While Nintendo remains a formidable force in the game industry, the company has seen better days, recently posting a net loss in its business and trying to figure out its next move with the Wii U, and whether a renaming of the system is necessary or not.  That said, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata remained confident in the future of the company business, and (finally) introduced a dedicated gaming network coming soon from the company, one that should offer simplicity to those picking up a Nintendo 3DS or, later this year, a Wii U.

LAS VEGAS -- Executives from business, government, entertainment, automotive, consumer electronics and every major industry converged on the Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2012) to experience new ways of doing business at the world's largest consumer technology tradeshow. Games were everywhere as Sony showcased PlayStation 3 and PS Vita, Nintendo had its Wii U playable, Microsoft showed Kinect for Xbox 360 and PC, and game publishers had titles across all platforms, including tablets and smartphones. Owned and produced by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), CES 2013 will return to Las Vegas January 8-11 2013.

Driven by fast-selling software Nintendo 3DS sells more in its first nine months than Wii did, capping a very good 2011 for the game maker. Whether they were on the go or at home, whether they played in 2D on the TV or in glasses-free 3D in their hands, gamers of all ages celebrated the holidays with Mario and Zelda. Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 for Nintendo 3DS not only became the fastest-selling titles in the history of their respective franchises when they launched, but they are now also the first Nintendo 3DS titles to sell 1 million units each in the United States. On the console side, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, which also broke launch records, became the 45 Wii title to sell more than 1 million units in the U.S.

With 2011 coming to a close and CES 2012 just around the corner, opinion-based website SodaHead.com asked its community to vote on the top new gadgets of the year. Not surprisingly, Apple took the top two spots, as the iPhone 4S was the winner with 39% of the vote, followed by the iPad2 with 25%. Rounding out the top five were the Kindle Fire (17%), Nintendo 3DS (12%) and the Nook Table (7%). The full list can be seen below the video showcasing Nintendo’s hands-free 3D device.

The holiday season is officially upon us at sundown tonight. Children will be gathered around their Channukah menorahs, spinning their dreidels, eating potato latkes--and inviting their gentile friends to partake in the traditions that were so foreign and interesting in elementary school--at least that's what the kids told me back then.Then, a few days later that naughty or nice list will be coming into play as kids all over the world run down the stairs to see if the red-sutied cookie monster aka Santa Claus has brought them some amazing gifts. Gamers though--what do we want for all the holidays? Isn't it obvious--GAMES. We're going to give you oblivious gift-seekers five games to run to the stores to sweep up for the gamer in your life featuring NBA 2K12, among others.

Nintendo of America’s rewards program has a new website. As part of this overhaul, the game publisher has introduced downloadable games for loyal Nintendo fans. Now, Club Nintendo members who earn enough coins can redeem them for select downloadable Wii and Nintendo 3DS games. The revamped site offers members a streamlined online experience and more exciting ways to redeem coins.

This has been a very big year for actress Zelda Williams. Nintendo featured the actress and her more famous dad in a commercial celebrating the 25th Anniversary of The Legeend of Zelda. And she’s filmed her first video game movie, Noobz, which explores the world of pro gaming. Williams talks about her own gaming skills and talks eSports with her Noobz co-stars in this exclusive video interview from the red carpet of the Spike “Video Game Awards” (“VGAs”).