I didn’t see this image for the first time until today. I’m not an Obama supporter, but let’s not kid ourselves: this is pretty awesome.

General News
Nintendo Australia hosting an Art exhibition and contest

Wii/DS News & Media
See some spectacular scans showing Shake It!
Wii left out of Rock Band 2 announcement
Terry, Mai, & co. kicking it up on the VC
Magnetica Twist attracted to WiiWare this week
Available this week at retail: June 30, 2008
Dragon Quest V trailer goes back to the future
Rock Band 2 comes to the Wii!
Cook in 3-D with Cooking Mama World Kitchen for Wii
Thracia 776 coming to Japanese VC in July
Dr. Mario gets a new leaderboard
Direct feed Arc Rise Fantasia screens are out!
Mega Man 9 is a WiiWare exclusive… for now

Arts & Culture
Metal Gear Solid 4 comes to the Wii?
Remember R.O.B.? He’s back… in LEGO form.

Despite recent reports suggesting that Mega Man 9 would be the first title appearing on WiiWare, Xbox Live, and the PlayStation Network, Capcom has clarified that they made a mistake. The recent E3 listing is “officially” inaccurate, and until further notice, the game is a WiiWare exclusive.

In case you’ve been living under a rock this past week, Mega Man 9 has been confirmed for WiiWare as a retro-style game. Inti Creates, made up of Capcom employees who worked on Zero and ZX, is handling development of the game.

Given the E3 listing, I’m sure the game will be at E3 at the front of a long line of people. I’ll make sure Matt gets some good hands-on time to see if it gets his Mega Man stamp of approval.

Ars Technica
via VideoGamePlayerz

Remember the good ol’ days, when Legos still looked like Legos instead of all this Bionicle stuff? These days, we get excited whenever we see people making things out of Legos. I’m pretty sure I did this on a near-daily basis as a kid.

The Lego Guy on Flickr was inspired by Graznador2’s Lego Smash Bros. creations and made the R.O.B. and NES you see above. You can also see his version of a Smash Bros. scene, Mario on a go-kart, and a Super Nintendo after the break.

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Six new screenshots plus the logo from Arc Rise Fantasia have been released by Marvelous. Inside Games has some new information as well, which Fanboy translates as the following:

• Brown-haired guy is named Bright
• Blond guy is Prince Alse
• “Mysterious” purple-haired girl is Rhyphia
• Mage is named Adele and she is shown using Energy Blast
• The “Containment Dragons” shown are invading the city of Diamant

Sounds good so far! You can see all of the new screenshots in addition to all past scans of the game after the break.

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This little beauty was seen at a Sam’s Club by a “Stephen.” Probably required a second pass to realize what it was. Here’s what he had to say:

Saw this a few days ago at my local Sams Club in Douglasville, Ga. I picked it up to verify it is for the Wii. The release is, I think, is a week or two away. Sorry for the poor quality. I was in a huge rush.

$52.66? It’s probably Metal Gear Solid 4: Party Mini-Games Edition. I think I’ll pass.

Kotaku

It would seem I don’t download enough WiiWare games. Apparently, Nintendo recently released an update to Dr. Mario Online RX, which I don’t have, and no one knew what exactly what it was for. Nintendo has released a statement clarifying (sort of) what it does:

The optional update refines the way the leaderboards are displayed.

I’m also hearing that My Pokemon Ranch got an update, too. You all need to tell me about these things!

GoNintendo

Nintendo has revealed Japan’s Virtual Console lineup for the month of July, and there’s one game standing out above the rest. Fire Emblem: Thracia 776 will mark the third Fire Emblem release on the Japanese VC.

The game is part of a duology, as is tradition in the series, and serves as a “midquel” to Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War, and stars Leaf. It’s the game that introduced the “fog” and “nighttime” gameplay elements now featured Fire Emblem games, it used the “capture” and “dismount” elements of games past, and is the only game to use a “fatigue” system.

It’s not often I get excited about Japanese VC releases. Why? Because it’s for Japan. Until Nintendo decides to localize (or remake) one of the hardest games in the entire series, this is all I have to look forward to.

Check out the full VC list for Japan after the break.

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Think you’ve got an artistic side? Nintendo Australia is inviting you to “paint, draw, sculpt, design, go bananas” in creating artwork based on your favorite Nintendo characters. Both 2D and 3D artwork will be accepted (I expect to see a scaled, stone model of Peach’s Castle, you hear me?), and all entries are due in by August 15th. Your art will be displayed in the Fad Gallery in Melbourne during the Out of Controller exhibition from September 10th through the 27th, where it will be judged by top gaming professionals.

Not a bad gig, if you asked me. For only $20 (that’s Australian dollars, which is sadly almost equal to the American dollar), any art creation of yours could be on display, and you could win $2000 (AUD) plus a Wii prize pack! More details at the official site below. Hopefully we’ll be able to see some pictures of the entries find their way online at some point.

Out of Controller
via Vooks
Image from Blogspot

While some of us might be perfectly happy cooking in “real-life 3-D”, some of us have neither the skills or the knowledge to create an edible masterpiece in the family kitchen. For those of us who probably need a little bit of help (myself included), the Cooking Mama games can serve as a virtual tutor for preparing various meals.

Cooking Mama World Kitchen for the Wii will receive a much needed 3-D upgrade, as well as new recipes to keep us from eating pizza and Top Ramen everyday. Like the previous game, you will be able to use the Wii Remote to slice and dice, and boil your food without any of those pesky kitchen injuries. You can see the full press release after the break.

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While Harmonix completely left the Wii out of their Rock Band 2 press release, we can always count on second-hand sources for the scoop. Apparently, instead of being a timed exclusive for the Xbox 360 and then being added only to the PlayStation 3 lineup, the PlayStation 2 and Wii will be getting in on that later action. Translation: the Wii is getting Rock Band 2, and it’s getting it before Christmas.

Of course, none of this should matter if the game’s online capabilities are a carbon copy of the first Rock Band.

Associated Press
via Joystiq