This week’s list of Nintendo’s digital offerings is topped with a playable demo of Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

That should give you all the help you need in deciding whether or not to splash the cash. Elsewhere, there’s a new physics puzzle game on WiiWare, and Mutant Mudds, a cool-looking platform adventure for 3DS, is on the eShop.

Nintendo eShop

Mutant Mudds – Armed with a heavy-duty water cannon, Max must vanquish his nemeses, the Mutant Mudds, by blasting and hovering his way across the soiled landscape to seek out mysterious Water Sprites. (For Nintendo 3DS)

Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (demo version) – Join Mario and Sonic in the world’s greatest sporting competition. With more than 50 playable events, the Olympic Games have never been so much fun. This demo is now available on Nintendo eShop. (For Nintendo 3DS)

WiiWare

Newton vs. The Horde – Scientists are being attacked by a horde of vicious monsters. Use physics to squash, skewer and explode those nasty creatures and do whatever you can to help our scientist friends survive. (Wii)

Also new this week:

Lola’s Alphabet Train (Nintendo eShop / Nintendo DSiWare)

Flipper 2: Flush the Goldfish (Nintendo eShop / Nintendo DSiWare)

Trailers and screens are through the source link.

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Nintendo has made available some 50 WiiWare demos via the US Wii Shop channel.

The reappearance of these previously-released demos is a surprise move considering Nintendo was so adamant that demos would only be available for a limited time in the past.

We’re hoping this is a sign of their permanent availability, but if you enjoy having a quick play of a game before you purchase it you should get all over this quick – they might not be there for long.

Nintendo launched a trial WiiWare demo scheme in 2009 in a bid to stimulate sales of downloadable titles, which it said made up just a small part of its business.

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The US Club Nintendo site has refreshed its offering of download games available in exchange for Coins earned on the site.

The top pick is Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask for WiiWare – the fantastic time-traveling N64 classic and easily the darkest Zelda game ever made.

Dr. Mario fans get double serving with Dr. Mario Online Rx for WiiWare and Dr. Mario Express for DSiWare (but only downloadable on 3DS).

And the original Game Boy Kirby’s Dream Land for the 3DS Virtual Console completes the set of four, on offer for this month only.

They range from 100 to 150 coins.

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Nintendo’s latest downloads for the US region have arrived, and the one you really need to grab isn’t even a game.

Swapnote is a neat app that lets you draw little notes – attaching pictures and sounds too – and send them to anyone on your friends list. Sort of like a true sequel to PictoChat.

And it’s free so you might as well give it a try. Cue the cock and balls sketches.

Here’s the rest of the list:

Nintendo eShop

Samurai Sword Destiny – Encounter deadly ambushes, invade enemy castle rooftops and square off against seemingly indomitable opponents to find your missing brother. (For Nintendo 3DS)

Swapnote – With the Swapnote application, you can write, decorate and send handwritten 3D notes to people on your friend list via the SpotPass and StreetPass features. To get started, download this application from the Nintendo eShop at no cost. (For Nintendo 3DS)

Nintendo eShop and Nintendo DSiWare

Quick Fill Q – Q is a spherical creature who rolls on without stopping. Players must use swift thinking and precise controls to fill holes that are in his way so Q can keep on rolling. (For Nintendo 3DS / Nintendo DSi)

3 Heroes – Crystal Soul – As the Crystal Champion, you must protect the kingdom of Crystennia by defeating monsters and collecting various kinds of natural energy released by them. (For Nintendo 3DS / Nintendo DSi)

Also new this week:

Zombii Attack (WiiWare)

As ever, screens and trailers through the source link.

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Nintendo has begun rolling out updates for the 10 NES games given free to 3DS Ambassadors earlier this year.

Nintendo had previously promised that the 10 NES games offered in the program will later be upgraded with “additional features” once the games are made available for purchase by the general public.

According to reports, The Legend of Zelda has just been updated in Japan to support the creation and loading of restore points – as can be done with currently-released Game Boy Virtual Console titles.

The update has also added a digital manual and a nicer menu icon for the game. Similar updates are expected for the other nine NES games in due course, although there’s no ETA on that or when any updates will be issued outside of Japan.

It’s worth looking forward to though, considering Nintendo promised some of the NES games will receive added “multiplayer simultaneous play” functionality.

Nintendo set up the 3DS Ambassador program to compensate early 3DS owners after it announced that it will slash almost a third off the console’s price – less than six months after its launch. Pre-price-drop owners needed simply to log onto the eShop before August 12, 2011, to qualify.

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The looming release of the PS Vita and thoughts of importing the shiny new handheld precariously swirling around our feeble minds has had us dwelling on our decision to purchase a 3DS at launch.

We briefly touched on the slight pangs of regret we feel every time we look at our 3DS’ in an earlier debate but the release of the second batch of Nintendo 3DS Ambassador titles – as well as a few brilliant 3DS games – has us mulling over our feelings again. This time a little more directly.

Nintendo addressed the feeling of post-price cut regret in July, when lacklustre sales of the Nintendo 3DS forced the platform holder to chop around a third off the price of 3DS.

Naturally, the news didn’t go down so well with early adopters, and Nintendo openly expressed concerns over a potential backlash from customers who bought a 3DS before the unexpected price reduction.

“Never in Nintendo’s history have we dropped a system’s trade price so significantly less than six months after launch,” the company admitted in a statement.

“We are aware this may cause you, the loyal fans who supported Nintendo 3DS from the beginning, to lose trust in us, and this is not our intention in any way.”

To stop consumers “regretting purchasing” a 3DS at launch Nintendo offered up 20 exclusive free downloadable games from the Nintendo eShop. The first batch of ten NES games included classics like Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong Jr., and The Legend of Zelda.

The GBA games made available earlier this week include Legend Of Zelda: The Minish Cap, Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Metroid Fusion, and a number of other treasured GBA classics.

We’re quite pleased with this selection of free titles, Metroid Fusion and Mario Kart: Super Circuit in particular Nintendo have earned back some good will.

On top of that we’ve been clocking in a fair few hours on our 3DS’, with Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 even managing to steal some precious gaming time away from Skyrim, Saints Row The Third and Battlefield 3.

Nine months, twenty free games and a few good first-party titles later and we think we’ve finally come to love the Nintendo 3DS. Its future is still uncertain, but games like Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater 3D, Kid Icarus: Uprising and Resident Evil look like they’re shaping up to be must-plays.

We’re interested in how you feel about the Nintendo 3DS, if you purchased it and whether you regret it.

Have you returned/traded in/given away your handheld or is there a particular game in the future you’re holding on for? Let us know in the comments below.

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We’ve just been deposited in the city of Nexus, in a world known mysteriously as Veil. (Or rather, our character has – we’ve been given a 3DS and a copy of Heroes Of Ruin for an hour, but we didn’t want to shatter the illusion.)

So yes, we’re in Nexus, Heroes’ fairly large hub town, home to traders looking to hawk their wares, and people with gigantic exclamation marks over their heads. These guys are either suffering from some hideous disease1 or they want us to undertake a sidequest.

There are about seven or eight of these golden ‘!’s on our minimap – an impressive amount – but we only have time for one, unfortunately. We’re going to venture into the ominously monikered Haunted Woods, to make contact with a dead Elven king.

The first step, however, is finding your quest, and that isn’t as easy as it sounds. The game can be a tad confusing about getting where you need to be, because (as far as we were able to tell) there was no way to distinguish which ! belonged to your active quest. A more detailed read of the quest log may have yielded further clues, but time was getting on and we were looking forward to cracking on with the smashy-smashy.

Finally nudged in the right direction, we make our way to Nexus’ ‘industrial district’ (it was a small junkyard) to hop on the nearest waystone to the Haunted Woods. These stones act as both checkpoints and teleport pads, handily reviving you when you die out in the field, as well as providing a means of returning to the Nexus to flog or purchase loot, or turn in quests.

The guard at the waystone told us not to be put off by the actually-quite-offputting name, and thanks to our inherently trusting nature we found ourselves wandering into a creepy forest teeming with zombies, spiders and hideous giant golems. New quest: kill that stupid lying guard.

ALCIHOLICS ANONYMOUS

If you’re wondering who we are, well, so are we. A quick glance through the menu tells us we’re an Alchitect: a sort of steampunk alchemist who flings flasks and spells in equal measure. Other classes include the Vanquisher – a warrior with the head of a lion – and the Gunslinger, a bard with torso of a swan. Wait, no, it’s a class that specialises in firearms. The game can be played online in a team of up to four, but today our Alchitect was doing it all on her own.

Thankfully, she’s pretty capable in a fight. Combat’s slick, quick and robust, with melee attacks that connect satisfyingly, and ranged spells that explode in a glittering miasma of energy. It’s streamlined, but in a good way – all the features you want are there and easy to access. Health and mana potions require only a tap of the D-pad, while three different abilities can be mapped to the face buttons (the last is reserved for your standard attack, natch).

Finally you can block, and do a nifty roll-teleport. It’s all sounding pretty easy, isn’t it? Nope. This is a challenging game, as evidenced by the frighteningly quick depletion of our health bar, even during fights with lesser beasts.

The bigger ones – ha ha ha. No. But as we slowly increased in level, upgraded and bought new spells, and stumbled across sweeter loot, the Haunted Forest started to feel less like the site of our inevitable doom, and more like a like small copse round the back of the local Sainsbury’s.

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Thought the 3DS wasn’t doing well? Think again. In just 37 weeks Nintendo has sold 200,000 units in Australia.

Today marks a historic day for Nintendo Australia, with the announcement that the 3DS has sold more than 200,000 units in 37 weeks, marking a new record for Australia. Not only did the 3DS beat other hand-held consoles, but it also beat home consoles too.

The 3DS may have had a rocky start, but with the recent price reduction (from #349 to $ 249) and influx of great titles, it makes sense that these bad boys are selling like hot cakes. The 3DS suddenly isn’t looking all that bad.

The recent update of the 3DS’s firmware added 3D video recording and Nintendo “accomplishments”, the equivalent to trophies and achievements.

Can you believe the 3DS has sold 200,000 units in just 37 weeks? Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

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Nintendo appears to be finally adding the option to purchase downloadable games with the rewards points earned within the Club Nintendo website.

A new front page on the US Club Nintendo site went live briefly (before going down for “maintenance”) revealing new Virtual Console and 3D Classics offerings in exchange for Coins earned via Nintendo game purchases.

A (pictured) snapshot of the page before it went down (taken by a NeoGAF poser – thanks Shack) shows that, among the spoils available were Super Mario Kart on the Wii VC, and the 3D Classic version of Xevious for 3DS, both up for 100 coins.

At least this gives you something actually worthwhile to spend those smaller Coin amounts on rather than the rubbish desktop pictures you can download for free elsewhere.

Although this appears only to apply to the US arm of Club Nintendo, the EU version does already offer Nintendo Points cards – the currency used for Wii, DSi and 3DS’ digital stores – in exchange for rewards points (Stars).

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