The above image of Theatrhythm Final Fantasy‘s boxart has been making rounds around the Internet today, as it depicts a new, unfamiliar Nintendo Network logo.

As shown in Mario Kart 7, Nintendo Network is the new online service Nintendo introduced to succeed the oft-criticized Nintendo WiFi Connection – or at the very least, it’s a great re-branding of their old service. And while this is purely speculation on my part, I expect that the Wii U will share Nintendo Network with the 3DS, seeing how the Wii and DS both utilized Nintendo WiFi Connection. The logo certainly looks slick, and the reception of the 3DS’s online functionality has been surprisingly positive following the last couple of system updates it had.

What are some of your hopes for the Wii U’s online services? Share your thoughts in the comments!

At CES, Nintendo told IndustryGamers that third-party developers “have already received final [Wii U] devkits”. If the development kits have been finalized, I can’t imagine the final retail unit being too far off – which we’re going to be seeing at E3 in less than five months.

Tecmo Koei have released yet another batch of awesome Ninja Gaiden 3 screenshots. Find them after the break!

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THQ released a special Darksiders 2 promotional video today titled “Behind the Mask”. It features lots of in-game footage and several developers’ thoughts on having Death as the game’s protagonist. Watch it after the break.

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The fourth LinkedIn-fueled story I’ve run so far today reveals the existence of two secret THQ projects for the Wii U. One of them is a multiplatform title, with planned releases on the Wii U, 3DS, Wii, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360; while the other is a Wii U exclusive.

Both games are apparently scheduled for 2012, so it’s possible we’ll see one or both of them at this year’s E3.

Yet another LinkedIn profile – this time that of a TT Fusion artist – specifically lists LEGO City Stories as an “exclusive launch title” for the Wii U. Seeing how it was the very first Wii U game Nintendo told us about, I wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out to be a key part of the system’s launch lineup.

Another Ubisoft employee’s LinkedIn profile, this time belonging to a level designer by the name of Damien Bernard, has revealed a new, unannounced Wii U title. Tying into that, a NeoGAF poster who claims to have been in contact with the developer was allegedly told that the game was “adapted to the card game/board game format.”

That’s all we have to go on at the moment, but it definitely looks like Ubisoft are trying to make a name for themselves on the Wii U considering the sheer number of projects they’re working on for it.

The LinkedIn profile of Ben Yeoh, a senior programmer at Ubisoft, reveals what looks to be Ghost Recon Online‘s official name, Ghost Recon Online Arcade.

There’s no telling whether this will be the game’s final name, but it’s the first nugget of news we’ve had on it in a while.

Hinkik from the forums created a detailed 3D model of the Wii U controller. While there’s no groundbreaking Wii U news here, I thought his work was awesome enough in its own right to show off on the blog. Check it out!

Click it for a full-sized version.

The last issue of Nintendo Power featured an interview with Masahiro Sakurai, in which he gave us an idea of Super Smash Bros. 4‘s progress. To put it bluntly, he still hasn’t put a development team together. But Sakurai assures us that the wait will be well worth it.

I can’t really say anything until things settle down with Kid Icarus… And a lot of it will depend on the team that I end up assembling for Smash Bros. It may take a while, but I think that your patience will be rewarded.

It looks like we’ll be waiting quite a while for this game, but keep in mind that it will be developed for two separate platforms.