Mario hears that the movie didn't ruin the franchise

Despite initially calling this issue number five in this series, when it's clearly number six, we return with another update to share our weekend gaming plans with you. In the past we've quipped about topical sporting events, but there's nothing interesting enough this time around. That's just as well, as rather than sit in our favourite chair watching athletes represent the best of humankind, we're happier sitting and playing video games instead.

You may notice a trend with one particular game getting a lot of love this week, but that's hardly surprising, is it?

Anthony Dickens

New Super Mario Bros. 2 — Finally gotten around to giving this some time, and I'm obviously going to beat everyone else's coin totals in a matter of hours — looking forward to it.

Heavy Rain (Move Edition) — Bought this a few months ago and haven't had the time to play it, but the genre really interests me and I'm hoping for a good experience — anyone got any tips?

Tom Whitehead

New Super Mario Bros. 2 — After succumbing like a big wimp when looking for secrets in the two previous New Super Mario Bros. and looking at guides, I'm determined to figure it all out myself this time. I rattled through the main six worlds, but it's now the much slower task of tracking down secret exits and deviously hidden or awkward star coins. The thrill of discovery makes it worthwhile.

Super Mario Sunshine — This one has a big anniversary on Sunday (fear not, we have a feature planned), and having shamefully missed the GameCube generation I've acquired a copy of the game and a Wavebird controller to play catch up. It may not be loved quite as much as some others, but I'm still looking forward to playing it.

Mike Mason

I'm away this weekend so probably won't be playing much, but before I go I'll squeeze in...

Pokémon Conquest — I'm still taking over the world one kingdom at a time with my Eevee by my side.

Papo & Yo — I'll be doing my best to avoid poisonous frogs in this PlayStation Network adventure.

Jonathan Wahlgren

New Super Mario Bros. 2 — This weekend begins our cross-country road trip move and I won't have much time for gaming (I think), but I'm sure to sneak in some of this after a long day of driving through mountains or corn fields. I'm trying to take my time with it to make it last, and I have also vowed not to look up any FAQs to allow myself the full experience and challenge of discovery.

Nano Assault — Picked it up on the real cheap cheap and am having a blast so far. If I ain't stomping goombas then I'm ****ing things up with nano machines.

Corbie Dillard

New Super Mario Bros. 2 — Finally going to have a chance to sit down and put this one through its paces. I've been dying to play it some more since I took it for a spin last week. Even all these years later, I'm still a complete sucker for a Super Mario game.

Metal Slug X — I've long loved this Neo Geo run and gun and I can't wait to fire it up this weekend in preparation for my upcoming review. This one was the first game I ever bought for my Neo cabinet and it's still one of my favourites.

Desiree Turner

Count me in regarding the dogpile on New Super Mario Bros. 2. I've only been able to play bits and pieces of it here and there since I picked it up, but I daresay I'm finding it way more fun than New Super Mario Bros. Wii!

Philip J Reed

I've got a Wii U hands-on event to attend this weekend, so I'll be playing those games for sure! Unfortunately I don't know what they're showing off so I don't know what I'll be playing in advance, but I'm sure it'll be great and I'm hugely looking forward to it. Otherwise I picked up a copy of the Mega Man X collection so I'll be doing a Zero run of X4, and then hopefully moving on to X5. I'm also going to be doing a straight run of the original Castlevania, because I don't think I've ever actually made it through that game.

Oh, and NSMB2, I can't believe I almost forgot that...

Ron DelVillano

New Super Mario Bros. 2 — I'll be playing a bit more of this on my shiny new 3DS XL. It's pretty great so far, but I'm hoping to get a
lot more out of it this weekend.

Find Mii — Now that I have both the 3DS and the 3DS XL, I've been getting regular streetpasses from myself, so I've been crushing Find Mii on both handhelds. This is actually much more rewarding than it sounds.

Joe Walker

New Super Mario Bros 2 — I've been purposefully taking my time with this week to make the experience last, but I have a feeling this weekend that'll go out the window. It's basic Mario, but it's solid and I'm having a great time.

Super Mario Sunshine — With summer winding down I got a tad nostalgic for Mario's GameCube offering. I was very hard on it when it was released because it wasn't Super Mario 64 2, but it's a great game to go back to and enjoy properly.

Gaz Plant

Professor Layton and the Spectre’s Call – I’m travelling a lot this weekend, so what better game to occupy my time than the most recent Layton adventure? Having recently completed Lost Future, I’m looking forward to experiencing yet more of the Layton story.

New Super Mario Bros. 2 (3DS) – I bought this last week, played it once and haven’t been back since. That said, it’s not a bad game, it’s just that it feels identical to NSMBWii, and I’ve already played that. This weekend I’m going to give it another go and hope to discover some differences between the games.

Morgan Sleeper

I found a nice copy of Luigi's Mansion for the Gamecube at my local retro store, so I'm hoping to spend some time ghost-busting with the greenest Mario Brother this weekend; should help ease the pain of Dark Moon getting pushed into 2013. That's assuming I can pull myself away from my Japanese copy of Pokémon: Typing Adventure however, which I've gotten completely addicted to. I love typing games, and playing this one with the Japanese Pokémon names adds a serious twist!

Jamie O'Neill

Super Mario Sunshine — I agree with Joe, Super Mario Sunshine is perfect for summertime, so I will also be FLUDDing it up this weekend. I imported my GameCube from America, so I will be celebrating the 10th Anniversary of its NA release this Sunday. It's a shame PAL gamers did not receive this sun soaked title until autumnal October, way back in 2002. I'm a fan of this Mario game, but when I completed it 10 years ago I only amassed 83 Shine Sprites, so I will take advantage of a spare save slot and aim to beat that amount by re-playing it from scratch.

So, there's a lot of Mario gaming going on, and a large focus on Nintendo systems as well. That's enough about us though, what games are you playing this weekend?