Now, here I was thinking that this game was just a shameful representation for Olympic sports and here Kosuke Kitajima was using Mario and Sonic at the Olympics to mentally prepare himself for the competition in Beijing. Flabbergasting! Naturally, you can't become a great swimmer only by playing some Wii; he ate and swam an assload and all that good stuff. When asked, he explained...

See, Mario does the breaststroke. And thus, it's perfect mental training for envisioning the actual Olympic hall.

So there you have it. Some video games can help you score some gold medals. I'm just wondering if he was envisioning all the other competitors as Bowser and Waluigi.

[via 北島「Ｗｉｉ」で「金」予行演習]

Nintendo pulled a fast one on us today, holding a Japanese press conference that caught most of the American gaming press off-guard. And believe me, this "Nintendo Conference Fall 2007" contained quite a large amount of Wii announcements. Here they are in bulleted form for your reading pleasure.

• Monster Hunter 3, originally a PS3 title, will release on Wii, not PS3.
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl delayed until January 24, 2008 in Japan. The SSB Dojo changes its US release date to an ominous TBD.
• As previously mentioned, Brawl will feature Sonic as a playable character. In addition, the game will allow online co-op in Subspace Emissary mode.
• Mario Kart is set for a tentative Spring 2008 release window. Also, the game will include motorcycles.
• Wii Fit will release on December 1, 2007 in Japan.
• The Wii Vote (I'm assuming Everybody Votes) Channel will be updated with the ability to rank games you've played and search for new ones you're interested in.
• The Wii will be able to send DS demos to your DS using Wii Ware functions.
• First "Wii Ware" downloadable original games announced. Pokemon Bokujou (Pokemon Farm) allows you to transfer Diamond/Pearl Pokemon into a farm where you can raise them. A new Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles game from Square Enix, titled The Young King and the Promised Land, allows you to build your own country. A new version of Dr. Mario that includes Miis and 4-player online is also part of the service. Mojipittan Wii, a word puzzle game from Bandai-Namco, and Star Soldier R were also announced.
• You can play as your Miis in Mario and Sonic at the Olympics.
• Super Mario Stadium Baseball briefly announced. Trailers shown for Super Mario Galaxy, Mario Kart, and the new Crystal Chronicles

Anybody who can't find something that gets them a little excited in that list should be shot. Most of this has been predicted for a while, but in typical Nintendo fashion, they blew us away with how much they have given after such a long time of nothing at all. Going from no significant mention of Wii Ware to at least 5 titles coming out on the platform is a huge jump. Also, as I've been saying for months, the Wii is bound to start utlizing social networking fuctions. Well, here you have it, in the form of the soon-to-be-revamped Wii Vote Channel. Now, let's see if Nintendo can actually keep us interested in these new features, and not pull a "Friend Codes" on us. *crosses fingers*
[via IGN]

Finally, after months of speculation, Sonic has been confirmed as a playable character in the upcoming Nintendo Wii game, Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Normally, we would wait until Dojo Day to announce a new character in the game, but Sonic's appearance in the game impacts the gaming community greatly. Being the second confirmed third-party character, Sega fans will be quite joyed to see their favorite blue hedgehog entering the Smash Bros. series for the first time.

On the Smash Bros. website, on October 10, they posted that Sonic has recently joined the roster of characters on the Brawl team, along with a gameplay video of the character. By far, Sonic may be the fastest character in the game, as he retains his speed from his other games. He also has the ability to curl into a ball, like in the games, and attack other players similar to Samus' move. Also, the video hints at a possible Final Smash for the character: a transformatin into Super Sonic! Well, that's all for now, and hopefully there will be more information on this character as the weeks go by. More information will be released during Dojo Day this week. 'Till then we'll all just have to wait!
[via Smash Bros. Dojo]