Nintendo had a pretty huge press event recently, lots of big announcements. From
http://n-sider.com:
* The Nintendo DSi will be released in North America "well into" 2009, due to the steady popularity of the DS Lite.
* The DSi contains some amount of built-in flash memory, ala the Wii.
* Remakes of the first two Brain Age games will be among the first downloadable titles on the DS shop.
* You can record your own voice with the DSi's microphone and play with its pitch, speed, etc. There are also sound filters that can be applied to audio, including music, such as a filter that can remove the instruments from a song while leaving the vocals behind.
* Punch Out will be released in North America in the first half of 2009.
* The Metroid Primes will be among the retrofitted titles in the "Let's Play on Wii" series, including Wii-based controls.
* Animal Crossing: City Folk will be released in North America on November 16.
* Sin and Punishment 2 will indeed be localized, with an indeterminate 2009 release date. You can thank the sales of the Virtual Console release of the original.
* There's a "Personal Trainer" series of DS games that will include cooking, math, and uh... walking.
* Rhythm Heaven will be released on the DS in North America in the first half of 2009.
* The Wii Speak microphone, when purchased, can be paired with a downloadable Wii Speak Channel that allows for chatting with up to three other users at once.
* By the end of the year, Club Nintendo, the prize-filled program that has been so lusted for by non-Japanese Nintendo fans, will finally be coming to America.
Notes:
DSi is officially Nintendo's next console. Think of it as this: Gameboy is to DS as Gameboy Pocket is to DS Lite as Gameboy Color is to DSi.
Let's Play on Wii games are remakes of GCN games with graphical and gameplay-related enhacements. Full list of announced remakes:
Chibi Robo
Donkey Kong Jungle Beat
Mario Power Tennis
Metroid Prime
Metroid Prime 2
Pikmin
Pikmin 2
This idea was actually very quietly mentioned (and promptly forgotten about) at a press event a VERY long time ago.
Horray for Club Nintendo.