Everyone was amazed by magic tricks at some point in their lives. It’s the unknown that gets to everyone. Remember when you first heard about Houdini? Remember when David Blane used to be fun to watch? Now you can be like them!

In case you hadn’t noticed, Nintendo’s newest DS game, Master of Illusion, arrived on retail shelves earlier this week. The game comes with step-by-step instructions for over 20 magic tricks that integrate the DS, and even comes with a deck of cards to get you started. Imagine that. For the price of a DS game, you get a DS game AND a deck to play Egyptian Rat Screw for when you need to pass the time (and your DS runs out of charge).

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Probably the most anticipated Wii channel yet has finally been made available in Japan. The Everyone’s Nintendo Channel lets Wii owners view streaming video trailers to Wii and DS games they’re interested in, search a complete list of available AND coming soon Wii and DS games. Oh, and you can download DS game demos, too.

The video qualities on the trailers may not be the best, but this is a channel that’s going to see a lot of activity in the coming weeks, months, years… it’s the one that’s going to benefit Nintendo and other game publishers the most. The channel even currently opens with a clip of Shigeru Miyamoto talking about Wii Fit! Best of all, the channel will search games that you’ve played at length on your system, and will ask for your feedback on the games. Here’s hoping Nintendo of America hurries up and figures out when to localize the channel for release here.

Thanks to Eric for the heads up.

IGN Wii

Don’t get me wrong — I’m a Princess Peach fan. As far as I’m concerned, anybody who wears a gown and heels and who nonetheless stands on equal footing with the likes of plumbers, apes and dinosaurs is A-OK in my book. And while Ms. Pac-Man may be the grande dame of video games, my calculations say that Peach has had more playable appearances than any other female character in the history of video games. (Specifically, I count 53, starting with Super Mario Bros. 2 and ending with Mario Party DS and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games. Take that, Chun-Li.) However, just because a certain princess might be the most well-traveled female video game character ever doesn’t mean that every other woman in her universe has to look like her.

Nintendo, it seems, likes Peach so much that her likeness graces even characters other than her. This actually happens to such a degree that I’m dedicating an entire column to what I call “Peach Syndrome” in hopes that I can shed some light on the many Marioverse inhabitants who bare a resemblance to the monarch formerly known as “Toadstool.”

So who does Peach look like?

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Those of you Europeans who met Mimi in Chapter 2-2 of Super Paper Mario, didn’t pick up the key shortly after, and found your game locked up… don’t worry! If you re-played through that part and picked up the key the next time, you turned out fine.

On the other hand, if you don’t want a glitched copy of the game, Nintendo Europe’s got you covered. Nintendo Europe will set you up for a free disc replacement, free of charge, if you want a version of the game without the glitch. To add your name to a list of those to be contacted when the replacement program is in place, call their customer service line at 0870 6060 247, or send an email with “Super Paper Mario replacement” in the subject line to NintendoServiceCentre@codestorm.co.uk.

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Forget the fact that the Wii has been outselling the DS in the United States recently. Wedbush Morgan’s Michael Pachter is predicting that the Nintendo DS will take the crown this holiday season here in the States, followed in second by the Wii. The prediction comes, of course, despite the recent price cuts to and big releases on competing platforms.

Unfortunately, for those believing that the Wii’s success is a little more crucial this holiday, his prediction will come true as long as the Wii shortages become even more apparent this season and as everyone’s out finding Christmas presents for their eight-year-olds.

Games Industry

Twilight Princess is barely one year old, and already fans are getting impatient for the next Zelda game. This Zelda 2008 website popped up a few days ago, featuring some art we’ve not seen from some fansites since April Fool’s Day. There’s some “Hylian text” at the bottom, which I’ve translated into complete gibberish, and Kotaku points out that the domain is registered by a party other than the one that registers all of Nintendo’s game-related websites.

Still, if you want to revisit some old fan concepts for the next Zelda game, feel free to check out the link below. It’s a single page/image, by the way.

Zelda 2008
via Kotaku

Two GameCube’s duct taped together, hm? Game Trailers has gone ahead and put together the video above to compare Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Sunshine. There’s a noticeable difference, but it’s nothing like Super Mario 64 to Sunshine. Have a look anyway, and let us know what you think!

Joystiq

You know those DS icons? The one that shows up on the DS system menu when you have a DS game loaded? Ever wondered what nearly 1300 of those looked like? What you see above isn’t even half of them. NeoGAF member Stumpokapow decided to take any many of the 32×32 icons as he could and post them online for your viewing pleasure, or use as icons or avatars. The page linked below is nearly 2 megabytes of images to load, so dial-up users beware. Yes, all two of you.

1250+ DS icons
via NeoGAF

Some of you might have the limited edition Famicom Game Boy Micro, but what if that’s not enough? What if you want to play your original Famicom cartridges, but don’t want to use your actual system, now that it can no longer be repaired by Nintendo? CYBER Gadget just might have an answer.

The CYBER Familator Lite will allow you to plug in your Famicom game cartridges and play them using the DS Lite’s screens and action buttons. Word has it that there’s also an additional device that you can plug in to let you play American NES games on it as well. You can play them on the DS, or you can connect from the TV out to play the games on your big screen plasma TV, just like the good ol’ days.

Cyber Gadget
via DS Fanboy

The smart ones of you out there probably have most if not all of your holiday shopping done by now. Still have $69.99 lying around for you to spend on yourself? The Wiicast found this officially licensed Wii Tower at Wal-Mart just waiting to be bought. Supposedly, it can hold your system, about 18 games, and has room on top for 4 controllers. Want it?

It looks cool and everything, but I’m sure you can find better or build your own for much cheaper. Or maybe just better. Personally, I think I’ll make mine out of glass and metal, with a frosted glass Wii logo.

The Wiicast