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As usual, IGN posts its "Nintendo Minute" featuring Denise Kaigler... but this time, Nintendo of America's vice president of corporate affairs had some shocking news: She's leaving Nintendo.

I know how your readers like me to reveal news and surprises in my Nintendo Minutes, and I'd say that today definitely qualifies as my latest surprise. It's a fact of life that job and family often pull us in opposite directions. As regular readers of this feature know, this has proved particularly challenging for me, as I've spent the last two years commuting almost constantly between San Francisco, Seattle, New York and my home in New England. It has been a fantastic adventure, but the time has come where I need to choose one over the other … and I have to choose my family. [...] Thanks for giving me the opportunity to answer your questions and talk so directly with Nintendo's fans. For now, my "Minute" is up.

Farewell, Denise...and the best of luck wherever fate takes you to.

Via IGN.

New details on the Next Zelda for the Wii have surfaced (don't get overly excited, it's not really that detailed) thanks to an interview by IGN to series producer, Eiji Aonuma.

First of all, the already-known (but now sort of confirmed) focus on MotionPlus for swordplay and archery within the game.

We're taking advantage of MotionPlus. It's become very natural – the movement of your arms is precisely reflected in the gameplay. Thanks to the technological advancements, we hope the gameplay can be more accessible to people.

As for the gameflow, it will change (and he confirms that the game will not be ready before the next E3).

We're making efforts regarding the total flow of the Zelda game. So far, the basic flow of the Zelda games is you're exploring a field, you go to a dungeon, you conquer it and return to the field. We're looking at altering that traditional flow. That's all I can share, and I can't say more until E3 next year.

It doesn't exactly take a genius to realize that New Super Mario Bros. Wii will be a hit... but apparently it does take a savvy market analyst to predict its supremacy and get people stirred up about it. According to Jesse Divnich at Electronic Entertainment Design and Research, Nintendo's upcoming (and greatly anticipated) title will be the greatest hit of the year and will outsell the competition, including Activition's X-Box 360 version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 by the end of the year.

He also predicts that, although the PS3 outsold the Wii during September, October will see a turn of events and the Wii will be on top again.(UPDATE: He was right on this one... NPD confirmed) He also expects the Wii to retain supremacy during November and December as well.

However, he does expect the PS3 to be the only console to show gains during October in comparison to the past year, thanks to the PS3 slim (which I'm not so sure if that's fair, taking into account it's not exactly the same console...it's like taking the DS and DSi as the same console; that would make the numbers shockingly high ).

Via GamesIndustry

New trailer... so THAT'S why they are 'spirit' tracks!

According to reports by IGN UK, Satoru Iwata, Nintendo's CEO, has admitted to investors that the current WiiWare and DSiWare market is small. But he offers a solution: WiiWare demos.

He states that as a part of a test program, a few WiiWare titles are going to be offered with a demo, with which he hopes to increase the market by luring more users into the service this way. This is because they are aware of the fact that most users only browse the WiiShop channel (or the DSi one) when they already know which title they are going to buy, which limits the market possibility a good deal. He does go on, however, to admit this is not THE solution to this particular problem. So, let's see how well this one plays out.

So far, there are not reports as to whether or not the service is going to make it outside of Japan.

No surprise here: Wii Sports Resort has sold a lot of copies. In great contrast with past declarations of bad Wii sales and lowering earnings forecast for the company, Nintendo has informed investors it's top selling software, confirming that Wii Sports Resort has sold nearly 7 million copies to date, and the original Wii Sports nearing the 51-million-copies mark.

Following those games, Wii Fit stands at 22.5 million copies sold, Mario Kart Wii at 18.4 million, Wii Play 24.4 million, and Wii Fit Plus 2.13 million.

On the DS front, New Super Mario Bros. (with a long-awaited Wii 'sequel' coming up this month) is nearing 20 million copies sold. Mario Kart DS sales have hit 16.1 million, Tomodachi Collection 1.45 million and Professor Layton and Pandora's Box is at 1.26 million.

Via GamesIndustry.

All right, so it's NOT a general rule...but wouldn't that be something? Canadians have been famous for their bacon for ages, and now they 'make history' by making a 12-year-old surrender his Nintendo Wii in exchange for his freedom. We're not kidding.

The Winnipeg Sun reports that Judge Marvin Garfinkle (it's obvious why the guy's bitter with a name like that) has arranged for a 12-year-old boy, who has been in a lot of trouble with the law lately, surrender his Nintendo Wii as a sort of bail. The terms, the article states, are that the boy keeps peace, appearing for court dates, live with his grandma, and participating in a bail management program. Should the boy fail to honor the agreement, the court gets to keep the console.

He is pledging as a security, akin to a cash deposit, his Nintendo Wii, and if he doesn't comply, he loses it. - Judge Garfinkle

The boy's lawyer, although the brat has spent some time in court already for breaking his school's door windows with a rock-filled sock and chasing and beating another boy, among other mishaps, claims that the boy is not violent but instead just someone who often finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I know it doesn't look good. I've never seen him enraged, I've never seen him upset. He's a 12-year-old who is generally quite scared. - Serena Puranen, Lawyer.