Time for a quick end-of-the week recap of the biggest news from the Nintendo side of the fence. As far as this week goes, the Nintendo DS news has definitely slowed down to almost a halt, with the exception of Kingdom Hearts. As for the Wii, a lot of developers have released updates for their great apps, and we'll cover it all right here, just for you.

The Wii's System Menu has been updated to version 3.5 - in Korea, at least. Yesterday, it was found that Nintendo had sent out notices to the Korean Wii Message Board informing their consumers of the said update. More details after the jump.

Nintendo's going on a swashbuckling offensive, asking the US Trade Representative for help on making pirates walk the plank. They also sent out a press release, calling out certain countries where "piracy is rampant," and China is at the top of their list.

With the crappy economy snapping away at gaming heels, Korea decides it's time to go Indiana Jones and walk over the economic crocs' backs. They're certainly taking a big risk here, investing millions of dollars to back their gaming exports. More in the full article.

The Wiikey team has released version 2 of their modchip. Changes look mostly related to performance, although there is now added support for "problem titles" such as Mario Kart Wii and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. More details in the full article.

Nexon CEO Joonmo Kwon addresses the issue of low console sales in the Asian region. And no, he's not pointing to piracy as the reason why. Instead, it's got something to do with the Asian taste and preference for games. See what he's got to say after the jump.

We hear that all is not well in South Korea for Nintendo, who's next generation console is taking bad rap from the hardcore elite in the country. The negative gossip all revolves around the fact that the localized Wii consoles are only accepting localized copies of Nintendo games, and from the looks of it, Nintendo isn't getting corresponding versions of the most demanded titles into the market fast enough. The result: Wii sales have been sluggish at late. More details follow at the full story.

Okay, so you've got your agenda finalized. What's the next thing to do? Why, it's to announce the All-Star Speakers, of course.

Evergreen Events, the organizer of the 2008 ION Game Conference, has done precisely that. It's mentioned four important names to take note of. Find out who these four people are after the jump.

Take-Two Interactive Software, the distributor of Grand Theft Auto 4 (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3) and other games, has given word that it is planning to expand into Asia Pacific markets. The company has tapped an experienced senior executive to help them establish a foothold in Asia. For more information, don't hesitate to click on the "read more" link below.

Fans of Sega Sammy will be sad to know that its Korea subsidiary will be closing its doors soon. This is pretty bad news for gamers in the said regions since this may affect both arcade and video game distribution in the area. In case you want to find out more about this, head on over to the full article by clicking on "read more" link below.