What a day for Virtual Console fans. For one, we've got the ultra-aggressive coin-op classic, Ninja Gaiden, to check out. Then, on top of that, the game that spawned one of Nintendo's most beloved franchises: Super Smash Bros. for the N64. If that doesn't put a smile on your face, then you just may be one of the most depressed people on Earth. We suggest consulting a doctor.

• Super Smash Bros. (N64, 1-4 players, 1,000 Wii Points)
• Ninja Gaiden (Arcade, 1-2 players, 600 Wii Points)

Ever since we reported that Scene It? Twilight would grace the Wii and DS, we've gotten countless emails looking for the hot scoops on this new product. Well, would-be Bellas and Edwards, you may want to sink your teeth into the Nintendo Channel today, as there's a smoking hot new video about the game. In short: it's pretty much just like the regular Scene It? game.

Head past the break for the full list of this week's content.

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Given Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Reverie's status as the only game in the main Dragon Quest series to be localized (except for the no-doubt upcoming IX), we watched this Jump Festa 2010 trailer raptly, seeing an RPG world that was both classic and unfamiliar.

Even 14 years after its release, we found ourselves occasionally wowed by the trailer. The boat went underwater! The covered wagon floats! The characters look like every other Akira Toriyama character! (The last one was a different kind of wow). By the time the traditional theme came up, we were thrilled about Realms of Reverie. Too bad it's only coming out in Japan on January 28, with its North American release at some unspecified later date.

[Via NeoGAF]

Depressed about the lack of availability (as of right now) of Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth in North America? Then you'll be crying Bloody Tears over this Japan-only CD collection, releasing March 24. The Akumajou Dracula Best Music Collections BOX contains nineteen discs of Castlevania music.

The collection includes soundtracks for Castlevania games ranging from NES, Game Boy, and MSX releases to more recent games on Game Boy Advance, PS2, and the arcade. Even the spin-off, Kid Dracula, is included on Disc 2! Disc 18 is an "arrange" album, with covers Castlevania tunes by Symphony of the Night composer Michiru Yamane, and disc 19 is a DVD featuring recording studio footage and interviews with Yamane.

It's very unlikely this collection will be officially made available outside of Japan, and if an importer does carry it, you'll have to whip a bunch of candles to scrounge up the coins: Konamistyle prices the collection at ¥21,000 ($232).

[Via Original Sound Version]

Nintendo announced its 500th downloadable Wii game today, reserving the honor for Super Smash Bros. Or, we suppose, for any of the other Virtual Console or WiiWare games released today. But Nintendo says it's Super Smash Bros., and that certainly seems like a more special way to celebrate a milestone than, say, the arcade version of Ninja Gaiden. See all the WiiWare, Virtual Console, and DSiWare releases after the break.

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Source -- Modern Warfare 2 captures Christmas No1 [Chart Track]
Source -- All formats chart [Chart Track]

We sure hope you've entered to win the eight holiday gaming bundles we're offering as prizes in our "Naughty or Nice" sweepstakes -- which, by the way, you can submit entries into once every day. If ludicrous piles of free games (or South Africa-based alien romps) aren't really up your alley, that's just fine. However, you need to appreciate the fact that we could have easily just wrapped this stuff up, placed it undertree, and given it to friends and family as Christmas presents. The money we would've saved as a result could've financed a personal spa tour of Cabo San Lucas.

Check out our giveaway hub to see all the highly giftable loot, as well as the rules, regulations and obligatory legal mumbo-jumbo.

Update: Just to clear up any confusion, you'll need to comment on the actual giveaway posts to be eligible. This post's just a friendly reminder! See, it says so in the headline!

The idea of a three-day speed run of Pokémon, in which the runners would attempt to capture all of the pocket-sized monsters therein, would have been a lot more feasible back in 1998. Today, the number of in-game species has ballooned from 151 to 493, a number that can only be appreciated when depicted in words: Four-hundred and ninety-three.

The charitable gaming experts of TheSpeedGamers plan to accomplish this near-impossible goal while taking donations for Ally's House, an Oklahoma-based children's cancer foundation. It sounds like a really great cause -- why not show some support on the group's livestream? Even if your "support" is just you repeatedly singing the Pokérap over and over, ad infinitum.

Did we say January 5? You're actually going to have to wait a little longer for The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces on Wii. XSEED has informed us of a new release date for the Project Aces-developed flight game: just one week later, on January 12, 2010 [edit: Corrected the date.]

While that might not be the best news, the publisher also let us know the MSRP for the game: just $29.99. That's going to make it a lot easier for curious gamers to find room in the crowded Q1 for this somewhat niche game.

Today's European Wii/DSi Shop update includes one of the most cringeworthy localizations in memory. Tecmo's Tsuppari Oozumo Wii Heya, the latest in its long-lived sumo wrestling series, appears in Europe today as ... Eat! Fat! FIGHT! Sure, it's more lighthearted and less a strict simulation of sumo, but Eat! Fat! FIGHT? Really?

A Boy and His Blob and Street Fighter II' (the PC Engine version) arrive on Virtual Console today, and DSiWare has yet another original Q-Games title: Starship Patrol, a futuristic-looking tower defense game in space!

• Eat! Fat! FIGHT! (WiiWare, 1-2 players, 1,000 Wii Points)
• Moki Moki (WiiWare, 1 player, 800 Wii Points)
• A Boy and His Blob (NES, 1 player, 500 Wii Points)
• Street Fighter II': Champion Edition (Turbografx-16, 1-2 players, 700 Wii Points)
• A Little Bit of... Magic Made Fun: Psychic Camera (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
• Castle of Magic (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
• Littlest Pet Shop (DSiWare, 1 player, 800 DSi Points)
• myNotebook: Green (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
• Starship Patrol (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)

Update: Turns out the message was sent as a reminder. So, here's another reminder. You'd best pick that title up before the offer expires. If you need help deciding, we've got you covered.

Back in September, Nintendo began offering the Wii Internet Channel free of charge. To make nice with those who had already paid 500 points for the channel, Nintendo promised a free NES Virtual Console download. Today, we noticed the familiar blue glow emanating from the Wii, signifying something new. Imagine our surprise when we discovered a message from Nintendo saying the free NES download offer was now active.

So, if you're a US gamer and you purchased the Internet Channel before it was made free, you're now entitled to a free 500 point NES download. For the record, we chose Kirby's Adventure.

Beverly Hills ... that's where I want to be (gimme, gimme), living in -- wait, not really. Next week's holiday Rock Band Weekly update has some catchiness, but it's short on cheer. There's a new track pack from Weezer, featuring two songs from the band's latest album, Raditude. There's also songs from Limp Bizkit, The Offspring and Yellowcard.

One last reminder: Rock Band Unplugged DLC is on hiatus until further notice. Check out pricing and track details for the console releases after the break.

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French developer Golgoth Studio captured our attention this October when it announced it was working on a complete high-def remake of the classic arcade game, Toki. However, today Joystiq learned that Microsoft has decided against publishing the remake itself and has invited the indie dev to find another publisher willing to put the game on its platform.

According to Toki HD producer Anthony De Sa Ferreira, the Xbox Live Arcade approval process only allows titles published by Microsoft or an approved third-party company. Following its submission, Microsoft told Golgoth Studio that Toki HD "did not fit with the current needs of Microsoft Game Studio," and suggested the developer contact another publisher. Golgoth tells Joystiq that it is in active conversations with multiple publishers and is confident the game will see life on the Xbox Live Arcade, saying an agreement may be only weeks away.

Ferreira believes Microsoft's approval process may have become more stringent in light of the recent high-profile success of original games on the platform, such as Shadow Complex. "I think it's too bad, because it's the independent studios who helped the XBLA to [meet] the success it knows today," he said, adding that not many indie devs can achieve such an impressive result as the Chair-developed title.

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This past Saturday brought us the Spike TV Video Game Awards and – before experiencing the litany of world exclusives that awaited us inside – we spent some time outside cruising the red carpet and talking (briefly!) to many of the game developers and talent. We squeezed them for information as fast as we could while simultaneously wishing them holiday cheer and good tidings. Yes, it was as awkward as it sounds. Here's what we learned from Tony Hawk about Tony Hawk Ride.

You've been very vocal about the negative reviews of the game. What made you want to strike back?

Because I feel like a lot of people ... not just bad reviews, but some of them were just mean-spirited. You know what I mean? I felt like that wasn't fair to us, and it was also turning people away from even trying it. I feel like it's not for everyone, but try it! I see kids love it. I see parents that take to it and really enjoy it, and I just wanted a fair chance for people to try it objectively. When I see people just coming down on me personally, that got me going and I was frustrated with it.

But at the same time, I'm totally proud of it, I love the game. I spent two years of my life getting it going, and it was my idea ... I brought it to Activision. For people to say "Oh, you just stick your name on the game and that's it," that's not what it is at all.

The sales figures came out and they were disappointing. Do you think Activision will keep going in the same direction with this game or will go back to the old Tony Hawk?

I don't know, I guess that remains to be discussed. I really feel like the board is a good device, and we can make more games based on it. I really want to do that. This wasn't a gimmick, I didn't want people to think they have to buy a new one next year. I wanted to make this board so ... it's a platform to do other things with.

Does the game have the ability to be mapped to a standard controller? Could Activision implement that via a download?

You know what, we looked into it ... the way that you physically play the game, it wouldn't translate to a very challenging game with a joystick. The control scheme would have to be completely different, and we didn't want to make a game that was confusing like that.