Publishers are starting to be into the idea of retail games on the 3DS eShop. Today, Natsume and Warner Bros. drop some of their recent releases on the store, including the 3DS version of Scribblenauts Unlimited. There's so much we almost didn't notice Ninja Gaiden missing its release date! A few more Wii U retail games from D3 and Ubisoft also make the lineup.

There's even a Wii Virtual Console game, which makes this a historic week: for the first time, downloadable games have been released on four Nintendo consoles in the same week.

There's also a Skrillex video on Nintendo Video this week. So there's that.

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Texas-based marathon-gaming group The Speed Gamers is preparing for its annual winter charity drive once again, this year raising funds for the Make-A-Wish Foundation through extensive exposure to Mario and his various exploits.

Starting at 7 p.m. Eastern on December 14, the group's non-stop 72-hour gaming session will work its way through a respectable block of Mario games, spanning the vastness of the plumber's body of work, both new and old. The whole event will be streamed live on the group's official website, where viewers can donate to not only help a worthy cause, but to also win prizes and play practical jokes on the marathoners.

So far this year, The Speed Gamers has already raised $59,324.36 for charity, thanks to its insane 168-hour Pokemon marathon last June. In total, the organization has accumulated $369,304.15 for various causes since it was founded in 2008.

Mass Effect series developer BioWare Edmonton is working on a new piece Mass Effect 3 DLC, and it's "all hands on deck," level designer Jos Hendriks said on the BioWare forums.

"It's all hands on deck for this one. Pretty much every ME3 DLC writer here in Edmonton is involved (which would include both Patrick Weekes AND John Dombrow)," Hendriks wrote. Other writers included Jay Watamaniuk and Cathleen Rootsaert. Additionally, composer Sam Hulick tweeted that he's working on "unannounced Mass Effect 3 DLC."

"Tossing in piano and muted strings for this one particular piece. High potential for tears. #ME3DLC," Hulick tweeted.

Twitter previously outed Seth Green and Raphael Sbarge, voices of Joker and Kaidan Alenkowere, as working on something for Mass Effect 3. Neither appeared in Omega, the DLC that hit last week.

Zen Pinball 2 will be available some time this month on the Nintendo eShop for the Wii U. Per usual, the base Zen Pinball platform will be free, with the tables available for purchase in packs or individually.

"We cannot yet say how much the tables are, but you can expect pricing in line with what we have offered in the past," Zen Studios' marketing and PR honcho Mel Kirk told us. Tables are normally priced around $3 on other consoles.

Wii U's Zen Pinball 2 release will launch with three different Marvel Pinball packs, each containing four tables. It will also have the classic Zen pinball pack available, along with individual tables: Plants vs. Zombies, Excalibur, Earth Defense, Sorcerer's Lair, Paranormal, Mars, Epic Quest, Captain America and Fantastic Four.

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Wii U Panorama View, an app that lets you view panoramic videos on the GamePad, changing the view by moving the device around, will launch in the spring in both North America and Europe, Nintendo announced today. It'll be an eShop release, allowing you to simulate flying with birds, view London and Kyoto, and more.

In advance of the full release, Nintendo will put a "free preview demo" on eShop, featuring multiple scenes.

A third female ninja has been promised for Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge. During today's Nintendo Direct livestream, Team Ninja boss Yosuke Hayashi confirmed the Mugen Tenshin ninja clan outcast Kasumi would be added to the game as a playable character.

Kasumi will be a free addition to Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge, though no word on when Kasumi would be available. The other two free additional characters include Momiji – who will be available for download sometime this month – and Ayane, who is included on the disc.

You might be wondering just what a "crashmo" is. The word is meaningless. It's not even a word. It's just an awkward collection of letters that means nothing to the average person. It might look familiar if you've played last year's 3DS puzzler Pushmo, though, and the similarity isn't a coincidence. This here is a full-blown sequel.

If you didn't play Pushmo, go do so. Now that you have, know that Crashmo isn't just a booster pack of additional puzzles. Crashmo expands on Pushmo's block-pushing dynamic, resulting in a better and more complicated game.

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Nintendo has revealed that Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate will launch in Europe in March 2013. Mirror of Fate continues the story of Lords of Shadow on the 3DS and stars Trevor Belmont, son of former protagonist Gabriel. Turns out dear old Dad has become the legendary vampire, Dracula.

And, you know, that's always bad news.

Rhythm Hunter HarmoKnight, a 3DS eShop game by Pokemon developer Game Freak, was released back in September in Japan. There's been no word on an international release for the rhythm action game, however, until today's Nintendo Direct.

The game, now called simply HarmoKnight, has been confirmed for a North American release, but no date was provided. In HarmoKnight, players run, jump and attack in side-scrolling levels to the beat of the background music.

Animal Crossing: New Leaf, the 3DS rendition of Nintendo's franchise recently released in Japan, will arrive in the UK in the second quarter of 2013. The news comes via a Nintendo Direct presentation, with Nintendo Europe president Satoru Shibata noting that Nintendo was hard at work localizing the New Leaf for European audiences.

The US localization of Brain Age: Concentration Training for 3DS is now due out on February 10, 2013, pushed back from the original release date of December 3, 2012.

Brain Age: Concentration Training has players perform mental gymnastics designed to improve "working memory." Some tasks have players answer problems on a delay, forcing them to wait and see the next problem before writing the solution to the previous one. It's like a backflip for your amygdala.

Fire Emblem: Awakening for 3DS has an official North American release date, just announced during Nintendo Direct: February 4, 2013.

Awakening features "relationship levels," which players can boost by putting two characters in close proximity on the battlefield, or having them engage in frequent conversations with one another.

Scribblenauts Unlimited will arrive in Europe on February 8, Nintendo announced today. The game previously had an open 2013 release window. The game was a Wii U launch title in the States.

Wii Fit U will launch in the first half of 2013, complete with that electronic pedometer announced at E3, the Fit Meter.

Take a gander at the cool green tones of the Fit Meter above and try to remember it's not a Tamagotchi. Or, if it is, you're the creature that you have to keep healthy and happy. How cute.

Despite lacking in innovation when first released, New Super Mario Bros. 2 gets continually newer as DLC arrives. The latest packs, arriving in Japan today for ¥200 each, include the Kiroku ni Challenge C Pack, a time attack course in which you get as many coins as possible, and another pack all about riding dangerous moving platforms.

These two DLC packs have not been announced outside of Japan yet, but there are still Nintendo Direct presentations at noon EST for both the US and Europe.

There is one game demo on the Wii U eShop in North America, and it's for EA Sports' FIFA 13. The approximately 1.2GB download is available within the game's page on the eShop, though the size isn't explicitly shown until you begin the process.

Bear in mind that there is no dedicated section for demos in the store, nor is there a way to search for demos. Instead, you either have to click on individual game icons to see if demos are available, or view everything in the eShop as a list and hunt for the "demo" icon.

Having just done all that, we can confirm that FIFA 13 is at present the only demo.

[Thanks, Jon B.]

Pier Solar HD has more than hit its Kickstarter funding goal, bringing in $231,370 at the end of the campaign this morning. People were sufficiently piqued by the idea of an HD remake of a present-day Genesis RPG to not only get developer WaterMelon Co. to its $139,000 goal, but to exceed every stretch goal set by the developer.

That means the released game will be a "Directors Cut" with additional material. It also means Pier Solar HD will be released on Android, Ouya, and Wii U. Everyone who backed the project will get a digital copy of "One Year at WaterMelon," a video documentary about the development of Pier Solar HD and two other SNES and Genesis projects.

Google Maps and Panorama View are coming to the Japanese Wii U eShop next year, the former in January and the latter in Spring. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata showcased the apps during this morning's Nintendo Direct for Japan, including giving us a helmet-cam angle of Panorama View with the above very stylish setup.

Nintendo first unveiled Panorama View at this year's E3. As shown by the post-break vid by our Engadget pals, the app plays pre-recorded videos set in various environments, such as a London bus tour or a scuba dive. The added twist is you can view the environments in all 360 of their degrees, this done by pointing the GamePad around like a camera. Panorama View is scheduled for Spring 2013 in Japan, and is expected to head West too.

Iwata also unveiled Google Maps for Wii U, showing how its Street View functionality works with the GamePad in much the same way as Panorama View. The app is coming to Japan's eShop in late January, and will be free until the end of March.

Update: Google Maps will hit the US eShop in Q1 of 2013.

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Today sees a trio of Nintendo Direct broadcasts stream their way onto our monitors, kicking off with one for Japan this morning. The Wii U launches there this weekend, so it's no great surprise this particular Direct focuses on Nintendo's newest system.

Our advice is that you sit back, make yourself comfortable, grab us those cheese puffs, and watch the stream here when it starts broadcasting at 6AM ET (3AM Pacific, 11AM Brit-time).

As for the North American and European Nintendo Directs, both are scheduled for 12PM ET (9AM Pacific, 5PM Brit-time), and both will feature upcoming Wii U and 3DS games. We'll have all the news for you from all three broadcasts right here on Joystiq.

Update: The broadcast is now over, but you can watch all 44 minutes of it here. Nintendo showed off Japan's collection of launch games, with plenty of time in particular given to Pikmin 3 and Game and Wario. Regards the latter, Nintendo president Saturo Iwata revealed it features 16 minigames in total and is coming to Japan in early 2013.

Talking of Iwata, as usual he got up to some antics, including wearing a helmet-cam to show off Panorama View, and appearing in uncanny Lego form for Lego City Undercover, as pictured after the break.

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