New Super Mario Bros. 2 for the 3DS has sold almost 1 million copies in Japan since its launch on July 28, holding the top spot in the sales charts with 152,026 turned over last week. Over its lifespan, New Super Mario Bros. 2 has sold 942,758 copies in Japan.

Japan is slow to catch the digital download craze for full games, selling just 5 percent of all copies digitally as of August 17. In the UK, New Super Mario Bros. 2 comes in second in the sales charts, behind Square Enix's Sleepings Dogs.

After yesterday's report that the 24-year history of Nintendo Power was coming to an end, Nintendo has confirmed that the December 2012 issue will be the magazine's last. "Nintendo can confirm that Future US will end the production of Nintendo Power magazine with the last issue slated for December 2012," the company told CVG (which is also owned by Future Publishing, incidentally).

According to yesterday's report, Nintendo was "difficult to work with" and did little to help Future transition the magazine into the online era. Nintendo Power staff members will reportedly migrate to other Future publications.

The argument for the 3DS has been precarious at the outset, price not withstanding. With the rise of the iPhone and Android devices, people are playing more games on their phones and tablets than ever before, cutting into a handheld gaming market dominated by Nintendo for more than a decade.

"I don't think there's not a bright future for handheld devices but I understand that the competition, again with the rise of smart devices is different, and I do recognize that," Nintendo president Satoru Iwata told Kotaku during a frank discussion on the 3DS and current portable gaming ecosystem. Iwata offered insight, not only on his own company's stance, but on the needs of consumers in general – and how Nintendo isn't trying to compete so much as offer value.

"Previously we had to think, ok, 'How are we competing with Sony?, How are we competing with Microsoft?, How do we compete with all the other software titles and all the other publishers out there?' That environment has changed. And the games available for smartphones, I'm not saying that none of these are interesting, rich or fun experiences, because I know that there are some. And one way we can ensure that there's a market for handheld gaming devices is by continuing to bring out entertaining and engaging software that will provide users experiences that they cannot get on these other devices."

Iwata expects the need for "rich and deep" experiences will remain consistent, even while consumers change the context in which they play games. "I believe that as environments change and as the world progresses we're going to have different ways in which people want to spend their time," he said. "That being said, I don't think we're going to see the desire to have, again, rich and deep sort of gaming experiences... we're not going to see that vanish. That's not going to go away."

Reportedly "difficult to work with," Nintendo is said to have taken no interest in working with Future on expanded online initiatives to strengthen the Nintendo Power brand. Editors and staff members were told that the magazine would be shut down sometime last week and have since begun transitioning to other Future publications, according to Ars Technica's source.

We've reached out to Future Publishing and Nintendo for comment. Originally launching in 1988, Nintendo Power was run in-house by Nintendo until the property was licensed to Future in 2007.

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Renegade Kid's Mutant Mudds, the pixelated action game first released on 3DS – and a much more difficult game than its kid hero and water gun weaponry would suggest – is headed to PC on August 30. A trailer released alongside that announcement hinted at new levels, whose look recalls CGA computer graphics, joining the Game Boy and Virtual Boy-style bonus levels found in the 3DS game.

Renegade Kid director Jools Watsham wanted the new content to be "special," he told Joystiq. "When the thought of doing the classic PC look of the 80's crossed my mind, it was the obvious choice to go with." These new levels require the skills of unlockable character Grannie, who is only available after the completion of the main game.

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These two new Skylanders: Giants videos give a glimpse of action while also bringing new characters to the mix. The first video (above) introduces Chill, an elf that seems to enjoy throwing sharp objects.

Skylanders: Giants will hit retail shelves on October 21 for PS3, Wii, PC, Xbox 360, and 3DS. Check out another video and screens of the game after the break.

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It was going to happen sooner or later, but we didn't expect it to be so soon. Two days before the US launch of the 3DS XL, there's already an unattainable Japanese special edition with an exclusive color scheme.

The Pikachu Yellow 3DS LL will be sold only at Pokemon Center stores in Japan, and only through pre-orders, starting August 25. It's yellow on the outside, with a brightly smiling Pikachu design, and white on the inside. Sorry to bum you out about the normal 3DS XL you were about to buy!

Nintendo's digital distribution scheme for retail games has had a relatively slow start in Japan. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata told the Wall Street Journal that digital sales of New Super Mario Bros. 2, which was released in the region on July 28, have made up 5% of the total. Iwata seemed all right with this result: "This initial offering going forward, we've gotten a good reaction going," he said.

The other new retail/digital game, the Brain Age sequel Demon Training, has sold approximately 20% of its total audience digitally. Iwata believes the reason more people opted for the downloadable version of that game is the convenience of playing the daily challenges without swapping cartridges.

Renegade Kid's indie platformer Mutant Mudds has gotten itself a PC launch trailer, a price ($7.99 as an introductory discount, usually $9.99), and a PC launch date, according to the official website. The game was previously seen on the 3DS eShop, and will arrive on the PC on August 30, with that introductory price lasting until September 5.

On the 3DS, Mutant Mudds made copious use of the 3D screen to transfer its hero in between the various platform levels, but on the PC version, there's an elegant blur effect instead. The retro graphics and tunes are still there, however. You'll be able to grab the game directly from Renegade Kid, or on Good Old Games, Gamers Gate, or Desura at the end of the month.

New Super Mario Bros. 2 kicks off Nintendo's dual retail/digital distribution initiative on August 19. Before that, there's ... not that much new stuff to download on 3DS and DS this week. In fact, it's pretty much just Crazy Chicken: Pirates on both.

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All the way from Cologne, Germany, where Gamescom is taking place this week, here's the newest trailer for Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed, the upcoming kart (and boat and plane) racing game featuring the famous blue hedgehog and his crowd. Oh, and Wreck-It Ralph! And Danica Patrick, too.

The racing looks awfully colorful, which should make Sonic and Sega fans very happy indeed. As the trailer says, the game's due to arrive on November 20. There are a few new screenshots for you to browse through as well; just take a left turn into the gallery below.

Konami has confirmed a delay of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate for 3DS. It was originally announced as a fall 2012 game, but the 2.5D action game is now due in 2013. Konami did not offer a reason for the bump in its statement to Game Informer.

Konami did not delay the release of new screenshots, featuring returning heroes Alucard (the one with the white hair) and Simon Belmont (with his post-Castlevania Chronicles red hair).

What's German for "Tobuscus?" Find out today as Joystiq presents live coverage of Ubisoft's Gamescom 2012 press conference. The event is due to start at 9am EDT, and will very likely be full of mostly armless heroes, shooting maniacs, Zombis, and, of course, anachronistic hoodies. Follow along with our liveblog after the break!

Update: And we're out! Head past the break to see all the thrilling news from Ubi's Gamescom presser. And some pictures of people with blue light, obviously.

FIFA 13 will have a feature called Match Day that incorporates real-world developments into the gameplay, through the running in-game commentary. Match Day will also affect gameplay, with team figures changing to reflect the real world numbers, and in-game stats reflecting on-pitch performance.

Match Day will be included in the FIFA 13 demo, which launches September 11. The full game is out September 25 in North America and September 28 in Europe.

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Guild01 is a collection of four games on one 3DS cartridge, featuring talent like Suda 51 and Seaman/SimTower creator Yoot Saito. So far, it was only released in Japan, but two new trademarks registered by publisher Level-5 indicate potential for a US release.

"Liberation Maiden" and "Crimson Shroud" refer to two games within the 3DS collection, one a shooter made by Suda51, and the other a dungeon RPG designed by Final Fantasy XII/Vagrant Story director Yasumi Matsuno. These are, so far, the only two Guild01-related trademarks registered in the US by Level-5. Curiously absent are the other two games from the cartridge, Saito's airport luggage puzzle game Aero Porter and comedian Yoshiyuki Hirai's weapon shop management game Omasse's Rental Weapon Shop.

The title "Guild01" itself is also missing, which leads us to wonder if Level-5 plans on releasing the games individually instead of in a bundle.

Along with a sudden influx of 3DS release dates, Nintendo quietly sneaked out new trailers for some of the newly dated – and newly announced – games. Above, experience the intrigue and drama of Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask.

After the break, feel the appropriate emotions as you watch trailers for Style Savvy: Trendsetters, Art Academy: Lessons for Everyone, and the eShop release Crosswords Plus.

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