Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto says he's now focusing on bringing Nintendo's handheld DS consoles to the classroom.

Nintendo executive Shigeru Miyamoto is famous for bringing us Mario, the Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong and Animal Crossing but the video game designer is busying himself with a different kind of project these days. Miyamoto has said the area he is devoting himself to the most is turning Nintendo brand of handheld consoles into educational aids and teaching tools.

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That's one pretty good return on investment.

An exceptionally rare game for the original Nintendo Entertainment System has sold on eBay for $41,300.

The game is Stadium Events, published by Bandai, and is generally accepted as the rarest of all NES games released in North America. The game is rare due to its limited run of what is believed to be around 2,000 copies; and due to a Nintendo accessory licensing issue with the Family Fun Fitness Control Mat (which would eventually become Nintendo's Power Pad), an estimated 200 copies reached consumers.

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It's a Nintendo Wii turned into a Wii-based laptop.

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Apple's iPad could be an awesome gaming machine.

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The DSi XL packs two displays that are 93 percent bigger than the screens on the current DSi. It also comes with a handy-dandy XL stylus that's easier to hold.

Yesterday we finally learned when we'd get our hands on the new DS, the DSi XL. Arriving in North America on March 28, the device boasts two significantly larger displays than what DS and DSi owners are used to and also comes with a bigger, pen-like stylus that's easier to hold.

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It's bigger… but probably not much badder.

The Nintendo DSi XL – what is essentially a DSi that's gone Super Sized, had its North American release confirmed today with March 28 being the big day.

Pricing in the U.S. will be $189.99, giving it at $20 premium over the current DSi at $169.99. The DS Lite continues to live on at $129.99. Canadian pricing is still unknown, but we expect a price bump of around 10 percent.

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The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office last week made public a patent application from Sony. Dated August 2008, the application details a universal controller with a twist.

Up until now, universal remote controllers haven't been very notable. Most commonly produced for people who often lose track of their remote, universal controllers are a useful but boring affair. That is, until learn about Sony's plans for an LCD-equipped universal controller for consoles.

Sony's USPTO application covers a controller that features a touchscreen LCD that would display a controller key layout of the users choice. In the patent application Sony talks of a PlayStation layout, a Nintendo game console layout, and an Xbox layout, meaning the controller would work with outside consoles.

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SCEA claims that 3rd-party publishers are heading back to Sony thanks to crappy sales on the Wii.

SCEA Senior Vice President of Publisher Relations Rob Dyer recently told Industry Gamers that 3rd-party developers are heading back to the PlayStation 3 (and presumably the Xbox 360).

In a sense, the honeymoon is over: hype surrounding the Nintendo Wii and its innovative motion controller has died down to a dull roar. Additionally, Microsoft and Sony are set to hit the console scene this year with motion controller technology as well, taking some of the spotlight away from Nintendo's former «hot» product.

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