Resistance from the beginning–which was a tough birth–to Resistance 3, which is a game we were all very proud of,” he added. “With Resistance 3 it felt like we had capped off, or at least closed a major chapter in that franchise. So, a lot of the team was looking forward to doing something different.”

2011′s Resistance 3 is the most recent core entry in the series, though a PlayStation Vita game–Burning Skies–launched last year. The future of the series is unknown.

Insomniac Games’ Fuse launches May 28 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

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Upcoming action game collection coming to Nintendo’s latest console in Japan this summer; no word on Western release.

Today during a Nintendo Direct presentation, Nintendo announced (via Polygon) that the Yakuza 1 & 2 HD bundle is coming to Wii U in Japan on August 8. As its name suggests, the collection packs in the first two installments in the PlayStation 2-era action-crime series.

No mention was made of a release for the Yakuza 1 & 2 HD bundle in North America or Europe.

Polygon reports that a trailer for the bundle was shown, displaying upscaled graphics and Wii U-exclusive features. Players can use the GamePad to navigate the game’s streets and monitor their characters.

For more on the games within the bundle, check out GameSpot’s reviews of the original Yakuza and Yakuza 2.

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Nintendo reveals standalone version of Luigi-themed New Super Mario Bros. U DLC coming to stores this summer for $30; content alone will be available June 20 for $20.

A packaged standalone version of the Super Luigi U downloadable content for New Super Mario Bros. U will launch in North America at retail on August 25, Nintendo announced today.

Gamers will not need New Super Mario Bros. U to play New Super Luigi U, which will cost $30.

Those who own a copy of New Super Mario Bros. U already can pick up the Super Luigi U DLC when it launches through the Wii U eShop on June 20 for $20.

The news came during the latest Nintendo Direct today, where Nintendo president Satoru Iwata showed a new gameplay trailer for the content. He also revealed that Nabbit, a creature from New Super Mario Bros. U, will be a playable character in the content.

Nintendo announced the Luigi-themed DLC in February, calling it “large-scale” and “similar to the development of full software.” It features updated versions of the first game’s 82 courses with Luigi leading the way, instead of Mario.

The news comes a day after Nintendo revealed that New Super Mario Bros. U, a Wii U launch title, has now sold 770,000 units in the United States alone. It is a sequel to the original Wii’s New Super Mario Bros. Wii, which has sold close to 28 million units life-to-date.

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2.1 million Nintendo-published 3DS games have been sold in North America during the first four months of 2013.

Nintendo has reported a 52 percent year-on-year rise in sales of first-party 3DS software during the first four months of 2013.

Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata.

2.1 million Nintendo-published 3DS games have been sold between January through April 2013 in North America, Nintendo says, citing data from the NPD group.

Nintendo reports it took 30 weeks to sell two million first-party games in 2012, and reports that it accomplished the same sales milestone this year in 18 weeks, suggesting increasing take-up of the platform in North America.

While the first four months of 2012 saw the release of high-profile 3DS titles such as Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D and Resident Evil: Revelations, there were two first-party releases; Kid Icarus: Uprising, and the Tecmo-developed Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir.

In the same time period in 2013, however, Nintendo has published Fire Emblem: Awakening, Brain Age: Concentration Training, Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, and LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins.

Nintendo says sales of Lego City Undercover: The Chase begins have reached almost 94,000 copies since its late-April launch, whereas Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon has been purchased over 530,000 times.

The Mario publisher has scheduled a Nintendo Direct conference for later today.

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Newspaper’s EVP of Digital Products and Services Denise Warren appointed to leadership role at Battlefield publisher, is only woman on company’s board of directors.

Electronic Arts has appointed The New York Times executive Denise Warren to the Battlefield and FIFA publisher’s board of directors, the company has announced. Warren will also sit on EA’s Audit Committee.

She is the only female member of EA’s board of directors.

Warren is executive vice president of the Digital Products and Services Group at The New York Times, where she oversees operations for digital content and subscriptions. Before holding that position, Warren worked as general manager and chief advertising officer at The New York Times.

In a statement, Warren said she is already impressed with what EA has achieved thus far and plans to help the company broaden its audience through delivering experiences on new platforms.

“EA is transforming its business by extending the consumer relationship with digitally delivered high-quality products and services,” Warren said. “I’m impressed with the management of the company and look forward to helping them extend their products to a broader audience on new platforms including mobile and tablets.”

Warren will receive an annual retainer for her role on the EA board of directors of $50,000 and an additional 10,000 per year for her work on the Audit Committee. She will also receive 2,5000 restricted stock units.

Separately, EA announced that director Gregory Maffei will not seek re-election to the board at the annual stockholders meeting this summer. He had served ten years on the EA board, but is resigning due to obligations at Liberty Media, where he is president and CEO.

“Denise Warren brings an enormous amount of digital media experience to EA’s Board of Directors,” said interim EA CEO Larry Probst in a statement. “We look forward to the leadership and perspective that she will provide to our company. I would also like to thank Greg Maffei for his many years of dedicated service to our Board. His guidance, involvement and expertise have been invaluable.”

Warren holds a B.S. and management degree from Tulane University and an M.B.A. degree in communications and media management from Fordham University. She lives in Long Island.

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Naughty Dog confirms that the digital version of PS3-exclusive The Last of Us will be playable as it downloads.

Digitally purchased copies of upcoming PlayStation 3 exclusive The Last of Us will be playable while the game is still downloading, developer Naughty Dog has confirmed.

Speaking to Game Informer, Naughty Dog creative director Neil Druckmann and The Last of Us game director Bruce Straley said that customers of the digital release will be able to start playing the game once 50 percent of the data has been downloaded.

Being able to play games as they are being downloaded is one of the key new features of Sony’s upcoming next-generation PlayStation 4, which will launch later in 2013.

Yesterday The Last of Us’ lead artist Nate Wells took to Twtter to praise the game’s multiplayer mode. “I wish I could appropriately prepare you people for [The Last of Us],” he said. “But even if I were allowed to, I can’t. And I really can’t prepare you for the best [multiplayer] ever conceived.”

Naughty Dog’s latest game went gold this week.

The Last of Us will be released digitally on the PlayStation Store on June 14, the same day as the game’s physical release.

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