Nintendo has announced that it’s going to start selling cuddly Tanooki Mario soft toys in Japan starting from April. A small cuddly Tanooki Mario costs 1,400 yen ($18) and a medium-sized Tannoki Mario costs 2,600 yen ($34). Nintendo hasn’t announced any plans to bring these adorable toys to the West, though I’m sure there’s a few of you that would like to get your hands on one.

Online gaming publication Games Beat has revealed that Sony issued a Wii U like patent during 2010. The patent is Titled Position-Dependent Gaming 3-D controller, and Handheld as a Remote. Here’s a brief description of the intriguing patent which bears a striking resemblance to what Nintendo has proposed with Wii U:

Methods and systems for using a position of a mobile device with an integrated display as an input to a video game or other presentation are presented. Embodiments include rendering an avatar on a mobile device such that it appears to overlay a competing user in the real world. Using the mobile device’s position, view direction, and the other user’s mobile device position, an avatar (or vehicle, etc.) is depicted at an apparently inertially stabilized location of the other user’s mobile device or body. Some embodiments may estimate the other user’s head and body positions and angles and reflect them in the avatar’s gestures.

Thanks 64SuperMarioReturn

Nintendo Europe has announced that it’s bringing Kirby’s Block Ball to the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console. Kirby’s Block Ball is very similar to Breakout and will be coming to the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console on the 9th February. Nintendo has yet to announced pricing for the game, but expect it to retail for around £3.50.

High Voltage, the development studio behind The Conduit has announced that it’s the latest developer to sign up for the Wii U. High Voltage wouldn’t reveal exactly what they’re working on, but hopefully we shall see the fruit of their endeavours at this years E3 event in Los Angeles during June.

Nintendo has revealed precisely what you can get this month with your hard-earned coins on Club Nintendo. Firstly, you can claim DSiware Art Academy: First Semester which is available for 150 Club Nintendo coins. The second reward that’s available is the Nintendo Card Case which was revealed a few months ago. The Card Case can hold up to 18 games and comes with replacement double-sided covers, and can be yours for 250 coins. Oh, and if you’re looking for Mario Party 2 then that can be yours for 150 coins.

Marvelous AQL, the developers behind the Harvest Moon franchise have revealed that Japanese model Miho Tanaka will be the image girl for the forthcoming Harvest Moon 3DS. Miho will appear on numerous television commercials and print adverts for Harvest Moon 3DS which is due for release in Japan on February 23rd.

Ubisoft has revealed that when Rayman Origins 3D launches in Japan on April 12th it will retail for a mere 2,500 yen which is roughly $32 on all-formats. Compared to other new releases such as Soulcalibur V for PlayStation 3 which is 8,380 yen ($110) and Resident Evil Revelations which costs 5,990 yen ($79) you can see that Rayman Origins is a steal. I’m not entirely sure why Rayman Origins 3D is launching so cheap in Japan, but it’s a shame it isn’t here in the West.

According to the latest edition of Iwata Asks the popular Nintendo 3DS messaging system Swapnote, or Nintendo Letter Box, was originally in the works for the Nintendo DSi but due to some technical complications the project was shelved and later brought to Nintendo 3DS. Here’s director Daiji Imai from Nintendo’s Network Business Department take on it:

Even then, it was shaping up quite nicely. But it had a few weaknesses. For example, the Nintendo DSi system itself didn’t have the Friend List 7, so we put that function into the software. But you could only register 18 friends. Another big weakness was that you had to manually access the server all the time to check whether you have received a diary from others or not. It was unavoidable that sometimes you would think, “Did it come in? Argh! It didn’t!”

We tried various kinds of 3D representation and multiple color pens. If you do that, though, the controls get complicated and it turns into software only for those with artistic skills. So I carefully selected what functions to include and placed emphasis on something that anyone could write easily, send right away, and use comfortably. As a result, I feel like it turned out to be something that many people can use.

Acclaimed Street Fighter producer Yoshinori Ono and Tekken producer Katsuhiro Harada have joined forces to promote the upcoming Tekken Prime 3D for the Nintendo 3DS. Both producers can be seen duelling it out against each other, but it looks as though Harada  clearly has the upper-hand. Tekken Prime 3D is due out February 17th in Europe and February 14th in North America. Here’s some of the key details for the game:

• Tekken Prime 3D Edition sees the famous King of Iron Fist Tournament fought in 3D for the first time
• There are more than 40 characters to choose from, including a young Heihachi, and players will do battle on totally new stages alongside others redesigned especially for the Nintendo 3DS
• Players can battle alone through various challenge modes or play versus battle via a local or Wi-Fi connection. All modes deliver fast-paced dynamic battles with impressive graphics running at a high frame rate
• Players can collect and trade original Tekken cards through StreetPass
• For the first time on Nintendo 3DS, a full-length CG movie will be available on the game cartridge. Tekken Blood Vengeance is 90 minutes long with 30 minutes bonus footage and was produced by Digital Frontier, directed by Youichi Mouri and covers the history and legacy of the Tekken universe – a real must for fans

Nintendo of America has revealed today via a press release that starting February 6th, Nintendo Zone will offer a variety of new content, including playable demos of select Nintendo 3DS video games and a dedicated Pokémon section that will feature full-length episodes of the Pokémon TV series. Nintendo Zone content can be accessed at more than 29,000 locations at restaurants, coffee shops, hotels, airports and malls in the United States and Canada. Nintendo 3DS owners can find a Nintendo Zone location by clicking here.

“Nintendo 3DS continues to deliver fun and engaging new experiences, especially for users who connect their systems to the Internet. Nintendo 3DS is our most connected system ever, and Nintendo Zone offers a wealth of exclusive content to users who take their systems with them when they are away from home.”

- Zach Fountain, Nintendo of America’s director of Strategic Partnerships.