The 3DS is just this awesome

As we glance out of Nintendo Life Towers we see something a little unfamiliar — there's an enormous ball of fire in the sky, and it's bathing us in warmth. We would go and bask in its magnificence, but we've got some video games to play.

Of course, as our team is scattered around the world — like missionaries in the faith of Nintendo — some will have some rain to make them feel better about playing video games all weekend. For those of us in places with nice weather, there'll always be curtains and blinds to keep that annoying sunlight out.

As it's a Friday, and Nintendo's decided not to hit us with a Nintendo Direct today, a collection of your Nintendo Life writers have therefore decided to share their weekend gaming plans with you. We're hoping you'll do the same, of course.

Mike Mason

I'm hoping to get my strategy on in Fire Emblem: Awakening — I've had it for a week or so, but so far I've not found any spare time to get into it beyond the opening stages. That is if I'm not still playing FuturLab's fantastic shooter Velocity Ultra (Vita) for Push Square's review!

Tom Whitehead

For the past few weeks I've been playing nothing but review games — not a complaint, but it's true! — so I feel like some neglected favourites need to be revisited. Mainly Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate on Wii U, as last time I played I was up to 9-star in single player and had done around half of the HR6 G-Rank online quests — my hunter's a bit of a bad-ass, I have to say. I also want to play more Fire Emblem: Awakening, in which my record is far less impressive; I think between them those two titles will happily fill up my weekend.

Oh, and the price of Football Manager 2013 has been slashed on PC this weekend — thankfully I have no social life to speak of, so I may buckle and become addicted all over again.

Jon Wahlgren

The weather is looking pretty wet and dreary around these parts for Memorial Day Weekend, so that'll likely mean a lot of time spent indoors feeding my recent hunger for platformers.

I'll seize the opportunity to finish New Super Mario Bros. U – this one took me forever to get into but now it's snowballed to the point where it's all I want to play at home. The end-game challenge is mighty impressive, although perhaps not as much so as Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts on Wii U Virtual Console. I used to be much better at that one, and now it takes abusing save states to get anywhere.

Rounding out the platforming will be Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D. I think I'll stick to New Mode on this one to balance the hair-ripping others, and further relax by building up my town of Trash in Animal Crossing: New Leaf.

I say this all now, but watch me actually sink hours and hours into Excitebots.

Andy Green

I'm really busy this weekend as I'm doing a run for charity on the Sunday. However, on Saturday I'll probably spend some time playing Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate. I'm thinking of playing online and climbing the HR ranks as I'm only a lowly level 1 hunter right now, which puts me on a par with a docile squirrel wielding a toothpick.

Naturally, it wouldn't be the weekend if I didn't play some Fire Emblem: Awakening! I'm thoroughly enjoying it and am in need of a good long session on it! Would it be too much to play it while I'm running on Sunday?

Philip J Reed

Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition, which I picked up with my Wii U but only now have found the time to play. I know lots of folks are concerned about the Wii U's small library, but I still haven't exhausted the original handful of games I pulled off the shelf, so I can't complain!

Anyway the game is great so far, even if every battle feels like it takes me four hours because I'm not used to stealth combat. Looks like all those years with shoot-em-ups and platformers haven't served me well after all!

I'll also be working my way through Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D, since I never 100%'d the Wii version, and that'll be much easier to do on the go.

Ron DelVillano

I finally picked up copies of Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate, so I plan on having a pretty solid Saturday filled with M rated violence and... other things.

Sunday is strictly reserved for the new episodes of Arrested Development dropping on Netflix. Seriously, don't try to contact me that day. If my phone vibrates even once, I will promptly glare at it, then ignore you. But I won't forget.

Morgan Sleeper

I'm heading across the Atlantic this weekend, and along with hoping to score as many European StreetPass hits as possible, I'll be swinging my 3DS around wildly trying to catch some exotic Denpa Men in The Denpa Men 2: Beyond the Waves! For more airplane-mode friendly gaming, I'm packing Fire Emblem: Awakening and Style Savvy: Trendsetters, both of which have spent the last few weeks leapfrogging each other for the top spot in my Activity Log ranking. I'm totally hooked, and dreaming of a Fire Emblem x Style Savvy crossover where you team up with Anna to outfit the Shepherds for their next spring fling or summer skirmish! This is why Nintendo doesn't let me make games.

Gaz Plant

Luigi's Mansion 2 - Thanks to Chase McCain's Wii U antics Luigi's return on 3DS has been sitting on my desk for 2 months. But now I've finally got a chance to give it a go, and so far, I'm really enjoying it. Mainly because the ghosts are just amazing.

Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed (Wii U) - Another title that got steamrolled by Lego City, and another title I'm really enjoying finally getting a chance to play. The perfect hold-over until Mario Kart hits later this year, and finally a good reply to everyone who asks "why does Sonic need a car?"

Tim Latshaw

I've acquired two games this week I can't wait to stuff my U.S. Memorial Day long weekend with. First is New Super Mario Bros. U, which I hope to have finished before Luigi stages his coup. The second actually isn't a videogame at all. It's King of Tokyo, a fun little board game where you and your friends play a variety of Godzilla-esque monsters fighting for dominance of the city. I bought the expansion just so I could be Pandakai, the giant giant panda, because that's how I roll.

Dave Letcavage

As many NLifers may already know from my numerous showings of support around the site, the Donkey Kong Country series is not only my favourite series of all time, but I think Donkey Kong Country Returns may be the best of the bunch. With that said, can you guess what game I’ll be swinging through this weekend? I’ve intentionally refrained from playing my 3DS for a few weeks now just to make the experience all the more fresh.

In addition, I’ll be playing Lego Batman 2 on Wii U for review. If that old saying “nothing goes together better than crime fighting and Tiki boppin” is true, I’m surely in for one heck of a weekend!

Ken Barnes

GRID (Xbox 360) - With GRID 2 due at the end of the week, I'll be polishing up my skills in preparation. Easily one of the most anticipated games of the year for me, so I'm planning a good, old-fashioned gamers' weekend next week, where I play nothing but GRID 2, eat nothing but pizza, and drink my bodyweight in Pepsi Max.

Fire Emblem: Awakening (3DS) - Most of my team has either died or retired as I'm playing on 'classic' mode, but we struggle on bravely, regardless. Chrom and Ken are a dominant force in these regions. Can't stop playing. Can't stop playing. Work to do. Must stop playing. Can't stop playing. Just one more battle. I'll just sort my team's inventory. Oh look, the light's flashing. I'll play until the battery runs out. That'll be OK, won't it? Hang on, Frederick needs a new lance. I'll just buy that and then I'll stop. One more battle. I don't need to work. I can eat leaves and live in a tree. Where's my charger? Can't stop playing.

Stephen Kelly

As far as I'm concerned, it's nineteen-ninety-something and I've got a Super Nintendo Entertainment System that needs some well-deserved attention.

The lovely, charming, and unwaveringly pink Kirby is all over the Wii U Virtual Console these days, so I'll be reviewing Kirby's Dream Land 3 and Kirby Superstar, both of which originated on the good old SNES. Kirby never fails to put me in a good mood (especially the music — splendid stuff), so this is a recipe for immediate weekend relaxation.

Next on the list is The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. I've never played this game to completion (cue dropped jaws and lovingly accusatory pointed fingers), but the upcoming 3DS sequel has me determined to give it the chance it deserves. I've only just now turned into a spoiler pink bunny and haven't yet drawn the Master Sword from its mythical resting ground end of spoiler!, but the brilliant game is already shining. Dungeons and fairies and secret caves — gah, the weekend ought to hurry up and start already!

I also cashed in a bunch of coins via Club Nintendo, scoring me a virtual copy of Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. This is another classic that eluded me for years, but will I have time to cram it into my weekend of nostalgic delight? Probably not, but here's hoping.

So those are our plans. Don't be meanies, now, tell us what games you'll be playing in the comments below.