Tossing aside the standard temporal ocarina for something a little more complex, a "Flute Link" cosplayer performed on stage at this year's Masquerade show at the Otakon 2008 in Baltimore, bringing Navi in tow. It's a great performance, although it's hard to tell when she's playing live and when it's pre-recorded (for demonstrationg of her live performance, we also embedded a video of Flute Link performing Tetris with an Otaku band.

And for anyone who ever wished Navi would get her what for, keep watching until about the 4:25 mark. Video embedded after the break.

[Via VG Cats]

After everyone saw gains last month (with one devilish exception), July's NPD figures revealed North American hardware unit sales declined across all companies, but otherwise the list is the same as it was in June. What's starting to unnerve us is Nintendo's data. To be able to say a company went from 666 to 555 (a difference of 111) is a bit creepy, dontcha think?

In terms of software, the Xbox 360 version of NCAA Football 09 barely eked out Wii Fit, while Wii Play w/remote still manages to move up a slot from 5 to 4 this month. Here are this month's NPD hardware sales figures:

- DS: 608K175K (-22.35%)
- Wii: 555K111K (-16.7%)
- PS3: 224.9K 180.1K (-44.5%)
- PSP: 221.7K 115.3K (-34.21%)
- Xbox 360: 204.8K 15.2K (-6.91%)
- PS2: 155.5K 33K (-17.6%)

You'll find the top ten in software sales after the break.

Whether you're a fan of shmups or wish to throw a pile of dictionaries at us for using such an egregious portmanteau, you could learn a thing or two from DS Fanboy's tribute to the shoot-em-up kings at Treasure. From 1993's Gunstar Heroes (released last year as a Virtual Console title) to this year's Bangai-O Spirits, the piece covers all of the developers' projectile-favored games (sorry Dynamite Heddy fanatics). Click here and get edumucated.

Nintendo could see its GameCube, Wavebird and Wii Classic Controller banned from retail shelves. Bloomberg reports that Nintendo has lost its attempt to overturn a $21 million patent-infringement verdict brought against the company by patent trolls patent holders Anascape Ltd. of Tyler, Texas. The house of Mario has a stay on the ban by putting the judgment amount in escrow until its case goes to the US Court of Appeals in the Federal Circuit.

The Texas jury found the Wiimote and Nunchuk controllers did not violate Anascape's patent; previously, Sony paid off Anascape back in 2004 and Microsoft settled on May 1, just before the Nintendo trial began. Anascape argued for the ban because it wants to enter the market and Nintendo has "clogged the channel." Yeah, we're very much looking forward to seeing if the third-party Anascape controller ever gets released.

Sure, Will Wright's Spore Creature Creator can let your imagination run wild ... but sometimes your imagination doesn't exactly go that far. Our friends at Nintendo Wii Fanboy have amassed a collection of Pokemon creatures from the Sporepedia. Each picture in the gallery can be added directly to your game by saving the picture into the Spore folder. Our Sporémons, let us show you them.

We agree with Design Milk: we wish these Nintendo wall decals were around when we were younger. Then again, that won't stop us. (Thanks, Vlad.) Check out the highlights for this weekend:

Joystiquery
The Best Of Big Download: June 8-14, 2008
Counting Rupees: The MMO-TV hybrid
Seen @ NYC: Women bar fight over Wii
This Week in Review is sneaking ... and stuff

News
Halo Wars release strategy: 'when it's done'
Capcom registers 'multiplatform' Mega Man 9 with OFLC
The Agency to be microtransaction free after all
Battlefield Heroes Beta applicants exposed in security breach
Final Fantasy Tactics A2 trailer full of whimsy, tactics
THQ investor presentation reveals release windows for Super Hero Squad, Master Mind
Resistance 2 details, gameplay revealed on last night's GameTrailers TV
MLG event reveals new Halo 3 multiplayer map: Cold Storage
Mother's campaign to bring video game seizure concerns to British Parliament a success
Castle Crashers jumps through another hoop, gets rated 'Teen'
Source: 'Avatars' to be Microsoft's answer to Miis and Home

Rumors & Speculation
Rumor Roundup: Intellisponse survey leak
Rumor: Three dozen Team Ninja devs leaving with Itagaki, suing Tecmo

Culture & Community
Surf through Azeroth on a Wii Balance Board

A hero's true worth lies in his ability to overcome the greatest of villains. Metal Gear Solid's slithery protagonist, Snake, has conquered not only the greatest of villains, but the weirdest mustache-twirlers gaming has ever seen.

Be sure to click on the above gallery and join us as we examine our favorite fearsome foes, kooky killers and big bosses.

We realize that with yesterday's announcement of "Beyond Good & Evil 2," some folks may have tragically missed out on the first entry in the series. We've put together a quick list of places where those not familiar to the series can get the game and meet up with Jade, Pey'j and -- our favorite personal assistant -- Segundo.

• Steam (PC) -- $10
• GameTap (PC) -- $1 for the first month, $10 after that.
• GameFly (Xbox, PS2 and Gamecube) -- Various rental plan prices, but currently copies are subject to availability.
• GameStop -- Currently, we can only find the somewhat dodgy PS2 version available online for $8. Check your local shop and you may get very lucky.

Those who find a GameCube version can rely on the Wii's backwards compatibility to play the game, and PS3 owners can pop in the PS2 game if their systems support BC. The Xbox 360 currently does not offer backwards compatibility for the Xbox version of BG&E. We're sure there are more corners of the internet to find Jade & Co., but it appears that $10 is what you're likely to pay.

Nintendo has had its fare share of first-party peripherals. Does anyone remember – or still own, perchance – the Game Boy printer? The Nintendo 64 Pikachu microphone? Our friends and archivists at Nintendo Wii Fanboy have composed a pictorial history of Nintendo's tendency to avoid the standard controller. From the Power Pad to the Balance Board, click here to see it all.

A dedicated Nintendo fan finishes one helluva sleeve tattoo on his leg. (Thanks, Dave S) Check out the highlights for today:

Joystiquery
The best of WoW Insider: May 13-20. 2008
A guide to homebrew on the DS
Meet the Team: Jason Dobson
Metareview -- Wii Fit

News
Sony not amused by Uncharted replica gun
FFXII composer bringing his music to non-Japanese games
Metal Gear Solid Mobile coming to N-Gage
Street Fighter, Mega Man going mobile
MEGAowch: Haze handed 4.5 review by IGN
Nintendo shifts Wii Fit 'launch' to tomorrow
Square Enix considering stakes in competing developers
E3 Santa Monica cost ESA $5 million in fees
This Wednesday: Penny Arcade Adventures onto XBLA
Nintendo calls EU's $234m price-fixing fine 'illegal'
Spore 'Cell Phase' flOwts into view
Microsoft talks XBLA future, loosening download size limit
The Cars drive up next week as Rock Band's second full DLC album
No Gun Metal Gray PS3 for U, K?
Jake Gyllenhaal is The Prince of Persia, says Hollywood Reporter
Epic Games takes seat, acquires Chair Entertainment Group
Viva Pinata DS / Xbox 360 connectivity figured out, not happening
Sega talks Platinum Games deal, franchises
Judge: Jack Thompson is guilty on 27 of 31 misconduct charges
Game consoles contain harmful materials, Greenpeace finds
Casual games cost marketing moolah, Ubisoft says
XNA Community Games go 'Live' for indie devs
What's Sony up to? Community websites abound!

Rumors & Speculation
Rumor: Splinter Cell Conviction delayed until 2009-10
Rumor: New DS 'colours' hitting Europe

Culture & Community
Sign-ups begin for the Battlefield Heroes beta
Niko Bellic has second career as folk singer

Nintendo has been ordered to pay $21 million to Anascape Ltd. for infringing on a patent with its Gamecube and Wii Classic controllers. The AP reports Anascape Ltd., a "small East Texas gaming company," also sued Microsoft, but that was settled out of court. Nintendo says it will appeal the decision.

A representative for Nintendo stated that no infringement was found in any of the Wii's motion-sensing technology and it expects that on appeal the award to Anascape will be reduced "significantly." Remember kids, if you want to stick it to some big corporation in the future and cash in, just make patents for everything imaginable.

In case you missed it, check out the Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts trailer one more time. Watch closely, especially at the 1:45 mark. Yep, that's an 8-bit Mario in all his planar glory, as both a testament to the user-generated nature of the game as well as we suspect a not-so-subtle nod to their former publishing partner.

[Thanks, Michael]

There are five ways to handle your racer in Mario Kart Wii: Wii Remote solo, Wii Remote embedded in Wii Wheel, Wii Remote with Nunchuk, Classic Controller, and GameCube controller. But, removing all other variables, which control method is the best? Are there really limitations to not using the Wii Wheel? We decided to pull out the ever-trusty "scientific method" and determine, once and for all, the best kart controller.

Each week Jeff Engel and Geoff Brooks contribute Counting Rupees, a column on the business behind gaming:
In my last column I suggested that, if Microsoft is to make a Wii-like controller, it should still continue to focus on the "traditional" types of games that have so far made the 360 a success, because Nintendo had already basically wrapped up the "casual" crowd. I also mentioned that the only Wii games that are apparently selling are Nintendo games and some casual games. And with that in mind, the New York Times published an article on Monday detailing that, while the Wii hardware is selling well, even seemingly popular Wii software still has some trouble continuing to sell to the Wii audience.

Shacknews reports that several "key" employees of Austin, Texas-based developer, Retro Studios, have left the company. The studio is best known for its work on the critically acclaimed Metroid Prime trilogy, which concluded in August last year on Nintendo's Wii.

Staff members said to have been escorted off the premises last Friday include design director Mark Pacini, art director Todd Keller and principal technology engineer Jack Matthews. There's no word yet on what their futures entail, but Shacknews notes that Retro Studios is in no danger of closing. Which is just as well, really, since we're in no danger of not wanting more games from them. We'll let you know when we hear more on this subject.

Update: There's some unconfirmed gossip from mysterious dealer in rumors, Surfer Girl, who mentioned that "something definitely went down at Retro" in a post dated Sunday, April 20th. An unnamed individual is quoted in the post as saying, "Pretty much no one at retro would agree to relocate at nintendo's behest, as asinine shenanigans are typically met with little fanfare."