Three secret Nintendo games incoming. Clues point to online content, surprisingly

Current case in point: Three new first-party games that have turned upon the Australian ratings board's website. With titles masked out.001,002and003, as they're currently officially known, were rated yesterday, the 29th of November, and have been awarded a G, PG and G rating respectively. Why the secrecy? Well ratings boards (and retail, come to mention it) have a notorious habit of blowing secret announcement early. And with Nintendo's 3DS due out early next year, I'd guess Nintendo have plenty of secret announcements on the way...

Details? This is where it potentially gets interesting. Although the largely family-friendly ratings are no surprise for Nintendo games, the functionality descriptions are intriguing. 001 comes with a warning that "user-generated content may change game play", and 003 definitely has an online play component. We know that NIntendo has traditionally been crap in both of those areas, so two online-focused games hitting back-to-back is a definite eyebrow-raiser. Of course, 003's online play could just mean we're looking at Animal Crossing or Mario Kart here, but with those two games already announced - and demoed - why would Nintendo be trying to keep them secret?

Any ideas? A Mario game with a level editor? Or online co-op? Smash Bros? What would you like this stuff to be, and what do you think is most likely?

David Houghton
Long-time GR+ writer Dave has been gaming with immense dedication ever since he failed dismally at some '80s arcade racer on a childhood day at the seaside (due to being too small to reach the controls without help). These days he's an enigmatic blend of beard-stroking narrative discussion and hard-hitting Psycho Crushers.