All right, we didn't think there would be anything that could distract us from the release of Castlevania: Rondo of Blood -- but here we are, on the day of its European release, with pretty much all our focus elsewhere. And no, the object of our gaze isn't Muscle March, as amusing as that is.

It's ... Flashlight for DSiWare. It's ... a flashlight. You pay 200 DSi Points for something that displays a solid color on your screens. We kind of knew it would arrive someday, since there are a million of these on the iPhone, but still. A flashlight.

• Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (Turbografx CD-ROM, 1 player, 900 Wii Points)
• Milon's Secret Castle (NES, 1 player, 600 Wii Points)
• Muscle March (WiiWare, 1-4 players, 500 Wii Points)
• Car Jack Streets (DSiWare, 1 player, 800 DSi Points)
• Flashlight (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
• Flips: The Enchanted Wood (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
• Libera Wing (DSiWare, 1 player, 800 DSi Points)
• Photo Dojo (DSiWare, 1-2 players, 200 DSi Points)

click to wipe in to the galleryFrom now on, thanks to Activision's latest announcement, we're going to have to specify which Wipeout series of games we're talking about. There's Wipeout, the now Sony-exclusive futuristic racing game series, and Wipeout: The Game, the new Wii and DS game based on the game show about people falling off of elaborate obstacle courses.

This Wipeout is a four-player game in which opponents can taunt and throw stuff at each other as they attempt the show's trademark (and not at all inspired by Ninja Warrior) obstacle courses. Of course, the show's hosts will provide in-game commentary. Commentary like you'll hear in the video after the break, in which yelling men ride foam rockets while the hosts relentlessly mock their intellligence and weight. Wipeout: The Game will be out this summer, "just in time for the premiere of the TV show's highly anticipated 3rd season."

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In case anyone is still on the fence about paying for a WiiWare version of a freeware game -- although a couple of years of anticipation have probably killed that -- this Cave Story video (after the break) shows something pretty appealing: a second playable character. And not just any character, either. Curly Brace is a fan favorite, appearing in the game in a capacity we won't discuss too much to avoid spoilers.

We're checking with Nicalis now to learn more about her inclusion -- whether she's part of the initial download or DLC, and how her presence affects gameplay. Worst case scenario: we find out on Monday when the game comes out.

[Update: Nicalis has confirmed to Joystiq that Curly mode will be included with the initial download!]

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Somehow, developer CyberConnect2 is making a game that is neither Naruto nor .hack. In fact, Solarobo for DS is a spiritual successor to CyberConnect2's 1998 PlayStation game Tail Concerto. Like Tail Concerto, Solarobo is a platforming action RPG starring anthropomorphic animals in walking mechs.

As Red Savarin, you pilot the robot DAHAK-AZI03 on bounty hunting missions. Without weapons, your only method of combat is picking up and throwing objects using the robot's arms. Solarobo is due in Japan this year from Namco Bandai. It features some kind of 1-4 player support, but the details of that have yet to be released -- as does any information about a release outside of Japan.

Marvelous's World Game Parade brings a "world game" that actually has yet to release anywhere but Japan: Akaoni Studio's Zombie Panic in Wonderland, a sort of spiritual successor to the DS's Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ. Also on Wii is one of the original fighting games, Karate Champ, in its original arcade form -- though we doubt it supports the dual-joystick interface of the original.

• Karate Champ (Arcade, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
• Zombie in Wonderland (WiiWare, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
• Pokosuka Racing (WiiWare, 1-4 players, 500 Wii Points)
• Write to Memorize: English Notebook (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
• Write to Memorize: Picture Notebook (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
• G.G. Series Exciting River (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
• Ah! Nikaku Tori (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
• Shooting Down King (DSiWare, 1-4 players, 500 DSi Points)
• Hachi-One Diver Story (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)

Following the recent announcement that Dragon Quest IX will be published by Nintendo in North America, the company has revealed another publishing partnership for an exclusive game from a big Japanese publisher: Nintendo will co-publish Koei's Samurai Warriors 3 in North America this fall.

It makes sense that Nintendo would take the stewardship role for this game, as it contains a mode featuring characters and locations from Nintendo's Nazo no Murasame-jou ("The Mysterious Murasame Castle"), a Famicom Disk System game designed by none other than Shigeru Miyamoto. In any case, this is one way for Nintendo to ensure ongoing releases of third-party core games on its systems: by plucking existing ones from Japan and publishing them in North America itself.

Lilt Line, winner of a 2010 IGF Mobile award for Audio Achievement is a simple iPhone game, in which you tilt the phone to guide a line through winding tunnels, and tap the screen in response to on-screen cues, all in time to dubstep music by 16bit. Essentially, it's Irritating Stick without the irritation! Developer Different Cloth revealed in a tweet that Wii owners will get to experience Lilt Line as well, thanks to Bit.Trip creator Gaijin Games.

All we know from the (necessarily brief) announcement is that Gaijin is bringing the game to the Wii. We can assume, both from the nature of the game and the fact that we don't think the three-person Gaijin Games team is going to start publishing packaged games, that it's WiiWare. We've asked Gaijin for more information. In the meantime, check out the iPhone version after the break.

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Okay, so it isn't Rondo of Blood this week in Europe. Nintendo instead chose to inaugurate the latest Hanabi Festival with the pre-rendered Neo Geo shooter Ironclad and Lode Runner for NES. It's pretty novel in and of itself to have two Virtual Console games in a single week, not to mention a Neo Geo game! They're joined on Wii by the WiiWare version of Military Madness.

• Lode Runner (NES, 1-2 players, 600 Wii Points)
• Ironclad (Neo Geo, 1-2 players, 1,000 Wii Points)
• Nectaris: Military Madness (WiiWare, 1-4 players, 1,000 Wii Points)
• Elemental Masters (DSiWare, 1-2 players, 800 DSi Points)
• Pop Island (DSiWare, 1-8 players, 500 DSi Points)
• Simply Sudoku (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
• Simply Mahjong (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
• 4 Travellers Play Spanish (DSiWare, 1-4 players, 800 DSi Points)

Capcom has announced the Japanese release date for Ace Attorney creator Shu Takumi's supernatural puzzle adventure game, Ghost Trick. Japan will be able to put Sissel's spirit into a bicycle on June 24. Capcom has yet to offer a date for North American or European releases beyond simply 2010, but if the game is in a complete state by June, that bodes well for localization sometime in the fall.

However, if you can't wait that long, and you don't mind clicking through a bunch of Japanese text, you can play the TGS demo right now! Capcom posted a flash demo to the Ghost Trick site.

[Via Andriasang]

Nintendo of Europe is bringing back the Hanabi Festival, its occasional celebration of import games, starting March 12 -- and it's bringing what might be the most anticipated import Virtual Console game ever (by us). Castlevania: Rondo of Blood is among the small lineup of games to be released in Europe as part of the Festival, along with Milon's Secret Castle and Lode Runner, both for NES, and Ironclad for Neo Geo.

We aren't entirely certain from the wording, but the announcement mentions Castlevania, and then says that the other games will "continue in the following weeks." So it's pretty likely you're going to be able to buy Rondo of Blood tomorrow. Happy Hanabi Festival!

If you're reading this and you're in charge of business development for a game publisher, and if you're at GDC -- as unlikely as all that is -- please go talk to LukPlus. According to Siliconera, the publisher has a meeting room at the convention, and is actively working to find a North American publisher for its cute DS puzzle game Coropata.

We sampled Coropata at TGS and found it charming, and we'd appreciate the opportunity to do things like buy it in a store and read all the text. We admit that a cutesy, anime-style puzzle game similar to The Incredible Machine may be somewhat of a niche interest, though.

Though there's a lot of content on DSiWare in Japan today, it's almost entirely training stuff. So, it would seem that DSiWare stepped aside to let WiiWare's single release shine this week. (That's probably not what really happened -- but it's a nice thought.)

In any case, Mega Man 10 is up on WiiWare in Japan today, and it's likely to overshadow anything else available this week, including the ancient Moon Cresta:

• Mega Man 10 (WiiWare, 1 player, 1,000 Wii Points)
• Moon Cresta (VC Arcade, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)

• G.G. Series Throw Out (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
• Renjuku Kanji: Shougaku 4-nensei (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
• Renjuku Kanji: Shougaku 5-nensei (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
• Brain Challenge (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
• Let's Golf (DSiWare, 1 player, 800 DSi Points)

During PAX last year, Nintendo asked any professional artists who happened to be there to create an animation in the DSiWare program Flipnote Studio. Now, the flipnotes from comic artists like Eric Jones and Christina Strain, webcomics artist Scott Kurtz, and 5TH Cell art director Edison Yan, have finally been posted in a gallery on the Flipnote Hatena site.

Showing what can be done in a few minutes by a talented artist, and building on the excitement of a popular convention, makes this initiative a great promotional tool for the free app (and for the DSi in general), which is why Nintendo waited until six months after the event to release these!

Nintendo is adding an ambulatory flourish to its Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver launch, celebrating the PokeWalker accessory with a guided walk around New York City's Times Square. On Sunday, March 14, Pikachu footprints will be placed around Broadway Plaza, inviting fans to trace the trail of the fictional giant rat, with live demonstrations of the game and accessory along the trail.

Nintendo's usual launch events take place at the Nintendo World Store in Rockefeller Center, but this one is located in (and around) the Times Square Toys 'R' Us. Should you show up at the NWS, you'll just have to do a little extra walking.

It's a fantastic day to be in Europe like retro and retro-style downloadable games. Coinciding with that amazing Bit.Trip Runner trailer, its predecessor Bit.Trip Void is now avaiable on WiiWare, along with the authentically NES-style Mega Man 10! There's even a real retro game available on Virtual Console -- a pretty good one, at that.

The theme even extends to DSiWare, where you can get Dark Void Zero, a promotional game that outshines the game it was meant to promote. You can play it on the DSi XL, which was released in Europe today!

• Zaxxon (Arcade, 1 player, 500 Wii Points)
• Bit.Trip Void (WiiWare, 1-4 players, 600 Wii Points)
• Mega Man 10 (WiiWare, 1 player, 1,000 Wii Points)
  
• Dark Void Zero (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
• Flips: The Bubonic Boulders (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
• Globulos Party (DSiWare, 1-2 players, 500 DSi Points)
• Pinball Pulse: The Ancients Beckon (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
• Real Football 2010 (DSiWare, 1-4 players, 800 DSi Points)
• New English Training: Learn with Tempo - Advanced Edition (not available in the UK) (DSiWare, 1 player, 800 DSi Points)