A Super Mario collection pack will be released in Japan next month to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Mario Bros.

The game collection is rumoured to be a re-release of Super Mario All Stars. Nintendo have acknowledged the game but will not shed any more light on further details. It will cost 2500 yen and the original game was released in the 90’s compiling of several Mario games. What is known about the upcoming release is that it will contain a booklet with the history of Mario and a CD soundtrack right from Mario’s beginnings to that of Super Mario Galaxy 2.

Super Mario Collection Pack Coming to Japan Next Month [CVG]

Speaking at a shareholders meeting, Miyamoto, “It’s about time for a new game character. Perhaps this can be delivered next year.” Nintendo already takes the majority of its success from recognisable characters such as Link, Donkey Kong and of course Mario. It’s relied on these characters that much that there hasn’t been a new character since 2001’s Pikmin for the Gamecube.

If Nintendo were to create a new character, there’s a good chance of success as newer franchises such as Brain Academy or Nintendogs.

Nintendo sure are paving a new way for the so called ’self improvement games.’ We had the likes of Brain Academy which claimed to increase your brain power. Then we had the number of cooking games released which of course, teached you how to cook. Now Nintendo have released Art Academy which teaches users how to draw. Art’s a funny thing. You either have it or you don’t. Can Art Academy turn art novices into people that can draw a respectable looking piece of art?

On opening the game you’re greeted by some pleasant music that would probably be suited to Zelda’s Kakiro Village or your own village in games such as Animal Crossing. You’re mentor for the game is a bearded and predicatably artistic looking man known as Vince (an ode to Van Gough?)

You’re taken through the game in a series of tutorials starting from the very basics such as outlining to the more complicated concepts. It’s a good way of taking you through as it doesn’t rush you and teaches you just as a real art teacher probably would. It could have done with better pacing perhaps as it goes on through certain concepts a little longer than desired. I found that my drawings were never as good as the in game teachers however and whilst this is expected and normal, the game could have done with a bit of an error correction system. There were times when I wasn’t quite sure whether I was doing something correctly or not. I actually continued without doing what the game had asked and it still praised me for drawing ‘correctly.’

Responsively, the DS stylus acts just like a real art tool would. You’re presented with a variety of pencils ranging from HB to 2B and a choice of different brushes. The game is pressure sensitive and the harder you push down, the more bolder the overall result will be. It’s a nice realistic touch.

The game also gives you a large variety of colours from its pallete. You’re bound to find pretty much any colour you want. Rather than selecting them however, you’re made to mix them yourself and whilst this is probably implemented to promote an awareness of the colour pallete, some might find this method a little bit too inconvenient.

The menu’s and in game icons are nicely positioned. You’ll never find that they’ll get in your way when painting and they’ll dissapear when not needed.

Once you’ve finished the short tutorial section, you can go into the free paint option where you’re given a selection of pictures to try out your new found skills with although some might get bored quickly. Art afficionado’s might not find this game very useful as it teaches concepts that they probably already know.

Overall, Art Academy is another nice addition to Nintendo’s series of self help games. It’s nicely presented and the sound is pleasant. It is let down however by its quick tutorial mode and replayability that doesn’t do much to keep you playing the game.

+ Very pleasing presentation and sound
+Definately improves artistic ability

- Feels like a beginners only game and not for established artists
- You don’t know if you’re going wrong or not.

SCORE 7/10

The insane rabbids are at it again, this time causing trouble in ancient Rome! Caesar will not be pleased.

Raving Rabbids: Travel in Time is an upcoming party game exclusively for the Nintendo Wii, expected to be released on 11th November. It’s also going to be the Rabbid’s fifth outing so here’s hoping that the humour of psychotic bunnies from the moon doesn’t get stale.

Raving Rabbids Travel in Time – Caesar Trailer [Ubisoft Video Channel]

We’re currently seeking some help with keeping the site up-to-date with the latest Nintendo news, reviews and gossip. If you think you’ve got what it takes, and would like the chance to work for one of the UK’s top Nintendo news resources, get in touch!

We currently have the following positions available:

News Editor

As a News Editor for WiiDS.co.uk, you will be expected to post regular news updates from the wonderful world of Nintendo. You will rely on official press releases and media sources, news tips from our readers together with various other gaming websites via browsing and RSS feeds. You will be posting on a multitude of topics including gaming industry, culture and gaming media, together with being involved with writing original feature articles whenever possible.

Feature Editor

Feature editors are expected to write exclusive features for WiiDS.co.uk on a multitude of current topics. These will range from comparison and opinion pieces to organising and conducting interviews with gaming industry insiders, game developers and publishers. You will also be expected to co-ordinate team projects such as the Staff Roundtable and other regular features.

Review Editor

Review editors for WiiDS.co.uk will be expected to write reviews for the current releases on the Wii and DS platforms, including WiiWare, DSiWare and Virtual Console titles. Reviewers will be provided with review copies of various titles and expected to play through the game and write up a review to a strict time frame. Review Editors will also be expected to keep the site up-to-date with game release news and keep our release calendar up-to-date so we don’t miss anything out!

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Media editors are expected to keep our extensive media catalogue in check. This includes keeping the site up-to-date with all the latest screen shots and videos for the most recent titles, maintaining our YouTube channel and becoming the lead in our new podcast project. Image/Video/Audio editing skills are required for this role.

Community Manager

Our Community Manager is expected to keep all of our loyal fans happy via whatever means are available. This includes managing our Twitter, Facebook and YouTube accounts, moderating site comments and answering query emails, together with helping to get the WiiDS.co.uk Forum back off the ground and recruit a new forum moderating team. Also, keeping the site up-to-date with the latest goings-on in the community is required.

To apply for any of the above positions, you must meet the following requirements:

• Must demonstrate at least a college-level writing ability.
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Applicants who meet these requirements will be expected to submit at least two writing samples to help us gauge their ability. All samples must be written in Microsoft Word, HTML or already be available on the web. Samples must also be related to the position you are applying for, so if you’re planning on applying to be a game reviewer, an essay about the life cycle of a frog isn’t going to help us!

To apply, send your details (name, age, location) and writing samples to writers@wiids.co.uk.

We hope that we can find some like minded Nintendo fans to help keep the site alive and current, and are looking forward to reading all applications that we receive!

Activision and Nintendo have teamed up to bring a very special bundle.

The announced  bundle will include a golden classic controller along with the game. It has apparently been inspired by Bond villain Scaramanga’s golden gun. Besides having a rather spectacular aesthetic purpose, the controller will allow those who feel burdened by the Wii’s controls to play a much more controlled and classical way.

Goldeneye 007 ‘Classic Edition’ detailed [CVG]

Super Scribblenauts kept ESRB on its creative toes when asked to describe the game.

The new game allows players to conjure up practically anything they want causing ESRB a new difficulty when rating the game.. Examples include homicidal houses, smelly zombies and murderous computers. In the game players navigate through stages by conjuring up said images. They can enhance these by adding adjectives to the nouns creating some strange and wonderful combinations. All objects that characters summon will come up in cute cartoon forms accompanied by quirky sounds. Players can also summon vomit if need be.

Super Scribblenauts will be out in October.

Super Scribblenauts: Smelly Zombies and Homicidal Houses [CVG]

Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata claims Nintendo have more work to do in order to become socially acceptable.

Speaking about the video game industry as a whole, Iwata has said;

‘When we look at how video games have been accepted in society, what we call “social acceptance of video games,” it seems the public perception towards video games has significantly improved over the past years, However, it is our belief that there are still plenty of things for us to tackle to improve the social acceptance of video games to the level of other general forms of entertainment such as TV, movie, music and sports.’

Iwata hopes to improve this through continuing software releases and the 3DS.

Nintendo Plans To Make Games More Socially Acceptable [CVG]

Despite ideas being put forward, Link won’t be sprouting any wings in his next adventure.

After being given suggestions to make Link fly, Skyward Sword producer Eiji Aonuma just laughed them off. The idea was put towards him by US magazine Nintendo Power. Despite their being a world on land and also in the sky, Link or Epona will not be travelling to these by flying themselves.

Secrets are being kept though as to the identity of a mysterious figure in artwork of the Skyward Sword. Several people have made claims that it is Princess Zelda. However, Aonuma has denied that it is claiming that the identity will be revealed soon.

A Nintendo spokesman has shed some light onto when we will know the definite 3DS release date.

A Japan newsite has been informed from a Nintendo spokesman that details of the 3DS including price and release dates will be announced on September 29th.

So far rumours have speculated anywhere from October this year all the way to March 2011 and with a price point of around £140. The spokesman also hinted at the console being released this quarter (putting them March rumours right out the window), right in time for the Christmas period.

No-one will know for sure until Nintendo makes its announcement but at least we know when that will be. Its the date to announce the date… confused yet?

Bloomberg Japan [Translated]