This Christmas, Japanese gamers will be able to waggle flowery lemmings to their hearts content. Nintendo has announced (via IGN) that the Pikmin remake for Wii will launch December 25 in Japan for 3,800 yen (approx. US $36). The game is part of Nintendo's new "Play for Wii" series, which will be a collection of GameCube titles revised with Wii controls.

Before Pikmin (and not counting previous Wii remake Resident Evil 4), Nintendo will re-release Donkey Kong Jungle Beat on December 11. Upcoming titles in the collection include Chibi Robo, Pikmin 2, Mario Tennis GC, Metroid Prime, and Metroid Prime 2 Dark Echoes. No word on any release dates outside of Japan, but we'll be live at Nintendo of America's press conference in San Francisco later today.

Nintendo has announced that it will be releasing "Wii de Asobu" (Play on Wii) Selections, GameCube titles remade for the Wii. Not including last year's Resident Evil 4 remake, President Satoru Iwata revealed at today's Japanese press conference that Pikmin will be the first title to receive a Wii makeover. We're really hoping this isn't the Pikmin title Miyamoto revealed at E3.

[Via NWF]

If there was ever any question as to how obscenely rich Nintendo is, the Financial Times has crunched some numbers to show the cash flow, per employee, at the House of Mario. The newspaper estimates that Nintendo produces more than $1.6 million per employee -- that's more than investment bank Goldman Sachs' $1.24 million per employee during its best year in 2007.

There are some caveats to the information, most of which revolve around how much outsourcing the Big N does. Nintendo makes so much money for having so few employees (3000 full-time), because many of the company's necessities (external development, manufacturing, public relations, etc.) are handled by outside companies. Also, don't think this means that Nintendo is compensating its full-time employees too generously. Goldman's average (by mean) employee received $660,000 in 2007, while the average salary at Nintendo was $90,900.

[Via GameDaily]

In the final part of X3F's interview series, Silicon Knights President Denis Dyack said that the question of who owns the Eternal Darkness IP is, "a complicated question with a complicated answer," while at the same time confirming that Nintendo is still a "silent partner" with the developer.

"That's a question we've never answered," he said. "At the end of the day, it's not time to even talk about those things for various different reasons. You know Nintendo, who's still our silent partner, a lot of people don't know that, we have a great relationship with those guys. It's not time to talk about Eternal Darkness 2." Dyack went on to say that, despite some reports to the contrary, SK has never announced ED2 to be in development.

Dyack also discussed his one console theory, and how the consolidation of the developers and publishers support his claim that the industry is moving towards a one-console future, adding that Silicon Knights is not opposed to being acquired by a publisher. He also said that the company's next game will be "very different" from Too Human, declining to elaborate further.

Tossing aside the standard temporal ocarina for something a little more complex, a "Flute Link" cosplayer performed on stage at this year's Masquerade show at the Otakon 2008 in Baltimore, bringing Navi in tow. It's a great performance, although it's hard to tell when she's playing live and when it's pre-recorded (for demonstrationg of her live performance, we also embedded a video of Flute Link performing Tetris with an Otaku band.

And for anyone who ever wished Navi would get her what for, keep watching until about the 4:25 mark. Video embedded after the break.

[Via VG Cats]

After everyone saw gains last month (with one devilish exception), July's NPD figures revealed North American hardware unit sales declined across all companies, but otherwise the list is the same as it was in June. What's starting to unnerve us is Nintendo's data. To be able to say a company went from 666 to 555 (a difference of 111) is a bit creepy, dontcha think?

In terms of software, the Xbox 360 version of NCAA Football 09 barely eked out Wii Fit, while Wii Play w/remote still manages to move up a slot from 5 to 4 this month. Here are this month's NPD hardware sales figures:

- DS: 608K175K (-22.35%)
- Wii: 555K111K (-16.7%)
- PS3: 224.9K 180.1K (-44.5%)
- PSP: 221.7K 115.3K (-34.21%)
- Xbox 360: 204.8K 15.2K (-6.91%)
- PS2: 155.5K 33K (-17.6%)

You'll find the top ten in software sales after the break.

Whether you're a fan of shmups or wish to throw a pile of dictionaries at us for using such an egregious portmanteau, you could learn a thing or two from DS Fanboy's tribute to the shoot-em-up kings at Treasure. From 1993's Gunstar Heroes (released last year as a Virtual Console title) to this year's Bangai-O Spirits, the piece covers all of the developers' projectile-favored games (sorry Dynamite Heddy fanatics). Click here and get edumucated.

Nintendo could see its GameCube, Wavebird and Wii Classic Controller banned from retail shelves. Bloomberg reports that Nintendo has lost its attempt to overturn a $21 million patent-infringement verdict brought against the company by patent trolls patent holders Anascape Ltd. of Tyler, Texas. The house of Mario has a stay on the ban by putting the judgment amount in escrow until its case goes to the US Court of Appeals in the Federal Circuit.

The Texas jury found the Wiimote and Nunchuk controllers did not violate Anascape's patent; previously, Sony paid off Anascape back in 2004 and Microsoft settled on May 1, just before the Nintendo trial began. Anascape argued for the ban because it wants to enter the market and Nintendo has "clogged the channel." Yeah, we're very much looking forward to seeing if the third-party Anascape controller ever gets released.

Sure, Will Wright's Spore Creature Creator can let your imagination run wild ... but sometimes your imagination doesn't exactly go that far. Our friends at Nintendo Wii Fanboy have amassed a collection of Pokemon creatures from the Sporepedia. Each picture in the gallery can be added directly to your game by saving the picture into the Spore folder. Our Sporémons, let us show you them.

We agree with Design Milk: we wish these Nintendo wall decals were around when we were younger. Then again, that won't stop us. (Thanks, Vlad.) Check out the highlights for this weekend:

Joystiquery
The Best Of Big Download: June 8-14, 2008
Counting Rupees: The MMO-TV hybrid
Seen @ NYC: Women bar fight over Wii
This Week in Review is sneaking ... and stuff

News
Halo Wars release strategy: 'when it's done'
Capcom registers 'multiplatform' Mega Man 9 with OFLC
The Agency to be microtransaction free after all
Battlefield Heroes Beta applicants exposed in security breach
Final Fantasy Tactics A2 trailer full of whimsy, tactics
THQ investor presentation reveals release windows for Super Hero Squad, Master Mind
Resistance 2 details, gameplay revealed on last night's GameTrailers TV
MLG event reveals new Halo 3 multiplayer map: Cold Storage
Mother's campaign to bring video game seizure concerns to British Parliament a success
Castle Crashers jumps through another hoop, gets rated 'Teen'
Source: 'Avatars' to be Microsoft's answer to Miis and Home

Rumors & Speculation
Rumor Roundup: Intellisponse survey leak
Rumor: Three dozen Team Ninja devs leaving with Itagaki, suing Tecmo

Culture & Community
Surf through Azeroth on a Wii Balance Board

A hero's true worth lies in his ability to overcome the greatest of villains. Metal Gear Solid's slithery protagonist, Snake, has conquered not only the greatest of villains, but the weirdest mustache-twirlers gaming has ever seen.

Be sure to click on the above gallery and join us as we examine our favorite fearsome foes, kooky killers and big bosses.

We realize that with yesterday's announcement of "Beyond Good & Evil 2," some folks may have tragically missed out on the first entry in the series. We've put together a quick list of places where those not familiar to the series can get the game and meet up with Jade, Pey'j and -- our favorite personal assistant -- Segundo.

• Steam (PC) -- $10
• GameTap (PC) -- $1 for the first month, $10 after that.
• GameFly (Xbox, PS2 and Gamecube) -- Various rental plan prices, but currently copies are subject to availability.
• GameStop -- Currently, we can only find the somewhat dodgy PS2 version available online for $8. Check your local shop and you may get very lucky.

Those who find a GameCube version can rely on the Wii's backwards compatibility to play the game, and PS3 owners can pop in the PS2 game if their systems support BC. The Xbox 360 currently does not offer backwards compatibility for the Xbox version of BG&E. We're sure there are more corners of the internet to find Jade & Co., but it appears that $10 is what you're likely to pay.

Nintendo has had its fare share of first-party peripherals. Does anyone remember – or still own, perchance – the Game Boy printer? The Nintendo 64 Pikachu microphone? Our friends and archivists at Nintendo Wii Fanboy have composed a pictorial history of Nintendo's tendency to avoid the standard controller. From the Power Pad to the Balance Board, click here to see it all.

A dedicated Nintendo fan finishes one helluva sleeve tattoo on his leg. (Thanks, Dave S) Check out the highlights for today:

Joystiquery
The best of WoW Insider: May 13-20. 2008
A guide to homebrew on the DS
Meet the Team: Jason Dobson
Metareview -- Wii Fit

News
Sony not amused by Uncharted replica gun
FFXII composer bringing his music to non-Japanese games
Metal Gear Solid Mobile coming to N-Gage
Street Fighter, Mega Man going mobile
MEGAowch: Haze handed 4.5 review by IGN
Nintendo shifts Wii Fit 'launch' to tomorrow
Square Enix considering stakes in competing developers
E3 Santa Monica cost ESA $5 million in fees
This Wednesday: Penny Arcade Adventures onto XBLA
Nintendo calls EU's $234m price-fixing fine 'illegal'
Spore 'Cell Phase' flOwts into view
Microsoft talks XBLA future, loosening download size limit
The Cars drive up next week as Rock Band's second full DLC album
No Gun Metal Gray PS3 for U, K?
Jake Gyllenhaal is The Prince of Persia, says Hollywood Reporter
Epic Games takes seat, acquires Chair Entertainment Group
Viva Pinata DS / Xbox 360 connectivity figured out, not happening
Sega talks Platinum Games deal, franchises
Judge: Jack Thompson is guilty on 27 of 31 misconduct charges
Game consoles contain harmful materials, Greenpeace finds
Casual games cost marketing moolah, Ubisoft says
XNA Community Games go 'Live' for indie devs
What's Sony up to? Community websites abound!

Rumors & Speculation
Rumor: Splinter Cell Conviction delayed until 2009-10
Rumor: New DS 'colours' hitting Europe

Culture & Community
Sign-ups begin for the Battlefield Heroes beta
Niko Bellic has second career as folk singer

Nintendo has been ordered to pay $21 million to Anascape Ltd. for infringing on a patent with its Gamecube and Wii Classic controllers. The AP reports Anascape Ltd., a "small East Texas gaming company," also sued Microsoft, but that was settled out of court. Nintendo says it will appeal the decision.

A representative for Nintendo stated that no infringement was found in any of the Wii's motion-sensing technology and it expects that on appeal the award to Anascape will be reduced "significantly." Remember kids, if you want to stick it to some big corporation in the future and cash in, just make patents for everything imaginable.