Nintendo 3DS News

While the Lord of the Rings franchise focussed on a small group of people changing the world in a big way, The Hobbit was more about the group (at least up to a point). This isn't something that's been lost on the team behind LEGO The Hobbit either, as they've added new ways for you to work together with your "buddies." Warner Brothers today released a new trailer showcasing these new abilities, and the importance of your group.

The 2.5D Metroidvania entry in the Batman Arkham city will be coming to PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii U in April this year, Warner Brothers have announced. Batman Arkham Origins: Blackgate was a handheld exclusive that took place after Arkham Origins and was set in - can you guess - Blackgate Prison. Blackmask, Joker and Penguin all want to cause trouble, and it's up to you as The Bat to sort it all out.

Nintendo built the 3DS very, very well, and the biggest proof of that is that it's yet to be properly hacked. Last year saw the release of the Gateway, an R4-like device that allowed people with a console below a certain firmware to play downloaded games. It wasn't perfect, but it was piracy, and it looked for a while like this would end up as a perfect solution for those that wanted to play games without paying.

The Direct began with a new trailer for Super Smash Bros. The trailer has revealed the Little Mac from Punch Out will be a playable character in the game; it also appears as if a Punch Out boxing ring level may also be in the game. Many questioned if this game would ship this year, but Nintendo insists it will be available in 2014.

Sonic Boom was announced last year, along with a teaser image showing some crazy changes to the way Sonic and friends looked. Yesterday SEGA revealed more about the direction they're taking the Blue Blur, introducing a whole new Sonic Universe for a brand new CGI TV series, Nintendo-exclusive video game and toy line.

Pokemon X and Y fans finally have a reason to turn their game back on. Pokemon Bank, which was originally set to launch world wide in December, has finally released in Europe, Australia, and according to Game Informer via twitter, in North America. Pokemon bank will allow Pokemon X and Y players to store up to 3,000 Pokemon in cloud storage.

The Wii U has been nothing but trouble for Nintendo. As Nikkei reported today, the poor sales resulted in the Big N recently getting slammed with a $15 million dollar operating loss, which is forcing President Satoru Iwata to take a 50 percent pay cut from now until June. Other executives are taking pay cuts, as well, by as much as 30 percent.

Japanese developer Neverland Co. announced in late November 2013 that they were filing for bankruptcy, despite great success with Rune Factory 4 in North America. Rune Factory, a spin off of the Harvest Moon series, combined the best of farming and dungeon crawling in one great title.

Nintendo continues to be busy in the early weeks of 2014 in both North America and Europe. All the details for these new game releases can be found on your Wii U or 3DS.

Nintendo announced yesterday that the Wii U and 3DS sales for fiscal year 2013, have slowed down significantly. So much so that they have had no choice but to revise system sales projections for the Wii U from around 9 million units to 2.8 million.