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If you believe that the original Super Mario Kart is still the best, then you're in luck. The classic racer will be available on Virtual Console next week, along with two other highly-requested games.

GameSpot is reporting that Super Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros. and Pilotwings are all on their way to the service, which should be welcome news for fans who have been waiting for the games since launch. They will all be available for 800 Wii Points ($8).

All three games are regarded as classics, with Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. having kicked off two of Nintendo's top franchises. Pilotwings, meanwhile, was a Super Nintendo launch title that served as a showpiece for the system's Mode-7 graphics.

If you were hoping to play games using Android, you may have to start looking into alternatives. Reuters is reporting that Gameloft has "significantly" cut back on its investment in Android games, and that it's not alone.

"We have significantly cut our investment in Android platform, just like ... many others," Gameloft finance director Alexandre de Rochefort said at an investor conference.

Criticizing the Android application store, Rochefort said, "It is not as neatly done as on the iPhone. Google has not been very good to entice customers to actually buy products. On Android nobody is making significant revenue."

Ubisoft is the nominal publisher for No More Heroes, but that won't be the case for the upcoming Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 ports. The publisher told G4 that they've decided to pass on a North American release for the game.

In a brief statement, a company representative said, "Ubisoft will not be publishing either of these versions."

No reason was given for their decision. It's still possible that No More Heroes: Heroes Paradise will make it to North America, but it'll be through a different publisher. One possibility is Capcom, which published Grasshopper's Killer 7 back in 2005. Otherwise, there's the usual suspects such as Atlus.

Live TV by Ustream
Time: Friday, November 20, 2009, 5 p.m. PST
Location: Watch the embedded video player above.

This Friday, 1UP invites you to join us while we play the Battlefield Bad Company 2 beta. For those without a PS3, or are stuck at work, this is your best chance to check out the action on day one of the beta. Watch our live stream as we challenge our community members in 24-player matches. We'll be playing most of the day, so feel free to stop by when you get the chance.

Update: Code Giveaway

Sonic fans might want to keep an eye out for the latest round of Little Big Planet DLC in December. According to Siliconera, Sega and Sony are collaborating on a costume back containing a variety of Sonic characters, including Tails, Knuckles and the blue hedgehog himself.

The costumes will reportedly be available in a pack, or individually. They include Sonic, Sonic the Werehog, Tails, Dr. Eggman and Knuckles costumes.

There's no word on pricing or a release date, except that it will likely be released in mid-December. The only official mention of the pack so far is on PlayStation Asia, but expect more details soon.

With all eyes on Star Wars: The Old Republic, it's easy to forget the "other" Star War MMORPG. Star Wars Galaxies is still kicking around though, and it has a successful mission creation tool to prove it.

Introduced back in October, Chronicle Master allows users to create their own missions and share them with the community. Fans have apparently responded in a big way, creating some three million pieces of interactive Star Wars fiction in just over a month alone.

The Chronicle Master is similar to the City of Heroes Mission Architect, which was released earlier this year. It was similarly successful, generating some 3800 arcs in the first 24 hours it was available.

VGA 2009 Mystery World Premiere #1

Earlier today Spike released this teaser video promoting a world-exclusive look at a new 2K shooter set in Dubai; the video promises to reveal more details during the upcoming VGA broadcast on December 12th.

Well, it seems that this is none other than the revival of the Spec Ops series, first revealed by Quartermann in the July 2008 issue of EGM. The teaser video also appears to be a snippet from a longer CGI cinema that was posted by Adland.tv in August 2009.

Exercise games on the Wii have been commonplace since the system launched in late 2006, with choices like Wii Fit, Jillian Michaels Fitness, and even Gold's Gym Cardio Workout. So earlier this year, when EA announced that it was bringing out its own fitness program, many (myself included) were skeptical that the studio would be able to create a hit to stand apart from all of those other options. But EA Sports Active was a big success, and many top-rated fitness magazines and trainers endorsed it as a true way to lose weight on the Wii. Well, EA has wasted no time in announcing a follow-up, called EA Sports Active: More Workouts, which improves on the original by adding 35 new routines that target specific areas of the body, revamping the warm-up and cool-down routines, and even throwing in a healthy living cookbook called "The Best Life Diet" by Bob Greene (Oprah's personal trainer).

But the biggest reason to pick up More Workouts is the expanded Six-Week Challenge. This extension of the original 30-Day Challenge offers up 24 pre-set workouts for 89 total exercises, some of which are new (like waterskiing and step aerobics) and some that return from the original Active (like boxing, bicep curls, and cardio). The most welcome additions include the warm-up and cool-down stations, which offer four different exercises to help you warm-up before starting a routine and four cool-down exercises to help stretch out after, and new custom abdominal workouts. They're small additions, but the extra content really helps More Workouts stand apart from its predecessor.

Dynasty Warriors will soon be back, as the release says, "with a vengeance." Koei has announced a firm release date for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce, which are due next year.

Koei is promising several new elements for the port, including 40 console-exclusive missions, online officer trading and a new playable character. The PS3 version will also feature characters from Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, while the Xbox 360 version features guest appearances from Warriors Orochi 2.

The PSP version was released earlier this year, and included ad-hoc multiplayer as well as tweaks to the existing weapons system. The console versions will be introducing online multiplayer.

The National Institute on Media and the Family (NIMF) is closing down, reports Gamasutra. The game industry watchdog group has often been at odds with industry publishers and retailers in its 14 year history. It is shutting down in conjunction with founding sponsor Fairview Health Services, but claims it is in talks with non-profit organizations that may continue its work. "Over the past two years the Institute's board of directors has been in strategic discussions about succession and the Institute's evolving mission and goals," said founder Dr. David Walsh (right). "The current challenging economic environment accelerated those discussions making this the right time to begin transitioning the programs to other organizations who share our mission and values."

Walsh said he is "grateful" to their donors, and calls the work "far from finished." The annual industry "Report Card" was its most well-known contribution, rating the industry on proper efforts for kids. Research from the institute usually sparked ire from gaming circles, but sometimes had kind words when they saw progress. The ESRB was praised as a positive force for keeping Mature games out of kids' hands, and often NIMF would lay the responsibility of managing game time at the feet of parents. Their studies ranged from game violence to addiction.

While it would be easy for game fans to take this as a win for the industry, we shouldn't be too quick to cheer. NIMF may have disagreed sharply with publishers and game fans, but they brought a sense of accountability to the business that may have helped legitimize it in the eyes of people who would otherwise write it off as too insular. And as with any organization shutting down, be it developer or watchdog, we hope anyone affected by the closing lands on their feet soon.