So we can all stop guessing

You can stop scratching your head now: Natsume's finally announced that Harvest Moon: A New Beginning is coming to North America.

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It was a very good year

We're seven days away from E3 2012. That's seven days until we see Nintendo's full vision for Wii U, the next round of 3DS games and how our next year of Nintendo gaming is going to look. It's the most exciting time of the year, and it's nearly upon us.

Last year was pretty exciting too. We saw Wii U for the first time, got our first looks at a range of new 3DS games and welcomed the eShop into our lives. Let's take a look back over some of the best moments of 2011's E3 conference.

Miyamoto's Musical Interlude

Shigeru Miyamoto loves his music: he created Wii Music and plays the banjo, so no wonder he was so excited to be put on stage in front of an orchestra at the start of E3 2011.

The show opened with a medley of music from The Legend of Zelda over the years, but it was Miyamoto's joyful play with the orchestra that we'll always remember. Just look how happy he is when he "gets an item". We'll never know that kind of happiness.

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Iwata's Big Promise

What's better than a new Super Smash Bros. game? Two new Super Smash Bros. games that link together, of course.

Satoru Iwata got the biggest cheer of the day when he told the audience that Masahiro Sakurai had the idea for Smash Bros. on Wii U and 3DS. Iwata might have jumped the gun a little bit — Sakurai still put in another eight months of work on Kid Icarus: Uprising — who can blame him for getting the fans onside right from the start?

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The Stage of History

Not so much a moment as an impressive demonstration of technology. Faced with the issue of translating 3DS's stereoscopic screens and Wii U's two-screen approach, Nintendo went with a multi-layered stage that came alive during a demonstration of its upcoming 3DS games.

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What Wii U Can Do

We'd heard plenty of rumours about Wii U's new controller in the run-up to E3, and while its design was a surprise, perhaps its concept wasn't.

One thing that did definitely surprise was the following tech demo, which like the GameCube's excellent Rebirth demo had an organic atmosphere, following a bird through a peaceful Japanese garden.

As a demonstration of Wii U's technical power it probably didn't have the "wow" factor of other Nintendo tech demos — particularly considering there was no Link — but it definitely delivered in the class department.

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Bricking Ass and Talking Games

When it came to deciding who'd announce Smash Bros. Wii U, we bet Iwata pulled rank on Reggie, leaving the Regginator to lift the lid on the Nintendo-published LEGO City Stories. While we all thought "LEGO GTA", Reggie's pause for applause was met with silence. Still, we expect this to be a big seller on Wii U: it is LEGO GTA, after all.

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That Wii U Concept

Of course, we all remember our first look at Wii U and that tantalising new controller. The concept video revealed all-new functionality: streaming from the console to the touch screen, video chat and genuinely new ways to play. It may not have been communicated perfectly — confusion mounted over whether it was a new console or just a new controller for Wii — but it left us eager to know more.

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Nintendo's E3 2012 press conference is on Tuesday 5th June. We'll be covering it all live — come join us.

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Better late than never

Europe's got two Inazuma Eleven games for DS but not the Wii entry Inazuma Eleven Strikers that came out in Japan in July 2011. Well, never say never, as Level-5's registered a trademark for the game in Europe.

The Wii version follows the DS game's lead by blending football with RPG elements, but naturally with polygon character models, more voiced dialogue and other Wii enhancements.

We've reached out to Nintendo for comment and will update if and when we hear back.

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Mega Man, Rayman and blackjack with a girl

Europe gets a trio of new titles this week including a couple of but goodies. Here's what's up for you EUers this week.

Virtual Console

Mega Man X2 (Super Nintendo, Capcom, 800pts) — Back in the day this made use of Capcom's new "C4" chip for fancy 3D effects and the like. Now you can buy it for 800 Points and enjoy all that 90s blasting on your Wii. We'll have a full review for you very soon.

3DS Virtual Console

Rayman (Game Boy Color, Ubisoft, £4.50/€5) — Ubisoft's little mascot hops onto the eShop just in advance of Rayman Origins' release next week. Is it a classic handheld adventure? Our review will tell all soon.

3DS Download Software

Sweet Memories Blackjack (CIRCLE Entertainment, £3.60/€4) — CIRCLE publishes its first of what's certain to be many 3D card games, this time with a story about a young girl named Kasumi. The more you two play blackjack together, the closer you'll get. We'll have a review for you to cosy up to in the near future.

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Magical, mystery, more

Forget the woeful Kinect features in launch game Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I — Warner Bros. is taking another stab at the boy wizard's adventures on Kinect.

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Gear up for Origins

With a Rayman Origins demo last week and Rayman on 3DS Virtual Console next week — not to mention a proper look at Rayman Legends for Wii U the week after — Ubisoft's hero is working harder than he has done in years.

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SEGA's just announced that Dreamcast classic Jet Set Radio is coming to PS Vita this summer.

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Top gear

Gearbox Software, the team behind Aliens: Colonial Marines on Wii U, has been a vocal supporter of the machine so far. Comments from chief creative officer Brian Martell sit at the top of our Wii U power thermometer and Randy Pitchford said the Wii U's A:CM will be the best-looking version. Now we can add senior producer Brian Burleson's voice to that chorus, too.

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Quite simple really

Dragon Ball Z for Kinect lands in October with an interesting QR feature to add new characters and content to the game.

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Well done

This week's Nintendo Download was supposed to come with a demo of Order Up!!, but it didn't.

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