At its annual shareholder's meeting this week, Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata confirmed that the company will not institute a subscription-based online service like Xbox Live. In other words online play will be free to use like PlayStation Network. According to a translation by Andriasang.com, Iwata said that the company considered an Xbox Live-like model for online gaming but ultimately decided against it. The company came to the conclusion that it would attract more customer use by avoiding a subscription model.

You would think that employees in Japan that work for the likes of Nintendo or Sony would make more money than someone who works at Square Enix, but it turns out that the opposite is true. According to Nensyu Lab's top salary chart (as uncovered by Andriasang), Square Enix employees get an average salary of ¥21.68 million ($272,384.40). Sony and Nintendo employees are paid ¥9.23 million ($116,232.40) and ¥9.14 million ($115.099.10), respectively.

Nintendo may finally be figuring out that in this next cycle of new consoles it needs a serious and robust online a digital distribution strategy. In this current cycle the company devices have been taken to the woodshed when it comes to online gaming by the likes of Sony, Microsoft, Google, and Apple. Nintendo hopes to rectify the problem with a new hire.

Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata says that Nintendo learned a valuable lesson with the launch of the 3DS and that his company will not make the same mistakes that with the launch of the Wii U. He also acknowledged that most consumers though the initial retail price point for the 3DS was considered "too high" by most consumers. Iwata also said that Nintendo plans to "have an appealing product at launch." He added that the Wii U's tablet-style controller and the system's social network features make it "like no other system before it."

You may think the Wii U isn't all that powerful, but Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli claims that it is just as powerful as the Xbox 360. Speaking to CVG, Yerli said that a "respected" but unnamed developer is working on a CryEngine 3-powered Wii U title, and it runs as smooth as silk.

If you were concerned that Nintendo might consider some type of technology or software to block the use of used games on its new Wii U console, this GameSpot report should put your mind at ease. Speaking with GameSpot, Nintendo of America marketing exec Scot Moffitt said that he doesn't know if Nintendo has a formal position on used games.

Nintendo has cut employee summer bonuses by 20 percent according to a new report in the Japanese business daily Nikkei (by way of Reuters). The cuts come after Nintendo reported its first annual operating loss of 37.3 billion yen ($469.65 million) in April. The declining numbers were blamed on less demand of its Wii gaming console and a weak demand for the 3DS.

Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter says that Nintendo has to price its new Wii U console at around $300 per unit to stand a chance of being successful at retail.

Pachter tells C&VG that he remained uncertain after Nintendo's E3 press event whether it has a "killer app" to help drive sales of the new console.

The first thing that crossed my mind when Nintendo showed the Miiverse at its E3 press conference was "how long after the Wii U launch will the first user type out an expletive?" Well apparently Nintendo's solution for dealing with potty mouths is a system that uses actual humans to screen bad or inappropriate language.

Nintendo's chief executive Satoru Iwata says that the company plans to implement and use three separate systems. The first system is a traditional filtering system that checks for unpleasant words and replaces them with asterisks.

Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter believes that Microsoft and Sony may very well cut the price of their respective consoles at some point but are waiting to see what the retail price of the Wii U will be so they can respond accordingly.

"I think both Microsoft and Sony are waiting to see Wii U pricing. If it is over $300, they don't need to cut." Pachter tells C&VG.

Those consumers who own a Wii are probably more than a little concerned that all their save games, Virtual Console purchases and WiiWare games will be lost in the shuffle if they buy a Wii U will be happy to hear that Nintendo is thinking about how to migrate all that content over to its new system. While they don't have any specific answers at this point, at least they seem to be cognizant of the fact that fans are not willing to abandon their Wii gaming history so readily.

Movie industry trade organization the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has hired a former Nintendo lawyer to head up its efforts to combat piracy. The group is also responsible for movie ratings. The MPAA announced on Monday that it hired Marc Miller to take control of its international anti-piracy enforcement operations.

He will serve as the senior vice president of Internet content protection and will work closely with the group’s army of lawyers to develop a refined civil and criminal litigation strategy to fight against copyright infringement.

A new update for Mario Kart 7 finally kills off a shortcut exploit found in three tracks for the game. The exploits that were being taken advantage of in multiplayer were in the Wuhu Island Loop, Wuhu Mountain Loop and GBA Bowser Castle 1 courses. Users that want to be able to play online multiplayer will need to get the latest 3DS system update, and then download the update for Mario Kart 7.

As Computer and Video Games points out, you can still play local multiplayer and single player without updating the game, but to play online you will have to install the fix.

This week on the podcast we talk with Ben Sawyer, Project Director for Games for Health. Ben gives us a preview of what the event will offer next month and even talks a little bit about the impact of gamification on our privacy.

Andrew Eisen and E. Zachary Knight delve into the fine print of Microsoft's recently announced $99 Xbox 360 and detail why it's not really a good deal for anyone. They also discuss the sorry state of the big three console makers.

Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto, the legendary developer who created Donkey Kong and Mario, doesn't seem to be too impressed with Sony's PS Vita hand-held. Miyamoto said that he doesn't think the hardware or the software for Sony's newest hand-held is very strong.

Nintendo will adopt a digital distribution strategy that gets games into the hands of gamers the same day they are released at retail, according to Nintendo president Satoru Iwata. This new dual release strategy will be used for the 3DS and the Wii U when it launches, with the first game to get this treatment being New Super Mario Bros. 2 for the 3DS.

"For our digital business to grow drastically, it is imperative for us to expand the exposure of the digital download products to potential consumers," said Nintendo president Satoru Iwata.

Nintendo has begun providing the Louvre art museum in Paris, France with Nintendo 3DS systems that offer an exclusive audio guide. The Audioguide Louvre Nintendo 3DS will become available at the Louvre for visitors beginning today. The audio guide will provide audio and visual tools to the 8.9 million annual visitors which will help them learn more about all the exhibits on display.

How much are consumers willing to pay for Nintendo's latest console, the Wii U? According to one report, Nintendo thinks they will be more than happy to plunk down $300. According to Forget The Box, "sources closely involved" in manufacturing Nintendo products claim that it costs $180 to make the Wii U  and an additional $50 for the tablet controller. Because of that, the sources say, Nintendo will set the retail price of the Wii U at no less than $300.

Well, it took months of fan campaigns and ridiculously awesome YouTube videos but Xenoblade Chronicles has finally made it to North America.

Now let’s see if anyone buys it…

And on that uplifting sentiment, GamePolitics is taking the rest of the day off in observance of the Easter holiday.

“But Andrew,” I hear you say.  “Today’s Friday.  Easter isn’t until Sunday!”

A Catholic priest from Kalispell, Montana has been accused of possessing child porn, but the whole story starts with a Nintendo DS. Police began the investigation into the 67-year-old Catholic priest name d Rudolph “Rudy” Carl Bullman after a woman who bought a Nintendo DS from him called police. She told them in October of 2011 that she found sexually explicit pictures of young boys on the Nintendo hand-held he sold her.

Nintendo announced that it has sold over 4.5 million Nintendo 3DS system in the United States in its first year of sales. The Nintendo 3DS launched in the U.S. on March 27, 2011. That number of sales is nearly twice as many units as the original Nintendo DS managed to sell in its first year on sale. Of course Nintendo does not focus too much on the fact that it took a price cut for the system to truly start moving - something the DS didn't need in its first year.

Nintendo has won a patent infringement lawsuit filed by IA Labs that claimed the Wii Fit Balance Board infringed on one of its patents. IA Labs had sued Nintendo claiming that its Balance Board used with Wii Fit and other Wii software infringed on its rowing machine device (which attaches to a PC). The lawsuit was found to have no merit and was dismissed by a US District Court judge.

According to several Tweets last night by indie developer Edmund McMillen, Nintendo has decided not to allow The Binding of Isaac on the 3DS.  Nintendo itself has released no statement but McMillen, one of the game’s designers, speculates that it’s the religious context of the game that’s giving the publisher pause.

Team Meat's Tommy Refenes is frustrated with the size limit developers have to adhere to when making WiiWare games, but is happy with the increased size limit game developers are under for the 3DS eShop. The limit for developing games for the 3DS Marketplace stands at 2GB. It's an interesting contrast and explains why the WiiWare market has been a wasteland for most third-party developers.

Following reports this week that several Pokémon-themed apps had shown up in Apple's App Store(which were fake in every sense of the word), Nintendo subsidiary The Pokémon Company has issued a strong statement warning hucksters that it will do everything in its power to teach them a lesson. The Pokémon Company handles all things related to the popular brand including merchandising, TV, Movies, toys, and video games.

According to an Andriasang.com report, Nintendo of Japan will shut down its "Wii no Ma" video service on April 30. The service, which was launched in May 2009 offered a variety of paid content to consumers such as movies, anime and more from companies such as Walt Disney and Warner Entertainment.

Nintendo announced today that it has managed to sell 5 million 3DS handheld game systems in Japan. The company hit this milestone on Sunday. The system was released in Japan on February 26, 2011. - a little less than a year ago. Nintendo said that this milestone makes the 3DS the fastest-selling game platform ever in the country.

Nintendo has announced the Nintendo Network, the company's antidote to the long-held gripes of users who have wanted Nintendo to offer a comprehensive online service like Xbox Live and PlayStation Network for their many platforms. Nintendo Network, which will work with 3DS and Wii U, will offer downloadable content, the possibility of full first and third-party digital game downloads, social and multiplayer features, and a personal account system.

Nintendo reported a net loss of ¥48.3 billion ($623.4 million) for the nine month period that ended December 2011, with a full-year loss of ¥65 billion ($840 million) expected. This compares to a profit of ¥49.5 billion ($638.8 million) for the same period during the 2011 fiscal year. Part of that loss is being attributed to the strength of the Yen against other currency. Manufacturing costs and other expenses related to the Wii U also cut into profits.

Nintendo announced in a press release this morning that it managed to sell more than 12 million hardware units in the United States during 2011. That figure is comprised of DS, Wii and 3DS hardware. The Wii sold 4.5 million units in 2011, the DS sold 3.4 million, and the 3DS sold 4 million, according to Nintendo.

The 3DS managed to sell more units than the Wii did in its first nine months of availability, according to the company. Of course the 3DS enjoyed something that the Wii didn't need in its first year of release - a major price cut.