In the short time Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 have been available, they’ve become “the fastest-selling titles in the history of their respective franchises.” (Could that be because people were happy to finally have games for their 3DSes? Maybe.) The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword sold more than one million units, making it the 45th Wii game to do so.

The 3DS itself managed to sell more than 4 million 3DS systems in 2011, but the Wii still outsold it at 4.5 million units.

“One of the strongest software lineups in our history helped Nintendo have a great holiday season and to close 2011 with a full head of steam,” said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “Not only have the new Mario and Zelda titles already broken records, but with strong reviews and satisfied customers sharing their positive experiences, all three are also shaping up to be the latest long-tail titles from Nintendo. Couple that with a massive first- and third party lineup in the first part of the year and the prospects for 2012 are extremely promising.”

Their “Circle Pad Pro,” AKA “That weird-looking second circle pad for the 3DS” will launch on February 7 in the United States at a retail price of $20. It will be sold only through GameStop, which is surprising. The attachment will be compatible with Resident Evil Revelations as well as Metal Gear Solid 3D Snake Eater right off the bat.

Nintendo also provided an official release date for Kid Icarus: Uprising, something that has always, at the very least, looked like a launch titles — March 23.

The Wii isn’t left out in the cold. Rhythm Heaven Fever will arrive on February 13, with Mario Party 9 coming on March 11.

Here’s a list of what we know at this point — it’s not complete, but it’s what Nintendo has at the moment. Is there anything you’re looking forward to?

Xenoblade Chronicles for Wii, previously denied to North Americans, is officially making its way to our shores next April, as confirmed by Nintendo today.

The game puts you in the middle of an epic battle between humans and robots (naturally), and you’re tasked with uncovering the Monado blade’s secrets. Because of course a weapon has secrets, haven’t you been paying attention?

All jokes aside, this game is supposed to be one of the best ever created for Wii — nay, one of the best JRPGs ever — so it’ll be good to see it get a release over here. Not to mention that Nintendo’s wallet could likely use the boost.

You can preorder the game from GameStop right now, or preorder it from Nintendo in the middle of the month. If you’d like to see the official first trailer, check that out here. (It’s a Facebook link, so click with caution, I suppose.)

Also, Vanilla Ice is going to be involved. Don’t clean your glasses, because you did just read that correctly. Konami has worked with both Vanilla Ice and Maxi Priest to create a “new sound for the franchise” and supposedly make the game more popular to fans of those two artists. So…we’re adding about ten more people. Rock.

The game includes the following master tracks:

• More Than Alive, The Ready Set
• Whip My Hair, Willow
• A Year Without Rain, Selena Gomez & The Scene
• Only Girl (In The World), Rihanna
• This Time I Know It’s For Real, Donna Summer
• Somebody To Love, Justin Bieber
• Baby ft. Ludacris, Justin Bieber
• Just The Way You Are, Bruno Mars
• Nothin’ On You (feat. Bruno Mars), B.o.B.
• Can’t Be Tamed, Miley Cyrus
• Don’t You Want Me, The Human League
• Just A Dream, Nelly
• Beautiful Monster, Ne-Yo
• Spice Up Your Life, Spice Girls
• IN MY HEAD, Jason Derülo
• Candy Girl, New Edition
• Don’t Go, Yaz
• Strip Me, Natasha Bedingfield
• Rocket, Goldfrapp

And the following collaboration tracks:

• Still Unbreakable, Des-ROW Ft. Vanilla Ice
• Say a Prayer, Des-ROW with Maxi Priest

Square Enix recently revealed additional information about the next installment in the RPG series Dragon Quest. The next game, appropriately titled Dragon Quest X, appears to have quite a few things in common with an MMO — except for the fact that it will be on the Wii (and Wii U).

First off, you’ll have to be online to play everything after the first few hours. You don’t have to play with others, but you can’t do it all in an isolated fashion.

And here’s the bigger thing — there will be additional charges for that online play. In the latest FAQ post over at Square Enix (translated by Andriasang), the company confirmed their intent to charge fees for online content.

We’ll just hope that if this is an MMO, Square Enix has learned a lot since the release of Final Fantasy XIV, a game which still hasn’t actually been taken into the stage where anyone has to actually pay for it.

Marty and Doc look ready to go on the website.

Telltale’s “Back to the Future” series is making a big jump — to the store, where you can actually hold the game in your hand. And after you hold it, you can buy it for $19.99. Big deal for a company whose only releases have been downloadable thus far.

The company actually sent out two press releases related to the retail push this October — one each for Wii and PS3 — and CEO Dan Connors appears to be equally enthusiastic about both. Let’s compare:

“Securing a publishing agreement with Nintendo of America ensures that we can make our popular content available on every major console platform.  This signing is a significant milestone in our long-term growth strategy, “said Telltale co-founder and CEO, Dan Connors. “Back to the Future: The Game is a great fit for the Wii platform and we’re excited to bring it to retail this holiday.”

Compare that with his thoughts on publishing with Sony:

“Expanding our publishing agreement with SCEA ensures that our distribution channel encompasses the full spectrum of Sony video game consumers”, said Telltale co-founder and CEO, Dan Connors. “We are pleased to solidify our first-party publishing agreements and look forward to continuing our overall growth as an innovative interactive entertainment publisher.”

 

So, slightly different ideals with each console, there — and I have to wonder…is a retail version coming for Xbox 360, too? I guess we’ll find out.

Be sure to let us know what you think using iTunes’ review system! Subscribe to the show here.

Nintendo 3DS

• Super Mario 3D Land
• Mario Kart 7
• Kid Icarus: Uprising
• Star Fox 64 3D
• The Legend of Zelda™: Ocarina of Time™ 3D
• Pokédex 3D
• Shinobi™ by SEGA®
• Sonic Generations by SEGA

Wii

• The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
• Kirby’s Return to Dream Land
• Rhythm Heaven (name not final)
• Fortune Street

Nintendo DS

• Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2
• Kirby Mass Attack

Nintendo will also have a Nintendo Gaming Lounge in the North Galleria, which will be decorated to celebrate the launch of Kirby’s Return to Dream Land on October 24, as well as Kirby Mass Attack‘s release on September 19. You’ll be able to eat cotton candy in Kirby’s pink color (Uhhh), sit on Kirby beanbag chairs (I want one) and get special Kirby items. The third floor will have large Pokémon AR cards and giveaways.

This will probably be the perfect place to beef up your StreetPass count, too.

New Wii bundle photo via Eurogamer

Nintendo is creating a new Wii package for sale in Europe this holiday season. What makes it different?

Well, first off, the console has a new, smaller size. How did they come about that smaller size? Cutting backwards compatibility. This console is also designed to sit horizontally, as opposed to in the vertical stand some people (like myself) use.

If you’re in Europe and want to play GameCube titles on a Wii, you’d probably better buy one now, as the redesign will be replacing the old console.

This new package will include Wii Party and Wii Sports along with a Wii Remote Plus and Nunchuk.

No word on whether this will spread to other territories, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it did.

Nintendo has launched a brand-new website celebrating The Legend of Zelda‘s 25th anniversary.

In it, they present an interactive history of the series, as well as a video of the orchestra that was on-stage during Nintendo’s E3 presentation this year.

Nintendo is also promoting the use of the Flipnote Studio application on the DSi and DSi XL to create Zelda-inspired animations using one of three templates. The best of the flipnotes will be evaluated by Nintendo developers (Shigeru Miyamoto included) and placed on this website as well as the DSi’s Flipnote Hatena and the Nintendo Channel on Wii. (Paper entries will also be accepted, which makes sense.)