While Nintendo is still being tight-lipped, as always, about the possibility of Xenoblade Chronicles, Pandora’s Tower or The Last Story North American releases, a light has shined down from above. It turns out Nintendo of America trademarked The Last Story on January 13, 2010 and the trademark was just issued July 12, 2011. Nintendo’s got dibs!

This doesn’t really guarantee anything, or mean that we should all get excited about maybe playing The Last Story in English…

Nintendo isn’t the only company getting 3DS games ready. A resounding 12 other companies are stepping up to deliver games for the forthcoming handheld. And not just so-so shovelware games, rushed out to try and coincide with the new system’s release and catch early adopters. These are big name games!

Famitsu released a list of pretty much every third party 3DS game that’s being worked on. Let’s take a look and see what we can expect to be playing in 3D come spring 2011…

Boing! Docomodake DS is basically a story about the NTT DoCoMo mushroom mascot Docomodake and his family. A festival is coming up, and all of the members of the family, save for Papa Docomodake, have ventured into the forest either purposely or accidentally. Now it’s almost time for the festival to start, and Papa Docomodake has to retrieve Mama Docomodake, Grandma Docomodake, Grandpa Docomodake, Grade School Docomodake, Junior High Docomodake and Daughter Docomodake.

This is accomplished by visiting several sections of the forest and simply helping Papa Docomodake get from the start to the goal. There aren’t any bosses and enemies only rarely pop up. What there are, are tricky challenges to navigate, coins to collect and a screen at the end of the level that grades you based on whether you collected every coin and treasure in the level, and how quickly you did it…

Great news for Sony Home addicts like myself. According to an article on Pocket Lint, Sony Japan announced that more companies will be creating content for the Playstation Home.

Companies currently on Home include Capcom, Incognito, Sony Computer Entertainment (of course) and Red Bull who all have either an in-Home world or products for sale in the Home mall.

Companies that have already obtained a license and will soon make its presence noticed on Home include…

Title: AWAY Shuffle DungeonPrice: $29.99System: DSRelease Date: November 6, 2008Publisher (Developer): Majesco (Mistwalker/AQ Interactive)ESRB Rating: Everyone 10+Pros: New twist on dungeon crawling, gorgeous design, high production valuesCons: “Shuffle” concept gets annoying, repetitive gameplay, shallow story, unimaginative dungeons and bossesOverall Score: Two thumbs sideways; 73/100; C; 2 out 5.

AWAY Shuffle Dungeon is a game based on a gimmick. There’s no getting around that, especially considering the gimmick is built right into the title. (The dungeons shuffle, okay?)

The problem with such games is that the gimmick often isn’t enough to sustain game play. AWAY Shuffle Dungeon tries to avoid this trap through high production values and a decent mix between 2D dungeon crawling and 3D world exploration but the game ultimately doesn’t rise far enough above its gimmick…