3DS owners can now rejoice, because Project X Zone is officially coming to North America and Europe, as well as Latin America and Australia! While solid release dates have yet to be hammered down in any specific region, the game is looking at Summer 2013 release. As if there wasn’t enough to look forward to on the 3DS as it is, chalk one more major release onto the calendar! Let your happiness emanate in the comments below!

Welcome to Mario Kart!

First up, on the Nintendo 3DS side is Punch-Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream for a modest 200 coins, as well as the Gameboy classic Tetris which will set you back 150 coins. If gaming on the go isn’t what you’re after this month, however, on the home console side we have for the Wii (and now Wii U) both the WiiWare title Snowpack Park 150 coins, and perhaps the most exciting reward of all, Mario Kart 64 for a very reasonable 200 coins. If you’re a Club Nintendo member with extra coins to spare, be sure to check out January’s digital title offerings.

I for one think 350 coins (roughly 4-6 game purchases) is a great value to relive the glory days of Mario Kart 64, and the highly addictive Tetris in it’s original black-and-white portable form. Do any of these new rewards catch your eye? Sound off below.

This probably doesn’t come as too much of a surprise, and Nintendo has certainly been showing a much higher focus on digital release for it’s first party titles on both the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, but it’s still nice to know for sure that fans have the option of purchasing the game without leaving their home nonetheless. It’s been discovered that the North American 3DS eShop page for Fire Emblem: Awakening has been updated with this confirmation as well as some snazzy new 3D screenshots.

Of course, those choosing to go with the physical retail option (which in my opinion, is still the way to go), can score themselves a sweet, sweet artbook from GameStop for pre-ordering. February can’t come soon enough!

What’s next for this long-running franchise? We won’t have to wait long to find out!

According to the official Pokémon Twitter account, as well as a post on the Japanese Pokémon website, January 8th will see some big news for the beloved franchise. What’s especially interesting here is that for the first time, it appears that this will be a global announcement, covering both Japan and North America at the same time. Could this perhaps be the first globally announced next generation title(s) in the long-running franchise? We’ll just have to wait until next week to find out, but it’s certainly an exciting prospect for any Pokémon fan out there!

Be sure to keep your browsers fixed on Pokemon.com next Tuesday, and check back with 3DSBuzz.com for all the latest news!

The Wii U will launch in two different models in Japan on December 8th, 2012. The basic, all-white model will retail for 26,250 yen ($337) and will include 8 GB of built-in memory; simultaneously, an all-black Premium model will be released for 31,500 yen ($400), which will include a 32 GB built-in memory, as well as a Nintendo Network rewards system which will will offer points for purchases and 10% back on all digital purchases. While Japanese yen prices have traditionally translated to a lower price in North America, it’s a pretty good guess that these bundles (if they stay as they are) may retail for $249.99 and $299.99 respectively in The US and Canada.

Additionally, it’s been re-confirmed that both New Super Mario Bros. U and Nintendo Land will be launch titles; and interestingly enough, it’s also been revealed that the Wii U will indeed contain 2 GB of RAM; 1 GB for the “main memory” to be used for games, etc., as well as an additional 1 GB of memory for the operating system. It should be noted that this is quite a bit more memory than what is available in either the current HD consoles, Xbox 360 and PS3. Finally, it has been confirmed that the Wii U proprietary discs will hold 25 GB of information, and will run at 22.5 MB/s.

Stay tuned for the North American release details when Nintendo kicks off it’s NA Nintendo Direct announcements later this morning! Credit goes to GameGEN for the Nintendo Direct screencaps.

That’s right, it’s the Yak. This bundle of cuteness can be yours for the low, low price of free; all you have to do is march into your nearest GameStop in North America and boldly shout “Gimme my Yak!”. Okay, well you might want to pay the minimum pre-order deposit, wait for the game to be released, pay for the remainder of the game, and then pick up your Yak with your purchase, but either way you’ll probably be fine. Harvest Moon: A New Beginning doesn’t have a solid release date pinned down just yet, but it is expected to ship sometime in Q4 2012.

Can you resist the Yak? Let me know in the comments below.

The competitive, “griefing” aspects of the NSMB Wii are both loved and hated by gamers alike, and while the upcoming 3DS entry, New Super Mario Bros. 2, features 2-player simultaneous co-op locally, it’s certainly keeping the competitive side alive. While the levels are less roomy than the Wii’s counterpart, allowing for tighter, more precise platforming, and Mario and Luigi have some cool new co-op moves they can pull off together, the tighter screen real estate leads to some obvious new challenges; who gets to control the camera, and who has to follow along? Well, Kotaku has revealed the answer:

In co-op, there’s an arrow over either Mario or Luigi, and whoever has the arrow gets the camera. That means the other player is more or less tasked with following the arrow player around. However, you can power-drop onto the player with the arrow and claim it for yourself—which leads to all manner of shenanigans as you play.

So there you have it, one more way for players to hinder each others’ progress as they fight their way through the Mushroom Kingdom. Now don’t get me wrong, I think co-op is a great addition, and can really be fun for a couple of close friends; but sometimes, especially after you’ve beaten the game, like I said… You just want to be an a**hole. Leave your thoughts on the topic below.

Nintendo is about to start taking their first steps into the full retail digital download world by releasing New Super Mario Bros. 2 (and Demon Training in Japan) both physically and digitally to consumers; and they’re giving you lots of options as well.

Nintendo will be partnering with certain retail companies (in Japan only for now) such as Tsutaya Online Shopping, Rakuten Books, Seven Net Shopping, Yodobashi.com and Joshin Net Shopping to provide download codes both online and in-stores. So if you don’t care for physical copies, and you don’t want the awesome box art, manuals, and physical product that goes with it (some people really don’t, I for one love collecting physical games), then Nintendo has you covered under all circumstances. You can pay for your digital games with a credit card, eShop pre-paid card, online download code, or a physical download card that has a download code contained inside (you know, just in case you want to go through the trouble of shopping for the game at a store, but not actually have anything physical to show for it).

No word yet on whether this will extend to other regions, but it’s a pretty safe bet we’ll see these download codes/cards showing up in North America and Europe sooner or later. One thing’s for sure though, if the download code is just waiting to be opened, peeled, or scratched off, retailers had better keep these cards under tight lock and key. What are your thoughts on this news? Let them be known in the comments below.

So, without further adieu, I present to you the list of games and their discounts, as well as the time frame in which you score them all:

• July 26  - Aug. 1 Super Mario Bros. $3.99
• Aug. 2 – Aug. 8  Super Mario Land $2.99
• Aug. 9 – Aug. 15 Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins $2.99
• Aug. 16 – Aug. 22 Mario’s Picross $2.99

If you just can’t get enough of your Mario fix, and you need something to tide you over until NSMB2‘s release, then these eShop discounts may be just what the doctor (Mario) prescribed. What do you think of these discounts; are they worth it, or is it just a waste of time until thereal Mario experience arrives? Sound off below.

However, it has been revealed in the most recent Iwata Asks feature, that the 3DS XL will actually feature a much better anti-reflective coating on its screens.

The picture above comes courtesy of Nintendo, and it shows off the special LCD screen cover that will be applied to help reduce glare. Reflectivity has always been an issue on Nintendo handhelds, and the Nintendo 3DS’ seemed especially bad; Nintendo has always known about this issue but found that manufacturing costs were always too high to address it how they always wanted to.

Murakami

Yes. On a LCD screen there are basically three reflective layers, which all of them reflects and cause glare. So this time, we specially treated all the layers. Reflectivity on the Nintendo 3DS was about 12%, but we decreased that to about 3%.

Iwata

Why were you able to do that this time?

Murakami

Simply put, the progress of technology.

Iwata

AR coats have been around for quite some time. Is the principle the same?

Murakami

The principle is the same, but the manufacturing process is different. And then there’s the cost. It used to be really expensive.

Iwata

Anti-reflection has been a topic every time since the Game Boy Advancesystem, but most of the time we had to give it up because of the cost.