Nintendo President Satoru Iwata doesn't believe there should be a fee for connecting Wii U consoles to the Nintendo Network.

According to a translation of Nintendo's annual shareholder meeting via Andriasang, Iwata said that having all users able to freely access the network will help spread the service's offerings through word of mouth. This tactic, his translated commentary suggests, is thought to lead to greater hardware and software sales.

Iwata also revealed that external developers were brought onboard with Wii U at about the same time as internal studios, which he hopes will counter lagging third-party performance. To prove Nintendo's renewed focus, Iwata reportedly pointed to the upcoming Namco Bandai collaboration behind the new Smash Bros. coming to Wii U and 3DS.

Well outside the game itself, Penny Arcade's On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 3 has quite a story. What started as a Hothead Games project ran into development trouble and was eventually canceled, only to be resurrected last year as a Zeboyd Games project with a radically different direction. Given the that rocky history, it's only natural to be wary of the final product.

Thankfully, any such fears are completely unfounded.

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In its first two weeks of availability, over 800,000 individuals have signed up for Battlefield 3 Premium. "We are very pleased with the performance so far," EA Games' Patrick Soderlund told USA Today. Still, Soderlund exercised caution on the outlook for Premium. "We're actually only two weeks into it, so it's a little early to tell how this is going to pay off. It certainly it looks very promising right now." Since launching in October, Battlefield 3 has shipped 15 million copies, Soderlund says.

Battlefield 3 Premium, announced a few weeks back at E3, gives those who plunk down a one-time fee of $50 early access to all DLC content, which non-Premium members must pay for piecemeal. The PS3 also has a weeklong exclusivity window for Battlefield 3 DLC – after that week, the DLC is then available to PC and Xbox 360. The first expansion pack, Close Quarters, is currently available on all platforms.

War is hell, and it never changes, as we've been repeatedly told by video games. Company of Heroes 2, however, isn't about a fictional future proxy war or some such – it's about the Russian front during World War 2. It's about firing on your own soldiers who were terrified enough to retreat. It's about being handed ammo without a gun because there isn't enough money to afford the luxury of both guns and ammunition, and being told to grab a gun from one of your fallen comrades when you get a chance.

In case it weren't clear, the trailer above for Company of Heroes 2 attempts to elucidate that reality – a reality you'll be carefully navigating come next year when the game launches on PC.

A remake of 1990's Final Fantasy 3, based on the DS version, is now available on Google's Android operating system, boasting "3D visuals and story sequences only for Android," as well as improved browsing functionality for the monster bestiary and new designs for the Job Mastery cards, according to the game's listing on Google Play.

The port will set you back $15.99 and requires that your device runs Android 2.2 (Froyo) or newer. Alternatively, you could buy the iPhone version, Famicom version for about the same price, or the DS version for about $40. You could also go back in time and prevent the Wonderswan Color port from getting informally cancelled, but that might require significantly more effort/less eBay.

This week's Super Joystiq Podcast crosses the line.

In the first segment, Xav, Ludwig, and Ben discuss Spec Ops: The Line and the first big DLC add-on for Skyrim, Dawnguard. For more on Spec Ops: The Line, don't miss the Super Joystiq Podcast Special from earlier this week.

The Joystiq Research Institute returns with an examination of Quantum Conundrum. The Joystream was back in action for this one, so make sure to check out the playthrough with Xav, Jess, and Richard after the break. News closes the show with Alexander, Jordan, JC, and Mike Schramm hitting the biggest stories from the week.

There's also a new giveaway this week. Listen to the show for your chance to win one of five PlayStation Plus 1-year subscription codes!

Listen to the Super Joystiq Podcast:

• Subscribe to the Super Joystiq Podcast in iTunes
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• Download the MP3 directly

A stream of the show and details about each segment is available after the break.

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Having shared the Pyro's saccharine worldview with us, Valve has now plucked a cute inhabitant from the firebug's demented mind to render (for legal tender) in reality. The pleasantly portmanteau'd Balloonicorn comes with a Team Fortress 2 item code, a 3-foot stature, plenty of poise and – once inflated – a light counterpart to the $30 price tag.

Note: The Balloonicorn is sustained by human exhalation, and has no respiratory system / internal organs of its own.

What is it about shooting expensive cyborgs in the snow that is so gosh-darn appealing? We have fond memories of performing murders in Sidewinder and Snowbound, and now Halo 4 continues the snowy tradition with Longbow.

Longbow is a map located in the northern polar region of the planet Concord, specifically designed to showcase one of Halo 4's new game modes – but 343 isn't talking specifics yet. "Each side is a very similar plan and path, but distinct enough to get a peripheral sense of being in a distinct 'zone' in the map," the blog post on Halo Waypoint explains. Longbow supports both traditional on-foot combat modes and more grand vehicle-based skirmishes.

If you want to check out Longbow before anyone else, Microsoft will be showcasing it during the Rooster Teeth Expo in Austin, Texas on July 7 and 8, where the public will be able to get their first glimpse at War Games, the competitive multiplayer side of Halo 4.

If your European copy of Ni no Kuni is bigger and more expensive than normal ... a wizard did it. Namco Bandai has announced a "Wizard's Edition" of the Level-5 RPG that includes a copy of The Wizard's Companion, the in-game spell-boo. It also comes with a plus doll of "Drippy," the lamp-nosed sidekick, and some DLC familiars for use in the game.

The Wizard's Edition will be out in EMEA and Australian regions concurrent with the game, on January 25. Now, with the book translated, there's nothing holding back a localization of Ni no Kuni for DS ... right?

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PSN's Summer Sale offers discounts on a bunch of random PS3 games, none of which seem particularly summer-themed. The lack of seasonal appropriateness is forgiveable, however, when you see that Shadow of the Colossus HD is available for $13.99, or $9.79 for Plus users.

From this Tuesday, July 3, through July 9, eleven games will be discounted 30%, or 50% with Plus. The games include Crysis, Gotham City Impostors, Closure, and – why not? Real Steel. Find the full list, including prices, after the break.

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During its E3 press conference, Sony sneaked out news of a racing wheel attachment for the PlayStation Move, which looks like something superstitious aliens would use to find ground water.

In this video, SCEA Research and Development's Anton Mikhailov details all the features that aren't necessarily evident from looking at the thing, like a series of additional rumble motors, and pivoting handles and twisting throttle functions to allow you to use it for motorcycle games. It's not just a plastic handle, even though that approach has proven enormously popular.

Developer MercurySteam and publisher Konami weren't expecting Castlevania: Lords of Shadow to be as successful as it was, which ultimately resulted in its poorly received downloadable content, according to producer David Cox. "The problem was that the game's success caught everyone by surprise," Cox recently told Gameranx, "It caught senior management by surprise and they wanted us to do DLC."

The team "never planned" to create DLC, and the content that they created was then "rushed" to market, Cox added, referring to the whole situation as a "mistake." If it could be done again, he said, DLC would have been planned from the get-go, and what was released would have been more of a "side story," as opposed to content that adds to the ending. This appears to be Cox's philosophy for downloadable content in general, as he noted further, "Instead of giving players a part of the story and giving them the other part as DLC, I think the DLC has to expand the universe of an already whole product."

Presumably, if Lords of Shadow 2 has any DLC – which Cox won't admit just yet – it will be handled with much more care.

There's only one way to get this extremely limited-edition PlayStation 3 system, and that's to be Kaz Hirai. SCE Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida tweeted this scene of semi-outgoing Sony Computer Entertainment chairman Kaz Hirai being presented with the unique-looking commemorative item.

This might be the very last photograph of Kaz Hirai holding up a PS3. What will we do now, as a community?

I've had a great run here at Joystiq. It's been a wonderful six years but, this morning, Senior Reporter Ben Gilbert informed me that Hero Academy will soon be coming to Steam. It will feature a special Team Fortress 2 team of heroes, will be cross-platform compatible with the iOS version and all purchased teams will work across both versions.

Hero Academy will come to Steam on August 9, which means I have about 40 days of productivity left. I can't promise I will write another word after that. Sorry.

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Little Inferno is the next game from Tomorrow Corporation, the development team made up of World of Goo's Kyle Gabler, Henry Hatsworth's Kyle Gray, and World of Goo Wii programmer Allan Blomquist.

All we know at this point is the title (with accompanying, adorable logo), and that the team has been "locked away" working on it "for what seems like a very long time." We'll soon learn more, as TC promises to post frequent development updates on its site, followed by a multiplatform release "by this winter."

"We've been quiet about this game so far to avoid being another lost adorable indie game that never materializes," Kyle Gabler explained in a blog post. "but now we're almost done!"

[Thanks, Tyronelab]

Clint Hocking is no longer working at LucasArts. The man behind the original Splinter Cell, Chaos Theory, and Far Cry 2 was working on an unannounced project for LucasArts (said to be something other than Star Wars 1313) as creative lead. In his surprisingly concise announcement post (Hocking's known for his verbosity), he said, "I recently left my job at LucasArts and am moving on to something new."

Hocking didn't leave a forwarding address, as it were. "I will let the world know where I am going once I get there," he said. "Unless you already know." As you probably already guess, we have no idea where Hocking's headed. He is, however, "relocating," though it's unclear if that means he's headed out of San Francisco. "I already have something lined up and I am currently in the process of dealing with the living hell of relocation."

Apparently LucasArts already took The Force back from him, post-employment. It would've made moving so much easier!

You may recall Cute Things Dying Violently being part of last year's Indie Games Summer Uprising event. It's debuting on the PC on July 17, in a new and improved "remastered" version available through digital distribution platforms Desura, Indievania and IndieCity.

Usually we'd judge you for taking interesting in this kind of bittersweet depravity, but it just so happens Cute Things Dying Violently is a delightful puzzle game. We'll let you off the hook this time.