Square Enix and Nintendo teamed up to bring us one of the most anticipated DS games from the Super Mario franchise, the Mario Hoops 3-on-3.

This game has been released in the U.S. for over a month now, and finally, Australia now also gets a release date for the said game. Great news for our fellas down under, Mario Hoops 3-on-3 will be hitting shelves come October 26th and will retail for AU$ 69.95. Over at Vooks, they have also posted the very first Aussie review on the game, which you can read more about by clicking on the read link below.

And since we can't go through the whole review in snippets (especially if you guys want a more detailed one), we'll just share with you the site's overall ratings for the game. Gameplay, sound, and value all get the same rating from Vooks: 7 out of 10. The tilt feature gets a six, while the graphics score a perfect 10. So, all in all, Mario Hoops gets a 7.4 overall rating. To find out the reasons behind their ratings, click on the read link below.

Buy: [Mario Hoops 3-on-3]

GameFly reports on this week's top rental charts, covering the most requested games, both released and still yet to come, for the week ending September 8.

Continuing its surge from recent weeks, Xbox 360 titles maintain top positions throughout the platform chart, with Saints Row dominating as the most requested game across all platforms. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy climbs one spot higher to finally fall second to Saints Row in the Xbox 360, while successfully beating all other titles for the original Xbox. Racing game Test Drive Unlimited meanwhile rallies close behind at number 3.

For the handhelds, Nintendo's own Star Fox: Command clings on to the top spot for the Nintendo DS, followed by Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team and Mario Hoops 3-on-3. The PSP charts gets dominated by Sony's tiny blobs of joy, Loco Roco with LEGO Star Wars II still battling it out at the second spot for this category. Shooting scores at number 3 is Def Jam: Fight for NY -The Takeover from Electronic Arts.

GameFly is an online video game rental subscription service in the US. What makes this game rental company unique is that they allow subscribers to buy selected pre-played games at a reduced price, should they decide to keep the game.

The appeal of this system is that it allows gamers to just "fish" for the games that would be right for them, thereby helping them make the decision as to which games to buy. We all know how heavy on the pockets original copies of these games can get. And the last thing we'd want to get is some lame game that we bought just because somebody else said it was good, only to find out later on for ourselves that it just doesn't suit our tastes.

Yup, if you aren't sure of what to buy, renting the games first would really be one of the safest options to go for.

Game releases for this week is said to be one of the biggest ever for the United States, with a whopping 46 new titles for various consoles. NDS players will have a lot to choose from this week, whether it be from popular franchises such as Mario Hoops 3-on-3 and Mega Man ZX, to the more original and new Cooking Mama and Harvest Moon.

Available for all platforms this week is LEGO Star Wars II, one of the most anticipated games since its prequel. LEGO Star Wars II will feature similar gameplay to that of its prequel, and of course, will allow gamers to mix and match the heads and bodies of  their beloved Star Wars characters. Below is the complete list of DS games to be released this week:

- Cooking Mama
- Harvest Moon DS
- LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
- Mario Hoops 3-On-3
- MechAssault: Phantom War
- Mega Man ZX

In the latest Japanese sales charts that Media Create has compiled which are dated from August 28 to September 3, the Nintendo DS Lite has come out at the top, thanks to the release of its black version in Japan. It has sold a whopping eight times more than its close competitor, the Sony PSP. This is a huge thing since the number of units sold last week have almost doubled.

The number of PS2 units sold include both the "original" and the "slim" types, while the numbers in parenthesis are the total number of units that have been sold since the release of that particular title or console.

Hardware

• Nintendo DS Lite - 228,939 (4,196,826)
• PlayStation Portable - 27,499 (3,939,299)
• PlayStation 2 - 22,703 (19,684,767)
• Game Boy Advance SP - 2,751 (5,884,378)
• Game Boy Micro - 1,791 (535,040)
• Xbox 360 - 1,250 (140,493)
• GameCube - 855 (4,157,561)
• Nintendo DS - 320 (6,577,480)
• Game Boy Advance - 22 (8,822,676)
• Xbox - 0 (475,522)

DS Total - 10,774,306
GBA Total - 15,242,094

Moving on to the games themselves, the sales for Final Fantasy III have dropped, not because people didn't want it anymore (it DID completely sell out on its release day, afterall), but because at the moment, the limelight is shining on a non-Nintendo game, Phantasy Star. Ninty fans can still breathe easy, though, since the top ten is till dominated by Nintendo games.

Software

• PS2 - Phantasy Star Universe - Sega - 120,202 (NEW)
• NDS - New Super Mario Bros. - Nintendo - 72,763 (2,974,027)
• NDS - Brain Age 2 - Nintendo - 46,662 (3,119,857)
• NDS - Final Fantasy III - Square Enix - 45,949 (549,001)
• NDS - Freshly Picked Tingle's Rose Colored Rupee Land - Nintendo - 45,496 (NEW)
• NDS - Cooking Navi - Nintendo - 35,689 (419,733)
• NDS - Mario Hoops 3 on 3 - Square Enix - 34,001 (267,763)
• NDS - Animal Crossing: Wild World - Nintendo - 32,605 (3,181,735)
• GBA - Rythm Tengoku - Nintendo - 28,361 (123,432)
• NDS - Tamagotchi Connection: Corner Shop 2 - Namco Bandai - 27,540 (458,474)

Mario, the video game character created by Shigeru Miyamoto for Nintendo, is celebrating his 25th birthday this month of September. As Nintendo's mascot, Mario is one of the most recognizable characters in video game history, appearing in over a hundred games. His first appearance as a hero was in 1981's Donkey Kong, and the game was so successful that he carried over into an arcade spin-off, Mario Brothers, which introduced his brother Luigi.

And to celebrate his birthday, Nintendo is releasing two Nintendo DS games. The Mario Hoops: 3-on-3 allows players to use the stylus to make "tricky dribbles, special passes and sweet shots" in the fun game of basketball. The second game is the Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis, the follow-up to the Mario vs Donkey Kong on the GBA, where players use the stylus and the touch screen to guide Mini Marios through mind-boggling, obstacle-filled levels.

Since his creation, Mario has established himself as a pop culture icon not only in Japan but also worldwide. In 1990, a national survey found that Mario was more recognizable to American children than Mickey Mouse. In addition, Mario made history in 2003 by becoming the first video game character to be honored with a wax figure in the legendary Hollywood Wax Museum. We here at QJ extend our warmest wishes to Mario on his birthday. Happy Birthday, Mario!

When Square Enix set asked Nintendo if they could use Mario and his friends for a game, Nintendo has proven that they have made the right decision by saying "Yes".

The second Mario game that has been developed by Square so far, Mario Hoops 3-on-3 features playable characters from both the Super Mario Brothers and the Final Fantasy universe. Due to be released in the US on September 11 for the Nintendo DS, the game features enjoyable gameplay, as well as unlockable characters and items, alternate costumes, and many mini-games to choose from.

As we count down the days until its release, here's some additional screenshots for you to enjoy.

From August 21 to 27, the Nintendo DS dominated MediaCreate's Japan game console sales chart moving 163,274 units within a week. This brings the total DS Lite units sold to almost 4 million. PSP is a distant second (21, 829) while the Xbox 360 was at No. 6 (1,197). The "other" DS sold 410 units putting it at No. 8.

On the games title chart, Final Fantasy III for DS went straight to the top on its first week of release selling more than half a million copies. The only other new release, Rune Factory, landed at No. 3 with 42,210 copies sold. All games in the Top Ten are DS titles.

Note: The number in parenthesis is the total units sold since the system/game was originally released.

Game Consoles:

1. Nintendo DS Lite - 163,274 (3,967,887)
2. PlayStation Portable - 29,945 (3,911,800)
3. PlayStation 2 - 21,829 (19,662,064)
4. Game Boy Advance SP - 2,719 (5,881,627)
5. Game Boy Micro - 1,819 (533,249)
6. Xbox 360 - 1,197 (139,243)
7. GameCube - 837 (4,156,706)
8. Nintendo DS - 410 (6,577,160)
9. Game Boy Advance - 14 (8,822,654)
10. Xbox - 12 (475,522)

Game Titles:

1. Final Fantasy III - 503,051 (NEW)
2. NEW Super Mario Bros. - 65,556 (2,901,264)
3. Rune Factory -  42,210 (NEW)
4. Brain Age 2  -  41,784 (3,073,195)
5. Cooking Navi - 37,326 (384,045)
6. Tamagotchi 2 - 30,504 (430,934)
7. Mario Basketball 3-on-3 - 30,355 (233,762)
8. Animal Crossing Wild World - 30,023 (3,149,130)
9. Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day - 22,866 (2,736,150)
10. English Training - 17,465 (1,401,669)

We have shown you some screenshots and scans of the upcoming DS game, Mario Hoops: 3 on 3. But if you wanna see everybody's favorite plumber dominating the basket, then this video preview of the game would give you that quick fix. As you can see from the vid, you start out by selecting your players with the use of the stylus and "shooting" them in the hoop, then off you play.

The touch screen is also a thing of beauty for this game since you'd be able to make special passes and in basketball, be it virtual or real-life, sharing the ball is always the key to scoring big and winning the game. Aside from passes, you could also perform tricky dribbles and nice shots. Hopefully, this vid could make up for the wait.

On a more personal note, we would like to thank Spadge for the heads up.

The Nintendo site is giving helpful lessons on how the characters on the Mario Hoops 3-on-3 game for the DS use their special skills to score points. The updated Mario Hoops site shows Waluigi performing his awesome Twist Dunk. The video as seen on a a mini DS interface shows Waluigi in action - dribbling like crazy and dodging obstacles like flying turtle shells to score a basket.

The  special effects going on in this game is fantastic, so is the remarkable soundtrack used in the game.  See Waluigi in his Twist Dunking action and other Mario Hoops characters on the Nintendo site.

Today Nintendo Europe has released its first party DS release schedule with titles from the Nintendo DS Browser to Yoshi's Island 2 for the rest of the year. So if you live in Europe this might help you mark your calenders for the upcoming games. It looks as though some of the releases dates are different than the German release dates that we posted yesterday such as Yoshi's Island, but this list is straight from Nintendo Europe. The full list is as follows:

• September 29th- 42 All-Time Classics
  
• October 6th- Nintendo DS Browser
• October 13th- English Training: Have fun improving your skills
• October 27th- Sudoku Master, Actionloop
• November 10th- Mario Slam Basketball, Pok?n Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team
  
• November 24th- Hotel Dusk: Room 215
• December 1st- Yoshi’s Island 2
• Q4 2006- Harvest Moon DS