It's about time. Nintendo Europe has released its second fiscal quarter release schedule and finally pinpointed a release date for Smash Bros. Brawl: Friday, June 27. By then, US gamers will have enjoyed the game for over three months, and Japanese gamers for six months. At least you got Mario Kart Wii first, right?

Nintendo also announced that WiiWare will launch May 20, just 8 days behind the US. The Nintendo Channel, which will allow you to download DS demos and game trailers, is coming May 30. Mark your calendars, Smash Bros. Brawl is now only 64 days away.

Nintendo's brawler Super Smash Bros. Brawl has smashed records with its US release. According to a press release from Nintendo of America, the game has sold over 1.4 million in the region, with 874,000 of those sales on its March 9 release date. That makes it the "fastest-selling video game in Nintendo of America's history."

Always one to play the numbers game, Nintendo claims to have sold "at a rate of more than 120 units per minute between launch and March 16." Assuming they mean the entirety of March 16 (i.e. the first eight days), that amounts to 8 days * 24 hours/day * 60 minutes/day * 120 units/minute = 1,382,400 units. Too bad they didn't make 130 units per minute. Oh well, better luck next time.

Over 20,000 Swarovski crystals were used to make the Wii case pictured above (picture of Bowser on the other side) given to the winner of the Smash Bros Brawl competition -- or you can presumably pay Crystal Icing the retail price of $4,000. (Via Engadget) Check out the highlights for today:

Joystiquery
Ask Joystiq: On bankruptcy, guitar compatibility and Euro-rock (band)
DS Fanboy Lite: Mar. 8 - Mar. 14
Joystiq Podcast 041 - Army of Three edition
This Week in Review: Wild, Blissful and Hands-on
Today's most oddly musical video: HarmoNESica

News
Square Enix preps Valkyrie Profile for the DS
Play Warlords Online, the Puzzle Quest creators' MMO
Follow the progress of the Myst movie
BioWare: Mass Effect 2 likely a timed Xbox 360 exclusive, PC version confirmed
Renegade Kid's Project M revealed as DS action title 'Moon'
LotRO expansion takes players to Mines of Moria
Manhunt 2 UK ban officially lifted
New islands coming to Burnout Paradise as free DLC
Microtransactions coming soon to Nintendo Wii
GTA IV drives slo-mo, learns days of the week
MS touts digital distribution over 'historic' discs
FF7 Crisis Core receiving special edition in UK
Second Life CEO stepping down, remaining active in development
Rock Band Weekly: The Earache Thrash Pack
The Incredible Hulk captured in screenshots
Wii 'Twilight Princess' hack gets SD card support
Laugh at Agetec's new DS game, 'LOL'
Project Origin community website launched

Rumors & Speculation
Report: Mexican game industry worth $1B by 2010
Analyst: EA's lost its luster
Rumor: GTA IV multiplayer to boast 15 modes, 16 players

Culture & Community
Pontiac ad is glorious homage to Spy Hunter
Which Pokémon would you eat?
Metal Gear Solid "inspired" sneakers

A broken Nintendo 64 spray painted gold with spray painted figures on top of it became a trophy for a private Smash Bros Brawl tournament between a group of Gamestop employees (including Joystiq reader Matt). It's a great trophy, but what game cartridge did they destroy to make it? Check out the highlights for today:

EIEIO 2008
EIEIO 08: Hands-on with Legendary
EIEIO 08: Section 8 details fall from the sky
EIEIO 08: Velvet Assassin actually dressed in leather

Joystiquery
Gripes and Glees: One week with Smash Bros. Brawl
Law of the Game on Joystiq: Shareholder Deriva-what?
Metareview: Condemned 2 (PS3, 360)
Reminder: Win a $100 InstantAction account
The best of WoW Insider: March 5-11, 2008
Today's most retro hack: Four-player Ocarina of Time
Wii Fanboy Weekly: Mar. 6 - Mar. 12

News
Harmonix sues Activision, then withdraws suit to talk
Play N Trade holding national Guitar Hero III competition March 15
Digitally pop bubble wrap with WiiWare
Mario Kart Wii snakes into stores April 27
Ken Levine will be involved with BioShock 2
Sorry, but Lost Planet: Colonies is Lost Planet redux
EB: Play Haze for a week, then get your money back
Whew, Dead Space will let you pause after all
Brash working with Folklore dev on film-based game
Brain fitness software market is very fit
Chinese Olympics web site accused of game piracy
God of War II's Cory Barlog teams with 'Mad Max' filmmaker George Miller
EA explains Army of Two's regional lockout
Motorstorm sequel gears up for Fall release
Mass Effect II will have 'richer' side quests
Street Fighter II HD beta bundled with Commando 3
Atari uses Steam for digital distribution
ESRB lists 'Fatal Inertia EX' for PS3
Activision files lawsuit after Gibson claims Guitar Hero patent
Assault Heroes 2 blows up XBLA this Spring

Rumors & Speculation
WSJ: Strong PS3 projections makes Sony stock a "bargain"
Analyst: Iron Man film could suffer from GTA IV release
Rumor: Obsidian unveils 'Alpha Protocol,' a spy-focused action RPG
Pachter: GTA IV could sell 9 million units by Halloween

Culture & Community
Zero Punctuation doesn't find paradise in Burnout

Oh Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Our blogging super-powers have given us an entire week with your dual-layered, nostalgia-filled awesomeness, where most gamers have only had the past few days. In spite of the nega-review, Brawl still seems to be pure gold in the eyes of most gamers and reviewers.

Of course, a game as massive as Brawl is bound that have hidden its imperfections somewhere. So let's go hunting, listing the game's many gleeful points, each followed by a gripe that may have been overlooked in our fanboyish devotion to the franchise. No facet of the game will go untouched here, so be warned that spoilers may abound. Now that the disclaimer is out of the way, let's play Gripes and Glees!

Glee: The opening cinematic to Brawl is gorgeous as always, and even updates as new characters become unlocked.
Gripe: The initial load-screen for the cinematic lasts around ten to fifteen seconds, a wait time normally unheard of in first-party Nintendo titles. The unskippable load time feels even longer due to the lack of music and an almost entirely black screen.

The students of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are once again showing off their gamer cred with an on-campus prank (or "hack," as those princely nerds like to call it). This time, it's in honor of the release of Smash Bros. Brawl, a modest little Wii title that you may or may not have heard of. The "hackers" hung items and symbols from the game in Lobby 7 of their campus on launch day, including a Pokéball, crate, and Mario's cap.

We have to admit that we're a bit disappointed with the simplicity of this gaming prank. Hanging little trinkets is nothing compared to arming and helmeting a statue to resemble Master Chief. While we appreciate the thought, this prank would seem tame at a community college, much less one of the most competitive schools in America. Of course, we're willing to forgive and forget, if MIT's student body can manage to come up with something a little better. You raised the bar yourselves, ladies and gentlemen. Now here's your chance to meet it.

Welcome to This Week in Review (formerly This Week in DLC), where we round up all the hands-on impressions and game reviews (including Metareviews) from the Joystiq Network. This week's megaton title should come as no surprise whatsoever.

Nintendo Wii

• First impressions: Super Smash Bros. Brawl
• Metareview: Super Smash Bros. Brawl
  
• Wii Fanboy takes Super Smash Bros. Brawl Wi-Fi for a test drive
• VC Monday Madness: Super Turrican
  

If you hadn't heard the news, Super Smash Bros. Brawl is coming to North American shores next Sunday, March 9. If you're looking to keep up to date with everything surrounding the title, check out our game page for all things Brawl. Seriously, this is everything we've written on the game. Bookmark the page, as we'll be constantly updating.

Impatient to get your Brawl on? Some of you North American gamers could get a chance to play Nintendo's all-star fighter as early as this Saturday, when Nintendo kicks off the first of four regional Smash Bros. Brawl tournaments across the United States.

The regional tournaments will take place in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, and New York City, with a maximum of 256 participants at each location. The winners from each tournament will meet in New York for the finals, with the grand prize winner walking away with a crystal-coated Wii, home theatre system, and (of course) a copy of Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

The three finalists will win non-crystal-coated Wii consoles, extra Wii remotes, copies of Brawl, and Best Buy gift certificates ranging from $250 to $1,000. Regional tournaments register players on a first-come, first-serve basis, so we'd recommend getting there nice and early to compete. The first tourney is this Saturday, February 16 in Los Angeles. Full regional tournament details after the break.

Given everything else in Smash Bros Brawl has been revealed on the internet, it's only fitting that a few unintentional quirks are spoiled, too. While you might argue/joke "that's not a bug, it's a feature," we're pretty sure this one is a bug. Here's your spoiler warning -- video (and explanation of the glitch) embedded after the break.

[Via NWF]

And so the total number of Japanese people that we utterly despise rises to 1 million. Actually, it's 1.08 million, which is the number of Super Smash Bros. Brawl discs that have been sold since the game's launch on January 31st. Reuters reminds us that it took Wii Fit seven weeks to accomplish a similar feet feat, with even Wii Sports (sold separately in Japan) dallying for 11 weeks before crossing the 1 million mark.

There aren't many weeks left between us and the game's American debut, but by then it'll be our turn to become targets for an entire continent's hatred and jealousy.

Falcon Winner! (Sorry, we couldn't resist.) The winner of this week's webcomic wrapup knows the meaning of a good Captain Falcon gag -- thank you, GamerPALs for also promoting educational values and loud screams in public places.

Second and third place goes to VG Cats (note: published before spoilers) and Penny Arcade, respectively. Thanks to everyone who voted, and be sure to let us know of any game-related webcomics you stumble upon this week!

Though many of Japan's Wii owners may now be in possession of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, not all of them can necessarily play it. IGN reports that a number of users are reporting that the Brawl discs will not run properly on their consoles, a problem which actually stems from dirt build-up in the Wii itself.

Brawl is uniquely affected by this problem due to the game's size, which makes it the first title on the Wii to be pressed on a dual-layer DVD. The special disc requires a more fine-tuned read from the optical sensor, which is causing problems in systems clogged with dirt and tobacco smoke. Rather than suggesting they "blow," Nintendo has set up a cleaning service for players affected. Japanese owners who send their Wii consoles, copies of Brawl and warranty cards to a service center in Kyoto will have their systems repaired within one week, and Nintendo will cover all cleaning and shipping costs.

While we're happy Nintendo is taking responsibility for the problem, we're also personally hoping that those affected kept their consoles in squalid conditions. If even small amounts of dust can affect the playability of the Brawl discs, then we're looking at a lot of impatient, unhappy customers in the States come March 9th.

[Via Eurogamer]

Before the deluge of Super Smash Bros. Brawl information following the Japanese release, we were still all hoping to see Mega Man, Leon Kennedy, or maybe even Ryu appear in the game's sizable roster. Now that the dust has cleared, with no Capcom characters in sight, the only question left to ask is: why?

Kotaku has reportedly spoken with insider sources at Nintendo, who claim that the lost exclusivity of Resident Evil 4 caused Nintendo to reconsider the inclusion of Capcom characters in Brawl. RE4 was originally meant to be exclusive to the Gamecube, but concerns over sales led Capcom to release the title on PS2, and later on PC, with additional content.

While Nintendo has the right to be peeved about the broken exclusivity agreement, the addition of Capcom's franchises to the Brawl lineup could have only benefited Nintendo, and created more hype for the title (if that's even possible). While we're a bit unsure whether to buy into this rumor, if true then we can only hope that Capcom and Nintendo kiss and make up in time to offer some new characters as downloadable content (hey, we can dream, can't we?).

Update: Slight factual error corrected; Capcom announced the PS2 version prior to the release of the Gamecube version. [Thanks, 2bit]

While Wii owners in Japan are feverishly playing Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and everyone in the States is biting their fingernails in anticipation of the March release, we forget our friends in the PAL region, who thus far haven't even been given a firm release date for Nintendo's franchise fighter. Wii Fanboy helps us catch up with all the drama.

A few days ago, Nintendo updated the Brawl page of their UK site, posting a release date of June 1st for the game. Once word had gotten out of the posted date, Nintendo quietly removed it, replacing it with the super-helpful time frame of "2008."

What's even weirder is Nintendo's denial of the slipped release, claiming the update is likely a mistake as June 1st is a Sunday. Keep in mind that the official Brawl release date in the US is March 9th: a Sunday. So either it's a flimsy excuse for an unannounced release date, or the date really doesn't mean anything. Either way, we'll keep you updated on whether Nintendo ever decides to "set a date" with our PAL pals.